A few hours later, Rick's eyes shot open to the unfamiliar sight of the interior part of a cave.
Everywhere was dark and he could feel the hard ground his back was resting on, along with the cold air of the night seeping into the cave.
The cave walls looked rough but it reflected the only light in the entire space coming from a small fire burning not too far away from where he lay.
The flames crackled steadily and the smell of burning wood filled the air of the cave.
Rick heard the crackling sound of the wood burning not too far away from him, and he groaned as he sat up on the hard, cold ground.
"Ugh....." Rick groaned as he wondered what was going on and where he was, but before he could understand any of this, a blue screen suddenly appeared in front of him.
[Congratulations, Host. You've successfully arrived at the Primitive Wood Elf Tribe Of The Wood Clan.]
[The Tribal Elf System is currently at your service.]
Looking at the transparent screen in front of him, Rick couldn't believe what he was staring at.
'Wait a minute.... isn't this a....?'
Yep, it was definitely a system.
The same type he had read about in novels back on earth.
'But how did I....?' Rick wondered, but then he suddenly heard a female voice in the cave with him.
"Rick?... You're awake....?" Gwen asked as she entered the cave with a mixed expression of relief and concern.
Rick lifted his head up to see the beautiful young lady walking toward him in a hurry while holding a medium-sized leaf that seemed like it had been rolled and shaped to hold something inside.
Gwen knelt in front of him, but the first thing he noticed were her smooth lightly tanned skin and her beautifully shaped midriff, which looked firm, toned, and was right there in front of him without anything covering it.
He noticed she was wearing a leaf loincloth, but from what he could see, it seemed like she was wearing nothing underneath.
Doesn't that mean she was...
*Gulps*
Rick was so awestruck by her primitive style of clothing that he had not noticed Gwen calling out to him all this while.
"Rick.... Rick....?"
"Mm..?"
"I said take, you must be thirsty." Gwen offered the curled leaf in her hand which had water inside of it.
Then she placed it to his mouth and guided the water down his throat.
Rick noticed he was feeling thirsty so he didn't argue or say anything as he drank the water Gwen offered to him.
The water was strangely cold and hugely satisfying as he drank it, allowing him to feel as though he hadn't drunk water in days.
Within seconds, Rick had already gulped down the water till nothing remained.
Noticing he was satisfied, Gwen placed the empty leaf next to her and leaned closer to him as she asked.
"Rick....tell me, what happened? Why did you go into the woods alone?"
"...." Rick was silent, not knowing what she was talking about.
"You know how dangerous the woods are, and you know only Hunters are allowed to venture into the woods, yet you went on your own, why?"
"....."
"Was it food?.... Were you hungry? Was that why you left on your own?" Gwen asked worriedly, but the moment Rick heard the word "food", his stomach immediately began to growl and Gwen couldn't help but notice the sound.
Her lips widened into a knowing smile and she stood up immediately to grab something for Rick to eat.
"I'm sorry. I forgot to give you something to eat. I shouldn't have been asking you all those questions." Gwen walked over and came back with a couple of fruits in her hands.
They were of the same kind she had brought back from her hunt but Rick had never seen any kind of fruit like this before.
They were roughly the size of a large fist, with each of them having a round and slightly bumpy shape unlike any fruit Rick had seen.
The fruit mainly had two distinct colours of brown and dark olive green on the surface and Rick noticed how the entire surface of the fruit had tiny little spikes, looking sharp enough to pierce his soft skin.
If anyone were to touch this fruit unknowingly, the prickling pain it would cause would be uncomfortable for anyone to bare for weeks.
Rick noted this mentally as he noticed the hard texture of the fruit.
He grabbed one and wondered if it was safe to eat but he decided to try having a bite of it anyway.
However, Gwen grabbed his hand as she asked him to stop. "Wait...," she said as she grabbed another fruit and split it cleanly into two with a swift, simple gesture.
The fruit split perfectly into two to reveal the inner flesh, which was a deep red colour.
The colour looked as vibrant as a red wine and Rick could see dozens of small seeds packed throughout the red fleshy part of the fruit, allowing it to look like tiny, hard stones stacked together in wet clay.
"It's hard to eat the outer part and it makes your tummy hurt if you eat it, so we eat the soft inside of the fruit." Gwen explained as she directed him to remove the tiny stones before eating it.
Rick noticed the tiny stones she was referring to were in fact seeds, but looking at them, they indeed felt hard like little pebbles as he removed them slowly before taking a bite of the inner flesh.
As he bit into it, Rick didn't really feel anything special in particular.
It wasn't really that sweet and neither did it taste bitter, but it just felt like a fruit eaten to stop a person from feeling hungry.
The texture was soft and slightly grainy on the tongue, and there was a faint, mild flavour to it, like he was eating something between an unripe fig and a plain boiled yam.
Meanwhile, Gwen continued to watch Rick struggle with the fruit he was trying to eat and digest.
Based on everything she had noticed so far, she could see he hadn't recalled his name despite how many times she had initially called him before handing him the water to drink.
Even when she had asked him what he was doing out in the woods, Rick had still remained quiet, almost as though he didn't recall ever heading to the forest earlier today.
Didn't this mean Grandma Ophelia was right about the likelihood of Rick losing his memories due to how severe his head injury had been?