Chương 38: Edges of Control

Mark watched Dale as he was arranging the camp. When he had finished with the cooking area, he had moved on to the crafting area. When he had finished, he had sat down and was just watching the fire burn. Mark walked over and said.

"How are you feeling now? It looks like you have settled into camp. The meals you made last night and today are way better than Ava and I have had before you showed up."

"To be honest I am still shocked. Still trying to figure out what here is. Trying to feel safe. Each time I hear a sound from the forest, it makes me jumpy."

"I too felt that way when I first showed up. I remember searching for water. Building the first shelter. Then trying not to be eaten by the animals in the forest."

"How did you do it? Go from being lost in a forest to having a safe camp with places to sleep and food to eat."

"To be honest, it was not easy. I am not a fighter. First thing I ever killed was a rabbit that attacked me on the first day. I realized early that to survive, I needed water and a shelter. And a way to get food."

"But how did you do all this?" Dale waved his arm around camp, pointing at everything.

"I realized early I needed control. If you're willing, I would like to show you the trap lines I set up to catch food. The early days that is what kept me alive. Trap, eat, sleep. Eventually I gained a couple levels, and with those skills, that helped me build what we have now." They went west out the gate and into the forest. He found the first trap. It was still set Ava had likely already been through earlier.

"This is one of the snare traps I built. They are simple. Small and easy parts. If the animal comes by to investigate, it snags their feet in the trap. When we come to check them, we are then able to kill and harvest the animal, and we get experience, food, and materials." Mark picked up the trap and handed it to Dale to look over. When he was done looking at it Mark put it down and showed him how to reset it and place it. Mark continued going through the forest.

He next led him to a patch of vegetables he had found while exploring this area.

"In this area there are a few places you can find these vegetables growing, and there are a few berry bushes. The stuff Cora gave you was found elsewhere; I have never seen it before." He continued checking traps until he found one with a squirrel in it. Stopping a ways back, he pointed at it.

"This area is low level. Only level 1-2 animals can be found here. That squirrel is level 1."

"How can you tell the level?"

"I have found that the system will reveal things to you based on your intent. If you look at it, the tag saying its name and level will appear." Dale looked at it for a while and said, "oh its a system skill."

"If you're willing, you can kill it. They do not have a lot of exp, but at your level it won't take a lot of kills to hit level 3. At my level they no longer give exp, as they are trivial." Support creative writers by reading their stories on Royal Road, not stolen versions.

"How do I kill it without it biting me?" Mark pulled out one of his extra spears and handed it to him.

"So I just well stab it?"

"Yep, that's the idea; the first one tends to be the hardest. After a few tries you get the hang of killing them quickly without much of a fight out of them." Dale stepped forward with the spear, and with only a couple tries, the squirrel was dead. Mark was a little surprised it died so easily. When Ava did this, it was a lot harder.

"Now that he is dead, if you touch it, the system will loot it and transfer the resources from it to your inventory." Dale bent over and looted it.

"That was better than I was thinking it would be. The idea of skinning a squirrel was not high on my to-do list today." Arriving at the stream, he showed him the two fish traps. Nothing was in them, so they just stopped and took a long drink of the cold water.

"This is the end of the lower tier area. Let's head back to camp, and then I will show you a higher-tier area. On the way I will stop and show you where the clay pit is." This perked Dale's interest.

"Is that how you made the plates, cups, and bowls?"

"Yes, it is. Do we need more or other items made?"

"I think a few more of those would be helpful. Maybe a couple pitchers and a few platters I can use for a cutting surface, which would be better than the wooden tabletop I used today. Some storage jars we could store some of the perishable items in would also help." Mark led the way to the pit; it was pretty close to the stream. When he got there, he talked about the boar he had cleared to gain control of this low-level area.

He showed him the shovel that was there and gathered up enough clay to make the items Dale wanted and a little to spare for some other ideas he had. They then returned back to camp. At camp, Mark stopped.

"I'd suggest you and Ava take turns or go together clearing the traps. At least until you reach level four." That will make sure you get a few more stats and maybe a skill or 2 that will help in the areas you focus on. Dale nodded.

"Yeah, that squirrel wasn't too bad to kill. I can see some advantages to getting a few levels. But if it's ok with you, I would mostly like to stick around camp and cook, as that is what I enjoy most in life."

"Yep, that sounds great; it will be a great help. We can accomplish a lot more working as a team than if I tried to do everything by myself." Mark then led Dale out the east gate; he paused, hesitating.

"We are leaving controlled space; keep your eyes open." He watched cautiously around as he walked, looking for anything that might cause them harm. Dale noticed his scanning the forest and started doing the same. When they arrived at the trap, Mark spoke.

"If you look around the area here near the trap, you can see paw prints. The animals in this area are between levels three and five. With them being trapped, they are something you could maybe kill, but if they got away or were not in the trap and you just ran into one, they are big enough they could do you serious damage."

"Yeah, for now I will keep to camp and cooking. I want to tinker with some of the craft items I found back in camp. I can maybe alternate with Ava in the easy area until I am a little higher level and then take it from there." They returned to camp. On the way back Dale acted a little jumpy each sound he heard. He looked remarkably more comfortable after they entered the gate and Mark secured it behind them.

When they returned to camp, Cora was sitting in a chair, and a new pile of ingredients was on the cook table. She sat there quietly and watched Dale cook. Once he was done, she returned Dale the plate he had given her earlier and collected her new one. When she was done eating, she handed the plate back to Dale and then turned to Mark.

"The cave worries me. I plan to go investigate it tomorrow would you like to come?"

"Yes, it worries me too. I would like to go investigate also." With that, Cora stood up and left camp. Mark sat and ate his dinner. He had to admit that Dale knew how to cook. With only the few items they had, he came up with something different each meal. Mark thought over his day; he had given Dale a way to improve and feel safer. And then his thoughts turned to the short conversation with Cora. His traps aren't enough for everything.