7 I Need Better Friends

After about 2 weeks of not moving from this area, I am feeling anxious enough to move out and finally search for some good conversation partners. I am getting tired of talking to this skull and to myself, I even named the skull Clarabel and decided to give it a backstory for fun.

After some testing, I found out that the food stored in my inventory does not decompose or it does, but very slowly. So before I head off and search for civilization, I need to stockpile food. My track record for hunting is pretty bad, I need some luck to actually get started. As for water, I am doing ok.

I didn't want to waste the good water in my waterskins, and sometimes I struggle to open the jars with my weak body. So I ended up using my sheathe as my main drinking vessel. It took a while, but I can finally drink out of it without spilling it everywhere. It helps that I have settled near the river, so I can keep using my unconventional cup. Alright time to hunt for today's dinner, I ran out of food yesterday.

"Bye Clara, I'll be back soon."

After saying farewell to Clara and storing her away, I head out to one of my hunting grounds. I am quite an experienced hunter now, actually barely passable is more accurate. I do not have the strength to outright fight the wildlife, maybe a rabbit, but if I miss a shot I will lose about 2 days worth of food.

I can only use about 4 offensive spells a day, and killing the baby versions of the antelope-looking things costs 2 spells. Very efficient when I land a hit, killing one of those animals can feed me for a couple of days. If I miss, I better hope I have some leftovers from a previous hunt.

My accuracy is not super bad, and the reason why I haven't had a chance to stockpile is that those assholes know how to dodge. The magic doesn't make noise when fired, but sometimes they can sense the danger from the attack and dodge. Usually, at the first sign of danger, the herd flees immediately. Just to be safe I always keep enough magic for another 2 attacks to fight off any predators.

Speaking of predators, even if I do land my shots, sometimes those assholes steal my loot. The two animals I will not fuck with are bears and wolves. Bears are walking tanks, the most I can do is concuss them by firing 3 spells worth of magic. Wolves always hunt in packs, thankfully they usually focus on the other prey, but I am not fighting a pack on my own. As for the others, sometimes I can get lucky and kill them instead.

What is on the menu today, more antelope-looking things, and I see a medium-sized boar in the distance near another part of the river. I haven't had pork in a while, hopefully, I can kill one of them. Time to kill Pumba, I never liked him anyway. I need that wonderful bacon in my life.

'Pierce'

Please be stupid and get hit, do it for me. Yes, I can see the magic go through the boar's eyes. Damn, that was a hell of a shot. Didn't damage the skull at all. That's nice, I made a new friend today, yay I now have 2 friends. Time to skin it and claim my loot, I now have some skill in skinning, not a lot, but it's something.

Thankfully there are no predators around, but apparently, this boar had brought a friend who came late to the party. He is now charging straight at me. Thank god I always save magic for times like these, I need to aim for the eyes. I do not know the anatomy of boar yet, so I do not know where else to aim. Please work, I'll fire as soon as he enters my range.

'Pierce.'

The spell reaches the boar and the magic bullet pierces his eye. Yes! I'm not dying today, and I made a huge profit for the first time. Wow, I am 2 for 2, but now I do not have enough magic to cast any more offensive spells. I still have enough to cast a few auxiliary spells like inventory and cleanse a couple of times, but I can't defend myself anymore.

I approach the first corpse and holy shit! I didn't know boars were this huge, this is about 3ft tall I can comfortably store that in my inventory. Time to get my new friend, luckily he isn't too far away. As I approach him I realize my new friend isn't medium-sized, he is an absolute unit. He is easily at least 5ft. I think I am set for food, for quite a while.

I have to take out the first boar to even fit this guy in my inventory. Even then, I barely have enough space to fit this beast and the meat from the first boar. I am going to have fun carving him and talking to his skull.

…I really need to find some people very soon. Well, on the bright side, I now have enough food for my quest for companionship. Got to skin the smaller boar first, I don't care about preserving the fur this time. I need to work fast, not sure when the carnivores will come and attack me.

---------------------------

I finally finished carving out that boar and I somehow cut the boar in half. I did that because about half of that animal fits in my inventory. Should I leave this here, or should I risk it and try to cook the remaining meat here. This is a tricky decision, I would hate to waste food at this time. I need to make the most of my resources, time to try something risky. Let us see if this spell can hide the smell of blood, for now.

'Cleanse'

It got rid of the bloodstains on the mangled fur, and I am not catching the scent of blood. Not sure if animals can still smell it, I should have tested this with a rabbit. Oh well, no time like the present, got to keep moving forward. Make haste not waste, got to use all of the strength in this shota body to drag most of this corpse to a safe location.

--------------------------

I somehow dragged that small behemoth to a safe location without attracting the attention of any predator, this is a miracle, there must be a god looking out for me. I think the cleaning spell eliminated the odor of blood. Good to know for the future, I can use this to make hunts in the future easier.

I am underneath a huge rock, well to be more accurate I am underneath what I can describe as a smaller version of pride rock. It isn't that bad, I have enough space underneath to cook the meat.

Time to start a fire, I think I brought enough kindling for this cooking session. I really hate fires, they make all that smoke, and breathing it is bad for young healthy lungs. I would hate to get some sort of cancer in this world. Not going to lie, I do not trust the medical practices of this world. I know some of them, and I am not sure how effective they are in curing cancer.

I really should stop thinking about depressing topics, what do I think of now while I am burning my food to perfection. Oh, I know, I'll talk about how the food tastes in this world. To put it simply the food is phenomenal and I credit this to the abundance of magic in the air, the water, the vegetation, and the earth. The magic somehow enhances the taste, I'm guessing the water and plants the animals consume somehow improves the bodies and health of the wildlife.

The animals here haven't been exposed to all sorts of chemicals or drugs, the meat is also fresh and not heavily processed. So I am guessing that also contributes to the food tasting great, hopefully consuming all of this magical meat will aid in my growth and overall health.

I need to find some edible vegetation soon, all I have found so far are grass, bushes, and a few trees. I need a balanced diet to grow to my full potential, not getting tired of eating meat, but I wouldn't mind having variety in my life. Meat should be done soon, looking at the sun's position I have enough time to cook the rest of this half. I have to get more kindling, it seems like everything is going my way.

-------------------

I am finally done cooking for the day and going by how much I can eat, I have enough food for, I don't know a month? I guess I'll stay here for the night and sleep with my food, I can't abandon it after spending all of this time cooking it. Once I cast this last cleanse spell, I will be out of magic for the day. I need to get rid of the smell of cooked meat in the area, not sure if the carnivores like the smell of cooked meat, not going to risk it.

'Cleanse'

I am done for today, tomorrow I'll butcher and cook the other half of the boar. Maybe cutting it into even smaller pieces will allow me to store more meat for my journey. Sun is finally setting, I guess I'll talk a little to Clara before I go to sleep and call it a day.

-----------------

I am finally done cutting and cooking that boar, fuck that was very time-consuming. The sun looks like it is about to set, I think I barely have enough time to organize that meat. I think I will have more space after getting rid of all of those useless bones and organs. I just need to play some Tetris with the meat and I am golden.

Now for my second problem, how am I going to cross this river? It is too deep to walk across, I have tiny legs. It is too wide to swim across, I don't think my body has enough endurance to swim across. I don't know how to build a raft, I could try building one. Even then, how could I be sure that it won't break when I am halfway through the river. I won't let a measly river stop me from making friends.

Tomorrow I'll search around the bank for any other alternative ways to get across the river. If I don't find anything, I have to figure something else out. I'll cross that bridge when I get there, the sun is setting and it is time to sleep.