Mark woke to see that Ava was already getting prepped to take care of the traps. He waved at her on his way out of camp. He had reviewed with her the night before what had gone well and what had not during her first solo run. Ava planned to go alone again and see if today went better. It did not take long for him to return to where he found the boar. He spotted the tracks and began to follow them. He made sure to stay low and keep behind cover so that when he found it, he would not be seen.
When he eventually found it, he tracked it as it walked through the forest looking for food. It had a territory that it patrolled in the forest. Last night he decided to make a deadfall trap again. But knowing that this beast was bigger than the last, he would need to hit it from both sides at once. The trap design he settled on was that he would funnel it into an area with only one way in or out. His design used two large deadfalls that would strike from opposite sides, with a snare as a backup if the logs did not finish it. He spent the rest of the afternoon building and testing the trap. Once it was ready, he laid a trail of food leading into the funnel. Then it was time to wait. Hours went by before it finally came near. Mark looked at the sky; the sun was going to set soon. He was beginning to stress, as the boar had not taken the bait. Finally, the time had come; it was following the trail of food. It stopped and tried to turn, but with the funnel closing around it, there was only one way out, and it stepped forward. The trap triggered, and the logs fell.
The impact against the boar’s sides was loud and heavy, enough to make Mark flinch. The boar let out a huge bellow, but it was not dead, which was disappointing but planned for. The boar stumbled and fell, then stood up again. It was bleeding on both sides, and one of the logs was still embedded in its side. It was trying to pull away when the snare triggered and pulled the boar’s feet out from under it.
Before the boar could do anything more, Mark stepped in, and using his axe, the sharpest tool he had, he chopped at the boar’s neck. It took five swings for the boar to finally stop moving and fall dead. Mark fell to the ground panting; it had taken more effort than he thought to finally kill it. But it worked because he had planned for all possible scenarios. Then he received a system message.
[Ironhide Boar — Level 5]
Defeated
Loot Acquired:
Ironhide Boar Hide x1
Ironhide Bone x4
Tusks x2
Sinew x8
Boar Meat x8
◈ ◈ ◈
[Major Threat Eliminated]
[Map Updated]
New threat and movement patterns recorded.
◈ ◈ ◈
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[Level Up]
Character: Mark
Level: 5
Stat Points: +5
Skill Selection Available
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What did that even mean? Mark looked at the screen; there was too much there, and he was too tired to deal with it now. He gathered up his tools and headed home. Tomorrow he would deal with his stats and see what new skill the System was offering. For now he just needed sleep.
* * *
Ava headed into the forest with the stalker. They moved through the trapline together, collecting catches and resetting anything that had been triggered. Finding another trap that had been triggered but had nothing there, she went about resetting the trap. She pulled out the bait for the trap, and out of a bush nearby, a razor rabbit darted at her. Dropping the bait, she stumbled backwards. A flash of terror crossed her face, remembering when she first got here. The rabbit almost made it to her when it was hit on the side by the stalker.
The rabbit bit the stalker, and it tumbled back, trying to get away. The rabbit resumed its march toward Ava, and she started to scramble backwards. The stalker lunged again as the rabbit closed in. The two bit and snarled at each other; the rabbit was stronger, but the stalker had a size advantage. Ava watched, too shocked to move; finally, the rabbit lay dead, and the stalker lay down and started to lick its wounds.
She finally came to her senses and went over to help the wounded stalker. She pulled out some bandages and wrapped the worst of the wounds. She was so proud of him; he had saved her from getting bitten again. When she finally got her nerves back, she looted the rabbit and gave the stalker a piece of its meat to eat. She finally continued her trek to the next trap. Before reaching the stream, she had found another two mice. At the stream, a large trout was caught in the fish trap, and she killed it with the spear Mark had given her.
[Large River Trout — Level 3]
Defeated
◈ ◈ ◈
[Level Up]
Character: Ava
Level: 3
Stat Points: +5
Skill Selection Available
◈ ◈ ◈
Ava looked over her stats and assigned her points, adding three to agility and two to perception. With her stats assigned, she opened up her skill choices.
[Skill Selection]
Choose One
Animal Sense Level 1Allows:Detect nearby creatures at short range.Sense the general emotional state of nearby animals.Better recognize hidden wildlife.
Light Step Level 1Allows:Reduce noise while moving.Decrease the chance of being detected.Move more confidently over natural terrain.
Quick Reaction Level 1Allows:Improve reaction speed.Recover balance more quickly.Reduce hesitation during sudden danger.
◈ ◈ ◈
She looked over the list and wanted them all, but the system would only allow her to pick one. She really wanted the last two, as who would not want to move super fast and be able to sneak around? But looking at her stalker in its cage, she realized that if she had just sensed the rabbit, the stalker would not have been injured. It would also be fun to figure out what its emotions were. Before she could overthink it, she selected Animal Sense.
[Skill Acquired]
Animal Sense Level 1
Allows:
Detect nearby creatures at short range.Sense the general emotional state of nearby animals.Better recognize hidden wildlife.
◈ ◈ ◈
After selecting the skill, she had a funny feeling. Looking at the stalker, she could feel something. It was not control but awareness. She could sense that it was hurting and that the rabbit had scared it. Looking down at the dead fish, she finally looted it. It was now time to go home and tell Mark about how she got such a cool skill. When she finally got back to camp, she sat on her chair and waited for Mark to return. When the sun set, she got worried. Then, finally, out of the trees he came. He looked exhausted. He barely said hi before he crawled into his lean-to.
Ava said, “Fine, just go to sleep. I will tell you about it tomorrow.” Ava was excited and hungry. So she sat down and started the fire the way Mark had taught her. She then put on her fish and cooked it, adding a little of the spices that Cora had given. She popped a piece in her mouth and savored the flavor. “Ahh, the taste of victory!”