“Nate, I need to go get some food for Kaythe. He only eats meat and it’s been a bit since I got the chance. Mind if I take Lauren and Rav and mess up a few patrols?”

He smiles slightly. -“You might be hard pressed to convince Lauren to come along, but you’re welcome to try. If Rav wishes to accompany you, I have no problems with it. Thank you, by the way, for bringing him back to us.”

“Of course.” I smile in return. “See you before sundown.”

-”A bit before, if you wouldn’t mind. We will need to prepare as much as possible before night. I won’t stand to lose anyone else.”

“Agreed.”

I can feel his gaze on my back as I walk to where Rav and Lauren are already prepared to set off.

---

With this new camp, we’re located much closer to the Monster Camp than the previous site. While defensible, we still need food and water from outside. Fortunately, the effects of our Primary Skills have dramatically reduced our need for such things, so we can get by with only a mouthful of water a day and one piece of fruit or nut. The convenience is immense. Regardless, part of our mission is to increase our supply stockpiles. It would also be good if we could get some lumber from the forest, but that’s being handled by another group led by Dean. Turns out, a greatsword isn’t so bad for chopping down trees.

I’m worried it will draw attention to our location, but we need the wood to build defenses for the night. It’s probably worth it.

Because of this secondary mission, we’re headed back towards the original campsite and the large river that runs next to it.

As we leave the cave, I receive a notification:

[Point of interest added! The Barrows]

Which is how I discovered the ‘map’ functionality. Turns out I had been constantly mapping a small area around me as I’d traveled, and because NOBODY MENTIONED IT I had no idea. Fortunately I hadn’t needed it until now, but really, you’d think there’d be more information sharing. I wouldn’t have minded knowing about the night monsters a little earlier either…

With ‘finding our way back’ no longer a concern, we set off. Before long, we spot a group of Carnine headed in our general direction. The group spots us as well, and immediately changes course.

Guess we’re not the only ones who are hungry.

Lauren fades from my awareness and Rav gathers a ball of Mana in his hands. I unsheath my greatsword, relishing in the now familiar weight. I can feel a trickle of my Energy inside it, and increasing that has been much slower than with my trusty stick, but this weapon is quite a few steps up in terms of quality. It’s to be expected.

The four dogs split into pairs and attack us, aiming to split me away from Rav. One lunges directly at me while the other moves between us. To their credit, it would have worked before.

The twin halves of the lunging Carnine fall aimlessly to the ground in the wake of my sword, and while my recovery isn’t anything special, neither monster anticipated that I would attack instead of dodging and the remaining one was unable to capitalize on my weakness. I followed up quickly with a stunning blow using the flat of my blade, stunning it for long enough that I could grab its throat and flood it with red Energy. The Energy traits are clearly working, as it barely takes a few moments to break its defenses and destroy it. My control over Energy has increased dramatically in terms of precision and speed.

[Carnine slain! +40 Power (40); +10 Fragments (25)] [Congratulations! Energetic Attack +1 (3)]

Throwing the carcass aside, I see Rav and Lauren standing nearby, watching me. Lauren has a slight smirk. -“I knew there was bloodlust in there somewhere.” Wow, a compliment. She’s getting better already. Rav looks slightly concerned but says nothing.

“Hey, they attacked us. I think that’s ‘monster’ for ‘I want to die horribly.’”

We gather the corpses, weighing down my satchel and messing with my movement, but it becomes much more manageable when I switch to holding it over my shoulder. When fighting is required, I drop it wherever and just find it afterwards.

We make pretty good time getting to the river and filling our pockets with the available food. Rav has a waterskin, which he acquired as monster loot, and fills it to the brim while the rest of us take the liberty of quenching our thirst. Drinking it straight is probably still dangerous, but fuck me if it did anything last time, so I’ll risk it. I bet our bodies are almost immune to sickness anyway, just from stats.

Full of food, water, and all the extras we can carry, we hurry back.

Our destination, of course, is the monster camp. Well, close to it. We don’t want to poke the hornet’s nest, but we do want to take on more powerful enemies. The Carnine are proving no challenge, as I’ve managed to cleave through no less than six so far, netting 120 (160) more Power and 20 more Fragments. We really don’t see other monsters this far from their camp. Meanwhile, I haven’t even needed to Fortify yet. I’m keeping it as a last ditch buff if I need it, but I still want to get some use in so it can level. Currently, it takes me a few moments of concentration to actually activate the skill. In dire circumstances, I seem to activate it unconsciously, but when I want it on-demand, it requires coaxing. Because of this, I can’t maximize efficiency by rapidly turning it on and off. For a fight, it’s either on to start with, or it’s off. I can drop it pretty easily. Even accidentally, should I be stunned or hit too hard.