Setting Camp

Lila seemed shocked by Rogers's declaration, but quickly hid it, putting on an air of indifference. 

"Ah, I see. Very well, then we have food. If this creature was wandering these woods, then it would be prudent for us to find some water and shelter in the glade so we have a clear view of anything approaching us."

Roger felt a little disappointed at her apparent disregard for his glorious victory over the spike-tailed tiger.

'I'll just have to show her something even more amazing later! That will show her!'

Hiding his emotions, Roger gestured to the tools he had received from the System.

"I earned these for killing the tiger before the System initialized, so we have a head start. We can build a house here, and there is a river nearby to draw water."

Roger suddenly paused as he remembered the seeds.

"I also have three kinds of planet seeds that we can grow. All of them take a week or less to mature so we can have a renewable food source."

Lila nodded at his words, walking over to inspect the tools herself. As she knelt down, he noticed her clothes again and turned slightly red.

"You wouldn't have received some extra clothes, would you?"

'I swear this girl has no shame! I provide her with food, water, and tools to make shelter and she wants to have some fashion options! What is even the purpose of different clothes, to look better when the wild beasts attack you?"

Gritting his teeth, Roger swallowed his real thoughts as he responded. 

"No, I don't. If we are lucky, the system may reward you with some if you do something impressive enough. I think. I don't know how the System works."

Lila sighed.

"We will need to fill those knowledge gaps with time. And yes, the System provides rewards of all types when you accomplish great deeds. They can be weapons, armor, tools, books, or any manner of things."

She picked up the axe, admiring the iron head of it and turning it over to inspect the other side.

Nodding at the craftsmanship, she stood up and practically threw it into Rogers's arms, maintaining a distance from him the entire time.

"Go chop us some wood while I carve up that tiger and get a fire going. I'll use those wood planks there for it."

Roger caught the tool clumsily, almost dropping it. He quickly grew angry at her orders, especially as she had not asked his opinion during them.

"Why don't we do it the other way around? I cut up the tiger, and you go chop wood."

Lila looked at him like his question was ludicrous.

"You know how to gut and treat an animal?"

Her simple statement caused Roger to turn red, embarrassment flooding him.

'Gods damn it I should've thought of that! I wouldn't have been able to do any of that!'

Looking away, he mumbled under his breath.

"I'll just go get the wood."

She smiled smugly.

"I thought as much."

Lila then picked up his dropped sword and, without a word, knelt down beside the tiger, using the blade as a makeshift butcher's knife.

Gripping the shaft of the axe tightly, Roger just scoffed and set off into the woods.

'Who the hell does she think she is? She just met me and already thinks I am her slave! I bet she was some kind of noble brat or rich politician's kid!'

That last thought gave him pause.

'If she is some highborn, then I need to be very careful about what I tell her. She could turn me over to the government if she knows I am an escaped convict. All those rich bastards would leap at the chance to put someone like me back in handcuffs, especially if it led to a reward.'

He didn't know why, but the thought of Lila turning him in filled his veins with boiling anger.

The realization of what it meant hit him hard.

'It's only been two days and I am already getting addicted to freedom. I think at this point, I would rather live in the wilderness forever than be put back in that damned concrete box.'

Roger would do anything to make sure he never went back. Anything at all.

He stopped his walk in front of a tree that had a handful of low-hanging branches. Heaving the axe up, he brought it down near the end of the branch, cutting a small furrow into it.

The axe rose and fell half a dozen times before the branch came down.

Roger was breathing heavily with the exertion. His body might have gained a lot more muscle, but it was still raw.

He would need time to acclimate to it and use it properly instead of expending all his energy in a few swings. 

'At least I'm able to swing an axe now. I doubt I could do the same if I was still as skeletal as I was back in prison.'

He stepped over to the other side of the tree, chopping away at a second branch. Then a third.

That first tree netted him a total of five large branches.

Roger slung them all over his shoulder and made his way back to the glade, enjoying the earthy scents as he went. 

Back in the clearing he saw Lila was busy gutting the tiger, blood and other fluids covering her arms and shirt, staining it red.

He took a moment to enjoy the sight of her working on the animal before catching himself and continuing his work. 

He roughly dropped the stack of branches near the wooden planks and set off to fetch more.

They spent around half a day working hard, Roger chopping wood while Lila prepared the animal and built a small fire.

By the time he was done, Roger had built a sizable pile of wood, leaving him quite satisfied.

His hands were resting on his sides, small calluses already forming on them from his efforts.

'There is something really nice about finishing a task purely for your own enjoyment, not because the warden orders you to.'

A small fire was roaring in the very center of their glade, created by the wooden planks and lit by Lila, who did some kind of strange smashing action with two rocks to create a spark.

Roger wasn't really sure how she did it, but he wasn't going to complain.

It would be the first night he spent here where he would have a source of warmth.

He shivered subconsciously as he thought about the freezing cold of the Avarian nights.

Lila had spent the entire day at a distance from Roger, not ever getting too close. He wasn't sure exactly why she didn't want to be near him but assumed it was some kind of highborn thing.

'Rich people are weird. I hope I never end up like that.'

As the day went on, she kept giving him sideways glances, confusing the youth even more.

'I hope all women aren't this weird.'

As the sun crossed the sky, Roger realized he didn't have much to do at the moment, so he picked up the book titled "Introduction to Avar" and sat by the fire to read it.

Opening the book, there was a short foreword.

"If you are reading this, we can safely assume you have, through one way or another, entered Avar and find yourself confused by your circumstances. This is a perfectly normal reaction for a species like humans, so do not feel bad for your sad, feeble, predicament."

Roger read the first paragraph again, and a third time, his anger growing each time.

'What the hell do they mean a "species like humans"? We are the best species in the universe, you know!'

Roger didn't actually know that for certain, but he felt like it made sense. A better species would have shown itself by now if one existed, right?

Continuing to read, the foreword continued.

"In this text, you will learn all that you will need to survive your first couple years in Avar, so long as you have two things; luck, and skill. A combination of both is necessary to survive on this wonderful planet, and the fact that you need this book suggests that you have neither. This is a problem, and one that the information inside should help solve! So without any more delay, read onwards young human, and fill your tiny brain with knowledge!"

Unable to read any more at the moment, Roger shut the book with a thud and threw it towards the small stack of tomes resting near him.

'Who does the System think they are, insulting me like that! Don't they know I killed an eel and a spike-tailed tiger before even having any abilities?'

Roger didn't know if doing so was actually impressive, but he was angry, gods damn it!

His rage was interrupted by Lila sitting down on the opposite side of the fire. 

She was holding a flat piece of wood that had a few strips of meat on it and gingerly laid them on the stone closest to the burning inferno. 

They quickly began to sizzle and pop as they cooked, and she would occasionally move them around to cook evenly.

Noticing Rogers's gaze on her, she blushed and turned away, hiding her expression.

Not wanting the silence to stretch any further, he decided to ask her some simple questions.

"So, what part of Earth are you from?"