Kael walked in front while Kiona followed behind. He would have liked to follow her instead, as that would allow him to have a good view of her booty, but it would distract him too much.
'I can't fight in that condition. She doesn't consider being naked a problem because she never wore clothes, but now things are different.'
He grimaced as he imagined her fighting alongside him. That would certainly be distracting...
'Hmm, what should I do?' Kael pondered over the problem as they reached the surface.
It was then he remembered a certain skill of his and asked his dear friend, 'Alpha, can I make clothes with my Soul Forge Skill?'
[Only Artefacts can be made using it for now. You need to rank it up to unlock more effects.]
'Then, what about leather armour? It technically is an Artefact, right?'
[As long as it has one of your skills fused with it.]
'That will do it,' Kael sighed in relief and turned around, "Give me a minute and wait here."
Kiona didn't question his decision and watched him jump onto the twisted tree branches to go higher up on the Great Tree.
As she was all alone, she decided to get used to her new body. She was confident in fighting in her old body, but a humanoid one was much different.
She began to practice movements she once saw humans doing to get used to her new strength and body.
Meanwhile, Kael returned to the branch where he had his first meal, along with the corpse of a snake. It was a weak monster crawling near the tree, so he had decided to use it.
As he sat on the branch, he stared at the dead snake, which was dark black and almost two metres in length. He stretched his hand and muttered, "Absorb!"
A purple mist came out of his hand and covered the snake's body. In the next second, it retreated back into his body, taking the corpse with it.
Kael closed his eyes and focused inside him—into his soul. He couldn't directly see it, but he could sense a dead body resting inside his soul core.
'Which skill is best to mix with it?' Kael wondered and decided on two which would be very useful for Kiona.
The first was [Draconic Regeneration], which was a Rare-Rank Skill and gave enhanced regeneration to both mana and health. It would certainly be very useful, but so was the second one.
It was [Beast Sense], and its benefits were clear, so he also wanted to give it to her. But he sensed that with his current strength, he could only imbue one skill into an Artefact.
In the end, he decided to give [Draconic Regeneration] to her. They would be together for a while at least, so he could sense the dangers himself.
Meanwhile, regeneration was incredibly important—and that was clear from the way Mike had died.
After choosing the skill, he selected the shape and qualities of the Artefact, which was leather armour constructed as a light tunic.
One thing he had learned while using the [Soul Forge] skill was that he needed to have knowledge of both the skill and the form he was assigning to the Artefact.
In this case, he needed a deep understanding of the leather armour he was creating. Fortunately, he had used many Artefacts back on Earth, so his knowledge was pretty good in this area.
As long as he wasn't crafting something too complicated, he was confident in making anything he had previously used back on Earth.
His body suddenly grew hotter, or at least, that's what he felt, because there was a burning fire in his soul core. It didn't harm him, but it consumed a huge quantity of his mana.
But mana was the last thing he was worried about.
After a few minutes, the creation was completed. He raised his hand as the same purple mist emerged, bringing forth a dark tunic with it.
Kael smirked upon seeing the results. The skill reminded him of the crafting table from a game he used to play. He provided the ingredients and the form he wanted, and the skill did all the other work to give him the final product.
He picked up the tunic and smiled in satisfaction, "This should do for now. Wait! I need to make some shorts too."
He still had some materials left from the snake, so he made shorts as well. They were of the same colour and also contained the same skill. He tried changing the skill but it didn't work.
[The Soul Forge has a cooldown of one day, and I've just checked it. The second forging was only possible because there was material left and you made a similar item.]
"Should have expected that," Kael sighed, a little disappointed, but not too much. After all, he could still mass-produce the same stuff.
He also understood the reasoning behind the cooldown, though. [Soul Forge] used some strange flames belonging to his soul and could also damage it. The skill was simply too broken otherwise, so a cooldown was necessary.
He shook his head and dashed forward, jumping from branch to branch as he circled around the Great Tree. It really was too big, and it took him some time to reach Kiona.
As he landed on a thick branch, he found her punching and kicking the air. She would also occasionally use her flames, but she still mostly relied on physical attacks.
The morning sunlight fell on her naked figure, making her golden tan skin all the more pronounced. For a moment, Kael couldn't even look away from the mesmerizing sight.
But he quickly recovered, jumped down, and commented casually, "Getting used to your new body, eh?"
Kiona stopped and glanced at him, "Want a quick spar?"
"We'll do it later, but for now, wear this," Kael handed over the tunic and shorts, saying, "Your body is beautiful, but also distracting."
Kiona stared at the clothes and growled like a beast, "Humans wear these too."
Chuckling softly at her, Kael said, "Yes, because clothes make you look better. Also, these clothes are Artefacts, not just simple garments."
"Artefacts?" Kiona was surprised and looked at the strange things in her hands again. They were soft to the touch and had a strange engraving on them she couldn't understand.
"Yes! They are Artefacts," Kael nodded. "Wear them, and I will contract you then."
"As you say..."