However, at this moment,
Lami's small face had already turned beet red. Merlin rolled his eyes at her speechlessly:
"What are you thinking?"
Lami giggled, her tongue thick as she said, "Merlin-niichan, stingy!"
Then, her body swayed unsteadily, and she plunged headfirst into Merlin's embrace. Her hazy eyes slowly closed, and the sound of even, cat-like breathing soon followed. She had already passed out drunk.
Merlin chuckled softly. "Sleep tight!
"You haven't been able to rest properly all this time. Have a good sleep tonight!"
Yol glanced at Merlin, then stomped out the burnt dry grass on the ground. Next, she spread the prepared monkey skins on the floor.
The largest piece, a neat three-by-four-meter pelt, was used as a mattress. Three smaller, irregularly shaped pieces were placed on top to serve as blankets.
After arranging everything, Yol leaned all the backpacks against the cave wall at the "head of the bed."
She then walked over to Merlin and said with a smile, "Give Lami to me. I'll carry her to bed."
Merlin handed Lami over. Yol carried her to the monkey skin mattress, placed a backpack under her head as a pillow, took off her shoes, changed her into pajamas, and covered her with a small monkey skin.
Merlin sat on the ground, sipping Monkey Wine. He felt waves of warmth wrapping around his insides, and a sense of tipsiness gradually flooded his consciousness.
After a while, Yol walked over and sat sideways next to Merlin. Merlin glanced at her and handed her a bamboo cup full of Monkey Wine:
"Good stuff. Drink it!"
Yol hesitated. "If I get drunk, I won't be able to keep watch tonight. Should I take the second half of the night and you take the first?"
Merlin shook his head. "You won't get drunk. The state of drunkenness is also a negative status, a type of Calamity.
"Since it's a Calamity, I can absorb it.
"Monkey Wine can nourish the body. Drink more. Once you're tipsy, I'll teach you how to stretch your muscles and bones.
"That way, you won't feel too much pain."
After saying that, Merlin looked at her and explained, "It's not that I won't absorb the Calamity of pain for you, but pain is also a part of cultivation. Experiencing pain can make your will tougher."
Yol's expression instantly became serious:
"Okay, I'll listen to you."
She lifted the bamboo cup and guzzled it down glug, glug. The corner of Merlin's mouth twitched, and he couldn't help but complain:
"Can't you drink slower? Such delicious Hundred-Fruit Wine should be savored slowly and carefully, shouldn't it?"
Yol rolled her eyes at Merlin, swallowed the wine in her mouth, and licked her tender, lovely lips:
"I don't know how to taste wine, but the texture of this fruit wine is indeed delicious. I've never had this flavor before.
"Another cup."
Yol handed the bamboo cup over. Merlin rolled his eyes and pointed at the trough nearby. "Scoop it yourself."
Unknowingly, Yol's pretty face turned rosy. At this moment, her bright, light brown eyes shimmered with a watery luster:
"Stingy!"
But after mimicking Lami's words from earlier, she chuckled happily herself. Then, supporting herself on the edge of the trough with her left hand, she knelt on the ground, holding the bamboo cup in her right hand, and leaned her upper body into the trough to scoop up the wine.
In this moment, Yol's body curves were perfectly revealed to Merlin's eyes.
Her height of one meter ninety-one.
Yet her figure was slender and well-proportioned. Without her nun's habit that covered her entire body, that blend of girlish slenderness and exaggerated curves was instantly on full display.
Especially that perky, full curve on her chest...
Unconsciously enjoying the scenery,
Merlin took a sip of wine to moisten his throat.
At this time, Yol scooped out the wine, sat up straight, took the bamboo cup with her left hand, and brought her right hand to her mouth to lick off the wine stained on it.
Her beautiful eyes quietly glanced at Merlin.
"Like what you see?" Suddenly, a gentle, teasing voice came from Yol's mouth.
Merlin looked at her with slight surprise in his eyes.
Yol's lips curled into a smile at this moment:
"You know my body is in excellent condition, Merlin. So, it's only natural that I'd be sensitive to a gaze sizing me up, right?"
Merlin rubbed his chin and nodded seriously. "Of course.
"The connection between a living being's body and spirit is extremely close.
"And a powerful physical body will naturally nourish a powerful spirit over time."
Yol blinked, looking at Merlin somewhat blankly. No, I understand the words you're saying, but when you put them together, why do I feel a bit confused?
Her mouth opened slightly, a retort stuck in her throat. depressed, she took a big gulp of wine.
Next, Yol continuously scooped up wine and drank three large bamboo cups in a row.
Merlin watched, the corner of his mouth twitching. Although it wasn't exactly a waste of heavenly treasures, he was honestly a little afraid she would throw it all up in a reaction to her bold drinking style, wasting the wine.
Yol's eyes looked gloomy. She placed the bamboo cup on the ground, pulled down the collar of her V-neck short-sleeved shirt, and said:
"Merlin, tell me how I should stretch my muscles and bones? I feel my body is full of heat and strength right now.
"And I'm only feeling a little tipsy; my consciousness is still quite clear."
"Clear? You'll know in a while why the delayed effect of alcohol is called a delayed effect."
Merlin looked at her helplessly. Although Yol had a strong physique and a good foundation, she hadn't undergone training in the past, so her ligaments, muscles, and bones hadn't been stretched open.
At this time, Merlin downed the remaining half cup of wine in one go and placed the cup on the ground to the side.
He walked to a flat area nearby. With slow breaths, he stood up straight, tucked in his abdomen, stuck out his chest, and naturally opened his shoulders.
Seeing Yol looking at him, Merlin's clear voice rang out:
"The stretching method I'm going to teach you is called Yoga. First, I'll teach you the basic movements that lay the foundation for yoga poses.
"The first pose, Mountain Pose, is simply a standing posture with the body straight. Both feet..."
Merlin began to teach her Yoga. This was an exercise method Merlin had taught himself in his previous life using online courses bought on his phone.
It had to be said that Yoga was indeed a good way to perfectly stretch joints, muscles, and bones in every aspect of the body.
In front of Yol, Merlin began to break down and explain word by word, matching movements with breathing rhythms:
"Cat-Cow Pose. Hands and knees on the ground, kneeling. Separate them to hip and shoulder width. Thighs perpendicular to the ground, wrists placed directly under the shoulders, five fingers spread wide pressing firmly into the ground.
"Back should be flat, head and neck in a straight line with the spine, eyes looking at the ground.
"Inhale for Cow Pose: start from the tailbone, extend the spine vertebra by vertebra, tilt the pelvis forward (stick out your butt), sink the lumbar spine, lift the thoracic spine, look forward or upward, and gradually open the chest cavity.
"Exhale for Cat Pose: roll back from the pelvis, tuck the tailbone, arch the lumbar spine, push the thoracic spine back, lower the head to touch the chin to the collarbone, eyes looking at the navel.
"Downward-Facing Dog...
"Chair Pose...
"Standing Forward Bend..."
Equipping the [Lynx] brought Merlin a high degree of physical dexterity. As the yoga movements coordinated with the breathing methods continuously progressed, with his focused teaching, Merlin gradually gained a deeper understanding of the coordination between breathing and body movements.
Even though this was the first time he practiced it in this life, Merlin felt a sense of proficiency as if he had done it thousands of times.
As time passed, Yol, who was watching and listening seriously, gradually widened her eyes.
As Merlin's words and strange body movements unfolded slowly before her eyes, gradually, Merlin seemed to transform into a well-proportioned lynx in her eyes, stretching its body to its heart's content.
Shaking her head vigorously, the "lynx" turned back into Merlin again. Yol immediately muttered in her heart:
"Am I drunk? Why am I hallucinating?"
And as the yoga movements were completed one by one, unknowingly, subtle changes quietly occurred in Merlin's body movements.
Gradually, he was no longer confined to the framework of yoga.
Instead, his movements became increasingly fluid, coordinating with deep and shallow breaths. But Yol's gaze became increasingly confused:
"Didn't you agree to teach me? Why aren't you stopping your own practice? Do you expect me to teach myself by following you?"
She seemed to understand but also didn't.
Yol gritted her teeth and stood up, starting to clumsily imitate Merlin's movements.
But she only imitated for a while before looking dumbfounded, unable to continue.
Simply because those non-human body contortions were completely impossible for her to reproduce.
At this very moment, Merlin's eyes had unknowingly become vacant, his four limbs touching the ground like a lynx.
Seemingly simple twists, pounces, and rolls on the ground, but every movement was mobilizing most of the muscles and bones in his body.
Tearing pain transmitted from his muscles and bones to his flesh all over his body.
However, quietly, black flames spread from his hands to his entire body.
Merlin instinctively absorbed the pain appearing in his body through the Calamity, so it wouldn't affect his current physical and mental state.
Perhaps it was the delayed effect of the Monkey Wine, but Merlin's consciousness was currently in a state between semi-conscious and dazed.
Guided by the Yoga-Cat Pose movement earlier, he unconsciously fantasized himself as a lynx, thereby reaching a wondrous state of [Synchronization] with the lynx.
Then, he instinctively combined the various muscle and bone stretching movements in yoga with the agile form and intent of the lynx.
At this moment, a joy quietly surfaced in the bottom of Merlin's heart, simply because he was gradually completing a cultivation method for tempering and stretching the body's muscles and bones.
After an unknown amount of time, Merlin broke away from this strange state.
His body was drenched in sweat.
Standing up from the ground, his eyes stared blankly ahead. Yol, standing in front of him, thought Merlin had finally noticed her, so a look of expectation quietly surfaced in her eyes.
Unfortunately!
Merlin was looking at the azure blue Equipment Slot interface that appeared before him.
At this moment,
The information for the [Lynx] in the Equipment Slot had also quietly undergone some changes.
[Name: Comatose Lynx]
[Effect: After equipping, you gain the biological characteristics possessed by the lynx.]
[Synchro Value: 1% → 6%]
[Evaluation: A healthy and strong lynx. As an all-around hunter among felines of the same size, after equipping for a long time, there is a probability of permanently obtaining the special expertise possessed by this lynx.]
The Synchro Value between Merlin and the [Lynx] had shot up by 5% in just this short period.
It was a dreamlike improvement.
And it didn't stop there. The Equipment Slot in Merlin's eyes blurred for an instant.
Then, as if it had flipped over, the display unfolded in a wondrous way.
Transforming from the screen of two simple equipment slot boxes into a text information format:
Name: [Laplace Merlin]
Skill Specialization: [Entry-Level Lynx Body Tempering Arts]
Special Expertise: []