Of course, what Goki pinched was Skadi's rosy cheeks.
Of course, even if he pinched other places, Skadi wouldn't react.
In the eyes of this Abyssal Hunter, who only knew how to fight, her body parts were nothing special, and Goki could touch them whenever he wanted.
However, Goki himself was a decent person and wouldn't deceive Skadi, who understood nothing, into getting intimate with him while she was confused.
What Goki wanted to do was first teach this powerful yet pure Abyssal Hunter, who knew nothing, what love was, and then pursue her honorably!
Otherwise... tricking a child would be boring. Skadi probably didn't understand much more than Tomimi.
Before this, he had already taught Skadi a lot of common sense about land, and recently, emotional and sex education had also begun to be introduced.
"I told you not to sleep so carelessly in front of other people. How could you forget again?"
Not letting go, but continuing to rub Skadi's little face, Goki showed her a brilliant smile.
"Mmm mmm, how could that be? Only when Goki is here do I feel safe. Other times, I always remain vigilant—as soon as someone approaches, I'll immediately subdue them. If they're an enemy, I'll eliminate them!"
However, no matter how Goki taught, this Little Orca, who didn't understand love or affection, still preferred to interpret his education in terms of combat and hunting.
Skadi grabbed Goki's large hand, gently rubbed her face against it twice, then flipped over and sat up, put on Goki's clothes, laced up her boots, opened the car door, and climbed out of the car, jumping to the ground.
The jeep's almost flattened tires immediately bounced back to their original shape.
"I smelled raw meat a while ago, Goki. You caught prey—why did the car stop?"
Seeing this scene, Goki could only give a wry smile.
"No choice, this car was already broken enough. It was lucky that we managed to repair it a few times before. We should be close to our destination, so walking is fine."
After leaving Acahuala, the two traveled north, stopping and starting, taking about another month to reach this transit station.
Half the reason was that Goki and Skadi would resupply at various Sargon settlements, experience the local customs, and let Skadi eat and play, enjoying the journey, which naturally slowed them down.
The other half of the reason was... Skadi's heavy weight always broke the vehicles.
The poor old jeep, after several successful repairs, still broke down before reaching its destination.
And looking at Skadi's cute little face, and the small pits she made when jumping in the sand, Goki could only silently conceal this cruel truth.
After all, Skadi was really sensitive about her weight.
Don't mention it, if Titi gets unhappy and angry, it means a private seat at the bottom of Aegir.
It was precisely for this reason that Goki, having retrieved his stored items, no longer bothered to save, but unhesitatingly crushed nearly two hundred Rank 1 to 3 Cold-Blooded Dews.
Then, he directly invested about 100,000 blood echoes into his weapon enhancement and Rank advancement.
"[Current Rank: 29+14 = 43
Vitality: 15+5 = 20
Endurance: 15
Strength: 16+9 = 25
Agility: 15
Bloodtinge: 10
Arcane: 9]"
To better withstand Skadi's nightly hugs, Goki focused his stat allocation on Vitality and Strength.
Now, his physiological tolerance and physical strength had both reached an excellent Rank, only slightly lower than Gavial's.
If Skadi hadn't still been sleeping in the car, Goki could have just lifted the jeep's body with one hand to repair the chassis!
Although bones would still break, at least they wouldn't break as severely.
By now, each Rank up cost Goki nearly 9,000 blood echoes. While it seemed like a lot, considering the overall increase in acquisition sources—killing each monster also yielded more blood echoes—the speed was actually no different from before.
When it truly reaches the Late Stage, and the Rank is high enough, a single Rank up can consume hundreds of thousands or even millions of blood echoes, so 100,000 blood echoes is indeed not much.
Just keep grinding slowly, what else can be done?
However, that kind of power, strong enough to disregard everything, was still far from Goki's current weak state.
And Goki's current goal was very clear.
To go to Columbia, the most Advanced young nation, to search for knowledge and legends related to gods, and then to find relics like the Sargon temple he found before, all over the world, to find more Advanced enhancement items.
Of course, if there were even stronger prey, Goki wouldn't mind trying to hunt them.
The wisdom of the ancient deity left behind by the God of Burning Wind, and from, Goki was ready to use it.
He believed that, just like last time, he would receive more critical information—about the gods.
And all efforts ultimately had only one goal—to become stronger.
And what was the purpose of becoming stronger?
"[Of course, it's so that if Titi and I ever reach that point, I won't have my pelvis crushed in bed!"
Goki's goal was simple and pure. For this ultimate goal, Goki intended to keep working hard.
After all... Skadi was really big—referring to her strength!
At this moment, the Doll's shy yet angry voice echoed in Goki's mind.
"[Kind Hunter, have you forgotten Nona Gavial, who is devoted to you? That kiss was truly passionate and shy. Being so fickle is not good!]"
Except for the one time she left Yharnam, the Doll rarely confessed directly to Goki, always self-deceptively concealing her feelings, which Goki already knew.
However, after Gavial made that forceful kiss of confession when she parted ways with Goki, the Doll often brought her up to express her displeasure.
"[Ah, that...]
Recalling the bold and cheerful crocodile Senior Sister, and that completely unskillful kiss that even bit Goki's gums when they parted ways, Goki felt a bit awkward.
Although he had also been kissed by Specter during their parting in Iberia, that crazy shark Senior Sister really didn't have any other intentions.
But Gavial's actions... Goki wasn't some dense harem male lead; he couldn't possibly not know what she was trying to express.
"[Ha, I knew it. Someone as excellent as me, whether it's Senior Sister Maria or the Vampire Queen, is devoted to me. I've also been the top of Yharnam's Ten Outstanding Young People for consecutive years, the Hunters Workshop's Hunter of the Year, and the number one man on Yharnam's 'Man I Most Want to Marry' popularity ranking. It's perfectly normal for girls to like me.]"
And Gavial, as expected, was Goki's wife! She truly had good taste!
"[Ha... Kind Hunter, you must be shy too.]"
"[Don't expose me...]
Well, the truth was, Goki was so excited the night he left Acahuala that he didn't sleep at all.
It had always been him pursuing girls; he had never been pursued by a girl before, and Gavial... just did that.
In fact, Goki hadn't expected her to suddenly fall for him like that.
"Ha..."
Sighing, Goki lamented this ill-fated relationship.
However, fortunately, the two would always meet again.
"[Anyway, as expected of my wife, the next time we meet, we'll start dating immediately!]"
Goki knew that Gavial would definitely become an excellent doctor, just as she dreamed, continuously saving lives harmed by oripathy.
When would he and Skadi truly have a relationship?
"Ahem—another few tens of kilometers north, and we'll reach a mobile settlement pulled by tractors. We'll be able to get to Qinjiao Town. Kaltsit gave us a way to get to Columbia. I didn't expect to be able to use it so soon."
Nodding, looking at the adorable Little Orca in front of him, Goki felt that he still needed to continue working hard.
"Come on, Skadi, we'll set off after this meal."
Saying that, Goki raised the piece of rock lizard sirloin in his hand and waved it at Skadi.
"How do you want to eat this meat, salted? Pan-fried? Braised? Or..."
Hearing Goki's words, Skadi's red eyes suddenly lit up.
"None of that, I want barbecue, Goki, perform that, can you perform that?"
Clapping her hands with a hint of anticipation, Skadi reached out and pointed at the back of Goki's right hand, which was holding the meat.
On the back of his hand, a fiery red emblem in the shape of a flame, which hadn't been there before, rested quietly.
Just looking at it made one feel a wave of heat.
Caryll Rune: Burning Wind Fire.
Although it looked like a Command Seal carved on the hand, similar to the Chaldea Master next door, in reality, this thing was a power deeply etched into Goki's mind.
"Ha, you're just staring at my new ability. Playing with fire too much will make you wet the bed."
Looking at Skadi's expectant expression, Goki sighed.
"Alright, alright, I'll demonstrate it for you one more time—hmm?"
Just as Goki was about to perform for Skadi, suddenly, both of them raised their eyebrows and turned their heads in another direction.
They sensed hostile gazes.
Not far away, accompanied by rolling dust, several dilapidated pickup trucks, equipped with ramming horns and wrapped in barbed wire, were rushing towards them.
And in the truck beds, a group of shabbily dressed, fierce-eyed, dirty bandits were greedily looking at the two "frail and helpless travelers" whose car had broken down.
In a sense, they were the same kind of dangerous existence as the rock lizards that had attacked Goki earlier.
Soon, nearly ten bandits stopped their cars, brandishing rusty machetes and axes, and noisily surrounded Goki and Skadi.
"Rob—rob—robbery!"
"Hey, you, look, there's a little girl there too. Don't rush, I'll rob, rob her first."
"That guy doesn't look bad either, I can do him!"
Hearing their words, Skadi frowned, and Goki sighed, then suddenly clenched his right hand.
"Ugh—what heavy tastes."
The next second, blazing flames erupted from Goki's hand, completely transforming his right hand into a weapon forged from fire.
"Skadi, isn't this what you wanted to see? Say the line!"
Immediately after, Skadi, with an excited expression, shouted the line she thought was super cool.
"Yes—Goki, use Flame Punch on them!"
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