Chapter 7 – The Hunt for Red Cucumber!

Crack! Snap!

My path through the woods was not as fun as I first expected. Firstly, there were pine needles, pinecones, twigs, and branches everywhere. I could not take a step without announcing it to the neighborhood. Of course, the neighborhood consisted of small squirrels and songbirds. By listening intently through the area, I could not make out any sign of dangerous animals or monsters. Even if they were still or sleeping, my Sound Sensitivity would have been able to pick out the sound of their breathing. As I pathed through the dense forest, I continued to use Analyze as much as possible. Based on it being the first perk available with Vision Master, a power only granted to World Travelers, I wondered if Analyze Vision was rare. Around 25 minutes later, I had crossed about one mile towards the river. I carefully examined a small plant with a red vegetable on it. My Analyze Vision combined with my Botany and Herbalism revealed the plant to be edible.

Red Cucumber – Edible raw or cooked

Not a whole lot of info, but at least it qualified as food. I pulled the cucumber that seemed to be the largest and most ripe. I bit into it with more vigor than necessary and crunched down into the vegetable. The texture, taste, and flavor were all a perfect match to an English Cucumber back home. This was a great start! The next 30 minutes, I was more carefully searching the woods, hunting down the red cucumber with my sharpened stick in hand. Of course, the cucumber never fought back!

Arriving at an open riverbank, my arms held up 12 red cucumbers. Plenty for a meal or two while I hunted for something else. During that time, both Analyze Vision and Botany and Herbalism had increased to Level 2! Of course, the information I received still did not increase much. Botany and Herbalism did tell me that some plants could be used in potions now. However, I still did not know what kind of potions they would create.

Staring at a large flowing river, I was impressed. It was over 10 feet wide, about 5 feet deep, and seemed to be teeming with fish. Another source of food! I cupped my hands together and took a drink of water from the river. I let out a content sigh as I swallowed the fresh river water. Analyze Vision had told me that the water was potable, and it was called Java River. This name sidetracked me to the thought of coffee. I really loved my coffee back home. The best moment of my day was when I had my morning coffee. The fragrant smell of roasted beans, the warmth flowing through my mouth, and the stirring flavor that pushed away tiredness from the night before. There was no better experience. If I had a method of finding coffee in Vando, even if I had to invent it, I would be Airey the Coffee Guru. But for now, fresh water, red cucumber, and hopefully some speared fish. Let's see how that works out!

I considered my next course of action. The sun was getting close to mid-day. Based on the guide, days in Vando were 25 hours long. I would assume then that I had around 8-9 hours of daylight left. If I walked directly to the shack without stopping, it would take me around 45 minutes. It seemed to be a good precaution to make it back to shelter before it turned dark. I was sure that there were many creatures that would head to the river at night. If only I had a container for holding water. I did not have anything sharp enough to carve wood and most of the rocks around were quite small. I decided to ignore that issue for now and to try my hand at fishing. Upon focusing on them in the water, I found that they were "Mountain Trout Lv. 1 – Edible raw or cooked". This gave me another realization. Was I on a mountain?

Finding civilization may be challenging. In most audiobooks I listened to, the protagonist would have a couple of coins magically appear in his pocket and then he would find a village minutes away. Well, at least I had the shack in the woods! I decided that I did not need to set up for long-term living. I would only stay in the mountains for a week or so since I wanted to meet people! Elves, Dwarves, and Beastkin sounded amazing! I hoped desperately that I would not encounter the cliché where humans mistreated the other races. I may have been new to this world, but I did not wish to personally experience racial injustice.

After another hour of poking a stick in the water, I surprisingly came up with two fish. I was happy to see the system messages afterwards.

Skill Acquired: Fishing Lv. 1

Level Up! You are now Level 1!

You have acquired a new Vision Master perk – acquired skill: Storage Vision Lv. 1

Strength increased by 2!

Constitution increased by 2!

Mental increased by 2!

Dexterity increased by 2!

Intelligence increased by 2!

Wisdom increased by 2!

Storage Vision? I would definitely have to experiment with that! I did not know how to clean and prepare fish. Although I had learned some minor cooking skills in my life, I did not do a lot of activities with a knife. Now, I was sitting on the gravel shore with a sharp rock and a fish. I was aware that cleaning the fish involved the removal of its guts. I probably removed too much of it but decided it would be better safe than sorry. I wasn't exactly using a scalpel or anything! I collected a bunch of dead grass and dried twigs and branches. There on the shore, I started striking two rocks together over the dead grass. The sparks sprayed over it multiple times. I repeated the gesture for five or six minutes when I finally had a flame. A stiff breeze quickly extinguished my flame and I had to start again. After several more minutes, I had a basic fire. Then, I put my fish overtop it, skewered on a stick, and waited.