Chương 8: Chapter 7 - Armed at Last

Elias bolted up with a gasp, rubbing the grit out of his eyes, glancing frantically at his surroundings as his heart raced in panic and fear, before jumping with a start from realizing he was sitting in a massive tree. The lack of imminent danger coupled with memories of the prior day returned to him Eli sat back with a shaky disbelieving laugh that faded into a faint whimper. What the fuck was that?

Thinking back on the strange events of yesterday, Eli found himself sorely tempted to shake off the dream as nothing more than the imaginings of an over-stimulated mind. No, no matter how surreal the context was, the dream itself felt all too real. Elias felt a faint ghost of the fear and dread he felt in the dream grip his heart, as he remembered the sensation of slowly losing his sense of self to the insidious intrusion of that dream river.

No, I'm pretty sure that was a memory, what the hell happened to me after I died? How the hell did I end up here? Elias chuckled out loud before talking out loud to himself." Man I need to stop waking up like that, there's no way that's good for my health." Eli looked up to the sky, " Besides don't these stories usually involve meeting some benevolent god, not mindnumbing eldritch horror rivers that devour your soul? Where's my kind old man in the sky offering me OP skills telling me to go fight the demon king?"

Thinking back to the notice he saw flashing past yesterday, Eli realized maybe he had already met one. [OVERRIDE: Admin user detected] [OVERRIDE: Admin user V has provided temporary permission to exceed normal parameters] [OVERRIDE: Admin user V has reinitialized achievement recording, please standby..] Elias snorted to himself with a wry grin, " That would be my luck, instead of divine intervention, only getting some anonymous support tech instead."

A warm, gentle breeze blew through the forest bringing scents of wildflowers and the chuckling sound of the pond below gently burbling down the mountain side below upwards reinvigorating Eli and lightening his mood. Pulling up the full status window again, Elias tried to temper his rising excitement before it got the better of him, and focused on the essentials.

Class: [Child of Void] Lv 1] ============ Health: 90/90 Stamina: 110/110 Mana: 160/160 ============ Vitality: 9 Strength: 11 Endurance: 11 Dexterity: 10 Intelligence: 15 Wisdom: 9 Willpower: 16 Charisma: 7 Free points: 7 ============ Class 1: [Child of the Void] Class 2: Locked Class 3: Locked ============ Class Skills: [Child of the Void] Locked ============ General Skills Observant: Lv 1 Tracking: Lv 1 Stealth: Lv 4 Eagle's Eye: Lv 1 Free Skill Slots: 4 / 10 Checking the bundle of cordage, Eli realized the night was probably too cool to dry it completely and was glad that he had tucked it under his shirt hoping that his body heat would dry it before morning.

Ok, I have enough to rig up a few makeshift weapons, but I'll need to add a few more things to my kit in the morning if I want to get a fire going tomorrow night. He began tracing the path of the river as best he could in morning sun, following the shimmering ribbon as it wound through the trees westward. If I'm lucky with some basic tools under my belt I should be able to feed myself tomorrow, if I can find some game and, as I look at the distance I need to travel, it is probably going to be necessary.

The length of the river Eli could currently see had to be at least fifty miles or more before it faded into the distance. Without any way to measure it to be sure, Elias was pretty sure that wherever he was the curvature was flatter than the earth, given how far he could see with his elevation and new [Eagle's Eye] skill.

On a good day back home he could see probably twenty to thirty miles in the distance from the top of a mountain, but here, he could swear he could see further despite not making out any useful details. Reading on this site? This novel is published elsewhere. Support the author by seeking out the original. While the ring provided a little more light than a full moon back on earth at night, it wasn't much more, and in the day time color easily faded into the blue of the sky unless you knew to look for it.

Eli was hoping to be able to see the end of the forest and confirm if there is a break in the trees, but it was difficult to confirm anything even with the sun rising over the mountains behind his perch and to the East of Eli's little hidden glen.

There wasn't much to see along the river with the sightlines being occluded by the encroaching cover of the forest, but as Eli searched in vain before focusing on the distant reaches of the river, running his [Eagle's Eye] at full capacity as he tried to parse any break in the trees. Having some confirmation that traveling along a water source is the right way to go would be a huge relief.

Eli strained to make out what he could before clutching his head as a spike of pain ran through his mind and he noticed a hollow feeling in his chest, followed by a chime. Wincing Eli pulled up his notice window before glancing at his status Ding [Congratulations! [Eagle's Eye] has reached Lv 2] [Mana: 0/160] Ok to be fair it did warn me to be careful about completely draining my mana pool. Eli pressed his hands against his eyes while taking deep breaths. I guess I now know continued use will level a skill.

I wonder if it's because I tried to push past what I could see or because I ran myself dry? Or just total accumulated use? I could really go for a User Manual at this point… Still best to know now before suffering getting distracted in a dicey situation. Eli winced before muttering, " Yay level two! Could have warned me that dumping my mana pool would make my brain feel like it's swelling enough to push my eyes out of their sockets…"

A cooling breeze swirled past, bringing the sound rustling of leaves that sounded just a little bit like faint laughter. Elias had recovered enough to glare suspiciously in the direction of the forest below, before sighing and descending the tree to get a move on with his day.

Eli grunted at the smell of his no longer white tunic as he scraped the excess river bank mud from the fabric. Even the dank earthy smell couldn't rob him of the optimistic joy he felt as he finished staining the material. After deciding to stay at his current campsite for a couple days he set about his morning tasks with a renewed zeal, looking to stock up so he could get on his way as quickly as possible and experience what this new world had to offer.

First things first, Eli set about working on some camouflage for himself. Limited as he was by the primitive materials he had access to, Eli settled for staining his clothing in a mottled pattern but was limited by the natural dyes he could find in his secluded glen.

Eli soaked patches of the fabric in crushed plant matter to leave a dark chlorophyll green stain as the dominant color, and he just finished applying splotches of a dark mud he found on the river bank to leave behind a mottled pattern that would hopefully break up his silhouette. It was quick, slipshod work and wouldn't smell the best, but at least he wouldn't stand out quite so sharply to every random beastie while traveling through the treeline.

He could always supplement it later with some mud to cover his scent, heat signature, and exposed skin later before he set out. Man I really took modern cammies for granted, I would kill to be able to cover myself without smelling like some kind of mud monster. Eli grimaced for a moment before his expression eased as he laughed to himself," Viv would tell me to stop bitching or I would give myself frown lines."

Eli's older sister Vivian always knew how to keep him from taking himself too seriously, I say older but she's my twin although she never lets me forget she beat me into the world by a whole twenty minutes. Eli rolled his eyes and glanced to the sky, I hope she made it through all right. Vivian lived halfway across the country from Eli so, provided it was a local event, she should have made it through.

Viv was tough and could be as ferocious as a cornered honeybadger so Eli wasn't too worried, as long as she wasn't blindsided like Eli was she would make it. Eli set aside his handiwork on a rock to dry and set about arming himself. He was able to find a relatively straight and thick length of wood about the size of his arm and split a gap in one end, just deep enough to pound in the triangular stone he knapped an edge into on the previous day. Eli bound it shut with a short length of cord to make a rough hatchet.

The rough axe was not going to win any awards, and it would probably lose its edge fairly quickly, but it would do for now until he could scrounge up something better. Picking up the walking stick from yesterday and Eli gently trimmed the excess protrusions with the hatchet to straighten it as best he could without dulling or chipping the edge of his new tool. Splitting the end, Eli wedged in the other knapped stone and carved grooves into the end with the edge of the hatchet to bind the spear head to the haft.

His new spear was definitely a little shoddy, would probably break if braced poorly, and would lose the head after a thrust if he was not careful, but a smile spread across his face as he felt a sense of satisfaction at feeling just a little more prepared for what lay ahead. Eli admired his handiwork and pulled a final tug on the binding of the spearhead, he heard another chime. Eli didn't startle this time, but as he glanced around the clearing he opened his notifications to see what caused it.

Ding [Congratulations! You have unlocked the general skill [Basic weapon crafting - Primitive]] Ding [Congratulations! You have learned the general skill [Basic weapon crafting - Primitive] Lv 1] Ding [Congratulations! [Basic weapon crafting - Primitive] has reached Lv 2] Eli shook his head and glanced at the description. Ding [Basic weapon crafting - Primitive: Lv 2 - Sticks and stones may break my bones but words will never hurt me. Well, you never listened to the other half of the rhyme knowing that beating someone with a club will stop them more surely than pithy parables. You have demonstrated proficiency crafting the most basic of weapons, while they may not be the most deadly or durable, with this skill you never be empty handed. This skill passively improves your weapon crafting by providing intuitive guidance on the best way to fashion and maintain weapons made out of primitive materials. Increased guidance and flaw detection per level.] Heeeyyyyyyyyyyyyyy! Look at that shit! Eli chortled to himself while pumping his fist, Still got it! Eli pushed mentally at the new skill and it drew his eye to a knot on his hatchet and the brace pattern on the tip of his spear. With a smile Eli redid the work, already appreciating the guidance the skill brought. Now armed, Eli set his mind on the task he set for himself today, traveling provisions.

If he was going to abandon his camp and set off for civilization he would need to be able to feed himself, some basic first aid materials, and also fashion some method to pack everything up and hump it around. Finally he really needed to find a solution for footwear, the forest floor near his glen was soft enough not to injure him, but there was no guarantee this would be true further down river.

His preparations only took a couple hours but it was time to get a move on if he wanted to travel any appreciable distance today. Eli pulled on his slightly damp clothes, tied a length of cord to his spear to drape it over his back, wrapping what was left around his waist as a belt to hold his hatchet, before stuffing the remaining reed fibers down his shirt so he could continue braiding as he walked.

Glancing around the pond Elias felt a little thankful, since this area made a great camp with its commanding view of the forest, and he was lucky to wake up so close to such a location. With a smile he moved to the edge of the clearing, dropped down the short lip of the rise at the end of the pond and ambled down the slope to follow the river along the foothills, keeping a wary eye on the depths of the forest.