'What?' Rick uttered internally because he couldn't believe what he was seeing right now.
'All I did was smile at her and I got rewarded with a skill?'
'Oh, it's not really a skill, but it's actually a magical affinity.'
'Still, I got a reward for simply making her smile?'
'Hmm..... I wonder what emotive magic is.'
'I've never heard of it before though, but it sounds cool.'
'Oh well, that doesn't matter right now because it's still strange to see that I got a reward just from making an elf smile.'
Rick looked at his hands, then he slowly curled his fists and released them right after.
'So, I've somehow transmigrated into a primitive world of elves and right now I'm having a really beautiful elf taking good care of me.'
'How is this not a dream?'
'It clearly looks like I'm dreaming because I definitely recall being in my little apartment before falling asleep.'
'Moreover, I was just about to begin reading a slice of life novel earlier, so how is this not my brain giving me what I had wanted to experience, just so that I would believe this is actually real?'
'Please, tell me this is real.'
'System, is this real? Am I really in a primitive world right now?' He asked his tribal elf system by communicating to it through his thoughts, but he got no response from the system.
'Oh, I guess you're not the sentient type huh.' Rick noted as he glanced around the large cave again.
His gaze landed on the rough wall of the cave, then at the two or three large animal hides resting by the cave corner.
The hides were massive.
Plus each one was easily twice the length of a grown man laid flat, and the fur on them was thick and coarse.
It also had patches of red discolouration that looked like purely fresh bloodstains.
Just by looking at those, it was easy to assume that whoever had hunted the creatures with those hides must have been really strong.
Moreover, the size and length of the hide indicated that the monsters must have been huge as well.
'Doesn't this mean there'll be dangerous and large creatures in this world?' Rick asked himself, but he swiftly recalled what Gwen had said earlier.
She had mentioned something about the woods being dangerous, so maybe she meant the woods were filled with large, bloodthirsty creatures.
*Gulp.*
Rick swallowed hard as he suddenly realised this new reality of his, but he still couldn't stop himself from smiling right now.
If there were dangerous creatures in this world, at least he had some really cool magic to help him protect himself now, right?
'Well, since my magic affinity sounds cool, I'm hoping it does cool things in the future as well.'
In other words, he shouldn't really be too scared or worried about how his life would be from now on.
Rick pushed this thought aside for now and resumed glancing around his new home.
Aside from the animal hides and the fire burning in the centre of the huge cave, the only other things Rick could see were a couple of primitive looking spears leaning against the wall, a few stone knives sitting near the base of the cave wall, and a bunch of leaf loincloths and animal hide loincloths folded and stacked in a corner, indicating that even primitive people had their own cavemen-styled wardrobes.
'Yeah, that's actually funny, but it's nice to see this as well.' Rick chuckled internally before realising something very important.
'Huh? Wait a minute.' He stared at his own body and noticed that he wasn't really wearing anything.
The top half of his body wasn't covered but the bottom half was clothed in a leaf loincloth.
However, unlike Gwen's green leafy loincloth, his had turned brown already.
But this was the least of Rick's concern because right now, he realised that the only thing preventing his bare buttocks from touching the ground was none other than his loincloth, which felt incredibly strange to his modern mind because he was a young man who had gotten used to wearing trousers and briefs rather than just leaves.
Oh well, if anyone were to ask if he missed modern clothing and technology right now, he would definitely say "Yes, Yes, Yes!!"
But if they asked him if he would like to go back to his previous world and lifestyle?
His answer would be a swift "No, No! No!!!"
After all, why would anyone want to give up on this opportunity of living with elves who were known to be a race full of beautiful people, and judging by how attractive Gwen was, he was certain most of the other elves in this clan would be just as beautiful as her.
So, in a nutshell, he would definitely prefer this new life of his over his old one, because back there his condition had worsened so much that he could barely even hold a mug, much less walk around within his own apartment.
Speaking of walking, Rick glanced down and realised he could actually feel his toes now.
He wiggled them once, slowly, just to be sure, and they really moved.
All of them did.
Also, his body no longer looked weak and heavy but instead it felt completely light, and he couldn't feel any pain even when he simply moved his head or limbs unlike when he did the same thing in his previous body.
Now, back to the topic of his toes.
It had been years since he had last felt the sensation of his toes, so right now he couldn't help but feel so happy just to move them however he pleased.
Back on earth, the numbness had crept up from his feet slowly over the years, so gradual that he had almost forgotten what it felt like to feel that part of himself at all.
He had even made peace with it a long time ago that he would never be able to walk ever again.
But now that he could feel his toes curl against the cold cave floor, he realised just how much he had missed it without ever letting himself admit it.
Rick smiled while watching his toes move on their own, and now he was completely lost in the small joy of it.
On the other hand, Gwen noticed this from the corner of the cave where she sat eating her own bundle of fruits, while quietly keeping watch over him.
She had placed his own fruit next to him but it seemed like he was too preoccupied with his feet to even notice the fruit next to him.
Gwen wasn't sure what had come over him, but watching him sit there smiling at his own toes like it was the most wonderful thing he had ever experienced really made her feel like smiling as well, and that was exactly what she did.
Now she was smiling while watching him play with his little toes.
Rick noticed her gaze and he was once again mesmerized by how beautiful Gwen was.
She was by far more attractive than any Popstar, idol or model from his previous world.
Noticing this, Rick couldn't help but be reminded of the fact that this could all just be a dream.
'But seriously, I really do not want this to be a dream.' He uttered in his thoughts.
'Please, do not be a dream.'