Ch-25 How do I hunt beasts without a weapon?

Jasper had chosen to slowly increase his scope of search and also hunt beasts he encountered on his way. But, to hunt beasts he was going to need to kill the beasts.

Unfortunately, all of Jennifer's weapons and other items were inside her magic pouch and Jasper did not know the means required to opening it. His only option for obtaining a tool was by making one, a hunting knife.

Making a knife was faster than a hunting bow or spear, also Jasper did not have time to squander when every area he explored took him one step closer to solving his precarious situation.

Jasper first found a durable rock that would become the blade of his knife.

Then he searched for rocks that were suitable in molding the durable rock into a knife.

Next, he striked the molding rocks on the durable rock and started chipping the algae and mosses that covered the durable rock. This was an important process because the end product of the knife must not have any of them.

Making a knife without any resources was a tedious task so Jasper would have avoided it but know it was necessary for his survival and food.

Striking the molding rocks on the durable rock was a very demanding task because depending on the force exerted a small part or big part of the rock would break.

If a big piece broke than his current durable rock would become a waste and Jasper would have to search for another durable rock.

This part proved to be a challenge for Jasper as he lost 4 durable rocks before he was successfully in removing all the mosses and algae from the 5th durable rock.

Jasper started thinning and shaping the durable rock into a shape of the desired knife with a handle below it. In the shaping process, the flakes removed from the rock could be categorized into two types: Primary and Openization flakes.

The flakes removed by striking the edges of the durable rock and used to maintain the shape were known as openization flakes. These also helped creating swollen areas in the middle of the durable rock. The flakes removed by striking these swollen parts were known as Primary flakes.

So, for a durable rock to turn into a knife, Jasper had to first remove the openization flakes and then the primary flakes simultaneously.

Jasper had turned the durable rock into a knife but this was not enough for making a complete hunting knife. His current knife was so blunt that he might not be even able to cut a simple rope, so hunting animals was definitely not possible.

To sharpen the knife, Jasper made another tool known as Knife Sharpener. The Knife Sharpener was a narrow stick that was used in removing very small bits of the edges of a knife which made it very sharp.

With the knife sharpened, the only remaining process was to stick the wooden handle to the knife. Jasper had already prepared a wooden handle and just had to stick it but this was easier said than done.

Jasper prepared the glue by mixing a few specific materials he had procured from the surrounding area and stuck the wooden handle to the knife. Although he had glued the handle very well, he took another measure for holding the wooden handle and knife together by coiling a small rope around the knife. The rope also served to help Jasper get a better grip of his weapon which would help while he was hunting.

With all the procedures done, after a wait of 12 hours the wooden handle would completely stick to the hunting knife. After having a meal of fishes, again he went to sleep.

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The next morning he checked on the hunting knife and confirmed about its completion. After taking a bath and completing a few necessary task Jasper started exploring the area around him.

Jasper covered a lot of ground and spotted different kinds of animals on the way but refrained from hunting them. He explored the surrounding areas and searched for medicinal herbs that could be used in preparing a medicine.

Jasper search lasted till the sky became dark. On his way back to the Paradise Spring, he hunted a few rabbits that crossed his path.

Once he reached the Paradise Spring, Jasper immediately started a bonfire and grilled the rabbits he had caught. He made a soup out of the rabbit meat and some consumable plants he had come across and had a decent meal.

Then he started preparing medicine for Jennifer. Jasper had made a tool for crushing herbs which was needed for making medicine when living in a forest. He crushed the medicinal herbs he had collected in the tool and prepared a medicine.

Once the medicine was complete, he fed it to Jennifer hoping for her swift and safe recovery.

By the time Jasper was finished with feeding Jennifer, it was late at night and today he had been continuously exploring the surrounding areas and which made him tired and bone-weary.

So, he dozed of in his bed made of leaves.

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The next 2 days passed in a similar manner with nothing notable occurring, but this didn't mean Jasper had been sitting idle. He had continuously scouted the area surrounding the Paradise Spring, managing to search till the 50 km range. However, his searches turned out to be fruitless despite his best efforts.

The Paradise Spring was an ideal place for a powerful beast to occupy it, but for some unknown reasons and due its isolated location it was empty until Jasper found it.

Jasper distinguished the 50km range by their different vegetation and beasts found in a region that ranged from 0-10 km, 10-25km and 25-50km.

In the first 10 km from the Paradise Spring, Jasper did not find any beasts but instead it was filled with plants, rich vegetation and fruits.

The region of 10 to 25km had the grassland terrain where beasts and plants could be found. When Jasper travelled through this region, he came across a fluffle of rabbits searching for carrots and loitering around, then ducks on a lily-pad quaking inside a pond and colorful parrots sitting in a treetop parroting after each other.

The region of 25 to 50km had the terrain of grasslands and trees. As Jasper travelled through this region he started coming across bigger animals like deers, zebras, Mandrill, yellow-horned bill bird and many others.

On his way back after scouting for the whole day, he would hunt an easy pray and bring it back as his meal. Also, he would collect all the beneficial medicinal herbs he came across which allowed him to prepare medicine for Jennifer.

Today, would be Jasper's 4th day of staying in the Paradise Spring and he was going to venture further than the 50km range. He knew very well that this was going to be very dangerous and he had a high chance of dying because after 50 km the terrain turned into a forest.

Jasper didn't have the confidence and strength to fight a carnivorous beast and it sent chills through him just imagining himself encountering with them. But, there was no turning back for him and he had already made the decision to keep searching the surrounding areas.

Staying in one place doing nothing was not going to improve Jasper's current situation, so he had to make sure that at the very least, he was making some progress.

There was a drastic change of landscape, the grassland turned into a dense forest where the trees formed a canopy blocking the sunlight from reaching the ground.

The trees that formed a forest seemed infinite to Jasper and he realized that due to the dim lighting, it was not possible to determine time based on the sunlight. However, luckily he still had his trusty watch on his wrist.

It was about an hour after Jasper's search started, when he encountered his first beast beyond the 50km range. The beasts was none other than a variant of the Blue World known animal ' Rhino '.

It was a variant of the Rhino because of its completely different appearance than the normal Rhino, Jasper knew. Its horns were obsidian in colour which gleamed by the reflection of the dim light it received. The obsidian material was also stuck to its feat.

One look at the variant and Jasper knew a single hit from it meant his certain death. He avoided attracting its attention at all costs and started moving in another direction.