13 Giving Gifts

The next day when I woke up I felt much better. Even though I had fought through the night killing dozens of predators and reopening my wounds it didn't matter.

I had proven to myself that I was powerful. Before I hadn't really trained to kill. I had trained to do Renewal Taekwondo, not kill.

Now I understood more of the mindset and dangers that came with a life and death fight. All the dirty tricks even animals can pull, and the panic that comes from facing your death.

I was improving my ability to kill. I was not great at it yet, I still tended to be overconfident or lax when it comes to weak enemies. I also panic a little when I feel in danger.

But even compared to the day before I had become a lot more dangerous.

Feeling at my wound I noticed they had scabbed up again. While I may have reopened them, my high vitality made them quick to heal.

Today though I think I will relax and just hunt some rabbits. So I went out of my tent and saw Barry. He was skinning the pile of corpses muttering to himself.

He looked at me and yelled, "Are you, daft boy!? What made you think that killing this many monsters by yourself was a good idea?"

I laughed, "Well after getting hurt by them once I had to make sure that they knew who was boss. I also wanted to get my revenge."

He grunted out, "Don't do this again, you must have the devil's luck to survive this. Today just rest, don't wanna keep opening those wounds."

I said, "Yeah, Yeah. Don't worry today I will only be hunting rabbits."

He sighed and said, "That is not what I meant."

I replied, "I know but you can't stop me."

Then I dashed off into the jungle to kill some rabbits. It was easy now, after facing the dangers of multiple life and death situations I had more control over my emotions than ever.

Now I had a 100% capture rate. So long as I found it I managed to catch the rabbit. By the end of the day, I had 30 rabbits that I brought back with me.

---

The next day my wounds were pretty much healed so I decided that it was time to head back into the deeper parts of the jungle.

This time to stop predators from ambushing me I walked across the branches keeping myself well above ground level.

This made it so that the strategy the panther used, jumping down from the treetop to attack me, wouldn't work again while making sure I had a clear visual on the ground.

This allowed them to see any disturbances that moved the foliage around. Then I could investigate to see if it was something to worry about.

So using this strategy I explore deeper into the jungle. I killed multiple panthers, tigers, and a group of wolves in my exploration.

However, as I got deeper the size and strength of these predators kept increasing. I came to a point where I hit a tiger with a perfect Renewal Taekwondo Axe Kick and it lived.

That was a kick that could shatter boulders at this point but it couldn't penetrate the thick skull of this animal. At that point, it decided to move away from that part of the jungle.

As I moved to a safer part of the jungle I was attacked by a massive hawk. If not for its massive shadow hovering above me I never would have noticed its attack.

I had forgotten that these birds even existed, so focused on the more immediate threats. I must have been too high in the trees, which must have made me a tempting target.

Luckily for me while the bird was fast I was not skilled. With a small push with my legs I launched myself in the direction of another tree.

Instead of catching me while I was in the air moving to another tree, it just attacked where I was. So I had ample time to jump to the bird and execute a Baekdu, caving in its skull with my knee.

Good thing that birds were weak to blunt damage. I would not want to have to face one of these in aerial combat. They would have a massive maneuverability advantage over me.

So I stayed in the safer part of the jungle for a while honing my killer instinct and making sure to stay low enough that no birds were tempted to make me a snack.

So the next few days passed like this, we were heading deeper and deeper into the jungle in order to kill more powerful animals every day.

After 3 days of this Barry came to me and said, "I know that you've been training, killing these monsters and such but what do you want to do with the corpse you brought back?"

I thought for a moment. Right now I was wearing clothes, made from the hides and bones of the animals I killed. I worked pretty well as armor considering the monsters it came from.

I helped save my skin multiple times during the 3-day rampage I had done in the forest. So I said, "Why don't we trade it with the villagers?"

Barry said, "They don't really have anything worth trading such important items for."

I nodded, "Well is there anybody that does?"

He said, "Maybe the Shark Eaters' but they're dangerous Marcus. You probably don't want to mess with them at this stage. They might just kill you then rob your corpse."

I nodded. While I could take on maybe 70 gunmen right now, that was assuming they were all of normal human stats. Considering this world that was not likely.

While I did intend to kill those people to try and get the attention of CP9, it was after maybe another few months of grinding in the jungle.

So I said, "Just give whatever we can't use to the village. They helped me when I nearly died so this is the least I could do."

He nodded, "You're a good kid. Ok, dawn the next day we can head off to trade with them. I just need to skin the newest kills you brought back."

I agreed and the next day we walked towards the village. I was the one carrying the massive pile of hides and bones but it was to be expected.

Now that I looked at it I realized how busy I had been. This pile was larger than me and held enough fur to outfit the entire village with new clothes.

So when we arrived and told them that we were just giving it to them they as expected cheered us as heroes.

Warren came up to me and said, "Thank you lad. I know you didn't have to do this but with the bones and hides you brought us, we will be safer than ever."

I nodded, "Well you saved my life so I'd call it even."

He chuckled, "Aye I did. But with this much material, we can craft enough tools to make sure our village will last for a few generations."

I looked at him in confusion, "What do you mean. I know this is good, but I don't think it is capable of helping entire generations."

He said, "Those bones you gave us are harder than steel and don't rust. The tool we can make with them will outlast and outperform any of the tools we have now."

He continued, "Not only that the hides will help protect us from the storm and any who wish to hurt us. With one of those pelts on, a strong man can survive a gunshot from point-blank range."

I thought about it. I could see why he saw this as a massive boon now. I had given him enough material to allow all the villagers here to be outfitted with the best possible gear.

They would be the equivalent of a knight in full steel mail using a well-made long sword compared to the dirty trash collectors around here.

After the celebrations and good cheer, me and Barry headed back to camp. I was happy because I knew that I had made the life of an entire village much better.

And that thought filled me with a sense of happiness and contentment.