Limitless Evolution Through Conquering Primal Beauties-Chapter 23 - Tremor

Leonard, hearing Lily’s offer, immediately grew excited. His eyes lit up, unable to hide his enthusiasm.

"Really?" he asked quickly.

Lily nodded, her face still red. "Y-yes. If that can make you forgive me..."

Leonard did not need long to decide. He walked closer to Lily and stopped about half a step in front of her. He raised his hand, then hesitated.

"May I?" he asked once more, just to make sure.

Lily nodded again, more faintly this time.

Leonard took a breath, then carefully touched Lily’s ear.

Soft. That was the first word that appeared in his mind. The fine fur on her ear felt like silk, or like a cloud. When his fingers touched the surface, the ear moved, a reflex perhaps because it tickled or startled her. Leonard smiled.

He began stroking it slowly. From the base to the tip, again and again. It felt very pleasant, almost similar to when he used to pet Lulu’s fur. His dog. The memory flashed briefly, making his heart feel warm and sad at the same time.

[ Lily’s Affection: 22% ]

[ Lily’s Lust: 5% ]

[ Lily’s Trust: 25% ]

Leonard saw the increase and thought, ’It seems she likes it.’

He shifted his attention to Lily’s face. The girl was looking down, but Leonard could see her cheeks flushed red all the way to the tip of her ear, her real ear that he was stroking. Lily was slightly biting her lower lip as if holding something back. Her eyes were tightly closed. It seemed her ears were very sensitive.

’She is very adorable,’ Leonard thought.

He kept stroking, enjoying the soft sensation of the fur on his fingers. Lily’s ear moved with every stroke, sometimes bending, sometimes trembling slightly. Her face grew redder, and her breathing became a little faster.

Leonard truly enjoyed this sensation. The soft fur, Lily’s cute reactions, the warmth coming from this simple interaction. All of it made him want to keep going.

Until Lily finally said in a small voice, "Leo... how long are you going to keep stroking my ear?"

Leonard snapped back to his senses. He stopped his hand and looked at Lily. The girl looked back at him with puffed cheeks, a pouting expression that only made her even cuter.

Leonard quickly pulled his hand back. "Sorry, sorry. I was enjoying it too much." He gave an awkward smile. "Your ear is really soft."

[ Lily’s Affection: 25% ]

Lily only lowered her head and did not answer. The ear that had been stroked earlier now twitched slightly, as if it could still feel the sensation of the touch.

The atmosphere became awkward.

Leonard cleared his throat, searching for a topic. "Uh... should we go gather firewood now?"

Lily nodded shyly. "Okay."

Leonard felt relieved seeing Lily’s spirit return. Just a few minutes ago she had been crying her heart out, and now she was ready to walk into the forest with sparkling eyes. Truly like a child. Her emotions changed in the blink of an eye.

The two of them walked into the dense trees. The air inside the forest was cooler, and sunlight only slipped through in thin beams. Leonard observed the surroundings, looking for dry branches or wood that could be used.

"Lily," he asked, "how do you gather firewood here?"

Lily looked at him with a confused expression.

"You cut down old trees." She answered as if that were the most obvious thing in the world.

"Oh." Leonard nodded. That made sense.

But suddenly Lily stopped walking. She looked Leonard up and down, then asked, "Didn’t you bring an axe? Or a basket to carry the wood?"

Leonard froze.

An axe. A basket.

Two things he had not thought about at all.

He slapped his own forehead. ’Idiot. How could anyone cut down a tree with bare hands?’

"Wait here for a moment," he said to Lily. "I’ll go back to Borami’s house first."

Leonard jogged back to Borami’s house. When he arrived, he saw Borami still sitting in the same place, still weaving her large basket with nimble fingers. The woman looked up when she heard footsteps.

"Leo?" Borami raised an eyebrow. "Why are you back? Where’s the firewood?"

Leonard felt his face heat up. "Uh... Rami, do you have an stone axe or something to cut down trees? And a basket to carry the wood?"

Borami stopped weaving. She looked at Leonard, a smile slowly forming on her lips. A teasing smile.

Leonard saw that smile and immediately felt embarrassed. "Hey, why didn’t you stop me earlier?"

Borami chuckled softly.

"I did call you." She leaned back slightly, still smiling. "But after teasing me like that, you hurried off. Were you too embarrassed? You didn’t hear me at all."

Leonard wanted to ask, ’Why didn’t you just chase after me?’ But he already knew the answer. Borami had no need to chase him. Because in the end, Leonard would definitely come back.

Borami stood up and walked behind her house. Leonard followed. Behind the house, leaning against the wall, were several primitive tools such as bone knives and other objects he did not recognize. He also saw a stone axe, or more precisely a bone axe. The handle was made of hard wood, and the blade was made from a large bone sharpened to an edge. Beside it were three large baskets woven from plant fibers.

"Here," Borami said, pointing at the equipment. "Take one axe and one basket. One more for Lily. I heard you two went together."

Leonard blinked. "You know?"

Borami smiled mysteriously. "I can hear your voices."

Truly incredible hearing.

Leonard did not ask further. He picked up two axes and two baskets. They were heavy. The axes were made of bone, but their weight felt like iron. Perhaps because of their density, or perhaps because of their fairly large size.

He returned to where Lily was waiting. The girl was still there, sitting on a rock while playing with her own hair.

"Here." Leonard handed one axe to Lily. "Sorry, I forgot earlier."

Lily accepted it with a smile. "It’s okay. Let’s go."

They walked deeper into the forest. Not long after, Lily stopped in front of a large tree. Not gigantic, but quite old. Its trunk was sturdy, and the bark had begun peeling in several places.

"This one is good," Lily said. "This tree is already old. It won’t grow anymore."

Leonard looked at the tree, then at the axe in his hand. Suddenly he remembered scenes from movies where lumberjacks easily felled large trees with just a few swings of an axe.

’I can do this,’ he thought confidently.

He stood in front of the tree, raised his axe, and swung it with all his strength.

THUD!

The axe stuck into the trunk, but only a little. Maybe about two centimeters deep. Leonard pulled it out with difficulty, then swung again. And again. And again.

Sweat began to drip down his forehead. His breathing grew heavy. Each swing felt exhausting, each pull drained his strength. The tree was only slightly damaged, small scratches on the surface of the trunk. Leonard tried to make a gap, tried to find a weak point, but the tree seemed to mock him.

For an unemployed man with a thin body who had spent the last two years living on instant noodles and locking himself in his room rather than exercising, this job was clearly beyond his limits.

He paused for a moment, bending over as he took deep breaths. Sweat dripped from his chin. His hands and arms felt weak. From behind him, he heard something.

A small laugh. 𝒇𝙧𝙚𝓮𝔀𝓮𝒃𝙣𝓸𝒗𝒆𝒍.𝙘𝒐𝒎

Leonard turned around. Lily stood behind him with her hand covering her mouth, trying hard to hold back her laughter. But she failed. A small laugh slipped from her lips, a laugh she could not hide.

"Hehehe..."

Leonard looked at her with sweat on his forehead and ragged breathing.

Lily tried to speak between her laughter. "You... you really are... very weak, huh."

Leonard was silent. His expression darkened.

Lily suddenly stopped laughing. She realized what she had just said. Her face turned panicked.

"S-sorry! I didn’t mean it. I’m sorry!"

Leonard let out a long sigh. Then in a flat voice he said, "You’re right. I really am very weak."

Lily looked guilty. She looked at Leonard who was still breathing heavily, then asked hesitantly, "Do... do you want Lily to show you the right way to cut a tree?"

Leonard looked at her for a moment, then nodded.

Lily stepped in front of the tree. With one hand, she lifted her axe. Her movement was relaxed, without any special preparation. Then she swung the axe.

THUD!

The sound was far louder than Leonard’s swing. Lily’s axe blade went deep, nearly a third of the tree trunk split open.

Leonard’s eyes widened. They nearly popped out of their sockets.

He knew Lily was strong. He had once seen her carry firewood the size of a refrigerator. But seeing that strength in action, in such a small body, Lily was probably only about 160 centimeters tall with a slender build, was still shocking.

Lily pulled her axe out easily, then swung it again.

THUD!

The tree tilted. A large crack appeared in the trunk. Lily immediately pushed the tree in the opposite direction of its lean, and with the rustling sound of leaves, the large tree collapsed.

Once again Lily swung her axe, this time at the fallen trunk. One strike, and the trunk split into two.

Leonard could only stare.

Lily turned around, still holding the axe, and smiled innocently. "So? Do you want Lily to teach you?"

Leonard nodded slowly, still not fully recovered from his shock.

Lily then taught Leonard from the beginning. How to hold the axe correctly. How to swing using strength from the whole body, not just the arms. How to remove branches after the tree falls. How to cut the trunk into smaller parts on top of a large, hard rock.

Leonard learned diligently. Every swing, every cut, every mistake was corrected patiently by Lily. The girl who had been crying her heart out earlier had now become a patient teacher, explaining everything in detail.

Without realizing it, time passed. The sunlight slowly turned orange as it leaned toward the west. Leonard cut a piece of wood into two smaller parts and threw them into the large basket that was starting to fill. He looked up at the sky that was beginning to change color.

"Lily," he asked while continuing to work, "aren’t there any wild animals or Mutated Beasts around here at night?"

Lily, who was also busy cutting wood into smaller pieces, answered without stopping, "It’s safe here. On this mountain, all the wild animals were slaughtered by hunters a long time ago."

"Oh, really?" Leonard felt a little relieved.

But just as the words left his mouth, the ground beneath his feet trembled.

Leonard felt the hairs on the back of his neck stand up. The vibration came from the direction of the forest. From behind the trees. Closer and louder.

Lily also stopped moving. Her axe froze in the air. She stared toward the sound with wide eyes.