Becoming a hunter

Waking up, Marcus felt energized for a reason he could not determine. It was his first time eating and drinking in Moraterra and his body was apparently grateful. His main task was to train as much as possible. He had an opportunity to get better with no one around, he was an introvert by nature. Chomping on the last good parts of the deer, he got to thinking on how to get stronger.

Just based on general RPG knowledge, he knew that power would be gained by those with a firm grasp of skills and abilities. Levels are a helpful foundation to power, but abilities and skills are what separate the boys from Men.

It only took 15 min to earn his first AP, while hanging from a thick line of omni silk and attaching other silk to the main line. He put the point into the endurance of the silk, and could feel the stress of the silk lessen. If the stress was like doing a plank, then he could do the plank for 1 min now, instead of 30 seconds. It took 20 more min to finish making a hammock. He did not get another AP but he definitely got better at handling the silk.

Getting his hunting knife and tying his boots , Marcus went into the woods for another training excursion.

After 30 min, Marcus did not see any deer but a pair of squirrels chasing after each other. The further he went the more animals he saw. Soon he was seeing tortoises with jagged, stone shells, and small, hummingbird-like birds flitting from tree to tree. It would've been a picturesque scene if not for pesky gray fox that was stalking him.

It tried to hide in the grass and behind a tree but the 3-inch protrusions along its back made it look dangerous. It was only as tall as a ruler, but its presence was hard to ignore.

Tensing up and getting his omni silk on hand, Marcus got ready to face the demon fox. The one thing he did not expect was that there was a second fox. The one hiding in the bushes was a completely different fox. After analyzing the situation, Marcus found that his best choice was to flee and kill them while they were chasing after him.

After briefly glancing at his assailants, Marcus took off running. After checking to see if they were chasing him, he set a two low lines of hunter silk to slice their legs or to maim them.

"Try these on for size" Marcus yelled to his tiny enemies.

With their nimble foot work and speed, they inadvertently bypassed both traps, bounding closer and closer to their target. Marcus, noticing their growing proximity, launched into a web swing in order to add some distance. After landing on a high branch, Marcus turned around to get a look at his prey. They were a couple steps away and soon reached the tree. Despite being amazing jumpers and having a running start, they could not reach him. After 15 more min of fruitless jumping they took off. Marcus decided to follow after them and potentially become the hunter and not the hunted.

Although their small figures were hard to follow, their spine spikes continued to give them away. Using the branches and omni silk, the forest became a jungle gym for swinging and high-lining from tree to tree. Although he continued to follow the two buggers, he was getting increasingly exhausted. Whatever reservoir of energy that correlated with his silk was about to run on empty. Luckily, the pair ate an entire family of mice with really long tails. Signaling their tiredness and intent to sleep.

After curling up together along with three other smaller foxes they settled into unconsciousness. After waiting five minutes, Marcos wrapped his left hand in omni silk and very slowly lowered himself above the family. With a hunter line between his right thumb and pinkie, he quickly dispatched the largest fox. Although he did it silently, with the family's proximity they woke up alert and scared. The mother lunged at him with malice. Dropping from the line, Marcus took out his knife and scratched at her face. The six inch blade did an amazing job of scarring its nose. She, however, scratched his legs and arms so hard that blood was exposed. It wasn't deep but paper cuts still hurt and can be annoying. Despite having a gory and bloody snout, the mama fox growled with an intensity that scared him, even with the upper-hand he had in the battle.

Lunging at him in a final stand, Marcus had to act fast. Using hunter silk between his hands and holding the line in front of himself, the fox's pounce was cut short, literally. The silk cut through the fox's mouth and jaw. The line only stopping at the bone, flesh and cartilage serving as no impediment to its surgical precision.

Two of the baby foxes ran away in fear, while one stayed and tried to attack him. Although he felt weird about possibly killing a scared baby fox, he filed those moral reservations under "it is what it is". Wrapping the two foxes in silk, he made his way back to the Edge. The Edge was just the edge of water closest to land, so to be cool he called it the Edge.

After putting the fox over the fire, Marcus noticed the glorious notifications in his peripheral vision.