The Confused Explorer

Once Turul awoke without even pausing he went straight for the pile of fish that Mike had left near the shore of the river for both him and Turul to enjoy, however this pile of 20 or so fish was quickly all eaten by Turul as he was very hungry.

Mike had been so focused on the golden fish he didn't even notice that Turul was up and about until he came over and sat beside Mike. As Turul sat down beside Mike it gave him a start since he wasn't expecting movement around so it had scared him for a moment almost making him drop the fish.

Looking at Turul and at the fish, Mike had decided on just roasting it over a fire since that was pretty much his only option unless he had some other way to do it that he didn't know about, so he needed to get to work on a fire for the both of them.

Putting the fish on the ground where Mike could get it again easily he went around again picking up twigs, limbs, and other flammable material so that he could make another campfire like last time, and this time he managed to finish it all with the help of Turul in the matter of 10-15 minutes from picking up the materials to having a full blown fire.

Taking a nice sizable stick and having Turul sharpen the end Mike tried to stick it through the side of the fish but it was quickly realized that was impossible, its scales were too hard and couldn't be pierced with a piece of wood. So Mike got Turul to help him to peel off all the scales after silently killing the fish and cleaning it off which ended up taking a long time but was finished eventually.

Mike finally done with that pierced it through the mouth, and allowed for him to let it roast over the fire slowly.

"Let's go cook some other fish for you as well Turul, or for later consumption." As Mike said that he looked over towards the river for the other fish to see they were gone. With a bewildered look Mike looked towards Turul to see him slightly embarrassed over eating all the fish, and with a loud laugh and while rubbing Turul's head Mike said it was okay.

Sitting up, clapping his hands together, and wiping off his rugged clothes Mike moved towards the bear in order to fix this huge problem that they were having, how to handle this bear corpse.

Mike wanted to use this bear corpse properly, as in use its claws for making weapons or tools and its hide for maybe bedding or clothing, that is if Mike could get Turul to skin the bear properly.

"Turul do you know how to skin a bear properly?" With a laugh Mike had asked Turul never expecting a positive response and as expected Turul shook his head for a negative.

Looking over this literal ton of flesh that if used properly can give Mike and Turul a lot of benefits it was just that was exactly the problem, they didn't know how to use it properly.

"I guess lets drain this guy of any blood he still has and take out any organs we can find, and for this one i'll be needing your help Turul all the way through." Both nodding at each other they got to work to get good bedding and tools.

It was fairly easy to cut the fur off the bear since it had an excess of it all over its body so it wasn't hard on that part, it was when they started to bleed it and take out all of its organs, it was really hard to take out the organs while it was on its stomach so Mike had to get Turul to flip it around on its back where they could stand and take out the organs easier.

This process took a really long time and Mike had to go back to the fire and flip the golden fish around occasionally, which was smelling good, as well as add more sticks to the fire and after finishing with it, Mike didn't really know what to do with these organs since Turul wasn't hungry and Mike couldn't eat them so he just decided to set them off to the side of the camp for a later date.

Picking up about two carpets worth of kinda crappy work of bear fur Mike washed it in the river then set it beside the campfire to let it dry and so they could lay on it as they waited for Mike's fish to get done cooking.

"This fish is really taking forever to finish, no wonder it's such a high rarity." Mike had waited over another hour after the time of the bear gutting and had to repeatedly go and get more sticks or go get something to drink since he'd been feeling thirsty, but finally the fish was done cooking, though Mike couldn't do all that he wanted to be able to cook it, it was better than nothing.

Taking the somewhat large fish, after it had cooled off somewhat, Mike took a large bite into it, now whether it was because the fish was a higher rarity or if Mike was getting good at cooking over a campfire this food tasted amazingly delicious, it had a great taste even though Mike didn't add any sort of spice to it.

It went down easily, and wasn't as greasy for something that was over a fire for over 2 hours should be, it had a taste of a perfect fish though Mike really didn't cook it well at all so it must be able to taste even better if cooked properly and with adding the right spices. Plus it didn't seem like the bones were cooked or damaged at all since Mike had bit on one by accident and it felt like he just tried to chew a rock, nearly breaking his teeth in doing so.

Eating around all the bones, and letting Turul have some since a full blown fish of this size, even if smaller than its actual weight, was a pretty large fish to be finished off by Mike alone.

After both eating their fill of a very rare fish full of energy, Mike and Turul felt bloated, especially Mike since he ate a lot more of it then he should've.

Forcefully, Mike picked himself up to look at what was left over from the feast which was the bones and they looked very delicate, like jade or diamond as they shined brightly under the stars. This set of bones may come in handy for the future in ever a case that Mike decides to make some tool of some sort out of them.

Laying down on their new carpet full in every way Mike did what he always did at this time, look up at the cl.u.s.tered shiny stars and thought of all the time he had spent here, honestly this day had felt like it went by faster than the first day maybe because it did since you can't tell how long a day is, and honestly as well it had been fun to work together with Turul for all of these things, though it was frighteningly scary to have watched Turul make a literal tornado it was also really stunning and beautiful and Mike wanted more days like these, where he got to see beautiful sights and eat food that he had not eaten before, and with a companion like Turul and hopefully his ability to adapt and overcome hard challenges they could and would see more days like this.

With these thoughts again clouding his mind, Mike reached over to the bird that sat beside him that allowed for Mike to feel so relaxed and slowly tousled the feathers on its head and neck, and to show affection Turul cooed back at him and started too nuzzle up against some more, even though the fire was still going.

Mike in this way slowly drifted off to sleep for another 'night' in this beautiful wonderland.

✵

Waking up this time Mike wasn't scared or surprised when he opened his eyes to see a sea of large of trees, it had also seemed like this time that Turul was awake before him.

Stretching and rubbing his eyes, Mike looked at the still somewhat strange scenery that he was now getting used to seeing.

Picking himself up fully Mike had no time to rest, it was another 'day' of work that needed to be done in order to live and figure out just why he was here and hopefully he could find some sort of civilization though thoughts like that were becoming more and more slim the longer Mike was here since by now Turul might have notified him of something like that.

Going over to the river to wash up and get something to drink, Mike was ready for the day.

Today would somewhat pan out like yesterday, Mike would ask Turul to go and find something that could be of interest to scan for The Explorers Log, or something to fight to level up Turul.

After Turul had also eaten some of the bear meat and organs he jumped off, though it seemed a lot more powerful than yesterday, because of the leveling up and eating that special fish yesterday.

While waiting for Turul, Mike decided to check out his own body again, it was a young body about the age of 19 like The Explorers Log said and it was rife with strength, Mike didn't doubt how strong he was since he had been eating a lot of food that was of benefit for his body as well as working and doing strenuous tasks had made the already strong body even more so.

Mike wasn't exactly sure how strong he was, or how fast, or something along those lines, but he knew he wouldn't have to worry about not being able to keep up with Turul, who knows maybe leveling up for him also made him stronger. Talking about leveling up Mike went ahead and checked on his information.

The Explorers Log:

Name: Mike

Age: 19

Explorer: Level 7

It seems like after scanning the bear and the golden fish that Mike had managed to level up twice as well. Happy with the gains from yesterday Mike went ahead and made plans for what today should go like.

First: they had to clean up this area, the couldn't keep letting it look like a heaping pile of foliage, dirt, and rocks.

Second: Turul would lead them over to the area of interest if he had found anything. This would probably take up most of the day for them either depending on how long it takes to get to the location or how long it takes to take down or scan the item of interest.

Third: Mike wanted to see if there was anything in the cave in which the Broad Bear had lived in. Mike also wanted to see if any sort of tool could be made out of the claws of the bear or the bones of the fish.

Fourth: Mike wanted to try and see if there is any sort of civilization around here, even if run by monsters it'd be better to note down the area to avoid or the area to advance towards in order to find information.

All of these things should be accomplished over the next two too three days of work from both Turul and Mike. These things should hopefully lead to some avenues that allow for further exploration of the environment that they reside in because that's what Mike is now, an explorer.

With a whole slew of thoughts, ideas, and plans in Mikes mind he was ready to play these things out.