Not gonna lie, I never expected this area to be dangerous. Although I do know that being in the wilderness alone can be quite dangerous.

But the peace I had experienced in this forest convoluted my mind to an extent. I forgot that survival is tense, hard, and quite boring. 

Even then I have to prepare for what's next after seeing those primates roam the fields. Who knows might die from this.

…..

" What do we do now? I don't know how to fight!". 

" Let's say it's a good thing that those savage primates didn't notice your presence. Plus we don't have enough knowledge on how dangerous these primates are. Anyways we don't fight them head-on. Just keep yourself out of their reach". Anya reassured our safety. Knowing the circumstances I had to make some weapons or a proper defensive structure. 

" Anya, can you fight?".

" Yeah, why?".

" Well, I haven't been in a fight.".

" Privileged are you? Anyways you seem like the type of person who's docile in any situation. Your body is quite frail you wouldn't even scratch a single goblin".

Ouch! My previous lifestyle came back to bite me in the present. It's fucked!

" One thing I do know is that you can do magic. Wait can you do it?".

" I oughta be honest with you I don't… I can only magically make things from materials.".

" I can only guess that what you have is some sort of a legendary blacksmith skill. Look If you can make things I'll gather the materials. Protect my siblings as a return.".

" Yeah yeah, sure!".

Finally! I don't get to gather materials anymore! My weak body had a hard time dealing with materials. 

I reached my basket and gave it to Anya.

" Use this to carry some items.".

The basket already had a handle but it can also be carried like a backpack.

" Thanks, Now what materials do you want?".

" Large stones, if better rawhide.".

" Quite a demanding request but alright I'll try to find something before midnight comes.".

" Umm, are you sure you'll be back before midnight. Your sibling will cry, and of course, I don't like that.".

" Hold up before I go, how old are you?".

" 20 why?".

" Nah nothing? Just want to know more about the people around me?".

Ok… 

She had gone to the forest leaving me and her siblings. Both of them came to my side and asked why she left the river.

" She's gathering some things. Your sister is strong, A few days ago she suffered from a stab wound now she looks strong than ever.".

" Well, she is my sister all along! She fought many bandits back at our home!". Shiina added.

She must have been a good fighter. I wonder what happened to the other refugees…

I'll just think of it later. Maybe I need to explore the crafting menu in the meantime.

For the past few days, I had been exploring this Crafting Menu. It seems that new recipes are made when I gather material, crafting new stations, or crafting new items. 

The category was split into 7 Parts. Specifically food, medicine, material, tools, stations, furniture, clothing and armor,  and magic. Magic was one of the categories that was left untouched with no recipes. In the future, I would be exploring this category more often.

" I want to make new things…".

I wanted to make something big this time around, maybe a house or a tent would fit the criteria. It would be suitable to have some first line of defense. 

" Bad thing is I don't know how to build.".

I can make materials but placing them and building well would be a different story. 

" This is going to be tiring, It might be shit quality but that's just what it is.". 

Ulysses tugged my jacket and I glanced back. 

"Hm?".

" Umm. are you… making… something?". His broken voice sounded timid. Which is very unfitting for his attitude. He is at least social and has confidence but dang his way of talking feels different. 

" Yeah. Wanna come? Bring your sister in while at it? Ya!". 

He ran back and forcefully brought his sister. 

" What is it, mister? Do you want to do something?". 

" Do you want to build something?".

" Yeah Yeah!". Shiina loudly agreed.

" Well follow me!". I kept my enthusiasm to make the twins enjoy the work.

We gathered some wood. I tried chopping off a tree but I can only pull down one. To add some more I got tired pretty quickly.

" Phew! Maybe I'll just wait for Anya to come back. Or maybe I should just make a straw house!".

" Do you want us to gather grass Mister?.".

" Can you?".

" Hmph! Who says I can't?".

" I'm sorry but no it's too dangerous.". I just got myself carried away for a second. Right the savage primates are on the prowl it would be dumb for me to do that. 

" Do you play with dirt?".

" Yes! We played it with my brother when we were kids!".

" Well, then shall we play mud!". I loudly said to them as we ran to the river to collect clay.

Of course, they got themselves pretty dirty but it was worth it. We managed to gather a good amount of dry mud. Our arms were dirty so we washed them off in the flowing river. 

My goal was to make mud bricks. It takes time but can be stronger than a straw house. 

We ate the smoked trout and used the jar to collect water. Placed it onto the pile of soil to make mud.

"Craft!".

Soon the indefinite amount of mud and water we had gathered. It seemed that the bigger we gave it would have many results. In the end, the crafting menu managed to make an amount of 26 bricks.

Somehow the crafting menu recognizes the amount even when it's in the ground. It was quite unnecessary information but kinda neat. 

" They're already dry.".

" Wow! All of them are high quality!". Shiina gazed in amazement.

" Quick let's make another batch! Won't you agree Ulysses!". Ulysses nodded at her.

So once again we gathered as much soil from the river and repeated the process once again.

" Hey, mister! This is quite fun!". The both of them happily played with the mud. " Hey! Don't get too dirty!". 

I enjoyed it as well. When the kids splashed water on me I retorted them back. It seemed that my initial goal of "keeping it clean" had already eroded. Even my goal had completely gone to the back of my head.

Our voices had rung through the river. The rumbling of the nearby bushes and the flowing water

In the end, we came with few results. At least I have made 32 mud bricks. All of which had a length from wrist to elbow.

" Hey, Mister! I think I saw something in the distance.". Shiina informed him.

Ulysses was also very suspicious of his surroundings. When I saw Ulysses being wary I knew something was wrong. Now that I realized it earlier I heard the sounds of the rumbling bushes.

"Could it be the savages!".

We retreated to our side of the river. I grabbed up my spear and also quickly crafted two more for the twins.

" Stay with me.". They held my jacket and kept themselves closer to me. It's good that they trust me but I do hope they won't get hurt. 

"Hoo Hoo Ha Ha!".

I looked to the other side only to see a single ape. But it wasn't just a simple ape it had spears and rusty armor. 

" Shit! This is a threat I can't face! Stay away kids!". 

I pushed them back before I clenched my spear.

It quickly swam across the river. However, it had a hard time as it growled more. 

" Shit this is gonna cause us more attention!" I threw a stone at the armored ape but all of it was a miss. I pointed my spear towards the ape before it came to our side of the riverbanks. 

I raised my spear ready to jab. Until he instantly shoved his spear closer to my right torso. My jacket got torn off but luckily I wasn't wounded. 

" Fuck! That was close!".

I jabbed at the ape and I struck it in the hips

The ape screamed in pain before going berserk. I struck the wrong spot! His whole torso is covered with rusty chainmail. I jabbed once again this time hitting it in the ribs area.

However, it wasn't going to back down quickly. The ape went wild and swung in every direction. I wasn't able to gain a proper distance as such I backed down.

" Ulysses! Throw your spear!". 

I faced back to see the spear had already been thrown. It stabbed the ape directly in the neck where there was little protection. It growled a little before standing and falling to the ground. 

" Damn, I could have gotten tetanus!".

I was lucky that the spear the monkey used had missed me. 

I checked its body and kicked hard enough to declare it officially dead.

" It's dead but damn… this was a new experience.".

In the meantime maybe I should protect the twins first...

This isn't going to be good