Chapter 10

They moved through the woods as quickly as they could. But, between the ground covered in plants, branches, and roots, which slowed down their steps, and having to pay attention to where they were running, to avoid getting lost, their speed was quite low. Unsurprisingly, the next roar was closer still.

"What do we do? It's getting closer," Amy asked after five minutes of running.

"Keep going for as long as we can. The closer we get to the base the better," Frank replied, leaping over a fallen tree trunk.

"At least it doesn't sound like a pack," Bill huffed.

A minute of desperate running went by when they heard tree branches snap, and a large beast jumped out onto their path. A tiger, was Frank's first thought. For some reason, its fur was yellow, rather than orange, but it was unmistakably a tiger. Though this one was much larger than normal, at least ten feet long and five feet high, it seemed wider as well, with massive shoulders.

Young Tiger, level 20

"Level 20, shit," Bill gave voice to everyone's thoughts.

A branch snapped behind them, and Kevin turned to face the new intruder. "There is one behind us too," he informed them.

Only two should be manageable, Frank thought. "Bill and Kevin will face the one behind us, Hank and I will face the one in front. Margret, support Bill with healing. Amy, try to support both sides. Hit them with spells, and make them come to us," he quickly instructed. "Spread out so if it charges one, the other can hit its side," he added.

Everyone followed the orders silently. The beast in front of them didn't rush to attack, it stood there, scowling at them, its tail beating its sides. Looking almost disinterested, it took a small step forward, eyeing its prey. An angry roar came from behind, probably Amy hitting the other monster with a spell. The tiger in front must've realized that taking things slow was a bad idea, lowering its body to the ground, it sprung towards Hank.

Hank thrust his sword forward, the monster's momentum causing it to impale itself. Despite its wound, the tiger attacked with one paw then the other, slashing Hank on the chest and leaving deep gashes in his arm. The sword fell out of his hand, as he reeled backward. Meanwhile Frank cast Lightning Bolt, which had no noticeable effect. He followed it up with Phantom Strike, impacting the beast's side. The tiger halted for a moment, allowing Hank to retreat a little.

Having successfully flanked the monster, Frank used Power Attack as he slashed at the tiger's front paw, cutting deep into the limb. The tiger stumbled, its leg no longer able to support its massive frame, and turned to face Frank. He jumped backward, activating Mana Shield, then lunged forward with a slash, backed by Power Attack, hitting the tiger on its face. Roaring furiously, it swiped its other front paw at him, popping the Mana Shield, but causing no damage beyond that.

Frank retreated once more, the tiger eyeing him carefully. Then it startled, and turned to look at its other side, where an icicle had embedded itself into its body. Not wasting any time, Frank pounced on the monster, firing off a Power Attack at its neck, which instantly got him the beast's attention. However, before the monster could do anything, it was hit by an Arcane Bolt, arcane energy washing over it upon impact. Frank followed the spell by slashing at the monster's face, as he circled away from its maw.

By now Hank had recovered and took out another sword from his ring. Seeing the monster distracted, he lunged at its side, using his weight and momentum to bring the sword down on the monster's back. The tiger roared, completely distracted by the pain. Frank recast Mana Shield and stabbed the monster's side. Augmented by Power Attack, the saber pierced through the skin and sunk hilt-deep into flesh. Activating Power Attack again, Frank tried to cut sideways as he drew back his weapon.

The tiger yelped in pain at the intrusive attack. It tried to face him, causing the blade inside its body to deal even more damage and swiped at him. The Mana Shield popped again, but this time Frank didn't bother to retreat. He could see Hank execute a huge overhead slash, which cut deep into the creature's back. Its backside slumped to the ground, and its front paws trembled under its weight. Its maw opened for a roar, which was cut short as Frank stabbed into the top of its mouth.

"Don't let it recover, keep attacking!" Frank shouted when the monster fell to the ground.

They continued to stab and slash at the grounded beast, which whimpered painfully. Frank had realized something during the fight with the gnolls. Although HP would heal any wound, there was a delay of about five seconds, between taking damage and it being healed. Deeper, more serious injuries would take longer to recover from. As such, while the tiger had plenty of HP, and could easily heal the damage they inflicted upon it, it couldn't do so fast enough to remain in fighting shape.

Hank's attack must've severed its spine, and Frank's follow up likely damaged its brain. Both wounds would take some time to heal. The constantly accumulating damage slowed the healing process even more. Their frenzied attacks continued, and, finally, the name over the beast's head disappeared, signifying its demise.

"Whew, talk about a workout," Hank huffed, falling to his knees, his hands pressed against the ground.

"Yeah. This thing had a lot of HP," Frank agreed, stretching the 'lot' for emphasis.

Turning their attention to the rest of their group, they watched as Bill, Hank, and Amy filled the other tiger with holes. It seemed to be holding on a little better than the one they killed, still standing, still standing and even taking unsteady swipes at them every once in a while. Still, every second resulted in more damage, it was just a matter of time now.

Turning back, Frank approached the slain monster. Squatting beside it, he checked its claws and fangs, moved his hand over its body, feeling its fur.

"Strange, the System is like a game, but there are no item drops from killing monsters," he remarked.

"Huh? I guess," Hank said scratching his head. "Maybe they are the wrong type of monsters? Or we're supposed to use their body parts to craft armor and weapons and such?"

"I don't imagine anything can be made out of its pelt, given all these wounds," Frank gestured at the body. "Still, we might as well bring it back. The claws look pretty impressive," he shrugged and placed the corpse into his Spatial Ring.

"Tell me about it," Hank said as he regarded his shirt, three long slashes on its front. The two of them sat in silence, watching the others fight.

Soon, the tiger fell, no longer able to keep up with its injuries. Bill's axe smashed on its neck, severing its head, and finishing the beast. Frank clapped lightly, before speaking.

"Well done, everyone. We were able to defeat two level twenty monsters, quite an accomplishment. But, we shouldn't get too full of ourselves, lest worse things show up. Take a small break to recover your mana and stamina, then we'll continue to head back to base," he told them.

He came over to the other tiger, only to shake his head – this one's pelt was even more ruined. Still, he added the corpse to his ring.

"Maybe we can use it to craft something useful," he replied to the questioning gazes.

After everyone recovered, they continued on their way back and were able to return to the place where trees were being cut for the fence. There, they learned that two other groups sent foraging had already returned, one of which encountered some wolves, which they managed to kill. Only one team remained in the forest, but the Marshall wasn't worried about them yet, so no rescue missions were planned.

For a while, Frank watched in fascination as people used axes to chop down the trees. Their strength must've been pretty high, as they made swift work of the task. Once a tree fell, someone else would come over and cut off all of the branches, then the trunk would be pulled toward the base. A voice brought him back to reality.

"We should probably report that we've returned, and get a new task," Kevin said.

"Yes, let's go," Frank nodded.

"Hold up, if you are going to the base, can you bring this trunk with you," a woman called out to them, pointing at a tree from which she just removed the last branch.

"Sure thing," Bill told her and walked over.

Margaret and Amy let the four men pull the tree, on account of their Strength attribute being low. Frank's was probably at base level as well, but he didn't mind. Maybe I can get a level in Physical Labor, he thought, eager to do anything that could provide levels and grid points. Bill and Kevin did most of the work, as they dragged the tree some two hundred yards, to where some other logs were laying. They got a nod from a man who came over to inspect their tree, then after taking some measurements began to cut it around the middle.

Done with that, the group went to see the Marshall. As they walked, all around them people were working. Some carried the cut logs, bringing them to a group of people which would then lift it and place it into a hole, adding it to the other upright logs, which were beginning to resemble a fence. Others were digging the holes for the logs, yet others worked on a pile of tree branches, cutting the smaller pieces off and sharpening one of the ends, turning it into a long spike. Some distance away, the red-haired man could be seen, working on a wolf's body.

They found the Marshall sitting near the base, it looked like he was fighting off a headache, as he listened to a woman in a stewardess' uniform. As they approached, the woman fell silent, causing the Marshall to open his eyes.

"You've returned," he said in a voice devoid of energy, "found anything interesting?"

"Depends. We got attacked by two, level twenty tigers, which we killed without casualties," Frank began. "We've found a bunch of fruits, some new ones in addition to the ones from last night. Also, found some strange flowers that hold these crystals," he said, taking out a few crystals from his ring and presenting them to the man.

"Level twenty is troublesome, good work killing them. Keep the food in your rings, just tell Carol here what you got," he said gesturing to the stewardess. "Once we have the fence up, you can give your project a go," he added looking at her. Then he got up, and mumbling about a headache shuffled slowly toward the group building the fence. Then he turned to face them and spoke again: "Ah, right, you can rest or whatever, we'll have lunch at noon after that new tasks will be given out." Then he continued on his way.

"I am Carol, nice to meet you all. I am in charge of our food supplies. Can you tell me what and how much you got?" The stewardess asked.

Each of them told her the contents of their rings, which Carol recorded on a long piece of bark in lieu of paper. While waiting for his turn, Frank examined her, around forty, tall and fit, with shoulder-length blonde hair, the woman, typical of her profession, was rather good looking despite her age. Of course, I am twice her age, though if I increased my Vitality... I could totally become a dirty old man, he chuckled at the idea, as the thoughts lazily crossed his mind as he relaxed, sitting on the ground.

"And what do you have?" Carol's voice resounded in his ears, looking up he saw the woman staring at him.

"Ahem, let me check," looking through his Spatial Ring, he listed the various fruits he had gathered earlier, before adding, "I also have the corpses of the two tigers we've killed."

"Um, tiger meat should be edible. Can you take them to Steve, over there," she said pointing in the direction of the ginger working with the wolves.

Sure," Frank told her, before looking at the rest of his group, "what do you all plan to do till noon?"

"I don't think there is much time left, maybe an hour?" Hank said, looking up at the Sun's position in the sky. "Think I'll take a nap, didn't get much sleep yesterday."

"I want to try my hand at cutting a tree, it looked fun," Bill said, rubbing his hands together. "I'll go with him in case a tree falls on him," Margaret added with a giggle.

"I'll do some training, need to get my Attributes up," Kevin said, and Amy nodded in agreement,

"Alright, I'll give the tigers to Steve, then do some training too. Let's reunite here at noon, or in case we come under attack," Frank said, getting a nod of agreement from the others.

Walking toward Steve, he saw about a dozen wolf pelts spread over on the ground, held in place by wooden stakes. There was a mound of guts next to the man, as well as a smaller pile of white string-like things a bit away from the man. Moving around the skins, Frank approached him.

"Can I help you?" Steve asked looking up at him.

"Yes, my team went into the woods, and we've killed two tigers. I was told to give them to you," Frank replied.

"Tigers? Alright! Lemme see 'em," the man said excitedly, setting the wolf body he was working on aside.

Frank placed the two corpses on the ground, and Steve crouched down to examine them.

"Beautiful beasts. Too bad the pelts are ruined. I could get some scrap leather from them, but not much else," he said after a while.

"What about their claws or fangs? Anything we can use them for?" Frank added.

"Sharp," Steve remarked as he held a tiger's paw in his hand, "could use them to make holes in the pelts... don't think they can be used as a weapon though," he concluded.

"And the meat?"

"It's edible alright, no idea what it's like though. Now, thanks to you, we'll get to taste one," Steve replied with a bright smile on his face,

"I look forward to it," Frank mirrored the man's emotions. "By the way, how's your task going? Any luck getting something useful?"

"Well, I got them rawhides drying over there, but we got no salt or tanning agent to cure them, heck, I don't even have a frame to stretch them properly. I ain't sure how useful they gonna be. Then I got a pile of sinew that I plan to work on later," Steve said.

"Hm, sinew is used as a string, right?" Frank asked, trying to recall what he knew about the subject. "How do you make it usable?"

"Oh, ya want to do it? Basically, you take the sinew, separate the fibers, get them wet, then twist a few fibers together into a string. Just feed more fibers into the string as you run out, to make a longer string. Once it dries up, it will shrink and make a nice, tough string," Steve explained to him as he showed how to separate the fibers. "What do you say, wanna give it a go?"

"Hmm, we aren't supposed to go to the river without our whole team... maybe I'll do it later," Frank managed to find a suitable excuse, he wanted to train his skill, not screw around trying to make a string.

Steve shrugged, looking slightly disappointed, and went back to the wolf he was working on. Frank was walking away as well, looking for a good spot to settle, when a thought struck him.

"Hey, do you mind if I take some sinew? I've got an idea," he called out to the ginger, who waved his hand in reply.

Taking a few tendons or whatever it was, Frank moved some distance away and sat down. He spent time separating all of the fibers that made up the sinew, ending up with a pile of thin fibers about three to eight inches long. They were soft and could be twisted into a string, though without wetting them first, they wouldn't bind together.

Frank continued to roll the fibers together until he had a foot-long string. Satisfied, he held the string with both hands and closed his eyes. In his mind, he imagined mana flowing from his hands into the fibers, transforming them from a loose collection into a single piece. He wasn't sure if it would work, but after listening to Steve he was struck by a powerful realization: The System has brought magic to this world, using magic we can shoot fireballs and heal fatal injuries, so why the hell are we doing things the way some cavemen from the Stone Age did?

Could magic be used in such a way? He wasn't sure. But he felt a sudden inspiration to give it a try. The experience of how to properly define the details of an image, which he gained from trying to cast a cleaning spell came handy here. Comparatively, what he was attempting to do now was much simpler. The first stage was for the mana to flow from his hands into the string, the second stage was for the loose fibers to merge into a single piece of string.

Time passed, but he persisted, refining the image in his mind. After ten minutes, he could feel tingling in his hands. Granted, it was possible that his hands had fallen asleep, but he shooed that idea away, preferring to think that it was the feeling of mana. Another five minutes went by before he felt the mana flow from his hands into the fibers. A minuscule amount of it.

Feeling encouraged, he spent the next few minutes trying to increase the amount of mana going into the fibers. He failed, and the mana continued to flow at an extremely slow pace. It took a while, but even with the slow pace, he felt that the fibers had absorbed enough mana. Frank began to imagine the numerous fibers merging into a single string. Sharpening his focus, he tried to picture the process in as much detail as possible, down to the smallest part.

He lost track of time, all of his attention on the process at hand. Finally, he felt the mana in the fibers stir, as if it was about to spill out, then it congealed. Opening his eyes, Frank ignored several notifications that popped up, and instead looked at the item in his hands. A smile spreading on his face as he read the description.

Magically Crafted String