Ch.17

"No! Please, please, please! Not again!" Rex whined as Erik stained his golden fur with mashed mouf berries. "It stinks!" For a dog's sense of smell, it was beyond horrible.

Mouf berries were a type of plant growing in cold places, their vines crept up trees to avoid being crushed under piles of snow and suck nutrients from it like a parasite.

Their fruits were round, no smaller than grapes, green with yellow dots, but its most notable feature was its foul smell the dog couldn't get used to even after three days of traveling covered in it.

"It stinks!"

"Don't move, I'm doing this for your own good," Erik ordered. He was sorry for the dog, however, it would save them some trouble. "Mouf berries' stench will hide your scent and scare away at least half the savage beasts living in the Crimson Forest."

"But it stinks!"

"Dog up, Rex. It's not so terrible."

Actually, it was awful. Erik was just accustomed to this scent, he had used those berries a lot in his past life to survive during his first trial.

The dog stop complaining and suffered in silence. Eventually, he would learn to deal with it.

Erik applied the green paste on his bare chest, his coat was stored in the sled so it wouldn't stink. The Cold Resistance body type showed its efficiency, the low temperature barely amounted to a slight numbness he could ignore.

Nighttime and snowstorms required a coat, during normal days he could go around half naked, only keeping his underwear.

It was part of the training to toughen his body and because he felt more comfortable this way.

"Alright, let's continue southward," Erik said.

"Why does Old Bone never have foul paint?" Rex asked out of concern for fairness. The raven was perched on a ruby tree, observing the situation with what looked like a bird smirk.

"The two of us should suffice," Erik explained, already walking towards the path White was pointing in the spiritual realm. "Plus, the sled also has additional mouf berries that should cover the smell of frozen meat stored in it. Savage beasts won't notice a bird's scent with the two of us masking it."

In truth he didn't want to bother with the bird who would flee if he tried covering her body with mouf berries, Erik had already done so and failed.

"That's unfair," the unsatisfied dog pulled the sled attached to his body, following after his contractor.

"I'll teach you something, Rex. Life is unfair. Either you toughen up, learn to deal with the unfair moments so you can enjoy the best ones, or crumble under the weight of unfairness. So dog up and let's go."

Rex lowered his head, that lesson didn't make much sense to him. "Unfair," he sulked.

The trio continued their journey southward, hugging the foot of the mountain range and the edge of the forest.

Hours flowed without meeting savage beasts who probably fled their scent. Rex warned Erik there were slight scents of cadavers and gores but he couldn't tell for sure because another smell filled his nostrils.

Hunger started gnawing at their stomachs, the cold speedily melting their fat and energy from their last meal.

A frozen river going down the mountain towards the forest came into view.

Erik gazed up at the sky, estimating they still had around three hours of daylight, enough to build a temporary shelter and fetch some fish; might as well take advantage of being near a river, he wanted fish meat for a change.

An area devoid of bushes and trees was picked as the shelter- zone. Roots made for harder ground.

"Could you clear the snow, Rex? Meanwhile, I'll try to catch some fishes," he said while unleashing the dog and pulling the sled to his side.

"Oh, a digging job! Leave it to me, friend!" Rex got to work, rapidly scooping snow with his front paws.

Erik couldn't use [Unearth] on snow since it was water, not earth.

When building a shelter, Erik would first clear out the snow, only then he'd use his shamanic arts, though this time he had other plans.

Three layers of beast fur covered their provisions on the sled. There was frozen food for two more days, three ropes of different sizes weaved from mouf berry vines and enough firewood for one more night, he'd break more in the morning.

Erik dropped wyrd-infused blood on his survival knife.

Caliber's knife glowed red before it cut through frozen meat, slicing three pieces. Erik stored those in his underwear—he wouldn't eat those anyway—grabbed a rope, then headed off.

Ice under bare feet emitted no suspicious sound when stepped on the frozen river, its thickness was probably enough for three average adults to safely stand on the same spot.

'That place will do,' he thought, stopping in the middle of the river.

Leaving the rope and meat aside, Erik once again awakened his knife's abilities, carved a one-meter diameter fishing hole before the effect faded, attached a stone and slice off meat at the end of his rope, then threw it in the glacial waters. The stone's weight sunk the bait until it almost reached its three meters limit.

'There aren't many fishermen around these parts, fishes should be aplenty and hungry, more so in this kind of environment where food is hard to come by.'

Five minutes.

Ten minutes.

The rope stretched, vibrations coming from it indicated something was taking bites. Erik slowly pulled, betting on the fish following the food. Realizing his shadow covered the hole, he switched sides, fishes wouldn't come near if they saw it.

Finally, the end of his rope became visible, three colorful fishes swam back and forth, taking small bites off the bait.

'Rainbow salmons!' Erik's saliva glands started secreting just at the thought of their fatty meat. Rainbow salmons were a fish only found in Nurmen's Northern regions. They didn't have special properties like the rare Yin and Yang carps, but they were delicious. 'Come to papa! Hehehe.'

Half eaten, his bait reached the surface. Blocking the rope under his foot so the bait wouldn't sink, Erik patiently waited in a crouched position, palm open ready to strike.

Rainbow fishes seemed hesitant to come closer at first, circling the bait a few centimeters lower. Once they gained confidence, they resumed their feast.

Erik analyzed their patterns like he would an enemy, seeking the right moment to strike.

Timing, precision, and speed were required to pull this off.

'Now!'

He channeled [Enhanced Speed] and struck both hands in the cold water.

Two confident rainbow salmons were casually eating when something grabbed them out of the water so fast it exceeded their reflexes, the third one fled for its life.

Splash!

"Hello you beautiful," he kissed both fish floundering in his hands, their bright rainbow scales glowing under the sunlight. They averaged four kilos each and should suffice for one day, perhaps a day and a half taking into account his excessive eating habits and companions' needs.

However, though it went a bit against the shamanic way, he wouldn't be content with only these two. It wasn't every day he came by a river and planned on filling his food reserve with fish.

Erik switched location, in case the fishes thought the first hole wasn't safe anymore. He repeated the previous steps until his total catch numbered six.

Satisfied, he quickly cleaned them in a ritual manner while thanking the river for the food it provided, their guts would nourish other marine species, perpetuating the circle of life.

Snowflakes started falling, dancing on the wind's rhythm that was gradually picking it up. It was a faint change but it had Erik worried. Looking up, he saw dark clouds rapidly hovering his way.

'Gotta build that shelter and quick.'

***

Trees bent to the snowstorm's whim, snow rapidly piled up on the white ground turned dark by the moonless night.

Inside their underground shelter, the trio stared with greedy eyes at the roasting rainbow salmon while Erik's contracted spirit was enlarging the room for more comfort; the storm had forced them in before they could properly finish digging.

"Is it done yet?" Rex asked, saliva dripping from his maw, even the raven appeared to be looking forward to their dinner.

Fish oil dropped in the fire from time to time, fueling it and spreading a delicious aroma.

"Is it done yet?" The dog repeated.

"If you continue to ask that question, I will feed you last," Erik warned. Not much of punishment but the dog was always fed first whenever they ate together, it built a habit Rex enjoyed.

"No!" Rex's ear perked up, "I'll keep my maw shut, so please, anything but that!"

Erik chuckled, he could understand the impatience, they were hungry and that fish emanated an irresistible scent.

Caw!

Growl.

Both totem beasts sent a warning, something was approaching their location.

'Fuck, why does it have to be at dinner time again!?' Erik thought, cocking his head at the entrance, he hated being interrupted during dinner, other meals were fine, but, not dinner.

Never dinner!

"Someone's coming," Rex said, sniffing the air. "It smells like a beast, no, a human with a strong beast scent."

That got him worried, he could predict a beast's behavior, a human's was harder to read, though not impossible.

"Stay here, I'll take a look. If I'm not back in around five minutes, come out and prepare for a fight."

_____

Lore Extract:

"Rare species such as the Yin and Yang carps feed on the energy of Fate. The peculiarity of such species is their absence of impurities when consumed and the unbelievable benefits they give. Some would grant a large amount of wyrd, a rare few grant new body types. Rumors tell of other wondrous benefits but I've not encountered them during my many travels."

—Diary of the Retired Warrior