Chương 14: Welcome to the Jungle - Part 2
Survival requires various skills that allow you to adapt to whatever environment you are in. Therefore, it is an express necessity to carry a weapon with which to be able to defend yourself.
I am used to bows as one of my main weapons is a [Legendary Class]. So my aim is better than any archer out there.
It's just a matter of having the slightest chance of hitting and that's it....
After firing the arrow, my shot went straight through the skull of the boar I was aiming at. And then the animal collapses to the ground.
I managed to create some rope using the vines hanging from the trees, so I could drag the carcasses of all the edible beasts I've been killing so far.
I am quite practical in everything I do, as I was taught how to do these things since I was a child.
I've also been collecting materials in my inventory to build a rack of ribs, as long as I can get my hands on caesine, a meat that doesn't decompose easily.
Although... I don't know where I could get salt, in order to improve the taste of dried meat.
The animals I have killed, apart from meat, have some other material that can be useful for our survival. Be it fuel or something hard to produce useful tools.
I know the girl can use [Recreation], but none of that is of any use to us as we need functional tools of a certain durability to endure.
I must communicate to her that I want to climb all the floors up to the second... I need to get my weapons back, after all. If a monster gets hold of the power of one of them, there may be no future for us.
I set out on my way... there may be a few hours left before it's "night" on this floor, so I have my work cut out for me if I even want to survive the day.
----[One hour, forty-five minutes later]
----[Back to base]
I've been getting materials here and there, and I've got enough stuff to keep us alive in the meantime.
Elise is still in her [Zero Mana] state, so we won't be able to talk yet.
But it's okay, I can do all these things without her.
First, a simple campfire. Surrounding branches, leaves and a small log cut with rocks, and also having dried it all out using [Fire Magic], I light the fire with the flint I found in the chest.
It's a bit comforting to be able to feel the warmth of these simple flames... at least now my [Curse] is stable.
When I acquired the [Heroine] title, it was then that one of the adverse effects of that title began to affect me. And that is [Insanity Induction], an irremovable state effect that affects me with the production of hallucinations and the realism of them.
I have to do things that relax me mentally in order to keep the effect of this [Curse] at bay. One of them is to be close to a source of light and warmth, as it reminds me of when I was a child...
If I don't do this, my whole environment will become aggressive, generating illusions of monsters that can attack me in reality and also those around me.
The other reason I decided to collect so many materials is to keep my mind busy. The [Curse] kicks in mostly at times when I'm not thinking about anything, triggering little noises around me that start to make me paranoid and makes the [Curse] effect itself increase.
I have to live with this until my son or daughter is born, for in the best case, the title of [Hero] or [Heroine] will be passed on to my first born and then I will be released from the [Curse] that I have lived with for the last seven years.
But if that does not happen, then I will have to die for the title to be passed on to my firstborn. It is for that reason that I grew to the age of fourteen without getting the title, it was only conferred upon me after my mother's death, as she asked to be executed in order to be released from this [Curse].
It is said that the [Curse] has a greater effect when the first-born is a woman. But I don't know if that is true.
Anyway, I have to keep myself busy with something.
So now... yeah, I'll make a few arrows.
I happened to find several [Orcs] while I was out and about, so I just killed them to get their fangs. Which I can easily use to create arrows when I tie them with string to a branch of wood I've previously processed myself.
Having the [Synthesise] skill turns out to be quite useful for things like that. That's how I refine these materials in order to produce arrows.
The [Orcs] also carried with them a variety of weapons and armour, which I kept in my [Inventory] so that after making some forge, I can work with the metals.
Unfortunately [Synthesise] doesn't work with metals or gemstones, so there's not much to do.
Oh, and regarding the monsters that might attack us during the night, I used the blood of the boars to produce [Runes of Protection] that hide us from the monsters' sight. This way we won't have to be bothered by various things.
And now that the flames are strong enough, I take out a metal shield from my [Inventory], it's something I stole from the [Orcs]. This same shield I place over the campfire using some sticks as a support.
On one of my trips to the west I learned this style of cooking, which involves heating a metal surface to roast meat without the need for any oil. However, it's not like you can get something like that here.
By doing this you can grill on one side without the need to be directly exposed to the flames, quite useful if I must say so.
Right now my [SP] is hovering around 150,000; so I must eat something soon or I'll be in trouble tomorrow.
While the meat is cooking, I will continue to make use of the flames of the campfire in which I put seven boar tusks directly into the fire.
But these tusks have magical properties that allow them to withstand high temperatures. And that is what I need to happen to activate these magical properties.
Why? Simple, so that they can be properly moulded into the shape of a spearhead. We need real weapons, and that's what I'm going to do.
While this is being done, I take one of the [Bezoar] and wrap it in a piece of cloth that I synthesised using the wool of a [Beastly Sheep]. So, with a stone I start to pulverise the [Bezoar] so that it can be used in better ways.
I made a crude vessel for the blood using the skull of one of the boars, in order to collect as much blood as possible from the animals I killed. This is how I now, with some pulverised [Bezoar], purify the toxins present in the blood, disinfecting any kind of impurity.
I could have used [Ambrosia] for this purification, but then the [Vampire] would have died as soon as I put in its mouth what I am about to perform.
-Nn... ouch... my head... -. Suddenly a tired voice was heard.
I identify this voice as Elise's voice. I look at her again and see that she already lifted her body off the ground. Right now she has a painful expression on her face.
I quickly open my [Inventory] and take out several small bottles with a whitish-blue fluid inside. They are expired [Mana Potions], but they still have a very small effect.
-Until you wake up. -. I say without trying to be too friendly with her, and rolling over, I pass her the potions without making eye contact with her.
A few seconds later I hear her open one of these bottles... and not long after that a groan of disgust.
-Guh... -. Her voice is displeased.
I get it, the taste of expired potions is simply disgusting and can make you want to vomit. But that's all we have for now.
I go about my business scraping a gold nugget I found by chance against a stone, dropping the powder into the liquid inside the skull. Then a reaction starts, causing the blood to bubble up.
I add some water, and finally, I throw a previously powdered [Anaconda Fang] inside the skull. And that's when the solution changes from red to a violet-like colour.
This is done.
-Hey, child... drink this, it will be much easier for you to recover with this.
I carefully grab the boar skull and turn to give it to Elise in my hands.
She looks at this skull in confusion...
-Why... are you doing this? -. Her question is obvious. The distrust ends up being natural since I had tried to kill her a few hours before.
But just because I'm helping her right now doesn't mean I trust her either... instead, I want her to answer all my questions, and for that I need her to recover properly.
So... well, I have to be honest.
-I want you to tell me who the hell is... Nishimiya Saeko... or whatever it's called. And I also want you to explain everything that surrounds you. The reason you didn't eat those adventurers and your reason for being in this dungeon.
Elise's expression for a second changes to one of surprise, a second later it changed to one of despair but then it turned to one of submission.
She knows I used an ability to see her [Status], so she doesn't seem to resist the idea of speaking.
She grabs the skull with both hands... and without any hesitation at all, she starts to drink the mixture without being in any hurry.
What I made for her was a [Restoration Potion] for monsters, since I don't have the materials to specifically make a [Mana Potion], anything to restore her [Mana] would do.
But why is it for monsters? Well, because it has mostly materials from monsters in it. If I drank that, even if I had used [Bezoar] in that solution, I would have ended up with a hole in my stomach because of how acidic the whole mixture is.
However, to the monsters, it's as sweet as honey. Elise even looks excited as she takes each sip of the potion.
-Thank you... ma'am... -. She calls me that way, thanking me.
...
...
...
-Who are you calling "ma'am"?! I'm only twenty-one! Address me as "Olivia"! My full name is Olivia Cross!
I should mention that I'm offended by the way you referred to me! I'm not a lady! Not at all!
Ahh, I hate that only in things like that I'm able to act like someone my age! I hate it when they call me "ma'am" or something like that!
-Uhm... ok, Olivia... I'm Elise... just Elise.
-I know! We're here because of you... so, well... give me a hand with these things while it's getting dark.
I guess it'll be a good idea to start talking to each other... for her, as well as for me.
At least I'm reassured that my [Curse] won't be activated for a very long time.
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