Adam, now naked, wiped the sweat off his brow and swung the axe, biting deep into the tree. It started to creak, and he stepped back. Lucy stepped up to him and placed her bare arm over his bare shoulder, both of them damp with sweat. The tree creaked again and fell away from them, crashing into the open space where they planned to store the logs for their cabin. As he watched the tree fall, he spotted a deer move in the forest beyond the tree.
“Do you see it?” Adam asked Lucy in a quiet voice.
“I do,” she replied in a hushed tone. “Do you think we can catch it for dinner?
Adam hefted his axe. “Don’t do anything unusual,” he said.
She nodded and strode along the fallen tree to the first branch. She casually began to lop off the branches in several well-placed strikes.
Adam did the same on the other side of the tree, one eye fixed on the deer. As he hefted the axe and lopped off a small branch, he was soon within one meter of the deer. Adam turned and channeled his mana into his hand to cast [MANA BOLT]. A pattern of a ball of purple energy formed his mind, and the spell came to him quickly. As the [MANA BOLT] flashed out and slammed into the deer’s neck, the deer collapsed to the ground with a small squeal.
You have killed a forest deer.
Adam cheered as he moved towards the deer.
“What now?” he asked as Lucy came up behind him.
“Dinner?” she asked.
“Yes,” he said. “Do you know how to cook?”
“I haven’t cut up a deer before,” she said.
“I doubt I know either,” Adam said. He called up his character sheet and looked it over.
Adam (First Man)
Level 5 (Progenitor 4, Dungeon Delver 1)
BODY
MIND
SPIRIT
9
13
8
HP 45/45
MP 60/65
SP 40/40
Feats
Observant +1 Intellect
Staff Weapon Proficiency +10% damage to use with staves and staff like weapons.
Evasion You are proficient in dodging attacks and only take half damage on area of effect spells.
Low Light Vision Your Vision in dark spaces is doubled.
Social +1 Charisma
13 Bronze Shards
“Well, then we’ll have to work it out,” Lucy said. “I’ll start a fire.” She turned and started to head back to the log pile.
“You know how to start a fire?” Adam said.
Lucy stopped mid-stride, her body glistening with sweat. She slowly put a log back down onto the damp soil. “No,” she admitted.
“How about we do it together?” Adam suggested.
A low growl echoed from behind Adam. He slowly turned to face the sound and saw a wolf poking its head out from the scrub. Adam backpedaled away from the growling wolf. Lucy screamed, and Adam continued to back away until he hit the pile of logs.
A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.
The wolf emerged from the brush, bit down on the deer carcass, and began to drag it into the forest. Adam turned back to the log pile and grabbed his sword and leather tunic. He quickly donned them and charged after the wolf. He burst through the scrub and followed the trail of slick blood until he came upon the wolf.
Adam screamed in anger as he rushed toward the wolf, his sword raised. As he brought the sword down, the wolf dropped the carcass and dodged. At the last moment, the sword bit into the wolf’s shoulder. The wolf roared as Adam pulled the sword out of its neck, spraying blood. When the wolf growled and lunged at him, Adam blocked, the wolf biting into his arm. Adam pulled his arm away from his body and pushed the wolf away. He focused on the magic pattern of [MANA BOLT] and a purple bolt blasted into the wolf. Adam got a notification.
You have taken light damage
You killed a wolf.
You have gained a perk Light Armor Proficiency +10% Defense when wearing light armor.
He breathed in deeply, calming his rushing heart. The fight had been exhilarating. Lucy emerged from the forest, and a rumble came from above them and wind began to pick up, whipping around them.
"Where did that come from?” Lucy shouted at Adam.
“I am not sure,” he shouted back. The sky was not very visible as the canopy blocked out a lot of light. Their small clearing provided most of the light for where they stood several meters away from the camp. A crack came from the sky, and a flash of lightning hit the tree next to Adam. It burst into flame. Adam’s heart raced, pounding the inside of his chest. His body trembled. Lucy squealed and huddled behind him for protection.
“Now we don’t have to work out how to start a fire,” Adam laughed haltingly. “We just have to keep this one going.” He pulled Lucy off him.
“You’ve been hurt,” Lucy said, feeling a patch of warm blood on his shoulder.
Adam raised his tattoo and looked at his stats. He had lost about a quarter of his hit points to the bite. “It’s okay,” he said. He pulled a burning stick off the dead tree and sheathed his sword.
“I don’t think I can carry the deer,” Lucy said. “Let me carry the fire.”
Adam passed her the burning branch and hefted the dead deer, throwing it over his shoulder. “What about the wolf?” he asked.
“Can we leave it?” Lucy pleaded.
“Meat is meat,” Adam said. “We need as much food as we can get.”
Lucy pouted. “I don’t want to eat it,” she said.
Adam scowled and marched over to the wolf. He grabbed its hind leg and began dragging it back to their log pile.
For successfully hunting two animals and saving your food from predators you have gained the class {Hunter}.
+2BODY +2SPIRIT +10HP +10SP
{Hunter} A beginner level class for hunting animals and bringing home the bacon, in this case deer and wolf will do just fine.
You have gained the Perk Low Light Vision
Error Perk already obtained. Low Light Vision has been upgraded to Darkvision. You no longer need light to see. You can still be affected by magical [DARKNESS] and [BLINDNESS]
Adam accepted the level up and his hit points returned, healing the bite mark.
Adam (First Man)
Level 6 (Progenitor 4, Dungeon Delver 1, Hunter 1)
BODY
MIND
SPIRIT
11
13
10
HP 55/55
MP 60/65
SP 50/50
Feats
Observant +1 Intellect
Staff Weapon Proficiency +10% damage to use with staves and staff like weapons.
Evasion You are proficient in dodging attacks and only take half damage on area of effect spells.
Darkvision. You no longer need light to see. You can still be affected by magical [DARKNESS] and [BLINDNESS]
Social +1 Charisma
Light Armor Proficiency +10% Defense when wearing light armor.
13 Bronze Shards
Back at their camp, they cleared a space and created a small fire pit, feeding some logs into the fire to make it grow.
“I don’t think we can cook the meat while the fur is still on it,” Lucy said. “Maybe we can use an axe to skin it?”
Adam removed the leather tunic and sat down on a small log beside the fire. He brought the deer over and tried to pull the skin off. He got the blade of the axe between the skin and the flesh and peeled it back. The skin tore off the flesh with a little tugging. Adam put aside the axe and gripped the skin in his hand. With both hands, he ripped the skin back. He happened to look up at Lucy who had her hands covering her mouth, her face slightly green.
“Glad you haven’t eaten yet?” Adam asked with a smirk on his face.
“How did you learn to do that?” she asked.
Adam shrugged and turned back to skinning the deer. He thought about how he knew the process to skin a deer; he didn’t have any prior experience. Where had the knowledge come from? Then, a spear of pain lanced through his head. He doubled over and pressed his hand to forehead.
The pain only subsided when he presumed that he had gained the information when he had gained the {Hunter} class. In truth It was the only thing that made sense, unless he had this experience from before, a dull throbbing pain crept into his head again and he focused on liberating the meat from the skin.
“We could use that to make leather,” Adam said, As he made the final cut and set aside the skin.
“Let me cook the deer while you go skin the wolf,” Lucy said as she hefted the deer closer to the fire.
Adam looked at his quests and he had done half of the find food and water quest, they had enough food for a day or two, except the rain before entering the dungeon he hadn’t seen any water. There had to be some water around with all these trees, he hoped that he hadn’t missed out on the opportunity for water when he selected the forest terrain. They would need some water to drink sooner rather than later. They had food and were building a shelter. Water was the last requirement for survival.