"Craft!"
[Torch +1, Vine -1, Wood -1, Resin -1]
Immediately.
A torch appeared in the warehouse.
Ethan was a bit surprised to find that not everything needed to be made at the crafting table. He instantly wondered, "Does that mean I can also make weapons on the spot here?"
But the answer disappointed him. Items that required more complicated processes still needed to be made at the workbench.
Ethan directly took out the torch and lit it with a flint.
Sure enough, the surrounding mist immediately retreated about three meters, as if it had encountered its natural enemy.
Ethan's field of view finally cleared up a bit.
Only then did he see, right in front of him was a whole patch of poisonous brambles.
But all of these brambles were branches growing from a single main trunk.
Before, Ethan had only chopped off some of its smaller branches and had already gotten 13 units of Poisonous Bramble.
"If I chop down the whole main trunk, wouldn't that mean..."
He let out a sly chuckle.
Then swung the rusty metal axe in his hand and hacked at the poisonous bramble.
[Poisonous Bramble: Durability 98/99]
"Damn!"
"This bramble is that tough?"
Luckily, his weapon was a metal axe.
If he had been using a simple stone axe to chop trees, with this thing's durability, it probably wouldn't even make a dent.
After swinging the axe ninety-nine times, the poisonous bramble finally collapsed with a thud.
[Poisonous Bramble +187]
'Quite a harvest.'
Just by using a torch, he'd managed to get 200 Poisonous Brambles.
After collecting them, Ethan decided not to go any deeper. Although the prompt said there were some berries up ahead, he still decided to give up.
By the time Ethan had done all this, opening the treasure chest and chopping brambles, it had already taken almost an hour and a half.
Even if he followed the original path back, it would still take him nearly another hour.
Especially since, when crafting the torch, he'd noticed the weather forecast on the magic book.
[Time: 09:25. Only 01:15 left before the mist thickens. Showers arriving early, low air pressure will cause mist to gather quickly. Please return to your residence immediately to avoid acid rain injuries.]
He had to make it back within an hour and fifteen minutes. According to the forecast, the rain was coming.
"And that rain…"
"Is acid rain, and can cause wounds."
"Damn it!"
"This world... danger is everywhere."
Ethan held the torch and hurried in the direction of his home.
He had to make it out of the misty forest within an hour.
Otherwise, without any healing medicine, getting caught in acid rain would be a nightmare.
[Danger! 87 meters ahead, unpredictable threat detected. Please detour!]
[!!!]
Three red exclamation marks instantly flashed before Ethan's eyes.
That meant the danger ahead wasn't just unpredictabl. It was something that, at his current stage, he absolutely couldn't confront.
Ethan suddenly remembered that massive shadow he'd seen in the mist.
'Could it be that thing?'
The more he thought about it, the more nervous he became.
Ethan decided to take a detour.
Since even the system said it was an unpredictable crisis, he didn't have the guts to test it.
[South: Impassable rocky mountain range ahead. Nothing worthwhile there, don't waste your effort.]
The south didn't show any danger, so Ethan walked about a hundred meters that way before deciding to turn again.
But the moment he turned—
[Danger! 87 meters ahead, unpredictable threat detected. Please detour!]
The red exclamation mark didn't change.
And even the distance of 87 meters remained exactly the same.
That could only mean one thing, and it was something absolutely terrifying.
That thing's length…
Was more than a hundred meters, and probably even longer.
In that instant, Ethan's heart nearly leapt to his throat, "What kind of creature can stretch over a hundred meters long?"
"That is like a 33-story building!"
At the thought, Ethan swallowed hard.
He even stepped back several paces before continuing south again. This time, he walked for a full ten minutes before stopping.
But when he turned his head again, he froze completely.
[Danger! 87 meters ahead, unpredictable threat detected. Please detour!]
"Still 87 meters?"
"What the hell! Impossible!"
He'd already walked hundreds of steps. Even monsters from Ultraman didn't get that tall.
'Hundreds of meters in height, what a joke!'
'No… something isn't right.'
'I must have missed something.'
Ethan thought carefully, 'There has to be another reason. Maybe I am circling around something, so the system keeps showing the same warning.'
He opened the magic book to check again.
[Time: 09:45. Only 00:55 left before mist thickens. Showers arriving early, low air pressure will cause mist to gather quickly. Please return to your residence immediately to avoid acid rain injuries.]
Only 55 minutes left. And it would take him at least half an hour to get back home.
He had to find a way around.
Ethan scratched his head. He must have gotten lost in the forest. If only he had a compass.
[Upgrade Tree]
[Level 1 Workbench, List]
[Compass: Magnet 0/1, Glass 0/1, Resin 9/2 (Must be crafted at workbench)]
Not to mention he lacked materials, it also needed to be made at the workbench, Ethan couldn't do that right now.
No luck.
Watching the minutes tick away, Ethan grew anxious. He scanned through the items in his warehouse, hoping to find something useful.
And then…
His eyes landed on that smooth white egg.
That was, after all, something that came from a Silver Chest, it had to be worth something, right?
Maybe he could use it to test what was up ahead at 87 meters. If nothing else, he could just pretend he never picked it up.
Thinking that, Ethan immediately took out the [Unknown Egg].
Then bit his finger and smeared his blood across the smooth shell.
The strange shell absorbed his blood like a sponge, yet still remained clean and glossy white.
Crack!
Crack! Crack!
Right after Ethan's blood touched the egg, it began to crack rapidly with a crisp sound.
Then, from within the shell poked out a small, grey, fluffy head.
Its eyes weren't even open yet, but it opened its yellow beak and started munching on the broken eggshell pieces.
Crunch! Crunch!
"Munch! Munch!"
It seemed the shell was quite tasty, the little thing ate happily.
Ethan looked closely at the tiny creature inside the shell, "It is… a bird?"
[Baby Eagle: Expert in scouting and hunting. Feeding it can accelerate its growth.]
'An eagle?'
"Not bad, that actually matches what I currently need."
Except…
The eagle had just hatched, 'Surely it can't fly yet, right?'
Ethan looked at the little fledgling, which had already eaten half the eggshell, and felt a bit helpless.
But then, the fledgling began to change before his eyes.
After finishing the shell, Ethan saw it start growing larger. The soft fluff on its body began to shed, replaced by smooth white feathers sprouting one by one.
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