Chapter 7

Chapter 7: Don’t bring strangers home, please! Part

This is definitively not what I expected. I’m confused, more than that, I’m stunned.

For things to turn out this way is, I don’t know what it is. I don’t even have any memory of my past, maybe I have a girlfriend? But what am I thinking, right now a beautiful woman wants to sleep with me and I have no reason to refuse.

“are you sure it’s ok?”

“I invited you, didn’t I?”

“O-o-okay, let’s go. But what about the campfire?”

“Oh! that? Don’t worry, Ayumi can light it up easily in the morning, you don’t need to worry about it. Having a mage in the party has its perks”

A mage? I don’t know why but it sounds like something amazing. There seem to be many mysteries in this world, but the greatest of all remains as how are they even alive. Maybe that’s why, Ayumi must be the reason.

.....

It seems like they’re not going to eat me after all.

We head to the tent, Helena opens the leather curtain letting me in first. The height is low, but the length and width of the tent is not bad... for exactly one person. I can’t imagine how helena will fit in here, it will be very tight for sure.

Once I’m settled inside, it’s Helena’s turn, she enters slowly as it’s dark, she inadvertently puts her hand on my thigh and lets out a little shriek.

“Ekk! Sorry, I can’t see”

“Eh, no problem, I don’t mind. If it makes you uncomfortable, I can just sleep outside”

“You say that after agreeing, we’re already here so there’s no choice. I’d feel bad if you catch a cold or something because I didn’t let you in. Besides we talked it over and this is what we came up with”

I can’t see anything, but I figure out she’s blushing. I move to the side as much as i can to give her some more room to fit in. Slowly and carefully she lies down next to me, her back pointing to me.

she’s so close to me that i can feel her tenderness, i try to focus on something else but after a while I can’t avoid what can’t be avoided, worse of all, she seems to notice.

“Oh sorry!” Helena exclaims.

Why is she even apologizing?

“No, excuse me, the truth is...”

“No, seriously, it’s not a problem, we’re grown up and there’s no reason to make a fuss. It was my fault after all, perhaps it’s better If I just turn around”

How is this any better!? Am i going to die? Maybe I’ve been set up so they can accuse me of attempting to take advantage of her. I do my best to think of something else, but there are two huge reasons I just can’t.

I can feel her softly panting, this could be heaven but, why does it feel like hell?

“I know this is awkward, Ryu, for me too... I’ve never done anything like this, I’m not like that at all. I just don’t want you to be left out in the open.”

Now I feel like a total jerk, she’s been worrying about me and all I can think of is getting laid. Realizing this somehow gave me the much needed peace of mind, her breathing quickly lulls me to sleep. Human warmth is the best after all.

I wake up with the first sunlight shine as it breaks in through the makeshift hut. I thought I’d have trouble falling asleep, maybe keep an eye open the whole night, but instead I slept like a baby, quite comfortably in between two gentle mounds.

Just like the day before, everyone sleeps late, so I take the chance to bathe in the river, this time taking a longer path. My plan is to find a branch so i can craft a fishing harpoon. The spear I’m carrying is quite handy to defend myself or even use as a tool in many cases. It’s almost as versatile as my obsidian knife, but it’s hard to fish with. Since it only has a single tip, it’s attack width is insufficient, fish are agile and if you miss the first time they’re gone for good.

Branch: 14/14

No, it’s durability isn’t bad, but the curved shape will make the harpoon useless once finished, i wonder if i could craft a bow with this. A little further down the path I finally find what I was looking for.

Branch: 20/20

This one is straight and long, it’s perfect!

After cleaning up, I sit on a rock while I turn the branch into a stick. Just like the previous time, I divided one end into four parts, I use two small cross-shaped tiny sticks and tie them right between the ends that I just divided. Then I carefully sharpened each of the tips using the obsidian knife, I’m very satisfied with the result, it’s even better than the one I left at home.

Tool Crafting 100%

Harpoon (Good) 20/20

I completely forgot that I was so close to leveling up my tool crafting skill!

At home I used it all the time and the progress was so slow that I simply stopped paying attention to it. It’s my first time crafting a good quality item, this confirms how useful it can be to level up more skills.

Apart from the obvious advantage of having a new quality harpoon, I feel somewhat stronger. I can’t be sure, but somehow I feel more skilled. Not just crafting, I believe that if I were to try crafting something similar i’d have a better chance at getting a good quality item.

Could this be something like the message about my charisma increasing? perhaps I did increase another stat... but if that’s the case, why didn’t i get a message or notification?

Or maybe, just maybe, there’s a chance that, since I felt my skill increasing, that would mean it’s not just a notification, it’s something that I can feel within my body. Something inside me may have changed.

Well, since it didn’t take long to make the harpoon, I still have plenty of time to fish.

The river teems with life, with it’s strong current coming down from the mountains giving off a pleasant freshness. There are large boulders nearby, but there aren’t many rocks or stones that I would consider to be of an appropriate size for making tools. Not only that, even without using my analyze skill I think I can already distinguish those that have special properties with the naked eye and I haven’t been able to see them.

This place is quite suitable for living, it has a lot of basic resources, but I daresay they are of a lower quality than the ones I find at home. Wood seems to be weaker, haven’t found a any special stones and finding medicinal herbs has been difficult. I take a minute to miss my home, I wonder if everything will be okay there.

I scan the river from a rock in the middle, sometimes I get a little splash but I manage keep my feet out of the water.

Finally! I found the optimal fishing spot.

This river is very deep in some places, but where I’m located now it’s shallow and the current here is not so strong due to the amount of stones present. But, just below where I am located the river begins to run with more force. This is actually a good thing because I can see the fish swimming in the shallow waters and i just need to prevent them from going downstream.

It doesn’t take long until the first one falls, a few seconds after spoting it, it’s pierced by my harpoon with force. Two of the spikes managed to hit from above. So, yeah, fishing harpoons increase hit chance by a lot.

Fishing skill 54%

Not bad! The size of this fish is a complete breakfast. I quickly go to the shore since I just caught my breakfast. I walk a few paces with the intention of returning to camp, then I stop for a few seconds. I can’t help but think of these poor castaways from another world.

I’m sure they’d really appreciate eating some fish. Especially her... no, I can’t get carried away by these kinds of feelings.

well, I did promise I’d get her something nice, though i was thinking on giving her a spear.

The first thing I have to think about is my own survival. Worrying about others will only result in unnecessary trouble. But she’s been very gentle with me...

I take a couple of steps then stop again...

however, if I can catch a few, I might get on their good side, plus, as Anne mentioned, they’ll trade with me. Yes, that’s it, it is a mutual benefit. It’s not a cheap excuse at all, I can really benefit from them... somehow.

Fishing 55%

It’s about time, it’s almost noon. These lazy people will be up soon, so I hastened to prepare the food.

Fire was completely extinguished t night, perhaps it’d be better to just start a fire somewhere else. Making a better campfire. I start to bring rocks from the river and make a circle with them. Just as I’m placing the firewood I see Anne walking towards the settlement with her hair wet.

“Hello!” I greet her with a smile

“Uh, ah, good morning” she replies in a weak voice as she looks at the plentiful fish I left on the ground.

“I don’t want to bother you but, could you ask Ayumi to light the fire? Helena told me last night that she’s the one in charge of that”

“You can tell me yourself, you know?” Ayumi says as she leaves her tent.

“Everything you say is heard in here, right Helena?” she says with an evil grin on her face. A shriek is heard in Helena’s tent.

Ayumi extends her hand in front of the dry branches as smoke begins to come out and the flames quickly ignite.

Since I thought it would take longer to light the fire, I still don’t have the pointed sticks ready to roast the fish. Suddenly I have so many things to do that I don’t know where to start.

As I prepare to sharpen the sticks, I can see the excitement on everyone’s faces, they sure haven’t eaten fish in a long time.

I begin to prepare the fish with my obsidian knife, even now, I’m still amazed at how sharp it is. Although it is useless as a weapon because it could break, it’s so sharp that it’s dangerous to use carelessly.

After putting the fish on the campfire, I start to prepare the next one to place it right next to the last one. Soon the campfire is surrounded by skewers and It doesn’t take long for a very pleasant smell to come out. Bob storms out of his tent as soon as he smells the fish cooking.

“What is it that smells so good?”

“Ryu brought fish” says Ayumi

There’s a ruckus inside Hiraku’s tent. Apparently he’s getting dressed, hurriedly he sticks his head out of his tent with excitement showing off his face.

“Oh! The new guy is smart!”

Smart? what does he mean by that?

Everyone’s making a fuss as I try to focus on my task. Helena is the last to get up, she has some bags under her eyes.

“What’s with that sleepy face, Helena? They didn’t let you sleep last night?” Ayumi says and everyone bursts out laughing.

If I have to highlight something good about this group, it is that they are all very happy. Even Luke seems pretty happy.

When the first fish is done, everyone is looking impatient already.

“Give me a second, breakfast isn’t ready yet”

“Is there more?” Luke asks suspiciously.

“Yes, last night I left some tubers at the fire. Their flavor is too strong and their skin too difficult to remove, but if you throw them on the fire overnight, the next morning they are crispy and their flavor softens quite a bit.”

So, everyone received happily his breakfast, consisting on a single tuber and a fish, we enjoyed it together. It’s not really much, I know it’s not, but even I’m enjoying the food more than usual. Eating alone is bad for one’s soul, the opposite can be said of eating together.

After finishing the meal Hiraku adopts a rigid posture and a serious face.

“Well young Ryu, what are you going to want in exchange for this lavish breakfast?”

.....

“What do you mean he’s going to want, old man?” Anne says as if she is being treated unfairly.

“That’s what I say. Yesterday we reached an agreement that arose based on our selfishness for not wanting to share what little we had with Ryu, it’s necessary to respect the agreement so that there are no misunderstandings between us”

“It’s not necessary, you don’t need to give me anything in return, really. I’m grateful that you allowed me to stay with you”

“You’re not the only one who’s grateful, right Helena?” Ayumi, who misses no chance to tease, calls out for everyone to hear.

After some more laughter, the atmosphere became tense again.

“That’s not allowed, an agreement is an agreement”

After pondering for a moment, I search through the basket until I find the silver flower. It’s somewhat withered but its shape and color can be clearly distinguished, I take it out and pass it to Hiraku.

“I really can’t ask you for anything, but if you find any of these flowers I’m willing to exchange them for fish. What I need is the root actually, but i can’t show you how it looks because I already used this one and I don’t have any more, with it I can make medicine to treat wounds”

After a brief expression of astonishment everyone stares at me with a hint disappointment.

“It’s not that we don’t want to help you” says Helena “but we haven’t seen those flowers in the vicinity. We have been searching far and wide for anything that could be useful, but so far we’ve been eating mostly berries”

“Well, it’s not necessary. Even if you find it by chance, it might be useful to me.”

Why didn’t i ask for something in return? It’s kind of obvious, I did so to get on their good side. Hiraku seemed to understand that, but he didn’t seem to mind it at all.

When everyone finished eating, they quickly went off to do their chores. I noticed that the most appreciative out of everyone is Bob, who every once in a while makes comments like “I knew the new guy would be a good addition to the group, I told you so”, “That fish was delicious”, “Did you see that those tubers could be eaten? Haha in your face Luke.” Always in a cheerful tone.

Luke doesn’t take his comments badly, he doesn’t even have his usual moody expression. I don’t know if it’s because Bob is really nice or if he’s afraid of him because of his huge size, but he treats him nicely.

I kind of feel sorry for Bob, someone his size must be hungry all the time and living on eating berries only must be pretty tough for him. That’s why I gave him the biggest fish I ever caught.

Anyway I think I shouldn’t fish every day, it’s not about the difficulty of the task, it’s more because they could take my job for granted and become even lazier.

Best thing will be to use it in my favor and at the same time motivate them to become more responsible.

Since there’s still plenty of time, maybe I should prepare a temporary shelter for myself. I don’t want to bother Helena the two days I have left here. Problem is that finding the necessary materials will be exhausting and time consuming, just to make a tent that i’ll have to dismantle soon afterwards.

Yeah, it’s that. its not like I wanted to sleep with her again at all.

I don’t really have much to do, there’s a fire going, I have enough food for a light supper, even if I were to create tools or utensils it wouldn’t be very practical since I couldn’t bring them back to my cabin.

Perhaps the best thing is to train, with the time I spend preparing to go out and explore, I did not get to practice any type of weapon.

I have the Spear, Harpoon, and Obsidian Knife at my disposal, but they are too valuable to spend on training. I take some branches to make sticks. With about ten clubs I will have enough to train for a long time. One of the sticks seems much more robust than the others, even if the thickness is the same, something about it catches my attention.

Stick (good) 25/25

It’s a good opportunity to test how useful they are. Now I must find a target. There are trees near the camp, practically all of them have been hit. I am looking for one that is relatively thin and used my ability to analyze.

Young tree 256/298

I start hitting it with the normal sticks. Damage seems to be consistent as always and since I’m using minimal strenghim not dissapointed at all. My current damage per hit is five, im guessing three of those points come out from my blunt weapons skill and the rest come out from the stick’s quality and my strengh.

Blunt weapons III 59%

Everything seems to be going well, I stay for a while hitting the tree over and over.

Young tree 106/298

I only have the good stick left.

stick (good) 24/25

Now my damage output is six per hit, now I’m certain that weapon quality affects damage. That means my harpoon should also be more effective in combat than my current spear.

Sadly, I don’t have a way to be sure since I don’t want to break my weapons for no reason, I can’t afford to be crafting tools right now as it’s very time consuming. I’m trying to show everyone my worth while also not overdoing it.

Maybe I could ask others to help me collect the materials, this could save me some time. Gathering doesn’t give points in any skill, but crafting does so it could be a good deal even if I don’t get anything in return.

Tomorrow I’ll offer them some spears in exchange for materials, depending on how the negotiation goes I might even get some spare resources to craft one or two spears.

Anne returns before sunset. Her duty is to check the traps they’ve put around the settlement. More than to defend themselves, they did so to catch prey. They managed to capture a wild boar and several rabbits a couple weeks ago. That’s where the skins they use as curtains in their tents come from.

Her hair looks disheveled and her clothes a lot dirtier than usual. She approaches me somewhat hesitantly but once she’s in front of me, she drops a silver flower in front of me.

“Here! now we’re even, I don’t want to owe you anything anymore” says Anne as she walks away.

That attitude is annoying, but it’s actually a great help.

“It must have been difficult to find, I’m grateful”

I say before she’s too far away to hear me. I quickly cut the root of the flower with my trusty knife and I keep it carefully between the sash and the tunic, since I am no longer injured I use the sash again as it should be worn, around the waist. It’s probably not the best place to store medicine, but I don’t have any pockets.

Night came without incident and the next day a surprise awaited me.