Vanroc sat on the stone by the river for a while. He had decided to travel to a larger city.

He took a map from his bag, which came from his grandfather's possession. With a purposeful look, he scanned the map and considered which city should be his destination and which route he would have to take for it.

Nearby there were four big cities.

To the west was the city of Tene with about 1000 inhabitants. East of it was the town of Agri with about 7000 inhabitants. Further east of Agri was the town of Calagri, which also had about 3500 inhabitants.

Finally, there was the city of Umbradigum, which was located southeast of Agri with over 15000 inhabitants.

Vanroc thought for a long time and decided that his goal would be Umbradigum. His grandfather had once told him that Umbradigum was the trade center in the northeast.

It was also the largest city in the nearby region, so he had a better chance of finding a job.

After he set his destination, he thought about the best travel rod.

Vanroc decided that it would make the most sense to travel first to the town of Agri and then to Umbradigum.

To get to Agri, Vanroc had two options. Either he travels to the west-east to take the streets where merchants normally transport their goods. It would take a few days longer, but it would be a safer road for his journey. Or Vanroc would run the risk of traveling through the woods between Originem and Agri. It would shorten travel time, but it would also be riskier and more dangerous.

Although both routes were not really safe, the route that traders normally use would be a bit safer in terms of monster attacks.

Vanroc thought for a while whether the risk would be worth it. He thought about his situation. He barely had any food or money. On the way, he could be lucky and meet a traveling merchant, who could sell him something to eat for a small price. But if he is not lucky, it would be difficult to cover the longer way.

If he chose the path through the forest, he could catch some monsters for roasting. Well, in the end, both would depend on his luck.

Eventually, Vanroc decided to take the risk of traveling through the forest. The sooner he arrived at Agri, the sooner he could start his new life in Umbradigum.

Since Vanroc was so absorbed in his thoughts, he had not noticed that it was already evening when he made that decision. So he decided to spend the night near the river, so he could set out on his journey through the forest at dawn.

This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.

Fortunately, despite all the problems, Vanroc did not have to worry about drinking water. At the river he stayed, he had already filled his supply, since the water was extremely clear and clean. This would last for a while.

The next morning Vanroc made his way into the forest and oriented himself to the sun's position to go in the right direction. Last night he had calculated that the way through the forest would take about 15 to 17 days.

After three days of his journey, Vanroc was fortunate to find fruits that grew in the forest. This enabled him to save his rations, which would make the journey easier.

Vanroc encountered no monsters or other dangers until the tenth day of his journey. This was not too surprising, as it was not the Black Forest or the Dark Forest where strong and dangerous monsters were at home.

Vanroc decided to catch some monsters for their meat, as his rations were almost empty. Several years ago, he and his grandfather read a book about catching monsters with home-made traps. At that time, his grandfather took him to the garden and built a small trap to try in reality. Vanroc remembered the way they had made the trap.

First, he broke off a branch from a tree with a diameter of 2 cm and a length of 90 cm.

Then Vanroc broke this branch in two places, not completely through, so he got a horseshoe shape. He sharpened both ends with the help of a sharp-edged stone.

After that Vanroc was looking for a young, flexible tree. Not far from this tree he struck the horseshoe stick with its pointed ends in the ground. Since he had no hammer with him, he used a larger stone for it.

Then Vanroc searched for a branch as thick as the branch of the shaped horseshoe. This branch got hammered a bit away from the horseshoe into the ground.

As the last main material, Vanroc took a rope out of the backpack and knotted it so that a variable sling was made.

Next, he fastened a short thinner branch over the noose.

The end of the rope without sling was then attached to the bendable tree.

Finally, he attached the rope to the structure by wrapping the short branch, which had been fastened over the sling, halfway around the horseshoe. It was placed so that the short branch with the rope does not come off again. To do this, he stretched another branch between the short branch and the branch opposite the horseshoe he had fastened there before.

To lure monsters, Vanroc put one of his last rations at the sling as bait. As soon as a monster with one foot got caught in the noose and bumped against the branch Vanroc had placed between the other two, the monster's leg would get caught in the noose.

Satisfied with his work, Vanroc sought a good place to hide.

Waiting for a monster to fall into his trap, he remembered asking his grandfather why he had taught him that.

His grandfather laughed heartily and had answered, "Little Roc, why are you asking? Such things may be helpful in your future. You never know what you will experience in your life. Besides, why do you ask that only on this topic, which you can even use in practice and not on any other topic I would otherwise teach you? There are a variety of topics, some without context or direct applications, but you question this? "

When Vanroc thought about it, he himself did not know why he had asked his grandfather about it.