"Freya..."


    Enzo beganto say something , buthis voice hoarse as if something was lodged in his throat, making it difficult to speak.


    He tried to sit up .


    However hefound himself devoid of strength, unable to control his own body.


    What was happening?


    Enzo concentrated,attempting to summon the Totem of the Tree of Life.


    Howeverit remained unresponsive.


    A sinking feeling settled in his chest.


    He used his limited spiritual power to sense the state of the Tree of Life totem, only to discover that not only the Tree of Life totem, but even the Beasts Totem, had shattered, scattered like a pile of loose threads on the ground.


    "This is bad." Enzo muttered bitterly.


    Though Freya seemed somewhat downcast, she tried tofort him, "Just being alive is fortunate enough. Besides, your injuries haven''t fully healed yet. It''ll take some time before you can move again."


    Enzo nodded at Freya''s words.


    Looking at her, he noticed her own disheveled state. Her once splendid beastskin clothing was stained and torn by thorns. Judging by Freya''s tone, he had likely been unconscious for quite some time.


    Had Freya been looking after him all this while?


    As Enzo pondered, Freya got up and left momentarily, returning with a bowl of stew. The stew was made from seeds of some crops, mixed with tough fiber husks that were difficult to digest.


    Freya held the stone bowl.


    She sighed and blew gently on the porridge in the bowl to cool it down, unable to resistining, "In this ce, this is all we have to eat. We can''t even find any prey."


    She nced at Enzo again and added, "But for now, this is all you can eat."


    Freya was acutely aware of Enzo''s injuries. The fact that he had survived with nearly every bone in his body shattered was nothing short of a miracle.


    Of course, Enzo''s severe injuries were directly rted to her.


    When Freya woke up, she found herself cradled in Enzo''s arms. Enzy on arge stone, stained red with blood. This scene,bined with her hazy memories from before, instantly rified everything for Freya.


    At that moment, Freya was overwhelmed by a profound realization.


    In the Golden Lion Tribe, life had always been filled with relentlessbat and the relentless pursuit of supernatural knowledge. Failure toplete learning tasks was met with severe punishment, even her parents had sumbed to such demands.


    Yet now, one person had sacrificed everything to save her.


    Thankfully, Enzo''s heart was still beating.


    As Freyay against Enzo''s chest, she heard the most beautiful sound: his heartbeat.


    Her thoughts began to change.


    Returning her focus, Freya tasted the vorless porridge and, finding it at an eptable temperature, called out to Enzo, "Open your mouth."


    Enzo attempted toply but was ovee by violent coughing fits.


    Freya quickly helped him sit up and gently patted his back to ease his pain.


    "Thank you."


    Enzo managed to say.


    Freya smiled softly and replied, "I should be thanking you. If not for saving me, you wouldn''t be in this condition. We need to find a way out of here soon, or our injuries won''t heal properly."


    Enzo was severely injured, and Freya herself was not unscathed.


    With hardly any strength left in her body, encountering any supernatural beings could easily make her their meal.


    Enzo nodded in agreement.


    Under normal circumstances, even though Enzo had already awakened and had autonomous consciousness, it was clear that Freya still struggled to feed Enzo.


    Freya sighed deeply, her face tinged with embarrassment.


    She took a mouthful of porridge but instead of swallowing it, she held it in her mouth. Closing her eyes, she gently pressed her lips against Enzo''s, transferring the porridge into his mouth. It was the safest way to feed him under the circumstances.


    Enzo waspletely stunned.


    Freya had gone to such lengths for him?


    "Why are you looking at me like that?" After feeding Enzo a mouthful of porridge, Freya lifted her head and opened her eyes, meeting his motionless gaze. She knew exactly what was going through his mind. "Don''t misunderstand. I''m doing this to save you. Otherwise, even if you didn''t die from your injuries, you''d starve."


    With that, Freya fed another spoonful of porridge to Enzo.


    Feeding him this way was cumbersome, and as a candidate priest of the Golden Lion Tribe, Freya had never cared for someone like this before. Yet Enzo could sense that despite his current immobility, Freya was looking after him with meticulous care.


    An hour passed before Freya finally finished attending to Enzo.


    She was drenched in sweat, her delicate face smeared with dust, dulling her usual radiance.


    Freya noticed Enzo''s gaze once again.


    It was a look filled with warmth andpassion.


    "What''s wrong now?" Freya asked.


    Enzo responded directly, "I really like you as you are now. Sometimes, wearing masks for too long makes it difficult to take them off again."


    His words rendered Freya silent.


    She nced towards the cave entrance where daylight streamed in, contrasting with the dimness inside the cave where Enzoy.


    After a moment, Freya walked towards the exit.


    Just before stepping out of the cave, she spoke, "I''ll take care of you until your injuries heal and safely return you to your tribe. As for Zona''s matters, I will handle them."


    With that, Freya left the cave.


    In the cave, only Enzo remained.


    He understood Freya''s meaning. Once his injuries healed, it would likely mark the end of their time together. After all, in Freya''s heart, she was always destined to be a candidate priest of the Golden Lion Tribe—amitment she had held since childhood.


    Despite everything they had been through, this core belief remained unshaken.


    Of course, Freya had also changed in many ways.


    At least for now, she had shed her pretenses and let go of her pride.


    Thinking about this, Enzo smiled faintly. He then summoned his spiritual power once more and began examining the state of his totems.


    Enzo was unsure why his totems had transformed into their current state.


    However, he understood that the Tree of Life Totem and the Beasts Totem had notpletely disappeared. Rather, they were in an exceedingly strange state, as if aplete object had been forcibly dismantled into various smaller pieces.


    Now, his task was to reassemble the totems.


    This was no simple feat.


    Given Enzo''s current condition, even manipting the basic elements thatprised the totems would require immense effort. Yet, it was a direction—a hope for recovery.


    ...


    At dusk, Freya returned once again.


    She brought back a small bag of gathered crop seeds and a fish.


    After feeding Enzo, Freya started eating the roasted fish herself, teasingly remarking in front of him, "It tastes really good. It''s a pity you, being the patient, can''t eat it. Getting a fishbone stuck would be quite a suffering."


    Happy with her catch of a fish, Freya was in a good mood.


    Just then, Enzo suddenly reached out and grabbed the roasted fish from her hands.


    Freya was stunned, then delighted. "You''ve recovered?" she eximed.


    Enzo shook his head. "Not yet. Right now, only one arm is functional. But it won''t be long—maybe four or five days at most, and I should be able to move freely. Then we can leave here."


    After Freya''s initial surprise faded, a hint of disappointment crept into her expression.


    Even though Enzo handed the roasted fish back to her, she remained gloomy.


    Suddenly, she realized something and questioned him, "So earlier, could you actually swallow the porridge on your own?"


    Enzo hesitated, contemting how to respond.


    While Freya was away, he had attempted to reassemble his totems and sessfully condensed a leaf from the Tree of Life, granting him some healing ability that allowed one of his arms to move.


    Swallowing food posed no major issue either.


    Seeing Enzo''s expression, Freya understood everything and eximed angrily, "If you could swallow food by yourself, why did you let me feed you?!"


    At this moment, exnations seemed feeble and inadequate.


    So Enzo used his movable hand to directly embrace Freya and quickly kissed her. His tongue forcefully squeezed into Freya''s clenched teeth, chasing after her soft little tongue.


    Until Freya, panting heavily, pushed Enzo away herself.


    Freya red angrily at Enzo, didn''t say another word, finished the grilled fish, theny down directly, turning her back to Enzo, preparing to sleep.


    The cave wasn''t very spacious.


    Enzo could easily reach Freya with his hand. He patted Freya, who ignored him. Enzo noticed something was wrong.Freya''s shoulders were trembling.


    "Freya, what''s wrong?" Enzo asked.


    "I''m fine." Freya replied.


    Enzo naturally wasn''t easily fooled. He forcibly pulled Freya over to face him, only to find tears streaming from the girl''s reddened eyes.


    This made Enzo feel deeply guilty.


    "I''m sorry." he apologized.


    Freya shook her head and said, "It''s not because of this."


    Enzo pressed, "Then what is it because of?"


    But Freya didn''t answer; instead, she wrapped her arms around Enzo''s neck and kissed him passionately.


    The two engaged in a passionate embrace.


    However, for now, that was all they could do. Enzo''s body was still not fully recovered.


    After the passionate kiss, Freya seemed exhausted. She curled up against Enzo''s chest and quietly fell asleep.


    Enzo also fell asleep.


    However, Enzo did not notice that his reformed totem had undergone a strange change.