Free Web NovelChapter 10: Step 10 to Greatness: Gear-up Before the Hunt
Adrian let out a sigh, seeing all his combined spoils of daily settlement. He had spent over an hour combining everything he could, apart from the intel cards and the torn pages.
He wanted to learn more about them first before making something out of them that he wouldn’t understand.
[You got quite a haul, boy. Well done. Your ancestors are proud of you... Though I can hear the scholar curse the brute for making things too easy for you.]
"Well, you can thank him from my side. Honestly, I would still be grinding like a fool if not for his ridiculous blessing," Adrian smiled, looking at his epic grade items.
Apart from the dagger, he also combined the tribal hut to make it an epic tier [Tribal Longhouse] that could house up to 20 people and even had a separate section to raise small animals in it.
It also had storage boxes, a firepit for cooking, and also a crafting table, though Adrian didn’t know what it would be used for.
Next was the trap. He combined the snare traps to make an epic tier pit trap, along with an uncommon reinforced snare trap for slightly larger animals.
But perhaps the most important thing he combined was the attachment cards. Adrian only realized what it was after getting the [Honed Bone Dagger].
In simple words, it was a modification tool. Depending on the attachment, the weapon would inherit certain properties. So, he combined the [Venomfang’s venom gland] to get an epic-tier attachment called the [Crystallized venom gland].
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Item: Crystallized Venom Gland
Type: Weapon attachment
Grade: Epic (Purple)
Attachment stats:
Poison damage per hit: +10 damage/sec
Duration: 12 sec
Passive skills:
⬩ Neurotoxin: On critical hit, marks the target with one stack of ’Neurotoxin’ for 6 seconds, slowing movement by 35%, reducing attack speed by 25%, and making them suffer from tunnel vision for the duration. Does not stack, but gets reset on the next critical strike.
⬩ Persistence: Poison applied by this attachment cannot be cured by normal anti-venom or antidote. Requires an antidote of the same grade (epic) to heal.
Weapon Synergy:
⬩ [Honed Bone Dagger]: If the target is already bleeding, poison duration extends by +4 sec.
Attaching conditions:
Any weapon with an attachment slot, but it can’t be applied to blunt weapons.
Note: Occupies the weapon’s attachment slot. Removing this attachment consumes it, i.e., it cannot be recovered once unslotted.
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Adrian wanted to slot it at once, as it would be a great help while hunting. But he didn’t.
"If the food gets poisoned and stays poisoned, I might end up killing the entire tribe," he mumbled. "Hm... maybe I should slot it, but use the hunting bone knife to hunt instead? It’s an uncommon weapon, so it should be decent enough, right?"
[Why bother hunting? Just use the meat pack you got from the settlement.]
Adrian didn’t even consider the ancestor’s words for two reasons.
Firstly, while it was the easiest way, relying on the settlement too much would weaken him. Especially when his goal was to get used to the Savage Earth as soon as possible.
Secondly, the tribeswomen would probably expect him to bring the intact prey. If they saw the prime cut pork among other things, they might not accept his ’hunt’.
"The whole point of staying here is to win them over," Adrian said. "Between the new shelter and the future hunt, I’m confident I will win over Amika or whatever her name is, real soon."
[Well, there’s no need to hurry so much. You’ll be staying here for a week after all. Only the first day has passed.]
"...right. To be honest, I forgot about that part."
He was having so much fun there, yes, even after killing people, that he forgot all about the actual purpose of his ’pseudo-transmigration’.
"I’ve been meaning to ask you something," he mumbled. "The things I get here, like this dagger and these stats, will I take them back to the real world once the week ends?"
[Hm... you raise a good question, boy. Unfortunately, only the scholar knows that since he was the one who made the entire framework possible.]
"And given he isn’t pleased with my sudden climb in strength, it doesn’t seem like he would be up to answering any questions," Adrian chuckled. frёewebnoѵel.ƈo๓
[Is your intelligence stat bugged? For someone with a single-digit intelligence, you sure figure things out quickly.]
Adrian’s mouth twitched at the Playboy ancestor’s backhanded compliment. Ignoring his ancestor, he opened the inventory to deal with the last two things.
The pet recruitment card and the common rarity equipment card.
"Let’s save the raven for tomorrow, it could help me scout nearby areas for prey," he mumbled, quickly unlocking the card.
The card gave a weak white glow and disappeared, leaving pelt clothes behind. It consisted of two separate garments. One was a sleeveless chest wrap that looked more like a crop-top, and the other was a skirt similar to the one he had seen the women wear.
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Item: Deer Pelt Armor
Type: Light Armor
Grade: Common (White)
Base Stats:
Armor: +5 (+12% of the user’s endurance stat)
Bonus Slash Resistance: 8%
Bonus Pierce Resistance: 2%
Durability: 80/80
Weight: 1.2 kg
Passive Skills:
⬩ Aerated: The wearer would remain cool even in a high temperature or humid environment.
⬩ Bite resistance: Insects like mosquitoes and flies dislike the smell of deer skin, giving the wearer decent (30%) resistance to insect bites.
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[Great! You got clothes now. No need to walk around naked anymore.] ƒrēewebnoѵёl.cσm
It was only then did Adrian realized that he was still walking around naked. Honestly, the excitement of getting epic gear one after another had made him forget about basic decency.
Without saying anything, he slipped into the new wear, and it immediately expanded to fit him. Now that everything was taken care of, Adrian finally drifted to sleep.
***
Just a few hours later...
Adrian was literally dragged out of the cave by Amiya, even then, he stayed fast asleep. It wasn’t until the sun’s blazing fury hit his face that he opened his eyes.
"...what’s wrong with you, m-master—eek!?" Sera asked, noticing the dark circles under Adrian’s eyes.
She didn’t want to address Adrian as master, but her body did it automatically. Perhaps it was the contract enforcing the terms.
It wasn’t until she spoke that Adrian noticed her. She wasn’t wearing her modern clothes anymore. But an animal skin skirt and a bikini that showed off her assets.
Unlike her bikini, Adrian was more excited to see the tribal women’s grass top. Just then, a notification appeared before him.
[Tribe’s favorability towards you has dropped by 2 points.]
[Current favorability: 3/10 points]
[Current Standing: Unreliable]
"...Unreliable!?"
He just woke up late, and by late, it meant just 5 minutes later than the women, and they already branded him as unreliable!
Fuck, I can’t waste any more time.
Thinking that, he grabbed Sera’s arm and dragged her into the forest while the women watched him, unimpressed.
The Tribe Mother called for Amiya, gesturing for her to follow them. Despite her words last night, she didn’t trust either of them and needed someone to keep an eye on them. But she told her not to interfere, just watch them from a distance and return if they don’t try to run away.
***
Adrian let go of Sera’s hand once they reached deep into the forest and sent her a message.
"Whatever happens here, you won’t say a word to anyone... eek! What do you want to do with me!?" Sera yelled, covering her chest.
Adrian just rolled his eyes and took the crude bone dagger out of his inventory, giving it to her.
"...for me?" she asked.
Adrian nodded and took out the unattached [Honed Bone Dagger] for himself. He didn’t need the poison attachment for the moment. He could just use the dagger’s bleeding effect for now.
Next, he used the pet card. Once again, a white glow appeared from the card before it disappeared, leaving behind a bird in its place.
"...magic?" Sera mumbled absentmindedly.
"Woman, I used a card in front of you! Are you blind?"
Sera didn’t understand a word he said. If she did, she would have told him that players couldn’t see the cards belonging to others. Not till they kill the player and loot their bodies.
Adrian was in the middle of his tirade when the small raven cooed and settled itself on his shoulder. At the same time, its stats appeared in front of Adrian.
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Name: Raven
Type: Avian companion
Level: 5
Exp: 0/1,000
Bond: Stage 1 (Tamed) [10/100]
Grade: Common (White)
Gender: Female
Base Stats:
HP: 100/100
Attack: 19 (+30% of the owner’s strength stat)
Scout range: 320-meter radius around the owner.
Carry capacity: 0.4 kg
Weight: 1 kg
Passive Skills:
⬩ Alarm: If the owner is distracted or resting, the raven enters an alert state. If an unfriendly creature enters within an 80-meter radius of the owner, the bird would alert the owner.
⬩ Carrion: Upon being given a scouting task, the raven will circle the location of the said target, acting like a resource marker.
Active Skills:
⬩ Talon Strike: On command, the raven will dive at a target at high speed and attack them with its talons. Prioritizes the face and eyes. Deals moderate damage (24-41 HP) and applies a short [Disoriented] debuff for 3-5 seconds. Cooldown: 30 seconds.
⬩ Scout: On command, the raven would perform a wide area (320 meters) patrol with the owner at its center to look for prey, predators, specific locations, and resources. Cooldown: 15 minutes.
Note: Improving the bond will unlock new skills.
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"Alright, let’s see what you can do," Adrian smirked. "Go look for prey!"
Upon receiving the command, the bird took flight... only to land a few feet away and... dug up a worm, proudly showing off its hunting skills.
"...find prey for me," Adrian sighed.
The bird nodded, gulped down the worm, and took flight properly.
