Chương 35: Trap Run

Mark woke just as the sun started to peek over the trees. After what they had run into the day before, he needed time to think, and walking the trap lines gave him a way to do that. He was close to leveling, and with a little luck, it would happen today. He quickly made some food for breakfast and headed east into the forest. No one else was up yet today, so he quietly exited camp and followed the trapline east through the forest. The first couple of traps showed signs of activity, but nothing had been caught.

He made sure that they were all set up and ready for whatever would find them. His third trap was full. There was a greyfang fox, level 3, in it. From the fox, he received 40 XP for the kill and 3x soft fur, 2x small fangs, and 4x lean meat. Looking at his XP, that pushed him even closer to the next level. He continued east to the end of the trapline without finding any more. He turned back toward the start of the line, then cut north from there.

He was still avoiding the northeast area, as that was where that large beast roamed, and he was not ready for it. There was still a lot he wasn't ready for. But he was gaining XP and building his zone up. With time and enough work, they would be ready. His line going north was shorter and unfinished. The first trap had been tripped and broken, but whatever triggered it had escaped. His trap was not sufficient for the size of the animal. He redesigned the trap, making it bigger and stronger.

He anchored it down to make sure it would do its job. The next trap was a success. It had caught a spined badger, level 5. It gave him 85 XP. It was enough to level him up, but he finished what he was doing before checking the notification. He received 3x spined hide, 4x bone spikes, and 2x dense meat from the kill. [Level Up] Character: Mark Level: 6 XP: 73 / 550 Stat Points: +5 Skill Selection Available Mark looked over his stats and thought about everything he had been doing and what areas he felt weak in.

His strength and agility were his lowest, so he added 1 to strength and 2 to agility to make their totals 9 each. He added the last two points to Intelligence. New Totals: Strength: 9 Agility: 9 Vitality: 14 Intelligence: 16 Perception: 21 Next, he opened up his skill choices. [Skill Selection] Choose One If you discover this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation. Perimeter Awareness (Level 1) Allows: • Better recognize movement near controlled territory.

• Notice disturbed terrain more easily. • Improve the effectiveness of simple warning systems. Trap Efficiency (Level 1) Allows: • Improve trap trigger reliability. • Reduce common trap failures. • Increase the consistency of successful captures. Resource Processing (Level 1) Allows: • Recover more usable materials from gathered resources. • Reduce waste while processing materials. • Improve the quality of harvested components. This was an easier choice.

After yesterday he needed better awareness, and he picked Perimeter Awareness. With just his camp alone, this skill would give him more peace of mind. Even within his zone, there were still areas he didn't fully understand, and this should help him read them better and recognize danger sooner. [Skill Acquired] Perimeter Awareness (Level 1) Allows: • Better recognize movement near controlled territory. • Notice disturbed terrain more easily. • Improve the effectiveness of simple warning systems.

After making his selection, another system message appeared. [Skill Acquired] Territorial Instinct (Level 1) Allows: • Sense disturbances within controlled territory. • Better recognize when something is out of place. • Improve awareness of activity near established areas. Mark closed the system screens. Making sure he had all of his items, he continued north. Before he even walked ten feet, he could feel the change. He had a better sense of the area he was in.

He knew, or rather felt, that if he walked east, he would shortly be in danger. He already knew that there was a threat out there he could not handle. But now he could feel that threat. Continuing north, he started to put out more traps as he had passed the area he had ended previously. He continued traveling north, adding traps and finding and following trails. He then came to a stop. Where he now stood was the far north point of his control. Forward, he would leave that control area.

He knew that if he wanted to go farther north, there was a challenge he would have to complete to gain control of that area. Well, for now the area he controlled was enough. He opened his map and verified that he was at the top of the current explored area of the map Even the map had changed some. It had an area east of him that was labeled high danger. The area he was currently in was labeled moderate risk. And the area between camps, where his original traps were, was labeled low/no risk.

The interesting thing was near the cave, and the area west of the stream was labeled moderate risk, similar to the area where he stood. From what he could see, the eastern area was still beyond him at his current level. But the area around the cave and the west bank was within the range of his abilities even if he did not know how to fight that new threat. With his new knowledge, skills, and higher stats, he looked at the area differently. It would be difficult to control, but it looked manageable.

The walk back felt different. Everything felt sharper, like there was more detail to notice than there had been the day before. This was a huge change from yesterday. He still couldn't control the threats themselves, but now he had a better sense of where danger lay and when something crossed into his space, which gave him a way to plan instead of just react.