chapter 20
20. Hunting requires preparation (3)
“Heavy armor? Suddenly?”
I nodded instead of answering.
I thought it was a pretty good strategy. If you can’t cross a forest full of poison puddles, why not make it possible? Where else could there be a clearer answer than this?
If you wear clothes made of materials that can withstand poison, you won’t die from stepping on a puddle of poison. Hmm. It’s a perfect operation.
I grabbed the handle of the shovel I was carrying on my back and stuck it into the ground.
A little dirt popped up from where the shovel blade was stuck and fell at my feet. Would this amount of dirt be okay? Wouldn’t it be better to test first? If you didn’t bother, losing an important combatant would be very troublesome.
Even if it’s annoying, it’s better to test it.
What to do with the ingredients?
Dirt, underground water flowing under the soil, and rocks. As for the materials, this is enough.
“Production.”
As soon as I finished my words, the soil began to gather at the point where the shovel dug. When the soil that began to clump soon turned into a square block big enough to fit a person’s head, I lifted it.
Since it was a block made of a lot of soil, it was as heavy as a bag of rice. I, who have lived on a deserted island for 10 years and have a fairly strong muscular body, cannot lift more than three blocks like this.
“Lenny. Just listen.”
“This? Give it to me.”
Lenny took the block I handed over with her face saying she didn’t know why. Lenny looked at me like what was this?
“Is it heavy?”
“Not much?”
“Do you think you can carry around 10?”
“10? Maybe it will. But why?”
I took the block back from Lenny and strode toward the border. It was terrifying to see the purple ground emitting a gooey purple air current like a vigilant cat. An ordinary creature is doomed as soon as it enters. So you can’t get there in the usual way.
I tossed the block in my hand toward the purple ground with an underthrow. The dirt block, created by mixing miscellaneous materials with my skills, landed in the middle of the poison puddle with a slap sound. I clicked my tongue as I watched the dirt block gradually decrease in size along with the smoke.
It seems that there is nothing wrong with this composition.
“What are you doing?”
“I am looking for a formulation that can withstand that poison puddle.”
“I know that sounds like a headache.”
Of course. Because my head hurts too. However, I had to find a combination that could withstand that poison puddle so I could do reconnaissance. There is no point in going back and forth like a coward.
I went back to my previous seat and slightly changed the proportions to make a block. This time, it was a block made like clay by dragging soil entangled in tree roots. How about this time? Once again, approach the boundary, throw a block, and check the state. It was a little slower than before, but the block melted. If it melts like that, should it be regarded as almost hydrochloric acid level?
There are magic and monsters, but I don’t know if the scientific laws in this world are exactly the same as on Earth. Even that female knight who yawns right in front of me with stupid words boasts monster-like strength that can beat 1 to 500 when his body is in good shape. I still get chills down my spine. If it had been intact, it would have literally been cut into pieces.
I was very lucky. If he was in good shape in the first place, there would be no reason to fight. No matter how violent your personality is, you won’t try to kill people for nothing.
“Production.”
How about this combination? This time, he peeled off the bark of a nearby tree and covered the surface. It was the bark of an unknown tree often seen in this forest. I don’t know if it will work, but it’s good to try. I tossed the bark-encased block into the puddle.
“…Oh.”
The blocks melted much more slowly than before. Does the wood surrounding the outer surface contain ingredients that can withstand that poison? It’s an unexpected harvest. I just scraped together the ingredients and threw them away.
I touched a tree that I had ripped off the bark to reveal white flesh. My hands are sticky. It seems that there was some sap flowing under the shell. The trees in my area weren’t like this. When I looked closely, it looked a little different from the trees in my area.
Should have cared about this before. I’m not even a botanist, so how could I know the difference between trees?
I didn’t have to experience anything other than the hydra that emits acid poison.
Anyway, finding the clue was a great harvest. I think this tree bark will be quite useful not only for reconnaissance right now, but also for the decisive battle with Hydra. I started walking around the neighborhood and picking at random bark.
“Why are you suddenly tearing off the bark?”
“Tear it off too. It seems that this poison is quite strong.”
“Ah, is that so?”
Something like that. However, this time I figured it out. Watching Lenny tearing the bark with his bare hands nearby, I pushed the shovel blade through the bark.
With the two of them, the work was completed in an instant. I caught my breath for a moment, looking at the bark piled up to my height in an instant. Leni, who was leaning against a rock after finishing her work, spoke to me abruptly.
“All the trees around here are bare. But what are you going to do with it?”
“I plan to make armor with this.”
“I’ll be able to withstand the poison puddle… But isn’t it too weak? No matter how much you survive in that puddle, it’s just the bark, right?”
Lenny’s point was valid. No matter what modifiers are attached, as long as the basic base is the bark of a tree that can be easily torn off by human hands, no matter how the poison resists, it will only have a slightly better level of defense than normal clothing in terms of physical attacks.
Therefore, you cannot make armor purely with only this tree.
I need to mix other ingredients.
I thought of useful materials in my head. What can be found in this forest. The time has come to take care of things that I didn’t think I needed because I didn’t think I needed them.
“I will leave this here and go get it for a while.”
“Which one?”
“Bone.”
“Bone? Doesn’t it melt the same way?”
“There is one bone that is unlikely.”
His bones should be enough to last. I got up and brushed the dirt off my butt. Time is delayed more than expected, so it would be better to get it quickly. I moved into the bear territory with Lenny.
——————–
“What is this?”
“You are a bear with a broken head.”
“Me? It must have been a big idiot.”
You’re so strong, b*tch.
Does this b*tch even know how strong Ji is?
Maybe you don’t know. After all, he’s the guy who only has Karina in his head.
I circled around the corpse of the head of the bear, whose head was cracked and leaking rotten brain fluid, to check its condition. It’s a little rotten, but after all, this guy is like a boss mob, so it’s more useful than normal bears, whether it’s skin or bones. The inside has rotted away and a terrible stench is coming out, but this is all I’m used to. Zombies smell exactly like this.
“I will peel off the skin. Tear out the bones too.”
“I’m not very good at things like this.”
“It’s okay. I will do it alone.”
I started peeling the bones and skin off the head of the bear, which smelled horrible. There are rotten parts in the middle, so there won’t be many usable parts, but this is enough for now. Lenny didn’t help me peel off the skin, but rather arranged the bones and skins I handed over to one side.
Ooh, I smelled all over my body.
There was a time when I hid in sh*t to live, but this was even worse than that. After all, there is nothing worse than my rotten corpse.
“Wow. It’s really hard to breathe…”
“I will wash once before I go.”
“Eh. Wash up quickly If I go on like that now, I will die not from the poison, but from the smell.”
I brushed off the rotten intestines from my body and headed for the pond. Fortunately, the pond on this side was uncontaminated and remained clear and pristine. It would have been a headache if it had been contaminated here too. By the way, there are a lot of rabbits here too.
I glanced at the drinking rabbit and jumped into the pond. As the cold pond water drenched his entire body, his body, which had been heated by hard labor, cooled down. After swimming for quite some time and washing myself off, I got out of the pond and returned to where Lenny was. Lenny stared blankly at my wet figure, then spoke to me.
“I came here in a wet state. Aren’t you embarrassed?”
“I am used to it.”
“Ah, I guess so…”
I approached Lenny, who was speechless, and lifted the rolled leather next to him in both hands.
“Go back. You pick up the bones.”
“All of this?”
“…Take only two shinbones and a skull.”
“Yeah yey. Let’s do that.”
After giving a playful reply, Lenny followed me with the shin bone on his shoulder as I said and holding the skull in one hand. The two skulls should drag on the ground, but in the first place, that’s not the size a person could carry alone.
First of all, we have gathered all the necessary materials.
The bones and skin of a bear chief. Bark resistant to acid poison. You can weave this well to make heavy armor, no, protective clothing.
When I arrive at the place where the bark is gathered, the stinging sunlight greets me. Since it was a location with no shade, the midday sun harassed my eyes relentlessly. I set the hide down next to the bark and watched Lenny set the bone down next to it.
“Oops, pal…Can I take a break?”
“Yes.”
With my permission, Lenny was sprawled over a nearby rock. I glanced at it, then turned my gaze back to the ingredients. Let’s try making one. There are enough ingredients, so I should be able to make five or six…
I closed my eyes and imagined the shape of the armor to cover my body.
The body is wrapped in leather, and the exterior is covered with bones and tree bark like scales. A protective clothing that thoroughly blocks exposure from the top of the head to the toes. After organizing my thoughts, I used the skill.
“Production.”