Day 14

After slipping and sliding down the steep hill, I eventually came to a stop, looking out at the damage the snow boulder had caused. In front of me was the path of destruction, the trees toppled over like twigs, and mounds of hard-packed snow everywhere. I was still grinning like a fool and pulled out my hand ax and ready to chop some branches for fire and shelter.

I was able to get a good size pile of sticks and small logs, thankfully the Manaphage was able to absorb all the moisture in the wood, drying it out completely. Then I made a little lean-to with the sticks, leaning up against one of the bigger fallen trees. Then I cleared out a small space, maybe 5 feet of snow all around, and started trying to light a fire.

I shoved the Manaphage into the snow for a bit and willed it to absorb as much snow as possible, slowly, it started glowing brighter and brighter until I had cleared about two more feet of snow. I then shoved it in the pile of super dry kindling that I had made, about three feet from the lean-to. At first, it felt like nothing was happening, but as I concentrated on creating a flame, I saw the Manaphage quickly dim, and the pile starts to smoke. Acting quickly, I leaned down and carefully blew on the small sparks I had managed to create. Slowly but surely I brought the fire up, pulling the Manaphage out carefully, and shoving it in a small mound of snow I had set aside for this exact thing.

I sat back, mesmerized by the still growing fire, the logs I had added quickly catching, and burning cheerily. I was satisfied by this and sat back, smiling to myself, finally, I had a fire and a place to sleep that was more comfortable then rock. I unrolled my sleeping bag, absorbing all the snow and water I had stored in it, and got my spot ready to sleep in. I pulled out some jerky, and grabbed a sharp stick, and tried holding it over the fire. Quickly it started to smoke, and I pulled it away, after blowing on it for a minute, I took a small bite. It wasn't bad, cooked like that, and it had a smoky campfire taste now, but the biggest upside was that it was warm, warm food for the first time in two weeks, and promptly ate the rest and three more pieces. With a full belly, I laid back, first meditating, then drifting off to sleep.

I woke up to the sounds of birds chirping, and the sun just peeking over the mountain top, I was feeling good, my back was feeling better, I hadn't really realized how much my back hurt from sleeping on the stone floors, but I felt it now if I ever have to go back down that tunnel, I'm bringing some kind of hammock I can pin in the walls, or maybe if I find civilization, a magic sleeping bag. I slowly got up and noticed the fire had gone out, unsurprised, I grabbed some more kindling and logs to my side and built another fire, warming myself up, and cooking some jerky. I checked all my supplies, I had about half my jerky left, and my water was still all there, I had been subsisting off the snow, and all my tools and stuff were still there.

I fully got up an hour later, the sun shining on my back, and walked over to a good-sized tree and started climbing it. It took some maneuvering and some tricky stretching, but I managed to make it up without falling, more than once. I looked out from my vantage point, hoping to see something different than when I was on the plateau, but I was out of luck, and saw nothing, except the occasional bird, majestically soaring through the air. Sighing I climbed back down, and sat down, contemplating my choices. One idea was to set this up as my base camp, and hunt, forage and live here, I wouldn't have to fell any trees with my hand ax since I had knocked down a fair amount already. The other idea was to climb back up and try to find a different route, or use the higher vantage point to find a new path, but form what I could see, there was nothing around here just a massive stretch of endless trees. I leaned back and looked over my food again, I had about three to four days left of the food. I could probably find some more, I had helped hunters with traps and such for a while, and had learned how to build traps and forage for food, and test if it was poisonous.

I decided to sleep on it and started to gather more wood for the fire and my lean-to because one way or another this thing was gonna be my new home for a bit.