246 Make the most of the system, please! part Since Ryu had nothing to do but wait, he walked towards the west, where he was certain there’ll be human presence. Using his pathfinding skill he didn’t leave any foot tracks and he was also able to walk faster, but it was stamina expensive. Since Ryu had no food to recover his energy, he knew that sooner than later he would end up fainting due to exhaustion, so he didn’t go too far.
His intention wasn’t to walk far, but cover his movements. The markings he left in the ground wouldn’t look man made at all, making it impossible for someone to track him down, but any of his friends would notice those markings and be able to understand their meaning.
Ryu was lost in these thoughts when he stumbled upon a weird plant with thorny leaves and bright red flowers.
>Fiery Dandelion: Any and all parts of this plant are edible at any growth stage
“This really doesn’t look edible but...” Ryu said as he picked up a leaf from the weed looking plant. He chewed on it with a little distrust, its flavor wasn’t bad at all, but the texture was weird and thorny. It was so bad, he ended up losing two health points by consuming a single leaf. Fortunately, the plant was big enough to even be spotted from afar which also meant he would be able to gather enough of it to have a full meal.
Using his shovel, Ryu unearthed the whole plant, making his best effort not to kill it. His intention wasn’t to get enough food just for that day, but planting it near his water pit.
‘If this plant is still alive despite being so large, it can only mean that it either grows really fast or animals don’t like its flavor.’ Ryu though.
He took the plant with himself, making sure to cover the hole to the best of his abilities. Now he also knew why he needed a shovel, making a hole with earth magic was mana expensive but not impossible, but unearthing a plant without killing it required fine control he didn’t possess. With a shovel, instead, he was able to safely remove it even if it took him a while.
Big was Ryu’s surprise when he came close to his water pit and there were two crabs fighting to climb outside. One of them had lost a leg inside the water pit, probably fighting the other crab, making Ryu pity the small crustacean. They were small indeed, about half the size of his fist, but they would provide some much needed nourishment.
.....
Ryu used consider on them, just to make sure they were regular beasts instead of the magical variation, only to be let down.
>Ruby crab (Magical beast)(Healthy)(Maimed)(exhausted)
That was a lot more information than he expected, but at the same time, it wasn’t what he had hoped for.
Ryu attempted to pick it up before killing it, but the crab was burning hot, honoring its name. Excited for the first decent meal after what seemed like months, he hit it with the tip of his pee shovel causing his glowing shell to become of a dull color. He did the same to the other one, obtaining the exact same result. Only after checking that the water temperature was safe for him, he picked them.
“Now how can I eat this thing? If it’s capable of heating itself to the point I got burnt, cooking it will probably be impossible” he sighed.
Ryu’s hunger level was driving him crazy, his stomach didn’t grumble so much as it roared, and he was feeling more and more tired. He knew he was close to starvation.
Without any sort of fuel, his only possibility to cook the crabs was to either cast fire magic directly on them or to cook them by heating the water, with magic to. Either way, he would need to spend a great deal of mana, something he really wanted to avoid.
He remembered how the summoned heroes were so tired when they first met, mostly because they spent more energy to get food than they were able to consume.
Still, eating them raw could be dangerous and he preferred to play it safe.
Ryu cracked the shell of both crabs, completely removing the top shell, to see if that would help them cook faster, only to find a small gemstone inside of each of them.
>Small mana crystal: small stones found inside magical beasts. It taints the meat making them inedible.
“That’s it! So magical beasts can be eaten after all!” Ryu’s joy was beyond measure.
After placing some red dandelion leaves inside the cooking pot, he removed the crystals and placed the crabs and heated the water inside right before it started boiling.
His mana was limited, but his hunger and the promise of a tasty meal gave him the motivation to push himself to the limit. After a few minutes and just before running out of mana completely, Ryu stopped casting fire magic and waited until the liquid cooled down enough to be able to drink.
Much to Ryu’s surprise, the result wasn’t half bad. The cooking process made made the leaves tender enough to be pleasant to eat, the inside of the crab was cooked to perfection and the broth was actually tasty.
The only problem was that breaking the shell was a difficult task and he ended up spilling a great deal of valuable food, but the meal was a lot better than he expected.
“Hey, Aruru, Can you hear me?” He said in between slurps at a crab pincer. “Are you there? I could use some company...” But there was no reply.
Ryu couldn’t tell why exactly, but somehow he knew she was nowhere near. The first time he met her, Ryu didn’t think she was an actual goddess. It took a few encounters and messages for Ryu to even consider the possibility that gods were a thing, but after his long comma he was a believer.
He believed as much in the existence of gods as he knew they were assholes. Aruru warned him that he was, under no circumstances, to contact any of them and avoid them like the plague. Even though Ryu didn’t think much of Aruru and she didn’t give him a good impression, he still felt inclined to believe her.
If gods existed and were hidden among the people, it was only obvious they were assholes. If they weren’t, they would surely do something to help the starving people, the sick ones, the poor, or maybe simply stop needless wars.
So far, all the people from the sacred empire he had met had behaved like criminals and Ryu thought they must have been a reflection on the gods they worshiped.
Aruru’s situation was different, She was made prisoner by other gods, which means they didn’t like her. But after thinking long about it, Ryu realized that Aruru had helped him in several occasions.
He had heard her voice when he was hurt and more than once he felt her presence through the cursed sword.
Feeling nostalgic and lonely, Ryu thought that if Aruru asked him for help now he might, maybe, try to help her. But she didn’t reply, no matter how many times he called for her, there were no messages in the display.
Ryu’s meal was enough to raise his morale, but it was nowhere near enough to get him back to health. He needed to hunt bigger prey, but so far he was unable to find any traces of animals and he didn’t have a clue as to where did the crabs even came from.
His next move was to plant the red dandelion near the water source. After digging a hole, he placed its root inside and covered it with soft ground.
>Dandelion (withering)
‘It seems this soil isn’t appropriate for it to grow in here. I’m not planning to stay in here forever and since I couldn’t find a steady source of food I’ll have to look for better grounds. I remember hearing they were attacked by humans at some point in the settlement so I can’t be that far away.’ With a full belly, Ryu’s thoughts had become a lot clearer than before, allowing him to see the faults in his previous plan of waiting for help to arrive.
Even if they notified Bardun, there was no guarantee that he would even be able to get to the beast settlement and even if he did, Ryu couldn’t possibly know how long it would take him. Anne was the only one who would be able to find him, thanks to the amarok, but despite the fact that she would be able to ride the amarok all the way, if she hadn’t come when he was in a comma, why would she come for him now?
Ryu was careful enough to bury his thrash, everything except for the top half of the crabs shells and the small mana crystals.
The source of this c𝓸ntent is fr(e)𝒆webnovel