I walked in the direction of the stream for about an hour before I could hear the sounds of running water. I did not encounter any beasts and spent the time inspecting my new map. I could change the size or transparency as well as turn on and off certain indicators. Zooming out as far as I could to try to see Etes, everything outside of the forest was white. My skill level was not high enough to distinguish what was forested and what was not so I could not tell exactly where the plain to the west of the eternal forest started.

Mentally guessing that it was 50 or more miles away, I had run so far while escaping the Norx. There were various marks on the map representing where I had found pyrus berries and grayson root, it seemed like these were the only things I had used identify on so far. I would need to focus on use it on everything from now on. I tried to understand the logic behind the framework for identifying those two things and nothing else. I could only think that because I had eaten the pyrus berries and that I knew the grayson root was used in the explosives. I hoped that when I identified other sources of food or crafting items it would show those as well.

By the time I made it to the stream it was around midday. I could only tell based on the lighting under the canopy as I could not directly see the sky. This part of the old forest was densely packed with massive trees that rose hundreds of feet in the air and their foliage so thick it all linked together up above.

Kneeling down, I filled my water containers and drank deeply from the stream. The water was clear and cold as ice. It flowed from the great Shurin mountains in the east all the way to the wild ocean in the west. At least that was where those were before the framework, I could only guess as to Eter’s geography now.

Lunch was a handful of berries I had found on the way to the stream. Now that I had water and knew where to get it from, I needed to map out the area around the cave and investigate it for resources. I had my bow with me to hunt, I had plenty of room in my pack for whatever I could find. I wanted to be back at the cave before dusk and explore the defensive features and upgrades available. I was hoping to be able to block off the entrance during the night.

I spent the rest of the afternoon surveying the area. I found lots of trees, rocks and even a few more trees. I grew frustrated quickly as it seemed I was lost in a great expanse of nothing. I did not come across any beasts, intelligent or otherwise. I had made it back to the cave when I had a sudden realization and pulled up an old notification.

Congratulations! You have defeated a regional beast lord!

I mentally opened my new guide and found the beast tab. Sure enough there was an entry for regional beast lord and a kill counter set at 1. I focused on the regional beast lord and got a few more details.

Regional beast lord - Each area outside of population centers in the framework is ruled by beasts. These beasts range in levels and tiers such as a human. Regional beast lords are intelligent and rule over a large area as well as other intelligent and non intelligent beasts of lower rank. These lower ranked beasts often fight for the position of regional beast lord and regional beast lords change regularly. Every time one is killed the beasts that inhabit that area will fight until a new regional beast lord is chosen.

Did that mean there was a large group of beasts out there somewhere fighting it out to see who would be next? The thought of that scared me. I could see the beginnings of entries for other levels of beast lords but the information was unavailable, I supposed I had to learn about it the natural way. The area around the cave must have belonged to the cave bear and when I killed it that would start a contest amongst the local beasts to crown a new regional beast lord.

It all sort of made sense at the same time that it didn’t. How intelligent were these beasts? Would killing one beast lord send others after him? Too many questions and not enough answers as I headed back to the cave. I stockpiled wood for the nights fire and checked the inventory tab of my interface.

Still having equipment boxes to open, I figured now was a good time. I would have to manually carry anything that spawned but I was confident in staying here in the cave. I had learned from the guide that my inventory was tied to my strength value, the higher my strength the more I could carry in my inventory. The formula said it was my strength multiplied by 1 was equal to the amount of square foot available. My current strength of 18 meant I had quite a bit of space to use. All I had to do to put something in or take something out was think about it.

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I had 10 bronze item boxes, 2 silver item boxes, 1 gold item box and 1 ruby item box. The guide told me that item boxes came in tiers that went in order; bronze, silver, gold, ruby, platinum, diamond. I could get anything from wearable equipment to useful items to food from each box. It was apparently determined by the framework based on needs and merit. How the inventory system worked and how it just held things until I needed them was something I couldn’t even begin to understand and did not want to think about.

My first 5 bronze boxes gave me a type of bread called ethel bread. It would make me feel full after eating one of the loafs. It specifically stated that it was not a sole source of food, meaning I still needed to hunt. The next 2 bronze boxes gave me 10 trippers and poppers. The last 3 bronze boxes gave me a total of 8 more throwing knives and 8 smokers. I moved to the silver boxes next and was ecstatic when I received 10 bangers. I finally had more explosives for safeguarding the cave. The gold box materialized as a full stryker style suit made of a material I didn’t know. I identified it.

Stryker uniform - Unique - Upgraded stryker uniform, all the utility and comfort of the old with higher armor ratings. Regenerates as long as at least one piece remains intact, will reform, time to reform depends upon severity of damage.

I pulled up my equipment tab and looked at the changes.

Equipment - Armor - Condition

Head

None

Chest

Stryker uniform

10

Arms

Stryker uniform

10

Hands

None

Legs

Stryker uniform

10

Boots

Stryker uniform

10

Weapon

None

My armor stat was now 40, I didn’t fully understand what that number meant and the guide was not helpful, the information was locked until I visited a blacksmith or leather worker. I still had one box left and held the ruby equipment box in my hand. The size of the box had no bearing on what was inside I found. This small box would contain the most powerful item I had ever owned based on the scaling of the other boxes. I hesitantly opened it to find a small book inside. I triggered Identify.

Framework guide - Explosives - Scaleable item based on subjects level - Contains knowledge of explosives commonly used in subjects home world.

I received a few notifications about the explosives guide leveling up to level 12. The first few pages of the book went over the nature of explosives and some of the materials that could be used. As I learned about each new material, spots began to populate on my map of where they could be found. It wasn’t until page 10, corresponding with level 10, that I got my first recipe.

Banger - Unique to the nation of Eter - Combination of Grayson Root, flint and ferrica. Combining these ingredients in their powdered forms will create a small explosion when exposed to fire or violently shaken.

The book was teaching me how to make bangers. If I set out to harvest the ingredients I would never be defenseless again. Combining this new knowledge with my new remote detonation skill would make for a deadly explosion. The last two pages of the book talked about situations that bangers would be useful in and some more information about how they were discovered and by whom. While it was interesting I needed to secure the front of the cave and explore the town interface before continuing to read it.

I set the trippers in almost a full semicircle around the cave. I rigged every one of them to poppers and set out the banger boxes in a small pile near where I had been sleeping. My plan was to wake to the sound of a popper and immediately lob a banger in that direction, I would run deeper in to the cave and remotely activate the explosion. At my current level I could be 200 feet away and still activate it. That way I should be able to escape harm from the blast. I set two more trippers, this time with bangers, to the rear of the cave to catch anything coming up from that direction.

I felt much more secure and safe. With the cave over my head, the entrance trapped, a few days supply of food and water, I could finally relax.