Sunday morning. Time to hunt. I throw the three tools in my backpack, which stick out and don't let me close it properly. As there's no training of any kind today, I have my six mana points intact.

In the forest, as far as I know, there are wolves, rabbits, foxes, wild boars, deer, and elk. In addition to various birds. On the map, I've seen a stream that crosses it and I've memorized where it was. When I manage to find it, I crouch down and see some deer drinking. I don't have nor know how to use a bow, but I hope the minor fire arrow will work wonders. I choose one of the adult deer and cast the spell. From my outstretched fingers, the fiery arrow shoots out and quickly covers the space separating it from the animal's side. I could have aimed at its head, but it seemed more likely to miss. After all, the arrow isn't directed at the target. As the deer keeps drinking, unaware, the magic projectile hits it squarely. I see how the level 2 deer's life bar drops only 20%. If I've taken away the base of one health point, it must have 5. The deer reacts, writhes, and bellows. Its companions raise their heads from the water. They're going to flee. My mistake, I thought a couple of fire arrows would kill it. I spend two mana points and begin to create a wall of compacted earth that surrounds most of the animals. Only a couple manage to jump over that terrain that is rising before their frightened eyes. In a few seconds, I have the rest locked in.

Good for my earth element professor. Those two months practicing the earth control spell, leveling it up, gave me an understanding of how to make the earth obey my will. That's why I was able to learn the wall spell and I can cast it in different ways. In this case, a kind of circular fence that reaches just below their heads, and not too thick to try to enclose them all.

I hope they don't start ramming it or hitting it with their hooves. Well, a couple do. The wall holds for now. I don't approach. I arm myself with patience and wait. The deer end up calming down, going from fear to a kind of return to normalcy. A "nothing's happening here, let's keep drinking."

Now I could approach with my sword and see how many I kill. The only danger would be getting gored or having them break the wall. That's why I prefer ranged attacks; however, I've been too optimistic and I'm not prepared for it. How useful a bow would be right now, if I knew how to use it, of course. I have the stone bullet spell at a low level, it also only does one point of damage. If I had more strength, I could attack them simply by throwing stones. I sigh. With my means, I calculate that I can kill one, two if I'm lucky, before they escape. Because I know that if I attack them, they'll panic again and try to break the wall. I sigh again, this time resigned. I need help. I'm going for the goblins.

Just over an hour later—the stream is much closer to their cave than to the human village—I return with company. The deer are still inside. Thank goodness, I was afraid some wolf or other predator had feasted. Galp has told me they have darts poisoned with narcotics. They can use them for hunting, since first it's only a narcotic and, second, they drain the blood from the prey. Well, and third, they're goblins: they surely have much more resistance to poisons than I do. So the goblins surround them with all the stealth they can muster, shoot the deer in the head, and when they fall asleep, I say:

"Don't touch the young, let them grow. The females either."

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"Don't worry, we're going to settle in the area, we're not interested in the game running out."

I nod, more at ease, and spend two mana to undo the wall, returning the earth to the ground. Next, we slit their throats. Me too, with my dagger. They'll give a ridiculously low amount of experience but something is better than nothing.

As for the wall, I preferred to spend the mana instead of taking the pickaxe out of my backpack and knocking down a part to give us access. The reason is simple: I don't feel good leaving that enclosure on the bank of a stream, also taking part of the running water area, which I had stagnated. That forest is wild and beautiful in its natural state. It doesn't need human constructions. Besides, it's four adult deer that the goblins take to the cave. Between this and Friday night, they have food for many days. I'm not going to hunt anymore for now, so it's okay that I've been left with one mana point.

"I brought you this," I tell the totem once in the cavern and take out the three tools. "I know it's not much, but the ax is bigger than your hatchets. You have to cut down trees and build some furniture or structure that makes life easier for you in here. Maybe even try to enlarge the cave. This time I do want the skins; I'm going to sell them and use that money to bring you nails or whatever you ask for."

The chief thanks me and tells me that, before I leave, he'll give me a list of what they would need most urgently. I, in my initial enthusiasm, wanted to go exploring, investigating where the giant bear lives and what level it is. However, after my fire arrow did so little to the deer, there's no way I'm going alone to the lair of a beast that has to be much more dangerous than the one I killed the other night. And only because I caught it by surprise and managed to inflict critical damage. On Earth, if I died I would respawn and that's it. In some games there was very little penalty in experience for death and, either you didn't lose the items in your backpack when you died, or you had time to go back for them. I admit it, that sometimes made me play a little crazy. I can't do that here. If I die, it's possible that it's final. The idea that if I die I return to my body at home, as if waking from a dream, is more a hope than a theory.

I stay chatting with Gump, who is already much better but still in bed, until the women have finished skinning the deer. They help me roll up the skins and tie them with the ropes I carry, a knot at each of the two ends. I secure it to my back and return to the barracks. When I'm alone in the forest, the pup jumps from my pocket to the ground and starts scampering about.

"Do you want to walk?" I ask him, amused to see how funny he is. "Your legs are very short, you're not going to keep up with me."

The little wolf barks and begins to glow with a dark light. Before my eyes, he grows in size until his head reaches my knees.

"So you have grown... I was wondering where you put everything you eat."

He barks happily in response.

He walks beside me as I walk, and when we approach the village, he shrinks back down and climbs onto my boot for me to lift him into the pocket.

Maybe I should tell him to keep the size. That way he could pass for a rat-catching dog, but the truth is that it's very convenient to carry him hidden in my pocket. So far, only Lily has asked me why the puppy isn't growing and I've made up something about it being a rare dwarf breed from another country. I don't know if she bought it, maybe she did because she's even more naive than me.

When I greet the guards, the one from the other day is there and I ask him about the furrier. He indicates the way to her cabin. The furrier, a woman of about forty with gray in her brown hair, offers me 4 silver coins and fifteen copper for the four skins. The exchange is fifty copper for one silver. I don't know if it's a fair price, but since it's very convenient for me to sell them to her instead of taking them to the city, I accept. For next time, I'll investigate to see if I can get a better price.