Chapter 13 - Big black wood

A large pile of fresh meat, only a few hours old, stacked up before his eyes. Cantorn knew that eating this wouldn't just fill him up, it would also make him stronger. However, this was almost too much. After a rough estimation, he guessed that it had to be in the range of ten to fifteen kilos. This was nothing he could eat in one sitting. Therefore he decided to separate the meat into smaller portions, sorting them by estimated value. Pieces that were looted from the Alpha Avankh would be eaten first, then the ones from the higher levelled normal Avankh and so on. The meat from the Alpha would last for two days alone, meaning that he could only hope that the rest of the meat would stay relatively fresh. Maybe he'd someday need a skill to improve his eating capabilities, but for now, he would have to make do with what he had.

Wrapping the biggest pile of meat in a Payabe leaf and attaching it to his belt, Cantorn went out to search some other materials he would need to craft a proper pair of daggers. While doing that, he always ate some strips out of his Payabe meat bag. The first thing he was searching for was wood. In his mind, a dark, durable and flexible kind of wood would suit the blueish horns of the Alpha Avankh best. While the part about the wood being dark was mostly cosmetic, it was still something he was very adamant about. No way would he use something for a long time that looked ugly. If you die, at least go out in style. 

Around two hours after he began searching around, the dark elf noticed a change in the environment. The further he got away from the small lake and the deeper he entered the forest, the bigger did the trees get, and the more aggressive the beasts were. Though aggressive seemed to be a bad way to describe it. They rather shied away from mindless fights and instead turned to a far more calculated and predatory fighting style. Fights then usually ended a lot quicker, but if one side didn't manage to end the confrontation quickly, it usually became very bloody. Beasts generally were of a higher level as well, but Cantorn didn't really care about that all too much. It was better for him if the level gap was large enough to not be of any interest to them since they had no reason to kill him if they would gain no considerable experience and he didn't provoke them either. He was still careful but far less than he had to be in the near vicinity of the lake.

The behavior of the animals was not the only thing that changed. As lush as the forest had been, it only grew more and more. Though the ground was now slightly more open and easier to move around on, up above growths extended to unimaginable heights and sizes. Leaves spanned multiple meters, similar to the Payabe leaves he had already seen, Branches grew thicker, sometimes reaching up to ten meters in diameter and vines were as thick as an arm. Even fruits grew bigger, sometimes as large as Cantorn's head. All of this was probably to accommodate for the similarly increasing size and especially weight of all other living beings populating the forest. As they grew more and denser muscle, they also got heavier. If the plants growing in the forest were too weak to carry them then, they'd get trampled and squashed. Therefore this was simply a biological adaptation of the forest's growths, or at least he guessed so.

Just a few minutes later, Cantorn entered a small clearance. Strangely, it wasn't green grass that was growing on the ground. Much rather there were mushrooms in all colors and variations plastering the ground. Not even the sunlight was properly shining down, albeit there only growing one tall tree. Its bark was pitch black and relatively smooth, with practically no cracks showing on the surface. Apart from that, the branches of the tree were very long and straight, only changing direction when they were splitting into smaller branches and twigs. The strangest part was, that although leaves were growing on the tree, they weren't particularly large or densely packed. Yet, almost no sunlight reached the ground. It was almost as if the tree was oozing with darkness, amplifying the shadows and blocking all light. 

Upon closer inspection, it became pretty clear why.

A big smile plastered the elf's face. Cantorn knew that he had just cracked the jackpot by finding basically the most fitting material for his soon-to-be-made daggers. As he began ascending the tree, Cantorn noticed that getting one of those branches might be harder than he had originally thought. They were, as his 'Identify' skill already mentioned, incredibly durable. Once Cantorn reached a branch that was thick enough to be turned into a handle, yet not too large to carry around, he began working on it. Striking down with his dagger, he hit the tree's bark. 

This was gonna take long. Very long.

Five minutes later the beginning of a small indent was finally to be seen. Working ceaselessly he made the indent larger and larger, slowly carving his way through the branch. In between he rested shortly, snacking on some of the meat he had brought with him. It did have some benefits to carry large amounts of food around. Two very long hours later, a crack could be heard, followed by the victorious outcries of a young man. Drenched in sweat, Cantorn proudly held a very dark branch in his hands. As he inspected it, he immediately saw that the wood alone, not crafted into a handle or enchanted by any means, now was of the uncommon rarity already. Glad that he put in the effort, the dark elf began his descent, and with it, his journey home.

Regularly snacking from his meat stash, which was slowly running out, Cantorn enjoyed the cool air of the forest, calming his body and mind. The leaves were rustling, the scenery was nice, he had made good progress during the last few days and had even secured an important crafting material today. Could this day be any better? He didn't think so.

[You have consumed a part of the meat of an Alpha Avankh. Due to your parasitic nature you managed to absorb a part of their strength.]

[You have gained the skill 'Infused dash (uncommon)'.]

Well, he took that back. His day could become even better.

Ludan

Hey there, back with the author's message of the day!

Thanks for reading this chapter, as always. Obviously, my punctuality has increased greatly, now only being one day late on my promised updates; D. Just as a heads up notice, starting from next week on Thursday I'll be away for a good week, so no updates then. However, I'll try to get maybe two chapters out before that and begin writing a third one, so that I can update quickly once I'm back again.

Anyways, I hope you enjoyed this chapter. See ya!