2 Skills

Rushing down the mountain.

Kuma knew that it's almost night time and the breeze suddenly went cold.

Slowly but surely fear was creeping up in his thoughts.

"What if there are other monsters here... Like that humungous deer." He thought to himself.

He felt the need to protect himself, and for that, he needs to find a shelter.

As he was going down frantically, he had a miss-step which led to him, tumbling down.

"Ouch!" He shouted, and there was a squishing sound.

There was something red on his fur-like clothes. At first, he thought that it must have been blood from him tumbling down, but it was simply a squashed berry.

"What is this weird looking berry? Analyze" said Kuma

~Unripe Berry~

"Better than nothing." He said to himself as help gulped down a few.

It was not so bad, a bit sour with a hint of sweetness.

"Hmm.. Tastes like unripe strawberry." said Kuma while licking his fingers.

(Ting!) A strange sound came again to his head.

~Mission:

1. Find a Water Source - ✔complete

2. Make a Shelter - ongoing

3. Secure Food - ✔complete

4. Hunt an Animal - ongoing

5. Find the Village - ongoing~

"Oh!" he muttered with a smile while looking at the game like menu with his new progress recorded. Finding the berry bush gave him the moral boost that he needed.

He grabbed as much as he can and pressed on.

A few hours later, after arriving almost at the foot of the mountain, it was finally turning dark.

He knew that he wasn't going far with the nightfall, now almost catching up to him. He looked left and right to find a place to spend the night.

"I would appreciate an abandoned house or even a safe cave. Anything please..." said Kuma.

It was almost night time when he saw a big rock, with a crack in the middle, seemingly busted open by this ancient-looking tree. Its roots were entangled with the entirety of the rock. Under the tree is a space just enough for Kuma to squeeze in and still feel comfortable.

"This spot seems comfy." said Kuma.

He decided to put all the berries he foraged earlier and looked around the area as the light from the sun was slowly fading away.

The wind breeze was getting colder and he wanted some sort of protection. He decided to do one last run for dry leaves or branches as protection from the cold as he would need it before he slept later.

It was already dark when he finally gathered everything he needed. Coming back to the big rock, he heard a small but munching sound. He saw a group of little creatures similar to a squirrel but with bunny-like ears, munching on the berries that he picked up earlier.

"HEY!!!" Kuma shouted as he tries to scare away the creatures who were eating his food.

The little squirrels ran away to the sound of his voice.

"Dang it!" he said to himself in a defeated tone while noticing that everything has been eaten.

It was the last blow he could take for the day. With his only food left, gone, he was feeling extra de-motivated. It isn't every day that you get up feeling afraid, confused, lost, almost die, and most importantly forget about everything.

The night was relatively quiet but sleep didn't visit Kuma until late in the evening.

He thought back to the Giant Deer that he came across earlier that day. He couldn't believe that something like that was real. He also remembered the squirrel~rabbit like creature that he saw, which he resolved to nickname as Squabbit. He looked on the positive side that there is game or wild food to be caught in this forest. Only if he knew how to. He remembered that one of his tasks was to hunt an animal. He had this in his mind as he fell asleep.

Morning came in a peaceful manner. He was pumped that he managed to sleep safe and sound. He tread back quite a while from where he got the berries, hoping that there were more. Luckily there was a few left.

"This should be more than enough" he said to himself as he was munching his small haul of strawberries. He ate the half and reserved the half for his plan to make a trap.

He tried to recall all the episodes that he watched from Animal Planet and came up with the idea of making a "Dead Fall Trap". Deadfalls are designed to injure or kill an animal until you can reach it. Deadfalls normally use some kind of bait, a chunk of meat, a fruit or almost anything interesting to draw an animal underneath a large, flat rock. Then, when the trap is tripped, the rock comes free and crushes the small animal.

For this trap, Kuma then spent the next few hours trying to find a rock, more or less around two feet across and only a few inches thick. He was lucky enough to find something close. He then cut up some thick branches. A few grass leaves, and rolled it and tied it up repeatedly to make an improvised rope.

After ready-ing everything he needed. He then lifted up the rock put the berry as bait under the trap. Earlier he pressed a small stick on the bait which was tied to his make-shift rope which is then again tied to the stick used to prop up the rock. The trap was fairly simple but he still needed to test it out a few times to ensure that the sticks do not get caught up, preventing the trap from falling. The idea is that when the animal goes for the bait and moves it, the prop stick will come loose and the trap will fall. He tested it a few times, crushing a few more berries and almost his hand in the process.

"Analyze." he said, feeling a little bit smug or satisfied about how his trap turned out.

~Deadfall Trap LVL 1: a flimsy-looking trap that might catch small prey~

Kuma was really satisfied with how his first-ever trap has turned out. "Maybe all of those hours binge-watching Discovery Channel and Animal Planet will finally be useful. He then proceeded to make two more of the same trap, made another trip to the berry bush area, and then called it a day.

He still had a couple of hours left before night time which he thought was perfect to find another source of water. He treaded with to the general direction where he predicted the river that he saw earlier will tread on.

"I just need water, a dead Squabbit under my traps, and this day would be perfect." He said to himself feeling really happy about what he accomplished for the day. Until he heard a sound of a growling animal at his back.

Panic was what he felt all over his body. Every hair on his skin was standing...