Fire

With his choice pretty much already made, Raze had no choice but to follow through. 

Thankfully, it wasn't all bad, as even if he was eating monster meat, he could at least make it somewhat edible and less disgusting. 

It would have been better if he had stuff like salt and spices to enhance the flavour, but beggars can't be choosers. 

Now he just had one more question left. 

'How exactly does one make fire?'

He had tried to use the tower shop earlier on the floor, but apparently he couldn't access it. 

Which was really annoying, as it would have really helped him out if he could. 

Raze was just like any other modern-day person who survived by relying on technology, so he naturally didn't have many survival skills. 

The only thing that came to mind was that video of a guy producing fire with a twig on some leaves that he had seen once. 

There was also another method that he knew involved using sharp rocks, but he wasn't sure how exactly it worked, so he left it as a backup. 

Since Raze was pretty much at home most of the day, he didn't have much to do, which left him with a lot of free time. 

He used to watch random videos and read novels. 

Who knew all the time he thought was wasted would actually come back to help him one day? 

'I guess life has a funny way of doing things in that sense'

He wasn't sure if it would work, but he had to at least try. 

Sadly, making fire for food wasn't his only problem. 

If he carelessly made fire to cook, it would end up attracting nearby beasts towards him. 

Which would end very badly as he wasn't confident in fighting multiple monsters at once. 

The only solution he could think of was to constantly be on the lookout with his [Farsight] and snipe anything that came too close with his bows. 

It wasn't the perfect solution, but it will have to do, and besides, if something dangerous happens, he should hopefully be able to run away in time. 

Raze had zero ego about this kind of stuff, as the current him was weak, and this was something he fully accepted. 

If he ever thought a situation was dangerous and he had the option, he would run away without hesitation. 

After all, his life was more important than anything else. 

With a relatively clear idea of what he needed to do, he got to work. 

**

In just a few minutes, Raze had found a pretty clear area for him to make camp in. 

The ground was clear for a few metres around and had a tall tree for him to climb on so that he could snipe. 

He had already used his [Farsight] to scout around, and he didn't see any dangerous monsters. 

But that was still not enough for him to lower his guard, as he was familiar with the fact that  danger always strikes once one lets their guard down. 

Even before, he had always been pretty paranoid, especially after losing his parents and legs, and his mind had a very messed-up way of torturing him by making up implausible and harrowing scenarios. 

And this quality of his had only become even worse after his transmigration. 

He knew that too much paranoia and anxiety were just as bad as overconfidence and would lead to an untimely death.

Maybe his paranoia was caused by his obsession with clinging to life and not wanting to die. 

It was a very normal wish, but for him, it seemed to be doing more harm than good. 

'Hopefully I will become less paranoid after getting more powerful in the future.'

The fact that he was still very weak and almost every single creature in this forest had the ability to end his life was definitely playing a part in his paranoia. 

Alas, despite recognising the problem with his thought process, there was nothing he could do except keep it at bay. 

"Anyways, I should focus on making food instead of these useless things."

He had already gathered plenty of dry leaves and wood for his attempt. 

Whether he would be able to eat anything today or end up starving depended on his ability to generate fire. 

Raze arranged the dry leaves in the pattern he remembered from the video. 

It wasn't identical, but it should be close enough. 

Now all that was left was the actual tough part: arranging the twig in the middle of the leaf, he started rubbing his hands around it vigorously and as fast as possible to generate fire. 

After a few seconds of rubbing, his hands started hurting, but he still didn't stop and kept going. 

And surprisingly, after a few more seconds, white smoke started coming out. 

"Cough"

"Cough"

Due to his close proximity to it, the smoke made him cough a little, but despite this, he didn't look troubled at all. 

And instead, he had a small smile on his face, and it only grew wider after seeing the small fire that was burning the dry leaves around the twig. 

"Well, I'd be damned  it actually worked," Raze exclaimed in surprise. 

Honestly, he didn't really have much hope when he started making this fire, but apparently all those random videos he had watched weren't so useless after all. 

But he didn't let his excitement get the better of him as he fed the fire dry leaves and small chunks of dry wood to keep it burning. 

After doing that, he made a very primitive, medium-length wooden structure and affixed it atop the fire. 

The structure was tall enough to not get burned while also being short enough to let the heat from the fire reach whatever was on it. 

Next, he took out the meat of a one-horned racoon he had hunted from his inventory. 

A decently long wooden stick with the body of a small, hornless, and hairless racoon in the middle of it appeared in his hand. 

Raze was by no means a professional butcherer, but he was at least good enough to take out the horn atop its head, the glands it had, and the hair on its body, just leaving the meat. 

He had also tried his best to remove fat, but he had done a pretty poor job. 

But, for his first time, it wasn't too bad and should definitely be edible. 

With a bit of effort, he managed to affix the stick with the racoon meat to the wooden structure from earlier and left it to cook. 

Making sure to rotate periodically. 

He almost wanted to relax a little, but he couldn't; after all, the real dangerous part was just beginning. 

Perfectly aware of the potential dangers of igniting a fire in the middle of a forest, he climbed the nearby tree and activated [Farsight], ready to snipe any creature stupid enough to target the smoke coming from the fire.