Lowlife, Scoundrel, Bandit Queen

Chapter 174 - 174 - Not so quiet night

I'm in somewhat of a hurry to set up camp for the night and I'm not really happy with that. Since I can't just rewind time I can't help it either though, thus I simply hurry with the tasks that need to get done. Firewood comes first and it turns out that finding really dry wood around here is near impossible. My fire won't be near smokeless like this. Not even close. I don't have anything else though and I have to make my camp fire with the wood I have, not the wood I wish I had. It's the sad truth. Thus I gather the best I can find.

I gather some smaller rocks too, to frame my fireplace. That will help with cooking as well. I need a place to set my pan down after all. This, is seems, is enough to make my [Survival] skill improve a little, pushing it across the invisible edge that earns me a level up notification.

[*Ding!* Your skill Survival has leveled up to level 7!]

This one counts towards the progress of my scoundrel class. Sadly it's an uneven level of a common skill which means there are no indirect benefits, which is too bad.

Something else catches my attention too, as I build my meager supply of firewood for the night. There are indeed plenty of mushrooms growing around here. And at least one kind I spot is edible. At least I think so. I have gathered and eaten some before, if it is the same mushroom, but I'm not entirely sure about that. Thankfully I have a decent and easy way to make sure.

I focus my attention on the little golden yellow mushroom and activate my [Identify] skill. A minuscule amount of my Mana flows into the skill and it improves a little too. A moment later the result comes in.

[Chanterelle (Mushroom, Common) – A common mushroom that can be found growing on moderately moist ground in the shade of trees just about anywhere in temperate forests. It's a favorite of foresters, foragers, hermits and bandits alike, as its a tasty ingredient used in various recipes of campfire cooking. A handful make for a decent meal. Category: Alchemical Ingredient, Properties: ???, ???, ???, ???]

I nod satisfied. Yes, this is the one. The identification skill comes in incredibly handy once again. Making sure I don't poison myself by picking the wrong mushrooms would otherwise be so much harder.

It's too bad that I don't have any smoked sausage with me this time around. Thus I can't cook the same tasty campfire pan I did last time, but that isn't necessary anyway. These should be plenty good with just a little cheese too. Add a slice of bread to wipe the pan clean of any tasty juices afterwards and I'm good. Ha! Given the color of the mushroom I'd even say I'm golden!

I gather some more until I have two good handfuls. Thankfully they grow in dense stands thus I don't have to go looking for my evening meal all over. The moist ground and the shade provided by the ferns and ruins really favors mushrooms it seems. And not only do I now have enough fresh mushrooms to make dinner, my [Foraging] skill improves a little as well. It should be very close to the next level up by now too. I'm already looking forward to it.

For now though I retreat to my campsite with firewood and the next meal secured I do try to make the place a little more secure. It is already pretty secure to begin with though. The walls are thick and whatever this room was back then, it apparently could do without windows. There is only the door leading outside and another that would have led to the next room of the building. That one is blocked by rubble from said room that hasn't fared as well as this one.

What I do, is to cut some fresh branches from a hazel. Those are growing abundantly around here too. The branches are about two fingers thick, or maybe just a little less, straight and pretty sturdy. I sharpen them at both ends using my utility knife and use them to create a makeshift spiked pit trap by wedging them into the ground just outside the doorway. I'm not sure how helpful it'll be in the long run, but at least my [Woodworking] skill benefits. It may not be much, but it is something at least.

Afterwards I turn towards the stones I gathered to build my fireplace. I have to use this approach since I can't dig a pit here, due to the stones of the collapsed ceiling. In the end I'm satisfied though. I turn some of the gathered wood into fine kindling too, another necessary step as I don't have a whole lot of tinder this time around. It'll have to do though. There is no way around it. And I indeed struggle a little getting the fire started, but in the end that only means that the resulting slight increase of my [Survival] skill feels all the more rewarding.

Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit.

I have no time to waste though. I whip my pan out and start cleaning and cutting my mushrooms. Like I planned I sprinkle some cheese shavings across them too, including some of the salty crust of my loaf of hard cheese, which comes in quite handy under these circumstances. Add a slice of bread to wipe up the juice afterwards and I'm done. It's not much, but it's warm and filling. Even better, it earns me my next level up notification!

[*Ding!* Your skill Cooking has leveled up to level 5!]

Now that is a nice surprise. Sadly it's another uneven level of a common skill which means that once again there are no indirect benefits, but at least it counts towards the continued progress of my masked mediator class which is by itself already very welcome. It makes me wonder if I might just be able to level up that class before my hedge witch class reaches the next level threshold. It's not entirely impossible. Yes, I might just be able to do it. It mostly depends which class skills I get to use more. I guess I'll see how that works out.

For now though I finish eating and wash the meal down with a drink from my water bottle. There is still a little left for tomorrow morning, but afterwards I'll have to see about refilling it. I add the last of the wood I gathered to the fire and place my blanket on the hard ground next to the rock warmed by it, to stretch out for the night, using my cloak as the actual blanket as usual.

This, as I soon come to realize, is not going to be a pleasant night. The stones of the collapsed ceiling, although moderately even, are far less pleasant to sleep on than any of my previous camps in the wilderness. I'm essentially sleeping on bare rock. If I spend some more time here I should gather some leaves or ferns to serve as padding. I groan and edge a little closer to the fire, still taking care to not to get too close, as that is the best I can do for tonight.

Eventually sleep claims me. It's not a deep sleep though, as I'm in an unfamiliar environment, with plenty of unfamiliar sounds, especially now at night. And not all of these unfamiliar sounds can be attributed to harmless sources, like small rodents or the owls hunting them, either. Of that I become very much aware when [Danger Sense] jolts me from my already rather light to begin with sleep.

The skill edging a little closer to the next level up is the only good thing about that. Otherwise it immediately sets me on high alert. The reason for this quickly becomes apparent too, as I begin to pick up sounds consciously, even as I get up, grab my buckler and quietly draw my sword.

There is the rustling of something big moving through the foliage outside in the overgrown alleys, brushing against ferns and bushes without a care as it seems. It's not a stealthy predator then. It's either too certain of its own superiority or too stupid to care. There is the sound of something scraping across rock too. Maybe claws? Could be a tool or weapon that's being dragged along too though. Despite my [Perception] improving a little it's impossible to tell for sure.

I lick my lips and mentally prepare for trouble. I move away from my sleeping spot by the fire too, leaving my blanket and my pack behind near the last glimmering embers of the fire. Instead I position myself in the dark on the opposite side of the hollow arch of the doorway leading out into the alley.

Within the confines of the walls its thankfully too dark for my drawn blade to catch too much light from moon or stars to make a difference. This allows my [Stealth] skill to improve a little once more before it gets serious.

Whatever is moving about out there is getting closer. I'm starting to suspect that it moves with purpose too. It might just have come across what few tracks I left during my brief exploration before the sun settled.

With the soft ground around here it's simply near impossible to not leave any tracks at all. Unless I were to climb and move across the tops of the still standing walls? I don't let my gaze waver but resolve to keep that option in mind for tomorrow. Right now I have to focus on the immediate threat, and I have very little hope that this is anything but a threat.

I perk up even more as the scraping sound stops just shy of the empty doorway. A new realization dawns on me as it does. That sound, it didn't come from the ground level. No, it originated from somewhere slightly above my head! Whatever it is, it's tall! Or big. Or both! That thought is scary at first, but if whatever this is is really that big, that might work to my advantage too. The alley outside is pretty narrow after all. The arch of the doorway too for that matter!

A moment later whatever is on the prowl resumes to move and I curse myself quietly within the confines of my own mind, as one of the stakes I put in the ground outside breaks and splinters, prompting my potential foe to stop again. What really makes me break into a cold sweat though is what I don't hear and that's a scream of pain or at least a curse or anything else really. I grimace quietly.

Given that I'm in an area where mushrooms grow which seem to thrive on necromantic energies, a suspicion starts to form in my mind. Supposedly this place is at the heart of whatever causes there to be more unquiet dead in the frontier lands than is to be expected too. My grimace turns into a grin while I wait, still without making a single sound.

Within the confines of my mind I'm egging the threat outside on though. Come on, whatever you are, throw me a bone, or two. If it's an undead it's almost certainly a corporeal one and not a ghost. Of that I have little doubt. Ghosts don't cause scraping sounds after all.

Finally the thing squeezes through the door, the hands clutching at the edges of the door's empty arch giving me a first solid hint at what this might be, as they are very much skeletal with very little dried meat still on the bones. Yes, this thing is undead for sure. No doubt about it. And it's big. Maybe not quite as big as the king boletus, but certainly bigger than Kronk the former orc bandit lord who most certainly already dwarfed me by more than just a little.

I wait just a little longer, for the undead giant to squeeze inside a little further. It already seems to have discovered my campsite, focused on it as it seems. I on the other hand still seem to be going unnoticed. Just as well. I decide to take advantage and aim for what may be a vulnerable spot too. Skeletons are not entirely immune to strikes against those as past experience suggests. I hope it's not any different with this one.