With the fading sunlight, I inspect my haul for the day.

Carapace

Rarity: Uncommon

Durability: 1/1

 Pulling out what I thought was going to be beetle shells ended up being little baggies filled with what I guess is the insect's shells ground to a deep gray powder. Strange, so no assuming what it is. So much for possible armor. Now I know I can get actual items from my kills. Putting the baggies back into my inventory I pull out a piece of beetle meat and fruit next.

Beetle Meat

(Raw)

Rarity: Common

Durability: 2/2

Acienth Fruit

Rarity: Uncommon

Durability:1/1

The meat is an appetizing grayish green color, that hopefully looks better cooked. Putting it back into my inventory I plan on leaving it as a test to see if it stays fresh. Not at all because of its disgusting look….

The Large strawberry shaped fruit is a bright red color and covered in thumbnail sized seeds. Sniffing it, it has a sweet almost spicy scent. Putting it away, for now, I leave it for when I need to eat. No reason to test the realism of the game. Not having taken a piss or shit in two days I don’t want to start now. All I need is to get attacked while I pop a squat to really brighten my day. Damn was it only yesterday when I awoke here. It feels like I have been here a life time.

Stretching my arms, I inspect my last few items of interest.

Acienth Thorn

Rarity: Uncommon

Durability:10/10

Larval Stem Fragment

Rarity: Rare

Durability:1/1

?

Vash Vine

Rarity: Common

Durability:50/50

The Thorn is well, just a big ass thorn about the length of my arm and about five centimeters across at its thickest section tapering down to a needle sharp point. I could probably use it as a small spear or break it and use it as a dagger or something. Holding the thicker end, I plant the point against the stone wall and lean into it. The sharp end snaps after I put most of my body weight behind it. So, they are mostly sturdy, I was a little worried about how easy they broke away from the fruit plant. The vine I am not too worried about, it is almost as flexible as rope and took a huge amount of effort to cut through, and not being more than a few centimeters thick it should make do to make something decent. Lastly, I look over the fragment, it looks like a tiny yellow crystal half the size of my pinky nail with a clot of blood floating in the middle. The inspection in my inventory had shown it as a consumable but no way am I eating this. Or maybe it means consumable as something to throw like ammunition? Hmm, could be something just to sell if I ever find a town, don’t want to waste a rare item on testing.

With the sun going down I decided to place everything back into my inventory and get ready for bed. Climbing upon my shelf, I hug my newest club and fall into an exhausted slumber….

Upon awakening I check around my cave for intruders, seeing nothing out of the norm. I sit on the cave floor and pull out a handful of thorns, my branches, and my half dozen vines, spreading them on the ground in front of me.

First things first, I grab the longest length of vine from the pile and stand up. Securing the boar skin around my waist, I then tuck the front of the skirt over my dangly bits to my ass, then reach between my legs while holding it in place and pull the back of the skirt and boars head between my legs to my waist so it sits over my crotch. Using the vine, I begin to wrap it around my waist and legs criss crossing from one leg and back to the other and back around my waist. Threading the vine underneath itself every so often to make it as secure as possible. Standing up I look over my creation.

What was supposed to be Tarzan-Esq shorts, turned out to look more like a giant man diaper.

Well shit, still better than having to fix it every five minutes and I don’t have to worry about a critter grabbing hold of the precious. With the pig head sitting right on my crotch it does have a certain mystique to it, heh…

Feeling like a new man, I look over the rest of my crafting material. So, I could make a spear, but beating shit to death with a stick has done wonders for my stress, “hmm.” More options are probably better no matter how good it feels. But what I really need is armor and some shoes. Luckily, I haven’t stepped on anything sharp or painful so far, but with my luck, it is just a matter of time. My constitution and regen could also be affecting what I feel, well maybe. I haven’t exactly been careful walking around and I have seen a ton of pebbles and assorted painful shit to step on. No way I missed everything so shoes just in case.

Making my decision I grab a length of vine and starting with one end I hold it up to my foot and begin to wrap it. Weaving it over and under, I go from one end of my foot to the other then up my calf almost to my knee before I run out. Tucking the last bit of vine up under the rest I stand up. Taking a step to test out my handy work. Watching the makeshift boot, I can barely bend my foot and the vines begin loosening almost immediately clumping and unraveling.

“Damnit!” Swearing I pull the vines from my leg, survival man I am not. The old Holo-Vids always make it look so damn easy, bunch of liars one and all.

Giving up on the dream of shoes, for now, I decide to wrap my calves instead, a little protection is better than none. Going to just have to hope for the best for my poor feet, at least they will heal thanks to passive regen.

Looking at my character screen I see that my armor has jumped from two to three, so securing my boar skin with vines has added a small amount of protection.

Wrapping one leg then the other, I completely cover both legs from ankle to knee in vines. Standing up I kick my legs in the air and march around the cave a few times. Not feeling any loosening, I give it a mission accomplished. Checking my armor, I see that it has gone up another two, nearly doubling the previous amount.

Feeling emboldened I grab another vine and begin to wrap my chest. I Start by wrapping it around my abs then over each shoulder like a bandolier. Working my way up to just above my pectoral and below my arm pits, leaving enough room so it doesn’t infringe on my arm movement. Tying the last length of the vine to my chest, I stand and stretch. Only feeling a little tightness when twisting my waist and bending I leave it as is. Working my arms and doing stretches I check for loosening. Feeling only a little give, I decide it is sufficient for now.

Checking my status once again I see that I have gained another armor point bringing me up to six in total.

Looking over my last two vines and my stack of wooden sticks and thorns I decide to make a piece of armor for my left arm. Not having anything to split my branch tips to better bind the thorns, I leave off making a spear for when I have better resources. No way can I trust my life to a spear bound together with some vine. Better to just use my club, for now, I know what it can do.

Taking two of the meter and a half branches, I break each into three pieces. Then I place them in a row using one of my remaining two vines to weave them together, creating a makeshift shield. Using my last vine, I bind it to my left arm by threading it through the bindings. Creating a makeshift shield, with a loose vine sleeve attached that I can slip my arm in and out of. Looking at my last creation, it looks like shit. But if it keeps me from getting eaten, that’s all that matters. Plus it gives me another two to my armor when I have it on my arm.

Standing up I slip my new shield onto my arm and look down at myself. I look like a jungle man reject but it gets the job done. Hopefully, I will have a chance to change before I meet anyone.