Mark woke slowly; he still felt the warmth of the fire. The memories of the day before began settling in. He had survived another day. At some point exhaustion had taken him last night. He was still excited that he had a way to fight without being too close. “Today I plan to seize control.” Looking around his camp, he decided today was about improvement.
He slept okay last night, but there was room for improvement. He took the last of the water he had from yesterday and put out the last of the coals. After one last look around camp, he went to see what his traps had for him today.
A few traps later he found that another one had been triggered. But whatever it was had escaped. He still needed better traps. He looked at the trap. What could he improve? The fiber string was frayed. Not cleanly broken but torn. Fibers pulled apart unevenly. Mark ran his fingers along it. It had not snapped, but rather had failed. He needed to improve the fiber somehow.
Looking around, he looked at the grass and fiber he had been using. He could see that some looked sturdier than others. He, of course, had been grabbing the less sturdy fibers, as they were easier to gather. Finding a nearby patch of sturdier-looking fibers, he reached down and pulled on them. But they did not want to be gathered. Thinking back to last night, he brought out one of the stone flakes; they were sharp. He needed to make another tool.
Something to help him gather better fibers. He rolled one of the bigger stone flakes in his hand. This could work; he pulled out his flat rock and placed the stone flake on it. Taking another rock, he chipped it into a rough knife shape. He adjusted the angle of the stone. If it was too sharp, it would chip. If it was too flat, it wouldn’t cut. He chipped at it until it was good. Not perfect, but it was usable.
It was not big enough to hold comfortably in his hand. He found a short but wider stick to use as a handle, and using his rock, he carved some grooves in it. Then he made a notch at the top that he could stick his stone flake into. Using his rough string, he attached the stone flake. He then received another system message.
[New Tool Discovered: Stone Knife]
Using his new knife, Mark got to work and gathered more of the better fiber. With the new stronger fiber, he sat down to make a better string. Making string like before, he was disappointed to end up with only crude fiber string. Mark frowned at his crude fiber string. Picking up two of the strings, he started twisting them together. But with just two of them it was not working. Adding a third strand, he started to braid them together.
This reminded him of braiding his daughter’s hair. It held; he pulled on it, but it didn’t give, not like before. Much better. Mark leaned back slightly, testing the tension on the new creation, when he received another system message.
[New Craft Discovered: Twisted Fiber Cord]
Taking the new fiber cord, he started repairing his snare trap. Wait, if he had improved the string, he could improve the sticks too. Taking his stone knife, he took some stronger sticks out of his bag and worked on trimming and improving the sticks. He then assembled his new snare trap. He pulled the line tight. It was tighter than before, and the structure held. That made a difference. When he finished, he sat back and looked over the new trap. After a few last adjustments, he received a new system message.
[New Craft Discovered: Reinforced Snare Trap]
Filling up his water pouch, he started back towards his camp. While walking he went over what else he needed. He had slept okay last night, but he could improve that. He could really use a chair. Getting up and down off the ground wasn’t as easy as it used to be. He also needed to explore more. Also, more tools would be nice. When he arrived back at camp, he put down his water pouch and looked around.
Looking at his crude shelter, he realized he could improve that also. He realized he was still stiff from sleeping another night on the ground, which meant improving where he slept needed to be a priority. He went over to where he slept and looked; the ground was not as smooth as it could be. Using a large stick, he dug around the dirt to loosen it up. He flattened it out and removed any small rocks he had missed.
It was now as flat and smooth as he could make it. He next started to gather some of the grass and fibers to make a mat. Using fiber cord, he started to bind it together. He pressed, pulled, and twisted the grass and fiber together. Realizing he had not gathered enough materials the first time, he went and gathered more. Again, he worked the materials together. It was now about two inches deep. Long enough to stretch out on and wide enough not to roll off. Then he received another system message.
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[New Craft Discovered: Bed Mat]
Putting the bed mat down, he crawled onto it. The ground did not press back as hard. The weight spread out. Not soft but not painful either. It would make sleeping a little better. Looking up, he saw that the sun was directly above him. Not time to sleep now; there were more things to do.
Standing up, Mark realized how much he missed a few creature comforts from his old life. Calling it his old life still felt strange, but there was no point denying it anymore. This was his life now. Looking around camp, he found himself thinking about something surprisingly simple. He missed his chair. He could fix this. He went to the forest and looked around. He was looking for three sticks of similar length. Not too long, and not too short. But strong enough to hold him up.
Holding the three sticks together in the middle, he bound them with his fiber cord. Picking it up, he spread out the three sticks. They were a little too tight, so he adjusted them. Taking more fiber cord, he wrapped them again. They needed to be solid for his three-legged chair. Looking through his inventory, he found torn hides from the razor rabbits.
Taking two of them and more fiber cord, he made a crude top for the chair. After putting it all together, it stood near the height of a standard chair. Not pretty, but it would work. He put it on the ground and gently sat on it. It creaked a little at first but then held. That would work. He then received a system message.
[New Craft Discovered: Basic Camp Chair]
Okay, back to work. Standing up, he went to check his traps again. The first few had no changes. Then he came to one that was completely destroyed. What had happened here? He picked up some of the fiber cord that was in the remains of the trap. It was not just broken but shredded. To think this was a reinforced trap. What was strong enough to shred it?
Looking around more, he found some blood. It was trailing away from the trap. He followed it behind the next tree. He found some remains of what could only be a razor rabbit. Something had stolen his food. He walked back to the remains of the trap. Two could play this game. Mark started to build a new trap. It needed to be stronger. More sturdy than before. Better fiber cord and stronger wood. Not only better but stronger.
It took a while but he finally had something he thought would work. The last thing he did was put a piece of razor meat in it. He took out a limb with leaves and cleared the area around the trap. He wanted to make sure he could see if something checked it out. Satisfied, he continued his patrol. When he was done checking traps, he found two more field mice and a small river trout.
Returning to camp, he sat on his new chair to think. It was bigger than a rabbit. Maybe the stalker was back. As he sat there thinking, he heard a noise. Wait, that was a cry? Mark stood up excitedly and rushed into the forest to check his trap. Approaching the trap, he did not find what he wanted. The trap was still there. Nothing in it. He went closer; the trap was sprung. Something had hit the trap and gotten out. He looked closer. It had snapped the line. Too much force. He followed the drag marks.
Whatever it was had not panicked. It had pulled. Looking down at the snapped line, he could see some fur caught in it. It was the stalker. Looking around, Mark could see where the trap had been dragged and then snapped off. He did not need to stop it; he needed to slow it down. He had caught the stalker; he had just not kept it. He needed to adjust the trap. Anchor it so it would not move. Looking again at the snapped line, he realized it was too taut. He needed to adjust the tension; it needed to give some. Slow it down and do not break.
Mark picked up the trap and examined it. The sturdier trap was still pretty solid. It just did not stay in place. He needed to anchor it. Make the fiber cord more flexible. It needed to be strong enough to hold it but with enough give that it couldn’t snap it. Looking around the path the trap was on, Mark looked for something to anchor it to. Down the path a short way he found a root that was exposed that he could tie his trap to.
Rebuilding the trap, he made sure that it was flexible and strong but not brittle. He also looked more at its placement. Maybe not directly on the path but a little off it. He adjusted the placement of the bait to give a better chance at a catch. As he stepped back, he received a system message.
[New Craft Discovered: Anchored Snare Trap]
After looking around one last time, he headed back to camp. Glancing at the sky, he could see that the sun would be setting soon. He would have to wait until morning to see what his trap would find. After arriving back at camp, he cooked some food and settled in for the night.
* * *
The next morning, after checking the other traps along the way, he made it back to his stalker trap. The forest was quiet. His trap had moved. But his anchor had held. The level three forest stalker was watching him; it was stuck. It had pulled and tested the line but could not get free.
Mark watched it for a moment. He didn’t rush. Staying well out of reach, he drew his bow and took aim. The arrow flew straight. It struck the Forest Stalker. Mark stood there for a moment. It had worked. A system message appeared.
[Forest Stalker — Level 3]
Defeated
◈ ◈ ◈
He really did it. Mark looked at the trap, then at the body. It had worked because he understood it. Not because he got lucky. Mark touched the body and looted it. He received a tough hide, two sinews, high-quality meat, and two sharp bones.
[New Material Unlocked: Sinew]
Mark wondered what the sinew could be used for. He then repaired and reset the trap and then turned to head back to camp. That was when he saw it. Tracks, not stalker tracks. These were large, and the tracks were deep. Wider than the stalker’s. The soil wasn’t just pressed down; the ground had split where it had stepped. It was torn open. That was not something he could catch. He was getting better but not enough for whatever made those tracks. Whatever that was would tear straight through his traps. He tightened his grip on his bow. He was not ready, not yet.