Another week passed, and I adapted to my situation. My spot in the clearing was now well-kept. Since there were too many enemies at ground level, I built everything among the trees.
The change from my initial hiding place, which was nestled between some trees and surrounded by piles of leaves, wasn't drastic, but it was enough to help me sleep more soundly than before. I took some rope I had stored for this purpose and, remembering advice from YouTube camping and survival videos, I laced it around the tree trunks to create something resembling a spider web.
By building my shelter up in the trees, I didn't need to worry about rain; the leaves provided a natural roof. I also added branches and leaves to make the structure hidden from anyone walking beneath it. This setup utilized the trees to shield me from strong winds.
Ten out of ten—I was sure Bear Grylls would be proud of me. The only inconvenience I faced was cooking; I couldn't use flames up in the trees due to the risk of damaging the rope and potentially bringing my whole structure down.
Apart from that, I discovered another territory—my fourth—adjacent to the trolls and goblins, inhabited by spiders. They have a cave where they frolic, and the few I encountered seemed to be hunting goblins. Sorry guys, but your race is so ugly that even the spiders consider you an enemy. Goblin Slayer was right all along.
Maybe I could create a gate for them; their magic system is eerily similar to D&D, or it could even be a copy. There are enemies there that could be good to fight and possibly some valuable items to collect, but I'll leave that for later when I'm more prepared.
Anyway, the spiders are a strange bunch. I saw them together and alone, even fighting each other once. They're large by Earth standards, slightly bigger than the goblins, but nothing compared to the wolves and trolls, and their bites are poisonous—exactly what you'd expect from a fantasy spider enemy.
It's amusing how many things seem predictable because I had an idea of them from anime, manga, novels, and games. One noteworthy thing is that the cave gives me chills, which allowed me to develop a [Danger Sense] skill and level up just by approaching it.
Another important detail is that I spotted a wolf—I think it's the wolf boss. Its name is Crimsonwolf, and its level is 39, just two above mine. As I suspected, it has Thermal Energy, though I'm not sure how that works. I never perceived anything like it, and I was far enough away that my [Mana Sense] couldn't pick up its details. For all I knew, it could be a wolf with fire magic.
Now, I was on the lookout for a chance to pray. I realized I had made a mistake all this time: after killing enemies, I had left their bodies behind while having space in my inventory. Now, I was searching for a group of wolves to dissect.
Thanks to my [Stealth], as I navigated this green maze, I wasn't disturbed by other monsters encroaching into the wolf territory. I took the opportunity to kill a few low-level monsters in one strike; if they were kind enough to offer me free EXP, who was I to refuse? Despite their low levels, I gained a level just from hunting them over the course of two weeks.
As I advanced, I finally sensed some foreign mana at the edge of my perception, mana that felt similar to that of the wolves. Stealthily, I moved closer and spotted a group of five wolves, including an alpha, and noticed one was wounded—a perfect target since their levels were higher than normal, with the lowest being level 18.
Normal mana techniques were ineffective against them; they were stronger than the others, and monsters could sense when I was building up power. However, spells from Huntik were fair game. The moment I had the chance, I used my [Raypulse] on the biggest threat, the alpha. It struck true on its shoulder, and I followed up with a [Hyperstride] toward the closest wolf.
The kick seemed to break a bone from what I could tell in the brief contact, but the wolf's gaze never left me as it came after me, determined to retaliate. Despite its spirit, the wolf's attacks diminished in power with each strike, and I made short work of the remaining three by spamming [Kindelstrike] and [Raypulse] one after another.
I placed their corpses into my inventory, grateful to the Essences for not having to deal with blood all over me. Then, I headed back toward my abandoned base.
---
For the first time in a long while, I found myself undecided. In front of me, on top of a stump from a cut tree, lay the body of one of the wolves I had killed. I wasn't sure how to proceed. I had enough Shards to purchase a skill book for [Dismantling], but I believed there was value in attempting to learn through trial and error.
When I absorbed a skill book, I also memorized its contents. This meant that even though my skill level was low, I could still figure out how to handle various situations, as the information in the book could guide me.
While I could improve my technique in battling this monster, I realized that failing could also serve as a valuable lesson for the future. Additionally, I could enjoy the learning process instead of rushing straight to mastery.
After making my decision, I changed into a different outfit. I didn't have the surgical garments typically used in medical procedures, but I fashioned a simple vest similar to those worn by hospital patients and put on some disposable gloves.
As I lifted the creature, I noticed it was heavier than one might expect for its size, likely due to a higher mass density. I observed that its fangs were sharp and strong enough to rip through wood. But that wasn't the main reason I was there.
I took out a kitchen knife and, with the precision of Gordon Ramsay filleting a salmon, I opened the belly of the wolf. This technique was something I had learned while leveling up my [Cooking] skill.
When the belly was open I started to look for familiar organs, how they weren't as squishy as I thought but they were quite resilient. Then I started to cut and remove the most cleanly I could from the body, a process neither I nor my vest found comfortable with the blood all around.
[You've obtained the skill: Dismantling]
After an hour and a half, I had the corpse of a wolf and its harvested organs all across the table. I then started to look at them more intently.
During the dismantling, I was actively using [Mana Sense] to look for... something, and true to my hypothesis, some organs were... how to say, infected? Imbued? with mana.
I didn't anticipate finding much since I was searching for any information on the structure of Construct. As I expected, my efforts were in vain; while some of the organs still had lingering mana within them, they lacked what the Hell Difficulty Tutorial System referred to as a Trait.
I had another motivation for this as well: to prepare for the upcoming dissection of the Crimsonwolf. It's better to level up my skill now, rather than risk my efforts being wasted if there's a time limit on analyzing its Trait.
I'm sure I'll enjoy the process... Ugh, what should I do for you, future me?