Chapter 18: Camping for the Night

The hunter duo continued down the path westward till nightfall. Rydel led them off the path and into the surrounding forest. He activated his spacial bracer and retrieved a tent. "We'll camp here for the night. At this pace, we'll reach our destination tomorrow night."

Jack was winded from trying to keep up with the lv. 29 Rydel; they had to take breaks multiple times while Jack caught his breath. With the flick of his wrist, a palm-sized crystal appeared in Jack's hand. "Yo captain, we should connect crystals before I forget. Just in case, you know."

Along the way Rydel was trying to figure Jack out and how this lv. 1 was able to get his hands on such treasures. When he caught glimpse of the contact crystal, he mentally winced at how spoiled this newbie adventurer was.

He said nothing as he took out his crystal, touched it to Jack's, and activated it to link the two. As long as the crystal was in contact him, Jack would now be able to mentally contact Rydel. Of course, Rydel would have to take out his crystal out to respond but he didn't like the thought of Jack pestering him constantly.

"Go and gather some firewood. I'll set up my tent and prepare the fire pit," said Rydel, giving Jack a somewhat cold shoulder.

The young hero didn't mind the cold treatment at all as he began to search for stray wood under the moonlight. Though Reinolt City had its own port and dock to the north, the rest of it was surrounded by forests. It was very dense near the city walls, but plenty of moonlight was able to shine down in the outer regions, like where Jack and Rydel were setting up camp. Fallen branches and stray wood were scarce but after enough time Jack had enough to last the night.

He returned to see Rydel inside his tent, relaxing on a cot he must've brought. The fire pit was half a meter deep and surrounded by a ring of rocks. Jack brought the firewood out of his storage and placed them to side.

With a few branches placed in the pit like a teepee, Jack asked, "Got a light, captain?" As soon as he finished speaking, a flaming arrow flew out of the tent and into the fire pit. Everything went up in flames instantly and nearly singed off Jack's eyebrows before he could back away.

"There, now I've shown you how to start a fire. From now on, you do the rest. I can't wait for dinner, so make sure it's really good." Rydel's casual voice caused Jack to shudder.

Jack didn't say anything and only sighed dejectedly. Without refusal, he got up and drew his bow. Trying his best to perceive his surroundings and find a trace of life nearby, Jack stilled himself for a few moments. Soon enough he left the camp and crept into the woods.

After a few minutes of traversing the woods, he was grateful that he leveled up his perception. If he hadn't, he may not have eaten dinner, or worse he would have to deal with a cranky Rydel. Jack was following the small tracks of what he assumed was a brown fox.

He hunted all kinds of animals during his gamer days, so he felt familiar enough to recognize the simple tracks. When he noticed the large dark brown fox hiding in the hollow of a tree, he was stunned. It was far larger than Jack had anticipated and would be very difficult for him to deal with if he couldn't finish it off with a single arrow.

Luckily, this was exactly why he preferred being a hunter and increased his bow skill to lv. 2. His body instinctively moved to nock an arrow and aim for its target. Before the fox had a clue, an arrow had lodged itself in the fox's head and quietly silenced it.

"Wow, that was easy," thought Jack as he walked up and removed his arrow from his prey. He threw the fox over his shoulders and was about to turn around when he noticed something hiding under the large fox. It was small, fluffy, and had small pointy ears. Its fur coat was a deep brownish-red that appeared regal. Feeling the body over top it disappearing its tiny head looked up and opened its dark eyes.

Jack flinched when he saw the adorable baby fox. Regret pierced his heart as he imagined leaving this beautiful and adorable fox stranded without anyone to protect it. He killed countless animals and beasts as Jack_J in "A Hero's Tale," but seeing this undeniably cute infant fox caused him to hesitate greatly.

The baby fox blinked and tilted its head when it saw its mother atop Jack's back. It felt its mother's pulse stop just before the mother's body was lifted away. Its instincts screamed that Jack was dangerous.

There was no hesitation when it whined and took off into the forest as fast as it's little legs could carry it. Seeing this Jack knew that the little fox had no chance to survive with his mother dead. Unwillingly, he placed the mother's carcass back into the hollow and took off after the baby fox.

It wasn't long until Jack heard a loud hiss in the distance, followed by whines of the baby fox.

He dashed towards the source of the whines and he saw a ring of thick, fallen tree trunks. Crouching behind a trunk and peeking over the top, Jack swallowed some saliva.

On the other side was the baby fox, who had entered the home of a huge forest python. It may be slow but once someone was in striking distance, it was very hard to escape its jaws. Jack tried his best to stay calm as he thought about the situation.

He was fine and he hadn't been discovered yet thanks to the distraction of the baby fox. But if Jack wanted to save the baby fox, he would put himself at risk. His bow skill was only lv. 2 and was comparable to the basic bow strength of a lv. 6 or lv. 7 hunter.

Against an old, metal hinge he might cause some damage, but against a python that far surpassed Jack it might not do anything at all; he might be lucky if he could pierce its scales. Mulling it over, he pulled out his bow and quietly nocked an arrow with his shaky hands. After some deep breaths, he managed to still his nerves enough to take a shot.

Jack was closest to the baby fox, with the python's head slightly to the right almost five meters away. Its coiled body was slowly reaching to cover the only opening in the ring, cutting off the chance of its prey escaping.

He took another deep breath and held it in as he peeked over the log to aim. After three seconds, Jack stood and instantly raised his bow to shoot.

The python noticed him immediately and began to turn its head to Jack as he released his arrow. It was aimed for the forehead, the common weak spot among snakes, but the snake did its best to dodge. Normally, dodging the arrow wasn't too much of a problem but the close quarters didn't let the snake completely evade the arrow. Instead of the forehead, the arrow pierced its eye.

Jack didn't waste a moment, jumping over the tree trunk the instant the arrow was released. He didn't look back at the snake after he grabbed the frightened fox and climbed back over.

The snake was in pain and lashed out with its nearby tail. It crashed against the tree trunk, leaving a deep impression from the force of impact. It continued to writhe in pain and struck Jack's side when he was on top of the tree trunk.

Turning his back towards the tail and keeping the baby fox in his arms against his chest, Jack took the full blow and was sent tumbling across the forest floor.

The python began to move towards him, but Jack was relentless and immediately stood up to run away. There wasn't much chase as the snake understood there was no chance to keep up with the fleeing hero. Upset and injured, the snake returned to its home within the circle of tree trunks.

Jack was panting and groaning heavily as he carried the baby fox away. Some ribs were broken, and he was heavily bruised on the entire right side of his torso.

Taking a tumble across the ground brought him many small cuts and bruises across his whole body. He did his best to reach the mother fox's body at top speed but was saddened to see the corpse missing without a single track left behind.

With depression setting in, he looked down at the cowering baby fox. It looked torn and confused from being saved by Jack. Without any intention, it started to bond with him even though its instincts originally said Jack was an enemy. Jack pet its head, brushed the blood from the sides of his mouth, and slowly trudged back to camp.