Chapter 16: Expedition pt.2

CHAPTER 16: EXPEDITION PT.2

I spend the next morning creating some basic bowstaves. Instead of crafting specialized bows for each of the guys, I plan on making six lower weight bows so they can practice their form without having to fight a stronger draw. I’ll have to make personalized bows for them later on, but this way, everyone can practice until they're ready to upgrade.

I start by gathering six pieces of straight grained wood and working them down one at a time. The wood fragments split along the grain and the shaving slowly pile to the side. That would make good kindling.

After I finish carving the basic shape of the sixth bow, I meet up with everyone for lunch. If we’re going to take the time to really prepare for the expedition then there are a couple things I’d like to do.

“So I started making training bows for you guys.” I make eye contact with Trevor and John. “I’ll keep working on them each morning, but I’m going to reserve the afternoon for hunting. I’m worried about the creatures we might come across and feel that I should hone my skills with the dinosaurs we’re familiar with.”

With a nod from Trevor he speaks up, “That sounds good. Just be careful out there, and let us know if you want someone to go with you. I know Cody plans on working on armor for awhile, but maybe someone will go with you.”

“Don’t worry about it. I’m not going to do anything crazy, I need to practice on my own so I can make sure not to use others as a crutch,” I say to an increasingly worried Trevor.

“Okay, just be careful okay.”

“I will be. I’ll catch you later,” I leave the now awkward conversation, load up my basic kit: bow, arrows, backpack, and spear, throwing in some jerky and dried reeds just in case I need them. Before heading out I double check my rope, and clothes.

Once satisfied I head beachward, but instead of following the river I trek through the forest. I imagine most of the expedition will be through similar environments. I try to copy the movements Cody would use, watching each step on my trek to keep quiet. To my surprise, I even get a few nudges from Bow Hunting.

After a short break, I continue on and start to pick up some trails dug into the underbrush. Something has definitely moved through here. I crouch low, checking each direction but don’t immediately see anything. Readying an arrow, I follow the trail up the next hill.

Upon reaching the apex, I look over to see three of the dinosaurs in the distance. Two are seemingly wrestling on the ground, while the third is snacking on a berry bush. Looks like those berries are probably edible.

I find a nearby tree to cover myself as I move to my bow stance. I double check my targets. Still eating the berries. The other two…. Okay so they aren’t ‘wrestling’ exactly. But they’re definitely distracted. I brace the bow in my left hand, making sure my left wrist is rotated properly and my grip is loose. I pull the string, slow and smooth until the arrow is just past the bow. Eyeballing the distance, I focus on my target. I release the arrow. With a soft twang it speeds down the slope and within a moment it pierces through the chest of the dinosaur.

I duck behind the tree, taking a deep breath as I ready another arrow. Peaking out I see the dinosaurs that were busy mating in the process of fussing over their wailing friend. The confused calls of the dinosaur echo through the dense forest. I don’t have a great shot from here. Instead of moving I get in my stance and hold.

One of the kyps rushes by me and I pull the string into a smooth release, followed up with a second arrow into its flank.

“Kyp!” The last one cries as the other drops. It turns and speeds towards me. I drop my bow and ready my spear. Watching as the beast closes the distance, my anticipation builds. My muscles tense as it lunges, while my eyes train on the monster. With a forward thrust I stab at the dinosaur but it sidesteps the jab. It closes the remaining distance before I can follow up, and I smack the spear shaft into its reptilian snout as its jaw clamps shut inches from my skin.

As the dinosaur comes in at the right, I step back and to the left bringing the spear between us, its instinctive chomp gripping the spear. It yanks on my weapon, nearly pulling me forward when I bring my off-hand to my knife. I stick the blade onto it’s left eye forcing the beast to release my spear. As it rears back I plunge the bone tip deep into its chest cavity. Pressing my feet against the ground I push and force the beast onto its side. With a small “kyp” it breathes out a final breath and I check my surroundings, finding it clear.

I take a quick breather, leaving the adrenaline to fade and the follow up exhaustion to subside, I complete the now familiar process of field dressing my kills. While the blood drains, I gather the remaining bush berries and check the local area.

Taking these back is going to be such a pain. Come on, I got summoned to another world, at least give me a magic inventory or something. I internally grumble as I prepare the carcasses for the trip back.

——

“Hey, someone help me out with these,” I call out once the camp is in sight.

With Cody’s help I pull the dinosaurs into camp. “Okay, Cody, can you show me how to properly butcher these?”

I follow step by step as he skins, debones and processes the Dino. Within an hour he has one done and I follow up with the second. It takes me nearly three times the length of time to get it fully done. I feel pretty bad about having him babysit me through the process. But, I need to know how to do this.

Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on Royal Road.

After finishing with the butchering. I pick up the berries and tea leaves I gathered last night, and drop them off with Trevor. Hopefully he can figure out what to do with them.

The next morning, I take my knife to the bowstaves and get each of them into a functional shape. The staves are simple cylinders that stay thick in the center and narrow towards the edges. Soon I’m stringing them and testing the weight. I have to go over the structure of the bows several times to get them consistent with each other at around what I believe is 30lbs draw weight.

The evening passes quickly as I hunt down another trio of Kyps. I’ve noticed that they seem to be venturing further away from the beach each day. I should ask Cody to set some traps near the camp.

Several days go by, the first few days I dedicate to bow craft and hunting. I complete both training bows for John and Mike. Cody and I alternate from morning to afternoon in training them and while neither are going to win any awards, they at least can hit a target 50ft away with some consistency.

On the last day before I want to leave, Cody approaches the soon to be expedition and hands off pieces of armor. I receive a thick shirt of layered leather and scales that runs down to my mid thigh. He passes over some leather bound wood shin guards too.

Mike in turn puts on a leather skirt that runs up into a half sleeved top. Both shoulders sport spider carapace pauldrons and forearms featuring matching guards. Finally, he’s handed the large spider carapace that’s been fashioned into a round shield with leather backing.

John and Cody both have similar full outfits, but with thinner material. A patchwork of carapace, leather and scales cover their bodies.

Each of us prepare our backpacks. I throw my usual hunting gear, ropes, wraps, rations, and spear onto mine. I toss in a couple extra sharp claws as back up, along with some stone cups and pebbles.

Mike took the burden of carrying most of the rations, while the others split some of the extra arrows into their packs.

Before we know it, we’re setting off into the unknown.

———-

I trudge along next to John, the two of us taking up the rear of the group. “So John, how are you doing?”

“For someone who’s been separated from friends and family, I’m doing pretty well, Elizabeth,” He motions towards himself and the world around us. “How about you?”

“Same I guess, starting to really miss home. I just want to lie in bed with my fiancé and read a good book. Now I don’t know if I’ll ever even see any of my family again.”

“I’m right there with you, I didn’t have a lot going on back home, however, I do miss my dog, poncho. Hes a tiny little terrier poodle mix I have had for years… My mother died a few years back, which led to my brother and I getting closer… I miss him too.”

“I haven’t seen my mom in years. My Dad, Brother and I would go hiking in the mountains pretty often though.”

“I was never big on that kind of stuff, I prefer staying home and relaxing.” He sidesteps a snaking branch.

I step away to give him some room. “Why did you choose to come along?”

“Well, I haven’t been all that useful back at camp, and I’ve spent most of my life simply sitting around. It’s like this: we’re in a new world, so I’ll try a new me. I’m hoping that by adventuring out with you all I’ll develop better habits… I’m secretly rather glad there isn’t any internet to waste my time on here,” he whispers the last part.

Glancing ahead towards the other two, I call out, “Hey Mike, how do you feel about the lack of internet?”

He turns his prodigious frame. “Well little miss, I only ever used it for googling work out tips. So I don’t really think about it.” He pauses as his eyes begin to shine. “Philly-cheesesteaks, those are what I really miss. The guys and I would go out for them once a month.”

“I miss cheeseburgers,” I earn a nod from Cody as he leads the group.

“What I’d do for my vape and some Doritos,” John adds wistfully.

We continue walking along the ridge line, the mountain range visible on both sides of the valley below. With seemingly endless trees pushing to the horizon. The warm breeze whistles past us as we trek onwards. In the distance small and large birds fly, some I can even make out clearly from here.

“How big do you think that is?” John asks while drawing on some spare hide.

“It’s gotta be massive right? I mean, I can almost make out its eyes.” I glance at the map he’s making and find a small drawing of the flying creature In the distance.

“What I want to know is how a big bird like that can fly without feathers,” Big Mike adds.

—-

I watch the sun begin to set wistfully over the ridge as we approach the makeshift teepee. We split camp for the night and Cody starts a small fire. Other than some small animals we could hear in the distance and a few much smaller birds, we find no signs of wildlife during the day.

Too quickly I’m awoken for my watch and I spend most of the time whittling down some practice arrows. I’m definitely getting better, but I wouldn’t buy these from a store. I internally sigh. Before long my eyes are alight with the morning glow and the rays as peaking over the distant trees. Cody must have stayed up late.

We eat lightly and begin setting off further into the much taller forest. Once again, Watcher and Mike take the lead. We stay quiet as we move and my body feels tense the first hour into our journey.

Am I getting sunburnt? I wonder as a mild itch builds onto my skin. It’s nothing worrying but simply surprising. My skin has already undergone a transformation from pale to sun-kissed and the trees provide plenty of shelter from direct rays of light.

We stick to the ridge line as best we can, but the terrain itself has taken on a more weathered feel. Worn stone and dense moss plaster the landscape as each hill dwarfs those were used to. The foliage, though less dense, is far larger and we stop at several points to pick up seemingly familiar plants.

John's face flushes and his eyes shinr bright while digging up a root of a nearby plant. “It’s ginseng, I’m telling you!” He digs eagerly.

He was just like this with the mushrooms too. I let out a sigh as I scan the area. The trees are almost double In height and width than the ones near the camp. Their branches are even larger in diameter than the base of our typical trees. Just how old is this forest?

As the day draws to evening we hear increasingly louder shifting and thudding in the distance. It sounds as if someone is pounding on the ground with a piece of wood. At first we didn’t notice the thumping due to it taking on a distant background noise. But before we knew it, we were sneaking up to take a peak. John and Mike stayed further back as Cody and I stalked forward.

We keep to the trunks and find a clearing that stretches from right to left before us. It’s anywhere from twenty to thirty feet across and coming up from the left is a true monstrosity.

Branches creek and thuds echo as a towering thing moves down the clearing. My breath catches as its massive limbs lift and stomp into the ground. Each step it takes closer flattens the ground before it as it steps onward. The bark of its body and leafy limbs tower almost forty feet tall and ten wide.

[Tree Ent- Level 69]