Chương 7: Fire & Food

Mark woke up feeling like he had slept on a rock. Rolling over, he looked and realized that yes, the bloody rock from the night before was there, and he realized he really had slept on it. That was a night to remember, yet one that he would like to forget. It was a new day, and he was still here. He was still not prepared, still not safe. Just then, he heard a grumbling noise. Looking around, he realized the sound was coming from his own stomach. He was hungry.

After looking around and finding nothing, he pulled the razor meat from his inventory.

"Yuck. Raw meat. I'm starving, but not that starving." Then he put the meat back. He reached over and touched his arm where the bandage was. It was still sore, but it felt better, maybe better than it should have.

"I need a plan," he mumbled and went through the events last night. He had made a noise trap. That led him to learn to make a snare trap. He needed to make a plan and set some goals for the day. • Food. He wasn't willing to eat raw meat, so he needed a fire. • I need more food. I need to make more snare traps. • Try to make more types of traps or items that will help me. • Think about weapons. What can I make? At that point, his stomach grumbled again.

"Alright, let's do something about food." Mark headed back into the forest in the direction of the stream. He needed a drink of water and then to find something he could make a fire with. He would need some wood, small sticks, and finer material he could use as kindling. Mark knew there were many ways to make a fire. He knew several ways to make one. Flint and steel, which of course he did not have. He knew that you could use friction, rubbing two sticks together to make a hot coal to start the fire.

And of course matches, but hey, that would be too easy. He gathered materials as he walked toward the stream. While traveling, he noticed a few animal trails. He realized they would be great spots for snare traps. He began to realize he was stuck here for a while and would have to make the best of it. He made traps and left them in spots that felt right. When he arrived at the stream, he stopped and paused, listening and making sure that he was not going to run into that forest stalker on this trip.

He moved slowly, and when he was about to get a drink, he noticed something. Watching the stream, he noticed fish moving near the bottom between the rocks. That could also be a source of food. After watching the fish for a while, he finally lost sight of it. He finally bent down and took a long drink of water. Looking at the stream and the water dripping from his hands, he added another item to his to-do list: he needed to make a water bag or container so he could bring water back to camp.

On his way back to camp, he checked his traps, and of course, nothing had yet been caught in them. He gathered enough wood for a few days of fires, along with a load of smaller sticks and dry leaves. He next gathered some larger stones to make a fire ring and some long sticks that he could use to roast his rabbit meat over a fire. When he arrived back at his shelter, he put out his ring of rocks and pulled out some of the small sticks, dry leaves, and grass. He built what he hoped would burn easily.

Next, he pulled out two sticks and looked at them, trying to remember what he had seen on that survival show so long ago on how to make fires. He set the wider, flatter piece of wood on the ground and took a longer stick with a pointed end and placed it into a hole in the bigger piece. Then, using his hands, he rotated it back and forth. After a few moments, the stick slipped off.

Realizing it was not sticking well, he grabbed one of his rocks and made the indent bigger in the piece of wood and sharpened the tip of the other stick. If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. Please report it. Again, he started to rotate it, and again it fell out. He made the indent bigger and the tip more pointed and continued. This time, he made better progress. It was slow and hard.

His hands began to ache, and sweat rolled down his forehead despite the cool morning air. More than once he thought about giving up, but each failed attempt taught him something. He adjusted the pressure, the angle, and the speed until, after what felt like an eternity, he finally saw a thin wisp of smoke. He kept going, refusing to stop. When he finally pulled the stick away, a tiny glowing coal rested in the notch.

[Skill Acquired] Fire Starting (Level 1) Allows: • Build and maintain simple fires using natural materials. • Select suitable tinder, kindling, and fuel. • Reduce common mistakes that prevent successful fire starting. The skill gave him a better understanding of what he had done wrong and what he could do better next time. He carefully transferred the glowing coal into the waiting tinder.

He also could now tell which of the branches would best catch fire and started to feed his small fire with sticks and leaves until it was really burning well. He continued nurturing the fire until he had a good bed of hot coals going. He then just sat and watched the fire for a while and then said, "I did it. I actually started a fire with two sticks." The fire would now allow Mark to cook food, and having food would allow him to survive.

Putting the razor meat on the stick he had prepared, he held it over the coals he had created and slowly rotated it while it cooked over the heat. He could feel the heat radiating from the coals. The warmth spread across his face, and the sounds and smells of the sizzling meat were amazing. This went on for some time until the smell changed, and he realized the edges were beginning to char. Pulling it back, he examined it.

Poking at it, he realized that the outside was overdone, but the inside was just a little too raw for his liking. He looked at it and then sighed and took a huge bite.

"At this point, I am too hungry to be picky." He then received a system message. [Skill Acquired] Cooking (Level 1) Allows: • Prepare simple meals using basic ingredients. • Judge food doneness more reliably. • Reduce common cooking mistakes that waste food. [New Craft Discovered: Poorly Cooked Razor Meat] Mark laughed.

"Ya, you can say that again." Looking at the name, he received another message. Effect: +10 Hunger No sickness Taste: Terrible"Good thing I did not eat that raw." Looking down at what was left, he smiled. He could feel the cooking skill take place; he had held the meat too close to the heat and rushed it. He should have held it farther from the heat and rotated it more evenly and let it cook better. He was so hungry he even licked the last of the juices from his fingers when he was done.

Now that he could make fire and, of course, cook his food, it was time to move to the next step. He had only one more piece of razor meat left, so he would need to find more food. Thinking about his trip to the river, he thought of the fish. A good fish fry sounded great right about now. What kind of trap could catch fish? He then thought about the message. Poorly cooked meat. Next time, he would do better.