"Rick?"

"Yeah?"

"You asked earlier if any girl would ask you to be their mate, right?"

"Yeah, but with what you said about me, I doubt anyone would approach me."

Based on what Gwen had explained to him, Rick realised that the clan had more female elves than male elves.

This would explain why it wasn’t rare to see a male elf having more than one female elf by his side.

It also explained why females were the ones proposing to the males instead of the other way around, because in this world, or more accurately in this clan, it was normal for females to do so.

"Don’t worry about it, Rick. If no one approaches you, then you’ll just keep living with me and mother. After all, the two of us don’t have any life partners either. We can just live together as one big happy family." Gwen assured him with a huge smile on her face, and this made Rick smile in return before asking softly.

"Um, is there a reason why you and mother don’t have any....?"

"Yes, there is." Gwen replied, cutting him short before he could completely ask his question.

"What is it?"

"I’ll tell you later, but first you have to focus on your awakening ceremony and completing your rite, okay?"

"Okay." Rick replied with a nod and Gwen smiled as she pulled him closer to her.

She wrapped her arms around him to give him a hug just as he had done to her earlier.

"I really like this. But I don’t even know what to call it."

A smile graced Rick’s lips as he tried not to find it strange that Gwen didn’t know what a hug was.

But then again, they were currently in a primitive world, so Rick thought it wasn’t strange to see her not knowing it.

In fact, he wouldn’t even be surprised if Gwen didn’t know what a kiss was, much less the hundreds of kinky positions known to the modern man and woman.

Pushing this thought away for now, Rick replied as he hugged her in return. "I call it a hug."

"A hug, huh. I like it."

"Yeah, me too."

"But I’m really going to miss you when I leave later today." Gwen muttered softly as she tightened her hug around him.

"What do you mean?" Rick pulled his head back and asked before hearing the sound of a female harrumphing from the cave entrance.

"Ahem!!"

Both Gwen and Rick turned toward the cave entrance to see the female elf walking into the cave.

Noticing the shaman walking in, Gwen smiled and swiftly hurried over to Ophelia. "Grandmother Ophelia, you were right. Rick can’t recall what had happened up to the point where Zok had attacked him."

The shaman walked closer and Rick couldn’t believe what he was seeing right now.

Not only was the shaman not as old as he had expected her to be, Rick was genuinely surprised by how young she looked.

In fact, he wondered why Gwen was even calling her a grandmother when Ophelia clearly looked like a lady in her late thirties.

Ophelia was without a doubt the youngest grandmother he had ever laid eyes on.

She was also a bit different from Gwen, in the sense that she was a dark elf wearing a similar leaf bra and leaf loincloth that barely concealed her marvellous and motherly thighs and hips.

And as for her bountiful chest?

Rick tried his best not to stare too much.

After all, Gwen had told him how she could destroy a clan with just a sneeze.

"How do you feel now, little one?" Ophelia asked as she placed a hand on his forehead.

Rick could feel a strong warmth from her palm as her hand glowed in a green hue before dimming down.

"I feel fine."

"Hmm, it seems your wounds are fully healed but it’s a shame you can’t remember what had happened to you. And as for your memories, I’m sorry my skills are not enough to help you regain them." Ophelia uttered as she slowly pulled her hand from his forehead.

"It’s fine. I heard you worked really hard to keep me alive so I’m grateful for that, because if it weren’t for you, I wouldn’t be here right now." Rick replied with a smile, but Ophelia was taken aback by the talking elf in front of her.

She swiftly turned over to Gwen, who simply replied with a smile and a shrug.

From Ophelia’s reaction, it was easy for Gwen to understand how surprised Ophelia was to see Rick talking.

Ophelia had turned toward Gwen in disbelief at seeing Rick talking and being so nice, so Gwen couldn’t help but smile as she shrugged back in return, as a way of saying even she was still surprised by how much Rick had changed overnight.

Understanding the meaning behind Gwen’s shrug, Ophelia sighed softly before turning back toward Rick.

"Have you eaten this morning?"

"No." Rick shook his head and Ophelia glanced over to Gwen.

"We finished our fruits last night, but I’ll be heading out again today to hunt for more food."

"You’re leaving?" Rick asked.

"Yes, I have to go because we need food and since we have none and mother isn’t around, I have to head out to find us more food."

"But...."

"It’s fine, Rick. I have to do this. The Cold Winds are coming and we need to gather as much food as possible before food gets even more scarce."

Rick was unfamiliar with the term Cold Winds but based on the context the words had been used in, Rick could easily assume that Gwen was talking about winter.

"Are you going out on your own?" Ophelia asked with a stern look on her face.

"Yes. I am."

"You can’t and you know why. Take at least one elf with you if you really want to go."

"But other elves slow me down and they can’t keep up with me. I’ll be more than enough to handle hunting on my own."

"No, Gwen. It’s what your mother wants. No elf must head into the forest alone. You need to take at least one other elf with you."

"Fine, I’ll ask a gatherer to accompany me then, but can Rick stay with you while I’m out hunting?"