Mark needed to improve his arrows. Looking at the items he had, he didn’t have that many options. He had some small bones, rocks, hide, and fiber string. None of it seemed useful for making better arrows. Hearing a sound, he looked off into the forest. Really listening this time, he realized that those were the sounds of birds, and he had just been tuning them out.
Maybe one of his traps could catch a bird. He realized that to get a bird interested in his traps, he would need to change them. Maybe adding some of the berries he had found to the traps would attract other types of animals. It was time again to visit his traps and maybe place a few more of them.
Heading back towards the stream, he watched for signs of any animals. Finding a new location, he pulled out the materials and built a new snare trap. Setting it out, he added a small pile of his berries and then stepped back to review his work. Then he received a new system message.
[Item Created: Baited Trap]
Mark was no longer relying on things simply wandering by; he was now drawing them in. Walking to the next trap, he was happy and sad at the same time. “Not one of you guys again.” In his trap was a very angry razor rabbit looking back at him. “You know, I have learned my lesson. You’re not going to get a bite out of me this time.”
Pulling out a crude arrow, he put it on the bowstring and pulled back. Breathing slowly, he let go. “Of course I missed.” Stepping closer, he tried again. “Yes! I hit it.” But he had not killed it. He had only made it angrier. “I really need to upgrade these.” It took Mark four more shots to kill it.
[Razor Rabbit — Level 1]
Defeated
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“Not my finest work, but I will take it.” Looting the razor rabbit got him razor meat and torn hide that looked worse for wear with all the arrow holes. Looking back at the trap, he decided he really needed a trap that killed these things. He picked up all his arrows and realized that two more were now worthless.
Returning to camp, he sat down and pulled out a couple of his rocks. How could he turn these into an arrowhead? Knocking the rocks together, he found that some stones were harder than others. He realized there were probably a number of tools he could make. Sampling various stones, he found one that split into thinner flakes, for lack of a better word.
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Taking one of the flakes, he rolled it in his hand. It was flat with a sharp edge. These could be useful for a number of different things. Standing up, he stretched his legs. Needing a break from this, he gathered up some of the leaves and grass and made a makeshift target. Leaning it against one of the trees at the edge of the forest, he pulled out his bow and arrows and started practicing shooting.
Mark thought that his kids would find it funny if they saw him doing this. He continued practicing from different angles and distances. He found that at short distances he could hit the target most of the time. At long range he could not hit it at all. Looking over his arrows, he knew it was not just his aim; it was also the arrows. At the moment they did not fly straight or very far.
Sitting back down, he looked over his rock flakes; some of them were long and wide. Others were long and skinny. Sitting on a flat rock, he started to chip off the edges with another rock. The first few broke after only a few strikes. Over time he was able to make six that resembled an arrow tip.
Mark made his way back through the trees, checking each trap as he went. The first three he checked had nothing new. When he saw the fourth trap, something was different. The trap had triggered. He could see there were a few feathers scattered across the ground. Mark slowed as he approached. A bird struggled at the end of the snare line, its wings beating while the snare held it tight. He then used his new bow to kill it.
[Brush Hen — Level 1]
Defeated
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After looting the brush hen, Mark now had four feathers, raw poultry meat, and light bones. He pulled out one of the feathers and rolled it in his hand. It was light and flexible. These would work great to fix his arrow problem. Mark then returned to camp.
He pulled out some sticks, the arrowheads, the feathers, and some fiber string and laid them out on the ground. Taking one of the sticks, he pulled out one of his rocks and started to notch the end so his string had something to connect to. He then flipped it over and did something similar to where he was going to connect his feathers to it. Taking the parts, he used the string to attach the arrowhead.
It took a couple of tries to get it right. Taking the feather, he pulled it into smaller strips that would make up his fletching, then wrapped the pieces tightly with string. He adjusted them until they felt right. That should make them fly straighter. He set it down on the ground and looked it over. The arrow looked good. He then received a system message.
[New Craft Discovered: Fletched Stone Arrow]
Mark picked up the arrow and compared it to the crude arrow. There was a huge difference in quality; they were not even close to the bad arrows he had made before. He set the arrow back down and continued to make more. When he finally ran out of his parts, he picked up his pile of arrows. He then returned to his target and began testing the new arrows for their range and accuracy. He was very pleased with the difference. He could shoot them more than three times as far and still hit his target.
Mark lowered the bow and thought about how this changed things. For the first time he wasn’t thinking about how to survive the next fight. He was thinking about how to avoid it entirely. Satisfied, he gathered up all his parts and tools and put them away. It was now time to cook the poultry and see how it tasted.