A New Arrival

Monday, the start of the second week in the morning.

Everyone had just gotten up..

"Ow! I'm so sore!" Bernice complained as she got out of her tent.

"Really?" Emma asked in a sarcastic tone as she rolled her eyes. She was pretty sure Bernice was not that sore, at least compared to her. Taking a rock to the stomach would make anyone sore for a while.

"I feel refreshed today." Hester stretched and adjusted his hair.

"..." Abe yawned but said nothing as he crawled out.

As everyone got out, they unconsciously reached into their bag for some food.

"Since everyone is up, I'll show you the basics of hunting and gathering." George was ready and had all his clothes on. He did not seem tired at all.

"Is there anything we need to bring with us? Like a weapon?" Abe asked.

"We'll need a small bowl for herbs and some weapons to kills the animals when Emma immobilizes them. You all can see how I do it as a bonus in case Emma is incapacitated." George took out a small metal pan and tapped his dagger to indicate his weapon.

The four of them reached into their backpacks and pulled out a pan and their weapons. Hester pulled out his magical sword while Abe pulled out a small dagger. Bernice also pulled out a small dagger.

"Alright, follow me then."

George led them a distance away from the camp and whispered at the same time.

"The main important issue when hunting is the noise you make walking. Try to walk as gently as possible avoiding crunchy leaves and twigs. Another issue which depends on the animal is your smell. Some of them can smell you from far away and instantly know about your presence. Use specific body washes and shampoos that eliminate smell, since they can even smell chemicals in normal body cleaning products. Does everyone got it?" He looked back at them following in a line.

They stopped and nodded at him.

"We're far away enough from the campsite that the animals don't know about us. Emma, I want you to cast a spell which locates all the creatures in the vicinity. Tell me when it's complete."

"Okay." She nodded and closed her eyes.

Emma chanted a [Detection] spell in a low voice which materialized out of thin air. The spell released faint ripples which continually spread throughout the area.

"It's complete."

"What do you detect?"

"One magical animal in the vicinity, and many birds and squirrels in the trees. Several rodents underground." Emma provided the information with her eyes closed.

"How far is all this?" George asked while pulling out his dagger.

"My spell only goes out two-hundred feet so not far."

"Cast an immobilize spell the size of that area while maintaining the detection spell. Remember to exclude us in its effect and point us in the right direction. How long does the immobilize spell last?"

"It will last for many minutes on weak targets."

"That should be enough time. Start the casting."

Emma rapidly casted another spell in a low voice. The detection spell formation continued to float in the air.

"[Immobilize]." After changing in a low voice, a different spell formation appeared and released its power through a ripple. The ripple spread out in all directions.

Birds and animals fell out of the trees and into the ground while the ones on the ground fell on their side. Even the insects and critters stopped moving.

Emma stay connected to the immobilize spell and the detection spell, trying to multi-task.

"Let's go!" George searched the area around them at a rapid pace.

"This might be fun." Abe took out his dagger and searched the area with him.

"Hester, go left there! A few feet ahead! Bernice, turn a little right! Go a few feet in that direction!" Emma closed her eyes and gave instructions to everyone.

"This seems too easy." Hester with magical sword found a bird and stabbed it.

"I'm sorry!" Bernice apologized but stabbed a squirrel.

The bodies of birds, squirrels, rabbits, and rodents beneath the ground began to pile up. A large snake and a lizard were even found and killed.

After a few minutes of finding and killing, the [Immobilize] spell dissipated into sparkles and disappeared. Emma absorbed the energy from the other spell and destroyed it.

"That easy?" She said, looking at the many dead bodies in surprise.

"It is when you think smart and not harder." George replied, wiping the blood off his dagger.

"That wasn't so bad." Abe counted the amount again while Hester wiped the sweat off his face.

"This is a little too much for me." Bernice felt a little sick. She has hunted before but not at this scale. It felt very disturbing and exploitative.

"We shouldn't need this much to fill up our stomachs anyway. The rest can be preserved for the afternoon and dinner so we don't waste food and time. Once we've done this enough, there won't be a large killing like this. We'll know how many."

George tied a bunch up and instructed the others to do so.

"Hurry up and bring all this back so it doesn't spoil. I'll show you ways of removing the hide and preserving the meat."

Everyone managed to tie them all up and bring them back a few minutes later.

George taught them how to remove the hide and made them practice despite Bernice and Hester almost throwing up several times. He then talked about the preservative methods such as sun drying, curing, smoking, and preservatives and their negatives and benefits.

Since a lot of the meat is going to be used up in a day or two, it was decided that preservatives would be sprayed on. They were then wrapped up in tightly-sealed bags.

"Follow me again. I'll show you what I do for herb collecting."

They followed him into the forest again as carefully looked at the foliage.

"A lot of the foliage here aside from herbs can also be used as fiber, but make sure they are boiled to eliminate any microorganisms. I have found a herb."

George walked over to a bush with many white-petaled flowers.

"These are Cririn. They are non-poisonous and have a lot of essential vitamins. Just cut off the tops and include the petals as well." George cut off the heads and dropped them into the metal pan.

"Here's another basic herb. This is called a Needlesting."

George walked over to another plant which had a brown stem and stood up straight like a needle.

"Do not touch the pole part of this plant. They are lined with microscopic needles that are very poisonous. You wanna get the good part like this."

George stuck his hand into the ground beside the plant and uplifted the entire plant by the roots. With his dagger, he chopped off the entire root section of the plant.

"The roots of the Needlesting have a few other essential vitamins that the other plant did not have. I'll show you some more and I'll let you search the area on your own."

George escorted them around the area and showed them all kinds of plants either poisonous or non-poisonous, and whether or not to eat them. After ten minutes had passed, his own bowl was full of all kinds of herbs.

"You seem to know a lot about plants." Emma was genuinely impressed.

"I've borrowed books before on botany and have a book on all kinds of herbs in my backpack. They're essential for survival in the world." George indifferently inspected the herbs in his bowl.

"Go around and collect as many of the herbs I described as possible until your bowl is full. Please return to the campsite within fifteen minutes and don't stray far. We have limited time."

Everyone left and began searching the area for herbs.

George returned to the campsite and began cooking lines of rabbits and squirrels over the fire.

Suddenly, his head turned 180 degrees and he coldly stared into the forest.

The sound of bushes being moved grew louder and louder.

Behind the moving foliage, a person came out.

A tall beautiful female with sharp looks, long brown hair, and brown eyes came out. She was wearing winter clothing and was carrying a giant backpack.