The sky hadn't completely darkened yet when Lux arrived at the city gate and asked the guarding elf about the closing time.

  Learning that the gates wouldn't close for about four more hours, Lux went out with peace of mind.

  Although Lux was only an assistant mercenary, as long as she wore the badge and crystal disk, she could freely enter and exit the city gates with just a symbolic check.

  Lux walked towards the nearby river, turning her head back every so often to see if Radiant Glade's city walls were still in her sight.

  After all, there were no Acriders in the wilderness to ask for directions, and it would be terrible if she got lost again when it got dark.

  Lux soon entered an area where the river was bordered by trees, like continuous handrails on either side. In this natural, deserted environment, Lux felt the oppressive feeling from before gradually dissipate.

  "Yeah!" Lux shouted, releasing the emotions that felt trapped within her like smog. She yelled a few times, until her throat felt a burning pain.

  Lux felt a sense of relief, but the rabbits and birds nearby were startled by her shouts and scattered in all directions. It could be said that only insects were left to eat on the ground and in the trees nearby.

  However, Lux didn't plan on eating insects. She turned her gaze to the water; she was going to catch fish.

  "Didn't they say my skills were terrible? Well, today I'll practice properly," Lux said, drawing her sword and infusing it with magic. Then Lux watched the river, spotting a large trout. "Now!"

  The sword struck the water like lightning, instantly creating a huge splash that swallowed Lux whole. After the water settled, Lux was sure she had hit the fish, but it had probably been shattered into small, pebble-like pieces. Not only had she failed to catch a fish, but she was also soaking wet.

  Immediately, Lux took off everything but her underwear, laid the rest of her clothes out to dry, and continued.

  "Bang!" This time, Lux only used a quarter of her magic power, but it still blasted the fish away.

  "This..." After blasting several fish into tiny fragments with magic, Lux this time used even less magic, wrapping it around the sword and slicing the fish in half. She caught one half in her hand, while the other half was carried away by the river, as if Lux were sharing it with the blurry, mouth-like river delta downstream.

  "Good progress," Lux said happily, also quite surprised that there were so many fish in this river.

  Then, as if it were a game, she continued to catch fish with her sword. She didn't know how many she caught, but Lux could now use a light flick of her sword to lift a fish and then skewer it, tossing it onto a large rock nearby.

  "Big success!" Lux turned to look at her haul: seven or eight fish cut in half and five or six relatively whole fish. She felt very satisfied.

  "But I probably can't eat all this by myself," Lux thought. She had indeed gotten carried away with the fun and caught too many fish. But she could roast them and then find a place to dry them into jerky.

  Lux piled up dry twigs and used magic friction to start a fire. This was a technique Lux had developed after learning magic release; it was much more convenient than her old method of striking stones together to create sparks.

  The flames rose, and Lux skewered the prepared fish with sharpened wooden sticks, happily placing them over the fire to roast. She even sprinkled on some dried salted vegetables that Sylvie had packed in her backpack to add saltiness.

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  "Perfect!" Lux cheered, watching the reddish-brown color appear on the roasting fish in her hand.

  "Killed so many fish, and now you're so happy?" a cold female voice came from the side. Lux turned her head and saw Emily standing by a tree, watching Lux and the roasted fish in her hand.

  "This is the joy of hunting, it's human instinct," Lux explained, while waiting for the roasted fish in her hand to cool down a bit; it was still hot.

  "Then was wasting so many fish just now for your own amusement also your instinct?" Emily's voice seemed to be exposing Lux's wild, unrestrained behavior, but Lux was more concerned with, "Have you been here this early?"

  Emily didn't reply but continued to watch Lux.

  "Well, I'm about to start eating. I can't be bothered with your criticism about me eating meat. Besides, I don't think there's anything particularly noble about you elves' so-called 'vegetarianism'," Lux retorted.

  "And are you sure you want to watch me eat meat? Not only am I going to eat meat, but I'm also going to sing and eat it happily. If you like watching, then watch," Lux said, her craving for meat almost unbearable. She was about to bite into the roasted fish in front of her.

  "Short ears, wait," Emily finally spoke.

  "What?" Lux said, a little annoyed. Was she going to criticize and stop her from eating meat? Well, Lux didn't care; she was about to take a bite.

  "Teach me to eat meat," Emily said, uttering words Lux never expected. Lux's mouth, which had been open and ready to bite into the roasted fish, froze, like a crocodile basking in the sun with its mouth wide open.

  "What did you say?" Lux didn't bite down but turned her head in surprise.

  "Don't be so loud. And I said, teach me to eat meat," Emily said, then walked over to Lux, brushed some dirt off a rock, and sat down.

  "There's nothing to teach, is there?" Lux glanced at the roasted fish in her hand, which she had tried to bite many times without success, then handed it to Emily. "Here, take this."

  "You should eat this one," Emily said, seeming to pity the fate of the roasted fish that had been hovering near Lux's mouth for so long.

  "Take it. I have plenty more here," Lux said, skewering more fish to roast over the fire.

  "Hmm," Emily replied, then stared intently at the roasted fish. She tentatively opened her soft, dark pink lips, as if wondering where to start, pausing awkwardly in front of the fish like a bewildered rabbit.

  "Bite here. This part of the fish is fragrant," Lux said, pointing to a section of the roasted fish.

  Then Emily took a small bite. Lux even doubted if Emily had actually gotten any meat, but then Emily tried to take a larger bite (though Lux still thought she was being too cautious, like she was kissing the fish), finally tearing off a small piece of meat.

  "The skin is very fragrant. Don't peel it off," Lux warned when she saw Emily trying to peel the skin with her fingers. "And remember to chew slowly. Don't spit out the meat."

  Just then, Lux's fish was ready. She took a bite and spat out the bones. "Like this."

  "Mm," Emily responded softly, then tried to eat a larger bite of fish.

  "Oh, and you can tear the fish meat off the bones like this," Lux used her hands to tear off a long strip of fish meat, then sprinkled some crushed salted vegetables (which Lux had crushed herself earlier to easily sprinkle on the fish for seasoning) on it. "You should sprinkle some of this on. It tastes better with a bit of saltiness."

  "Oh," Emily tried to remove the fish meat according to Lux's instructions. Lux, worried that this 'meat-eating newbie' might add too much or too little seasoning, personally pinched some crushed salted vegetables and sprinkled them evenly over the fish meat.

  Emily didn't say thank you. She silently watched Lux add the 'salt,' then opened her mouth and ate it.

  She closed her eyes, as if savoring the taste, then opened them and continued eating.

  Lux felt she had taught Emily everything she could and just focused on grilling the fish. Emily had also glanced at Lux's fish and seemed to understand how much salted vegetable to add, pinching some and sprinkling it on her own fish.

  As this silent meal for two concluded, Emily had eaten two or three fish, and Lux ate the rest. Emily still ate slowly, and even as Lux contentedly finished the last roasted fish, Emily was still slowly chewing the last piece of fish meat.

  After they finished eating, both washed their hands and mouths with water from the river.

  "How was it?" Lux asked Emily, a bit curious, but Emily only made an "mm" sound without giving Lux a verbal answer.

  Lux felt that Emily had returned to her 'Captain Emily' mode. Emily stood up and said to Lux, "Remember to put on your clothes before you go back to the city later."

  "Right, of course," Lux suddenly realized that she had been interacting with Emily for so long wearing only her underwear, and she blushed slightly. As for Emily's reminder... well, having lived like a wild person for three months, Lux might genuinely have forgotten to put her clothes back on before returning to the city.

  "Also, tomorrow I'll show you around Radiant Glade. Be at the central flowerbed when the sun is a quarter of the way up. Don't be late," Emily said, uttering something Lux hadn't expected. Then she added, "That's my thanks for the meat." With that, she turned and left.

  Lux watched Emily leave, then touched her still-hanging clothes on the tree. "Oh no, they're still wet."

  (Afterward, Lux had no choice but to return to the city wearing damp clothes in the cold night wind, but fortunately, she didn't catch a cold.)