System: Build My Own Territory Chapter 5: Truly Hungry
Previously on System: Build My Own Territory...
Indeed, the Flint Axe's sharpness proved quite limited.
Nearly an hour passed before Lynn felled the 20-30 cm thick pine tree.
Yet, as he kept chopping away, knowledge about logging gradually fused into Lynn’s mind.
Glancing up, Lynn saw the distant eastern horizon already brightening.
After a brief rest, he hefted the Flint Axe and resumed chopping.
[Collection Experience +1]
[Collection Experience +1]
...
Tall pine trees toppled one by one under the Flint Axe gripped in Lynn’s hand.
His [Collection] skill level rose steadily.
By noon, Lynn halted and headed back to the clearing.
The eight pine trees he chopped down had fallen exactly in the directions he planned.
Towering over twenty meters high, the pines lay less than ten meters from the clearing after crashing down.
This let him conserve energy for other work.
Back at the fire pit, the snake meat inside the Pottery Pot was fully consumed.
Lynn snatched the Pottery Pot, carried it to the river to rinse clean, filled it with river water, and guzzled it down.
The cool river water filling his belly brought Lynn great relief.
Still, without food, water alone couldn't conceal his hunger.
With the pot refilled, Lynn returned to the clearing and started stripping branches off the pine trees.
Arm-thick branches fell one after another to Lynn's chops.
Once the eight pines were cleared, Lynn hauled the branches to the open area.
Constructing a wooden house straightaway would demand days; solo completion today was impossible for Lynn.
Abundant branches allowed him to erect a temporary single-person shelter first.
Lynn could endure one night without sleep.
But multiple sleepless nights in a row would drain him completely again!
Gripping a thicker branch, he plunged it into a pre-dug hole for main support.
[Construction Experience +1]
Lynn planted another branch into the hole the same way.
[Construction Experience +1]
Insights on single-person shelter construction slowly integrated into Lynn’s mind.
He had no idea how to build a shelter before, but...
As he assembled it... the knowledge just came naturally, didn't it?
Lynn lashed the tops of the two thicker branches with grass rope into an inverted V-shape for the entrance, serving as the primary load-bearing spot.
He grabbed two more thick branches and angled them at forty-five degrees into the ground behind the entrance.
Using grass rope again, he bound these to the entrance branches, creating a pagoda-like shelter framework.
[Construction Experience +1]
Without pause.
Lynn jammed branches around the frame into the soil nonstop, packing them densely to surround it fully, then secured them with grass rope...
Next, he piled straw layers from bottom to top, each overlapping the previous...
After lining the inside with more straw, Lynn's branch shelter stood complete.
The shelter's inner space spanned about two meters long, one meter wide, and one meter high. Dense packing and grass rope reinforcements blocked wild animals effectively.
Straw topping the shelter also shielded against wind.
Satisfaction flickered in Lynn’s eyes; this was his labor's reward!
Guzzling more river water, Lynn approached the pine trees again.
A wooden house demanded wall and roof frames needing at least twenty logs.
Morning's eight cuts fell short.
The Flint Axe hacked ceaselessly at the pines, echoing loudly.
Pine after pine tumbled down.
At dusk, weary Lynn finally quit, dozens more pines sprawled at his feet.
Halving the pines would produce over thirty logs, ample for a wooden house.
Clutching the chipped Flint Axe, Lynn readied to return to the shelter when a gray-white blur dashed before him.
His brows shot up; fatigue forgotten, he dashed after it.
[Adult Rabbit]: Frightened, the meat is tender and juicy, rich in protein, containing small amounts of fat, etc.
The rabbit sped incredibly fast, spooked by chopping sounds into blind panic trampling.
Lynn pursuing from behind failed to catch it.
On the verge of quitting, the rabbit vaulted into a tree stump.
Its body rolled to the ground, limbs clawing soil madly...
Had it fainted?
Instantly, Lynn seized the axe and bashed the rabbit’s head with its flat side, crimson staining it at once.
The rabbit’s struggles slowed, belly heaving ceased, life finally ebbed.
[Adult Rabbit]: Deceased, the meat is tender and juicy...
Lifting the rabbit from the dirt, its solid weight filled his right hand.
Six or seven pounds at least!
Tool-less for hunting and foodless, the rabbit delivered itself.
Lynn transported the rabbit to the riverbank.
Seated on a streamside stone, he gutted and skinned it.
[Collection Experience +1]
He fixed the rabbit to a flat stone, slicing from the hind leg joint via Stone Knife...
Fingers then eased the skin free from muscle...
A full rabbit skin lay in Lynn’s hand.
The process flowed flawlessly without hitch.
Lynn found Viper skinning experience made rabbit skinning effortless.
He gutted the rabbit, buried intestines in sand, rinsed liver and heart clean, then went back to the shelter.
Rabbit skin could craft warm fur gloves and hats.
Processing too complex now, so he shelved it.
Liver and heart brimmed with nutrients; Lynn kept them.
Other organs could bait fishhooks and lines if crafted.
Sky darkened gradually, Wild Wolves' howls resounding in the forest.
Before the shelter.
Lynn sat on grass, eyeing the Pottery Pot stewing rabbit.
Stomach growls rumbled constantly under his clothes.
Night blanketed sky and land in darkness; Lynn lifted the Pottery Pot of stewed rabbit.
Stone Knife spearing, he pulled out the rabbit and gorged.
He was famished!
Half rabbit devoured, half pot soup slurped, lips oily, a satisfied belch escaped as bodily weakness faded.
Heavy daily sweat from toil notwithstanding, salt traces in snake and rabbit meat curbed deep fatigue.
No rest taken, Lynn crafted more Flint Axes.
Log-cutting day's toll dulled his two Flint Axe edges.
Snap!
Snap, snap!
Snap, snap, snap!
Stone-on-stone clacks echoed relentlessly in the wilds.
Curious wild beasts eyed distant light, nearing tentatively.
But the racket scared them off hastily...