Chapter 4: Chapter 4 – The Difference Between Knowledge and Skills

 

"Scrape the fats, and dry it. Should take a while to dry this fat, unless I smoke it." Baris frowned. "No, that's not what I want. I want the steady heat to either soften, or dry the fats that still cling to the hide." He continued to cut, and stretch the hides over branches, as well as separate the tendons.

The tendons would make decent threads as long as they didn't become brittle when they dried. Baris also hung slabs of meat over the fire to allow it to dry.

"Why didn't I try any of this stuff whenever I read the books for it!" Baris said angrily. He was someone who read a lot, but didn't do any of what he learned about from those books.

"Except for spear crafting, I've never done a single thing that I have read about. Now, I'm working with hide, but only bought the tools for leather crafting. I barely used them, even though I had a ton of leather I bought, and a lot of good tools." He groaned. "I learned about what a blacksmith does, what he can do, and the things one can make, but never did I try any of it!"

Baris was frustrated. He had four decades of reading under his belt, but no real hobbies or crafts. It was all book knowledge.

What he didn't realize was that all his knowledge was stored, ready to be used, and ready to initiate the creation of a skill. It was useful, but he had to use it in order for the skill to form. Just like in spear crafting.

He knew spears could be made easily. He knew that as long as the wood was straight, he could shave, and shape a branch, as well as sharpen it into a spear. If it was a sapling, he could do the same thing, but although a sapling normally grew straight up, it didn't have enough fibers to be a strong spear.

He needed a tree, or a long thick branch from an old tree. Baris blinked as he remembered the fibers of a sapling.

"Fibers. Son of a bitch." He grimaced a bit. "I can take the fibers of some long grasses and turn it into thread. As long as the fiber is strong, it can become thread, or rope." He pursed his lips. "I wonder what will work in the end."

 

* * *

 

"Yep. Like the status plate says, crude." He grimaced as he put the fur loin piece and chest piece on.

"Fibers are harder to harvest than I expected. Strips of the hide work alright, and I haven't figured out sinew or gut, so I'll stick with hide strips. He tied forearm covers on, and shin covers, with a rope made from bullrushes. The stalks were split, and the fibers inside twisted into a crude rope. It was stronger then a grass rope, but not as strong as cord made from hide or gut. Unfortunately, he couldn't wash out the intestines as he had no water, and his knife was a piece of stone. The edge was not sharp enough.

"Let me see. I wonder which way I should walk." After careful though, and considering the sun position, he decided to walk in one direction, towards the setting sun in the west.

With one hide used to put his dried meats in, his stone knife, and some herbs he was able to to identify while he cooked the wolf meats up, he carried the filled hide like a sack. His other hand had two spears ready for use.

"Water is a must, and since there were wolves nearby, there must be a water source. They would never go a long distance from water, or their food supply." His words sounded more confident than he felt. He knew animals needed water, and other animals could drink at a brook before heading away to forage for food. Wolves should include a water source as a part of their territory, as far as he knew. What he didn't know is that wolves could also get water from their victims in the form of blood, but they still needed fresh water, so his assumption was not incorrect as a basic rule.

After two hours of a brisk walk, he finally smiled just a bit. Not too far away, he could hear the steady sound of water flowing.

He followed the sound, and found what he wanted.

"A brook. Thank god." He smiled, and dipped his hand into the water. A brief message on the banner at the top of his vision confirmed his hopes.

You are reading story A Gamer and the Goddess of Karma and Balance at novel35.com

'Clean fresh spring water found. Replenishes stamina, magical and creative source energies.' He smiled and drank the water happily.

He looked around and nodded. A large oak tree stood not far away from the brook.

"Looks like I have a place to sleep."

 

* * *

 

"He's interesting, Nuella, but I'm not sure why you've chosen him over all those others." Ethys glanced at her screens, a system designed by her father, to keep track of Ceru, and her sphere of influence. Each of her sisters, including Nuella, had such a 'computer' system. They were not computerized, just the display. The information was gathered from various sources, such as ley lines.

"Hold on. Why has the mortality rates gone down around Noobville, Nuella? Wait, is it because that guy killed a blue wolf and a grey wolf?" Ethys asked, then had the strangest look on her face as she slowly started to smile. That smile spread until she started to laugh.

"What?"

"I'm still imagining that pale white ass breaking that wolf's neck!" Ethys grasped her sides. "That face of his while the wolf bit into him, and he fell were priceless!" Nuella pursed her lips, and although there was some amusement there, for some reason, she felt a little bit upset at her sister.

She was fond of Baris in some small way, as he seemed to be an unusual example of a human. One had to know that in the past several hundred years of human history, her and her sisters have transported a few hundred of both male and female humans from different countries, and brought them to a low tiered land so they could survive.

At first, the confusion was great, due to the language and history issues, but after they were given a language translation skill, things smoothed out somewhat. They quickly discovered that they were on a new world, with beasts that were stronger than on Earth, and had to stick together.

Nuella and her sisters brought the humans over because they couldn't create humans properly. Elves were easy for them, and so were the other races, like dwarves and fairies, but humans were somehow elusive. They allowed them to live, grow, and spread.

Humans made farms, built cities, and the population grew. The sisters were happy, for a while. Unfortunately, humans from Earth had issues that they had never before encountered. Racial prejudice. Cultural prejudice. Hatred.

The wars that humans fought with themselves were now fought with other races. They had a binding element that kept them from killing each other in massive wars. They were human, while others were not.

Many could coexist. Some could become friends, or even marry other races. Some humans married dwarves, due to the similar nature of the species. However, elves and fairies would forever remain outside the interracial marriage dynamic.

Nuella didn't hate humans, but she had not found any that could maintain a balanced karma, and keep a balanced view of the world they were brought to.

Until she brought Baris to the world of Ceru, she thought she would never find anyone that could remain neutral.

 

You can find story with these keywords: A Gamer and the Goddess of Karma and Balance, Read A Gamer and the Goddess of Karma and Balance, A Gamer and the Goddess of Karma and Balance novel, A Gamer and the Goddess of Karma and Balance book, A Gamer and the Goddess of Karma and Balance story, A Gamer and the Goddess of Karma and Balance full, A Gamer and the Goddess of Karma and Balance Latest Chapter