12 hunting and exploration

once I woke up I realized I forgot to cap the back of the arrows. thankfully the caps don't actually change much for the arrow.

I used some of my remaining brass to cap the back of the arrows and leave a groove in the metal so it can rest easy on the string.

the brass should be able to hold up very well rubbing against the bow string, so the backs of the arrows shouldn't break down very quickly.

once that was done I put the arrows and my bow into my personal dimension. I put on my armor and grab my spear and went out to gather more materials and hunt.

I have a special piece of equipment I want to try to make I'm going to make part of it with magic crafting

then use creation to pull it all together.

I'm already halfway through the time needed to reset my chances for devouring creation. I still have three chances left on each.

I need to search and gather materials to see what I want to use devour and creation on. I stepped out of the cave and sealed the entrance behind me.

I went to the closest tree near me and carved a bullseye on to it. I need to practice using my bow, thankfully my crafting skills allowed me to make it right but that doesn't mean I know how to use it.

I didn't use my good arrows, before I went to bed last night I made basic wooden arrows that didn't have any bonuses whatsoever. but it would work fine for my practice shots.

I had about 40 practice arrows, I started shooting and after about an hour I started to be able to hit the target repeatedly. after 3 hours of constant practice I thought I was decent enough,I would have kept going but all my practice arrows shattered

halfway through I managed to get the archery skill so with that out of the way I activated stealth and started searching for anything near me.I decided to start checking the plants as I went by to see if I could find anything unique.

I begin searching for animal tracks and managed to find more bunny tracks, although it took about an hour to find the traces. I started to follow the tracks and checking the plants as I went.

after about 10 minutes following the tracks I managed to find an interesting plant. it seemed to be a fruit tree but when I looked at it with mana sense the fruits all had high densities of manna surrounding them.

they didn't look like any fruit I've ever seen before they were mostly blue with some streaks of red. I couldn't tell what they did based on what they look like so I use inspect on them.

[lesser beast blood fruit]

{description}

able to restore lost mana in beasts and able to slightly purify bloodlines and increase power. highly toxic to humans, unless processed properly.

as soon as I read the description I immediately backtracked and hid myself with stealth and made sure to keep the tree in sight.

seems like I managed to find something special but if I'm right there should be a guardian beast around it, after all there's no way this tree is unguarded with the special fruits it has.

I'm sure the fruits also have the ability to attract beasts. I'll observe for a while and if I don't see the bee starting it soon I'll go and try to bait it out.

I can really use those fruits they make excellent bait for traps. I wish I'd be able to use them but I don't know the proper way to purify them without using creation.

I already have plans for my last uses of creation this week so I guess I'll save one of the fruits until next week if it can last that long.

I watched for about an hour I saw two beasts try to make their way to the fruits. they were both horned rabbits once they got within 5 feet of the tree.

I didn't manage to catch a glimpse the first time but once the second rabbit was eaten I managed to catch a glimpse of what it was.

it seems the tree is guarded by a gigantic snake with incredible speed. it took about another 20 minutes but I finally managed to spot it on the tree that had great camouflaging abilities.

I decided to use inspect on the snake. I can't really understand exactly what it is based on my limited understanding.

species: vine snake

level: 8

attributes

MP: (36/36)

body: 5

mind: 6

magic: 6

skills

(ambush) (camouflage) (venom)

if I'm right it seems the fruits have helped the vine snake grow more magic oriented. I'm sure they were to stay by the tree and keep eating the fruits it would eventually become a local overlord.

I'm sure the only reason a level 8 creature is in charge of this tree is because it's not useful for those past a certain level. at least that's what I believe because if this is a lesser fruit and there must be normal and even greater fruits.

I like to explore more to find out but at least this works for my benefit. I believe the reason it's so fast when it attacks is the ambush skill.

it most likely works in synergy with camouflage. anyway this is the best chance for me to use my bow. I managed to find its head, it seems to be resting after eating the two rabbits.

I pulled out my bow and a few arrows, I took a deep breath and lined up my shot. I don't think I need to use penetrating shot because the snake doesn't seem to be defense-oriented it seems more like an assassin.

it seems ambush is a mana skill and so is camouflage. but it seems camouflage doesn't require much mana. after I was sure I was lined up and right at the center of its head, I shot.

I couldn't follow the error with my eye at all before I could even register what happened the snake was already dead with an aero lodged all the way through its skull.

the arrow actually nailed the snake onto the tree, even though the vine snake wasn't a constrictor it was still longer than most boa constrictors. I can't imagine how large the constrictor snakes are in this world if the venomous snakes already this big.

I waited 10 minutes before I went to the snake, nothing approached while I waited but I fired another shot into the snake's head to make sure it was dead.

after that I went up and pulled out my arrows and dislodged it from the tree I immediately put the snake and all the fruits into my personal dimension.