Free Web NovelChapter 17: Chapter 17: Tech Tree
"No," said Kellar, a sharp gleam in his green eyes. "Think about what’s behind the trial. If we slaughter a beast right now, the fresh scent of blood is going to advertise our location to every predator within a five-mile radius. I bet my life the elders added the overnight rule just to test our survival capabilities. We have to survive an entire afternoon and a brutal night out here."
Kellar pointed up toward the sky, tracing the position of the sun.
"Look up. The sun is still high; we have hours of daylight left," said Kellar. "They forbade us from bringing rations. Going twenty-four hours without food isn’t lethal, but the caloric deficit will cause fatigue, slow down our reaction times, and distract our focus. In the wild, a single split-second delay means death. We need to be operating at peak efficiency. Our priority is a secure camp, water, and immediate forage before we execute the hunt."
Mila stood frozen, staring at him with deep fascination and growing respect. She hadn’t considered a single one of those variables. Her primitive training had taught her to just run, track, and strike, but Kellar’s words made sense. If they killed something early, they would be forced to defend a bloody carcass or flee blindly through a dark, predator-infested forest until dawn.
Kellar turned his attention away from her, scanning the surrounding landscape. While he wasn’t a botanist, his modern mind had spent hours watching survival documentaries, and his analytical eyes quickly began categorizing the ecosystem.
The environment was striking. The valley was packed with massive, towering conifers, ancient pines, and thick moss covering the damp earth. The current temperature was warm, but the structural density of the vegetation heavily indicated a sub-arctic, highly volatile winter climate. It mirrored the dense, unforgiving wilderness of ancient Scandinavia—a classic, brutal Viking forest.
Though the Fire Bear Tribe didn’t wear traditional chainmail or sail wooden longships, their raw, cutthroat culture, worship of ancestral spirits, and reliance on heavy, blunt instruments shared an undeniable structural similarity with those ancient Norse warriors.
"The temperature in this valley is going to plummet the moment the sun dips." Kellar muttered, his knuckles tightening around the bone hilt of his dagger as he stepped toward a natural alcove beneath the boulders. "Let’s get to work, Mila. We have a shelter to build before the dark hits us."
Kellar and Mila spent the next hour moving through the dense, mossy undergrowth. They managed to gather a handful of tart, wild blue berries and a bundle of dry pine branches. Kellar’s main concern was the fire. In a forest packed with high-tier apex predators, a bright blaze at night was basically a glowing neon sign advertising free meat.
Yet, looking at the towering conifers and the damp moss, his engineer brain calculated the risks. The temperature had been warm during the day, but a sudden, volatile drop during the night could easily cause hypothermia, stiffening their muscles and leaving them immobile against an attack. Survival required a controlled climate.
While scouting the edge of the rocky ridge, Mila suddenly waved her hand, pointing toward a natural formation.
"Kellar, look over here!" said Mila.
Nestled between two massive, overlapping grey boulders was a deep, narrow alcove. It wasn’t a deep cave, but the stone overhang created a defensible pocket that would shield them from the biting wind and hide the glow of a small fire from the open forest.
"Perfect structural placement," said Kellar, inspecting the stone gap. "Block the wind, secure the perimeter. Get the wood inside, Mila."
While Mila busied herself arranging the branches inside the crevice, Kellar sat down on a flat rock near the entrance. He closed his eyes, mentally tapping into the system interface to inspect his available assets. He had exactly one Technology Point burning a hole in his digital pocket, and it was time to invest in an upgrade.
Three distinct options materialized in glowing blue text right before his eyes:
[Basic Flint Knapping & Shaping]: The foundational knowledge required to knap flint, obsidian, and chert into razor-sharp, reliable cutting edges and scrapers without shattering the core material.
[Primitive Leather Tanning & Curing]: A chemical and physical methodology using animal brains, smoke, and basic scraping tools to turn stiff, rotting raw hides into soft, durable, and weather-resistant leather clothing.
[Fire-Hardening & Wood Selection]: The technical understanding of cellular moisture in different wood types, allowing the host to slowly bake green wood over a low fire to double its density and tensile strength for spears and clubs.
Kellar analyzed the three options with logic. He didn’t have any raw animal hides on hand, making the tanning skill useless for immediate survival. Fire-hardening wood required a stable, long-burning fire source, which was currently a massive tactical liability in a hostile territory.
Flint knapping is the highest priority tool right now, Kellar thought, his mind locking onto the choice. If I can manufacture precision cutting edges out of the river stones, I can upgrade our basic weaponry and process a carcass with maximum efficiency.
"System, unlock Basic Flint Knapping and Shaping," Kellar commanded mentally.
Ding!
[Technology Point expended! Basic Flint Knapping & Shaping successfully integrated into the Host’s neural network.]
A sudden, intense rush of data flooded into his brain. Kellar’s fingers twitched instinctively as hundreds of technical variables regarding percussion angles, core preparation, pressure flaking, and stone fracture settled into his muscle memory. He wasn’t just guessing anymore; he now possessed the knowledge required to turn a raw river stone into a lethal blade.
