Chapter Two: Hunting

I creep through the underbrush of this forest in search of food, quickly learning that my sense of smell is much better than it was before, 'Benefits of being an Arachne I guess.'

I then smell something, 'Food?' I slowly make my way over to the source of the smell and find a deer.

I get into a good position to throw my spear at it, 'I can do this. I've hunted before, in my previous life, with a rifle. A spear can't be that hard to throw, right?'

I line up my shot and throw the spear. The spear then soars towards the deer, only for it to fly by its head, 'Damn! I missed by a hair!' The deer then goes to run, with my instincts telling me to use my new spider legs to kill it.

Having no reason to not trust these new instincts of mine, I lunge at the deer before it can get very far and thrust my upper left spider leg into it, piercing it and causing it to stumble.

I then hit the animal some more with my other legs and finish it off with a bite, pumping some venom into it.

Eventually the animal slumps over, dead. I stand up and wipe my forehead, 'That was much harder than just shooting it with a gun...'

{+ 10 EXP}

I then pick up a nearby rock and chip at it with another rock until I have a basic knife. I then go over to the deer and begin to cut it open in a way that would make any competent butcher have a heart attack, 'This is messy...'

After getting a good bit of meat cut out and put into my inventory, which wasn't very hard to use, I then look at myself, 'I'm a bloody mess! I need to get cleaned up.'

I then find my spear and pick it up before storing the rest of the deer and going to look for a source of water to clean myself off in. I eventually find a stream, 'Better than nothing I guess...' I then walk over to it and take off my clothes, which consist of an open back tank top and shorts, both covered in blood from the deer, before laying them on a smooth rock nearby.

I step into the water and find it to be a little cold, but tolerable. I then clean myself and my clothes the best I can.

After my little bath, I put my clothes back on, which still have stains in them, just not as bad as before.

I then pick up my spear and continue to explore the forest, hoping to find civilization. I eventually come across a group of people, some with armor and others dressed in robes of some kind. They are all armed.

'I should probably not approach them...' I then turn around to move away, when I hear a stick break under me, 'Crap!'

I then hear a voice yell out, "Who's there?!" I decide to run, not wanting to deal with the group of armed people.

I don't get very far before I feel a hot object fly by my head. I freeze up when I hear a commanding voice, "Stop right there!"

I turn around with my hands up. I then see the group of armed people, one of which is holding a ball of fire in her hand, and another holding a bow with an arrow knocked and aimed at my forehead, the rest wielding some kind of melee weapon.

The one who seems to be in charge steps up to me, brandishing a longsword, "Why were you watching us?"

I try and stammer out an answer, "I-I... I, I just came upon you guys! I just wanted to ask for directions to the nearest town, but then saw you guys had weapons and it made me nervous..."

The man looks at one of his companions, who nods. The man then sighs, before sheathing his sword, the others putting up their weapons.

I then breathe out a sigh of relief, 'I'm not dying again, not so soon!' The man then apologizes for he and his party's behavior.

"We were just headed to Yorsville. You can come with us if you like?" I nod my head with a smile, "That sounds good."

We then make our way through the forest, following a faint path. Eventually, the sky turns dark, and everyone stops, "Let's make a camp here." I hear the leader of this party say. Everyone then goes to set up a camp.

I just stand there, unsure of what to do exactly, 'I guess I should help?' I then go around and pick up some sticks and rocks to make a fire with, seeing as no one else was doing that.

I then organize the sticks into a pile and surround them with rocks. I then look at the unlit firepit, 'How am I gonna light it?'

I go to stand up and look for a few good rocks to start the fire with, when the person who threw the fireball at me earlier walks over with a few sticks in her hands, "Oh, you already made one? I was gonna do that... I guess I can still light it, but it's not as fun as actually making it."

She then stoops down by my fire and holds her finger out, a small flame lighting up just above it. She then moves the flame to the campfire and touches the wood with it, the wood instantly igniting.

She then moves her hand away quickly before shaking her hand. She then looks at me with a smile, before standing up and walking away to do something else.

I then decide to cook some of the meat I got from the deer. I find a long stick and sharpen it, before sticking a piece of venison on it.

I then hold it over the fire, slowly turning it to avoid burning any parts and to get a nice even cook. After the piece of venison is cooked, I bring the meat to my mouth and take a bite, 'Hot!!!' I spit out the flaming hot chunk and try and cool off my tongue, 'It's like I just bit into a piece of flaming charcoal! Just without the bad taste!'

I wait for my food to cool off, before biting into it again, 'Much better.' After getting a second to register the taste, I smile, 'This is good!' I continue to eat, until the venison is gone.

I then toss the stick away and decide to try and use my {Lesser String Creation} to make something. I use the skill, a line of thin string coming out of my pointer finger. I then pick up the string and look at it, 'It looks like a normal spider's silk.'

I then decide to make a pillow. I weave the threads together, eventually getting something resembling a pillow sheet, 'Now I just need something to fill it with...' I look around, not finding anything.

I sigh, before tossing my pillowcase into my inventory. I think for a moment, 'Maybe I can try making a hammock.' I chuckle at my next thought, 'Or maybe I could make an actual web.' I decide to just make a hammock for now.

I make a few strings and weave them together, before weaving them into something resembling a hammock.

I then try and hang it up between two trees, succeeding in doing so, 'Let's see if it can hold me...' I then try and climb up into.

After getting into it, and finding it very comfortable, I decide to stress test it a bit by swinging around.

After making sure it won't break, I get out and go to see if I can help the others with anything. I walk up to someone and talk to them, "Hey is there anything I can do to help?" The person turns around and looks at me, "You're an Arachne, yes?" I nod, "I could use someone's help to catch some food for tonight, seeing as our party leader underestimated how much we needed when we started this journey."

I nod. We then go into the forest to look for food. I smell something. I turn to tell the person I'm helping that and see them shush me.

They then gesture to a bush. I nod, understanding what they're getting at, and ready my spear. We then get closer to the bush, the archer next to me pulling out a short sword after putting up their bow and stabbing into the bush, a squelch being heard after.

I then stab into the bush with my spear, another squelch sounding out. the archer next to me puts their hand into the bush and pulls out a rabbit with bull horns, two stab wounds present.

I ask what the horns are for, which earns me a weird look, "Never seen a Bull Rabbit?" I shake my head, which surprises the archer, "Must have had a really sheltered life then, which is surprising considering what you are."

I chuckle nervously, 'Yeah... I wouldn't say sheltered, but I definitely don't live like a hunter-gatherer.' We then go on to nab a few more Bull Rabbits, before going back to camp.

When we arrive at camp, everyone is gathered around the fire. The Bull Rabbits are then butchered and cooked. I am asked if I wanted any but decline after saying I already ate.

After a few stories from the group, we all go to sleep, with me in my hammock.