That was odd, but I wasn’t about to question it. A sign of magical influence it may be, but it sure was a more welcome one than undead skeletons.
Spearing a fish proved harder than I thought. Refraction caused my aim to be just off, and I had to learn to aim above my target to even get close to spearing a fish. Twice I broke off several of my spear points, and my tool was growing shorter with every mistake. Eventually though I got lucky and speared a fish.
“Got you! Dinner time!” I’d never caught my own food before, but I realized why people enjoyed the process. It was an exhilarating feeling. Human encroachment had wiped out most game animals anywhere outside of reservations back on Earth, and hunting wasn’t something you could do unless you could afford a large amount of land or had membership in an expensive club. Needless to say, I’d had neither.
It was much larger than the average fish, which probably played into why I could hit it. It was a big flat creature, the width of two hands and twice as long. It looked like a silver scaled rectangle flopping about on the end of my spear. When I lifted it out of the water its weight caused it to slide off the bent and abused prongs of my fish spear. I wasn’t about to let my prize drift away on me and so I reached after it. The chunk of soil I was on gave way and sent me tumbling into the mud. Apparently, the lakebed wasn’t as solid as it looked. What looked to be water only three feet deep was actually shallow water with a four-foot layer of mud and sediment interspersed with tall, jagged rocks. I was lucky I didn’t skewer myself in my fall. I’d be picking a better fishing spot in the future.
I just barely grabbed my fish, though my fish spear fell from my grasp and drifted off down the waterfall. Oh well, I wouldn’t need another one until I got hungry again. I crawled out of the mud, prize in hand and went about the work of filleting the fish. Luckily I’d already removed my bronze knife after converting the traditional spear to a fish spear, so losing a stick was a small loss when there were plenty around.
I knew enough about fish that you wanted to cut the gills. This bleed them out quickly, which served both to keep the fish from suffering and from souring the meat with the chemicals it would excrete in a prolonged fight for its life.
It wasn’t really necessary considering my wooden spear tip had already pierced straight through it, but this was my first time actually preparing a live fish, so I’d be doing it by the book, if only just this once.
The dorsal fin of the fish was a bright teal color, blending in smoothly with the pale underbelly. It had some teeth on it, so it was likely this fish was a predator. I called the things ‘white fin river fish,’ if only to give them a name. They had white fins, and I’d found them in the stream after all.
I knew the theory behind lighting a fire, but doing so in reality was a lot harder. First I tried rubbing two sticks together, but my left arm was still too hurt for that. I might have the book knowledge of how a caveman might start a fire, but I still lacked the technique. Eventually I settled on gutting and cleaning the fish and washing the meat off as best I could with water from the stream.
Then I opened my mouth and dropped the raw fish meat in. The texture was terrible. Squishy and slimy and not at all like sushi, let alone a good plate of salmon. But there was something else to it that made my mouth water with hunger. Like a nutrient I’d been craving all my life, and only now did my body recognize its desperate need.
It was like the water, only a thousand times more powerful. My mouth tingled. The strange sensation was so strong I had to have more.
Within minutes I’d eaten the entire fish. Physically I was stuffed, and yet my body demanded I catch another. I gave myself a moment to relax as I went through the process of finding and crafting a better fish spear. It had been a long day, and I wanted to give myself a chance to set up a long-term plan. I’d need to think about shelter and better tools and eventually satisfying the needs of Mac and figuring out this interface the wizard had given me. I wasn’t sure how much reserve power was left in that thing, but Mac wouldn’t be able to function indefinitely. Especially with his fixation on keeping things spotlessly clean.
There was a lot I could do here. For one, building fish traps and crab traps would make getting food effortless. I also considered building a shelter. A camp of sorts would go a long way towards making me more comfortable, and I couldn’t constantly be making trips down to stay with Mac, since doing so would eat deep into my working hours. Plus, I had no intention of braving through those skeletons, giant rats, and massive centipedes daily.
I’d also need some proper weapons. I could turn the bronze dagger into a decent bronze-tipped spear, but if there were worse threats than what I’d faced that might not be enough. I’d want some clothes too. Already the only intact piece of my wardrobe was my underwear. That was nice and comfortable considering the heat, but running around nearly naked wasn’t a good idea when fighting monsters.
I would not be weaving linen any time soon, but if I could make some string I could probably craft some primitive armor. Just walking around barefoot would probably give me blisters sooner rather than later, so making shoes was a must.
CHAPTER FOUR
I SPENT THE next week setting up a respectable camp. I managed to scrape together some dead branches from something that resembled a pine tree and set up a lean-to. I needn’t have bothered. In the end the bed I made was damp and smelly and much less pleasant than simply sleeping out in the open air, given the warm weather.
One comforting discovery I found was that nighttime was much brighter on this world than it was back on Earth. With thousands of celestial bodies floating through the sky, there was more surface area to reflect sunlight. That meant I could see fine once I had some time to adjust my vision to the dark.
This place was a tropical paradise without a mosquito in sight. I imagined people would pay quite a bit of good money to vacation here. I bet Sam and Dean partied it up while they were waiting for me. They probably waited months. My mood turned darker as I remembered I was alone.
On the seventh day, I finally managed to get a fire going. I’d like to say my hard work and dedication was what lent me success, but really it was luck. I managed to get a particularly dry bit of moss smoldering, while the wind blew in just the right way to light up some nearby leaves.
Regardless, I managed to get a fire lit. I hadn’t had any intestinal problems thus far, but I decided not to push my luck and started cooking my food from then on, carefully nursing the fire so it never went completely out. Now that I could cook things, I started branching out from just the white fin river fish to more adventurous foods. As good as the fish was, I craved some variety. I found something that looked a little bit like a crayfish with three arms while digging around in the water and took to roasting them on a hot rock, but they were more trouble to eat than they were worth.
One depressing fact I found is that the white fin fish didn’t taste anywhere near as delicious when cooked. Sure, the slimy texture was gone, but so was that rush of vitality whenever I ate it. Still, I’d be cooking my food from now on. I just couldn’t risk food poisoning while I was living alone in the woods. I needed to be in top form always.
I did, however, hit the jackpot on some of the tall grasses growing in the shallows of the riverbed. I tried cooking them to eat, only to find they were extraordinarily stringy. They were no good for food, but once dried the fibers were long and tough. I’d started weaving it into some crude string.
The crude string was immediately useful as a vital component of my cone-style fish trap. I’d throw some of my food remains in there and when I pulled it out there’d invariably be one or two white finned river fish in there, along with a bunch of the three-clawed crayfish.
I was still desperately lacking in tools. I’d tried to cut down a tree with my bronze knife, but that was an exercise in futility. In the end, most of my tools were made of sticks and wood. The lack of a proper axe was really hindering my ability to build structures. That and my aching arm.
&n
bsp; Although that problem had been fixing itself at a remarkable rate. Every day it felt a little bit stronger than the day before. I’d pin it on the clean outdoor living, but I couldn’t help but think there was something more to it. There was a certain vitality that infused the world of this place. A zeal in every substance that could bend the physical laws of physics in its own favor.
That was what I felt, and it was my best hypothesis, but at the moment I had no real way of testing it. Whatever was happening though, I was healing abnormally fast. I wasn’t one to look a gift horse in the mouth, but the skeptic in me couldn’t help but think that there must be a drawback somewhere. At the very least, I doubted the magic of this world was out to assist me exclusively.
Eventually, I traced my steps back to the entrance to the cave. I marked it out and started burning wood and collecting charcoal. That was mostly carbon, right? Hopefully, it would be good enough for Mac.
By the time my arm finally healed, I’d been able to wrap both forearms with some thick tree bark bound onto my body with my homemade string. I’d crafted something for my back and chest out of two bigger sheets and had made something akin to a loincloth out of some remaining pieces. My best spear was sitting on my shoulder, tipped with my bronze dagger. The weapon was getting a bit dull from all the use it was seeing, so I really hoped I’d be able to find another one on my way back.
I decided to leave the charcoal behind for the first dive. I wanted to map out the top layers of the cave network before I started going lower and looking for the chamber Mac and the inter-dimensional ship I’d inherited ended up in. I rubbed at the symbol that the pocket watch had burned onto my chest. Instead of lightening with time, it had only grown deeper and more vibrant. The man in the circle had started as a dim gray and was now a more vibrant black, matching the broken circle that surrounded him.
That symbol was connected to the ship, and probably responsible for me getting this interface overlayed on my vision. If I could understand and unlock its secrets, I was certain I’d be able to return home.
And so, I set off, armed and armored, ready to dive into a cave full of deadly monsters.
The first thing I ran into was fairly mundane. A giant snail with a big red and yellow spiraling cone for a shell. The sheer size of the creature would have disturbed me, had I seen it back on earth. After a week here, braving an unknown and hostile alien world? It was an easy meal, dish included.
The thick shell would make an excellent bowl. I’d played with some clay from the river to try and make a bowl, but hadn’t succeeded yet. If this snail shell could take the heat of a fire, I’d be able to boil water anyway! Drinking water directly from the stream was risky, and while it hadn’t harmed me yet, it wouldn’t be too late to start sterilizing it. Besides, I’d also be able to make a soup, which would make my meals more interesting.
Killing the snail proved difficult. It simply tucked its head into its shell and hid until I got close. I’d expected it to act like a giant version of a normal size snail, hiding until I was gone. I should have known better.
The moment I got within range, it’s head shot out of its shell, teeth bared. If I’d been a moment slower I might have lost a foot.
Luckily it wasn’t too intelligent. It stuck to the same trick over and over again, so I purposely tapped on the ground near it with the point of my spear to make it think I was approaching. When it stuck its head out I jammed my spear through the open gap in its shell as its jaws thrust outward. I stirred its insides up with my spear until it stopped moving. Then I had a fancy new bowl. I ate a bit of the snail, though the mushy texture made me gag. I wasn’t about to throw away perfectly good food though, and this snail shared the same peculiarly wonderful sensation I’d experienced from eating things in this world thus far.
Enemy defeated. Resources acquisition manually overridden. 5 points awarded.
After a few more dives I had the top layers of the caves mostly memorized. Anything further than that and I’d need to bring a light source. I still had the glowing piece of glass I’d taken from the ship, but the light it provided was dim. I was somewhat afraid of bringing a torch. All the varieties I’d tried to craft thus far were made of tree sap and billowed smoke. I’d hate to fill the tunnels with smoke from my own torch and choke to death. That would be another stupid way to die.
Although that did give me the idea of lighting a fire at the mouth of the cave. I chose a windy day and walled most of the place off. The pine-like trees had leaves that produced enormous amounts of smoke, and I funneled as much of that as I could into the cave system.
I got a few rats to come charging out, but nothing as big as the alpha rat I had fought before. With my new spear and bark armor they weren’t much of a challenge.
Enemies defeated. Points awarded.
After giving the smoke a few days to clear, I decided now was the time to look for Mac. I had amassed over two hundred points by now from all the little things I’d been fighting and was eager to find out how to spend them. I almost blew them all on what the interface could show me, but instead I decided to wait for Mac’s opinion.
Finding him actually took a lot less time than I thought. It turns out that he wasn’t that far down, but much of the second layer of the cave system wound around in a big circle. I must have spent hours following the right-hand side of the wall going around in a big circle. A few left hands turns and I would have been out in no time.
“Ah! It’s a barbarian savage!” Mac yelled as I opened the door. The place was much, much cleaner than it had been before. I wasn’t sure how Mac was scrubbing the place without a body, but whatever he had done it was suddenly in better shape than it was when I first saw it.
“It’s me, Mac. Theo.”
“I know it is. That still doesn’t mean you aren’t a barbarian savage. Close the door behind you. Last time you left I caught a glimpse of some sort of slug monster. Can you believe that? A slug monster! Absolutely disgusting. This place is dirty and gross, and I hate it.”
“Well, I’ve brought something that might make you feel a little better,” I unslung my pants from over my shoulder. I’d tied off the ankles and used them to haul charcoal down to the lower levels of the cave.
“Whatever you do, do not drop that on my floors,” Mac warned.
I put the bag of pants down as gently as possible. A puff of black smoke still filled the air.
Carbon detected. Add to resource supply? Yes / No
That was easier than expected. I thought I’d have to fiddle with the interface. I selected yes, and the carbon disappeared into a mist of blue sparks, leaving nothing behind but my pants. I untied the knots at the ankles and checked the insides. Completely spotless.
“I know,” Mac remarked. “It’s beautiful isn’t it? The mess just vanishes like it was never there in the first place!”
“Yes, it’s very convenient,” I replied idly as I pulled up the menu to check on how many more kilograms of charcoal I’d need to haul down here. To get that emergency mana generator running.
Repair emergency mana generator [19.823 points]
So, I managed to reduce the resource demand by 0.177 points. That actually wasn’t that bad. Except that I wouldn’t be able to do this indefinitely. The mana generator required only so much raw carbon.
“So, you’re sure that this mana generator thing is going to enable a lot more functions than what we have right now?”
“Definitely. I’ve been talking to the ship’s computers. She calls herself The Wanderer by the way, and she’s shown me some truly spectacular things! This ship has the ability to grow and expand like a living entity, so long as it has the resources.”
“Well then let’s buy the mana generator!” I exclaimed with excitement. Then I frowned. “Wait. I don’t want to waste these points if I don’t have to. Let me max out the carbon demand. That’s easy enough for me to do, and it will save us a few of these points. Otherwise I have to fight for these things.”
It took me a few
more loads, and each time I was highly tempted to just throw the points at it and see what would happen. Years of penny pinching had taught me patience though. When the cost for the emergency mana generator stopped decreasing, I finally pushed the button.
Repair emergency mana generator [18 points]
233.49 points available. Yes / No
I watched as the number of points I had went down to 215.49. As it did, one corner of the room started moving and shaking. The glass tubes in that area rearranged themselves as if they were being pulled by invisible strings.
Light glowed in geometric patterns, weaving itself into hexagons and cubes. As the light faded, a layer of plastic like material was left behind. It looked like there was an invisible 3D printer rendering the mana generator out of thin air.
After about a minute, the device was built. It was about the size of my head, with a big rotating cylinder in the center, which was turning slowly through no discernable means.
“Well?” I asked Mac. Maybe he could see something I couldn’t, because from where I was standing there was a lot of nothing happening.
“I can feel the batteries charging, Theo!” Mac said excitedly.
“Oh, so it’s just an electric generator,” Honestly, I was a bit disappointed. Since The Wanderer’s system tacked the word mana in front I expected something… magical.
Zeal of the Mind and Flesh: A Cultivating Gamelit Harem Adventure (Spellheart Book 1) Page 6
