Chapter 6: Chapter 6 – Pine Forest

The campfire’s flames still danced as I arrived at the oasis. It had stayed lit since I had crafted it the day before. This got me thinking if it would last forever or if it had some kind of timer and whether or not I needed to keep topping it up with a fresh supply of wood. With that thought, a small information bar appeared next to the fire. It was as if the system had read my mind… again.

Campfire: [6/24. Add more wood to keep the fire going]

[Add Wood]

From what I could tell it used one piece of wood for every hour it stayed lit. I could potentially use this as a clock or timekeeping instrument. The system hadn’t given me anything in this regard so far. Another mystery presented itself, Why did the system suddenly give me twenty-four hours of fire with just the three pieces of wood I crafted it with? No idea, but I’m not going to complain about the system giving me free stuff.

After that mind boggle, I approached the workbench only to realize I had messed up earlier with the merchant. I shouldn’t have sold the hardwood to him as I needed it to craft the bow. Damn it! I also forgot about the feathers for the arrows, and I could have sworn I saw some in his cart. Why am I so stupid sometimes? An annoying development which begged the question, where would I get them from now? It’s not like they’re widely available anywhere around here. Maybe if I kill some birds, I can get some from them, but I would need a bow to actually kill them.

With that, my plan of entering the forest look like a Robin Hood wannabe, preferably without the tights, had blown up in my face like a grenade. There was no point in wasting brain power on that anymore, so I decided to see what other items I could craft. The shield looked like it would provide some protection, especially in close-quarters combat, and from the encounter with the wolf last night, I thought it would be great to have something to deflect incoming attacks. For that, I needed to gather five pieces of Hardwood.

Next item of interest was a torch in case it got too dark, or I somehow ended up in some weird cave. Also, I could potentially use it to set enemies on fire if that was a thing. Thankfully, it was relatively easy to craft using components that I already had. I spent the next ten minutes gathering the Hardwood before crafting them.

You foraged Hardwood (5): +5XP Gained

You Crafted Wood Shield: +10XP Gained

You Crafted Torch: +1XP Gained

You Have Now Reached Level 2: +1 Perk Point Available

The shield wasn’t really that great, just planks of wood riveted together with other pieces of wood with a small handle carved out on the back. It was square and covered enough area for me to hide behind. I could also use it to bash enemies if they got too close, especially if they tried to bite my legs.

Feeling more enthusiastic now that I had something of a defence, I decided to go for a little walk toward the forest and see what was going on over there. I refilled my stamina at the oasis and ensured the flask was full before flicking through my stats.

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