The Georift Clan

Marcus had slept peacefully in the cave he'd spotted yesterday. To make it more comfortable, he made a mattress of tall grass to sleep on. It was really just a pile of grass and by the morning it had been reduced to a carpet, spread out accross the ground from his fidgeting.

For dinner last night, Marcus had ate an apple plus another piece of meat from the shop. He now only had thirty four survival coins though so it was time to start making his own food.

"System shop." Marcus found that he didn't have to open the menu first and could just open up the shop. He scrolled down until he came across the pea plant seed packets. Each packet had ten seeds and was worth ten coins each.

Marcus planned on maximising his chances of reaping a large enough crop to survive the winter so he bought three packets.

This left him with four survival coins so there was no going back on the plan now. He'd have to fully devote himself to growing them. Hopefully he'd complete the agriculture quest once he'd harvested them too.

Climbing down from the ledge in front of the cave entrance, Marcus found the parachute drop and untied the seed packets. Up until now, he had been storing the string and cloth from the parachutes. They would definitely come in useful later. There was instructions written on the back of the packets which Marcus studied vigorously:

How to cultivate basic pea plant - Find a place with lots of sun and dig a 3cm deep trench. Space the seeds roughly 10cm apart and cover with compost and soil. Stick a straight stick next to every seedling for them to climb and water well. They can take about 12 weeks to grow before harvesting.

Marcus knew that would be some time in Autumn so it was a good time to start now. He followed the instructions to the letter and used a rock to dig the shallow trench. All together, he planted three rows with ten seeds in each column.

He watered them with his flask and made journeys back and forth from the river to do so. There were plenty of sticks by the forest for the peas to climb so in no time at all, Marcus had set up his pea farm.

After all that hard work, Marcus needed something more hearty than what he'd been eating this past week. So he went over to the river to catch a fish. Stripping down once more and gently tip-toeing into the cold waters, Marcus' first tactic was to wait patiently and grab at the first sign of movement.

This method wasn't very successful. It would take practice and Marcus didn't have the time. Using a sharp stick didn't help that much either so he decided to consult the handbook.

Chapter twenty two - Fishing:

Pole/rod method:

You can craft a fishing rod with string, a strong stick and a hook. Hooks can be carved from wood or bone and if you can wrap the string around a makeshift reel, you can quickly extract your catch. Alternatively, you can just fish with string and a hook. Wrap the string around your hand and reel it in with your free hand.

There were designs for hooks, rods and reels but most models were too complex. The string and hook seemed easy to get but Marcus wanted to explore other options first.

There was a description of spear fishing that Marcus had attempted earlier but he'd already failed at that until finally the third method offered a better solution: A fish trap.

Marcus immediately began constructing the the trap in a semi-shallow zone with as many sticks and rocks he could jam into place. The idea was to create a funnel that would confuse the fish so they couldn't swim back out.

They would then remain in the trap until collected later. The design was simple but it could also not work at all. What if it took a week for anything to even wonder in?

Just in case, Marcus used his knife to sharpen a longer, more sturdy stick into a spear. This actually improved his ability a lot and as it turns out his slightly higher agility stat made him a natural. Inexperienced... but still a natural and after going at it for an hour with nothing better to do, Marcus caught one.

However, there was nothing worth eating in the fish trap. Now Marcus decided to inspect the fish using the system to find out more about it. He tapped a slippery scale and an information panel came up.

'Brown trout - Catch weighs 35lb and is 80cm long. The species ranges from 3 to 60 pounds and 40 to 140cm. Appearance is brown and speckled with a long face. Have been farmed vigorously and eventually started to cause problems due to the large increase in population. They normally spawn in fresh water and return to the sea. Can be gutted and eaten.'

That decided it. This was okay to eat. He felt glad that he'd caught this fish since it was apparently really common so fishing here wouldn't endanger any species.

Marcus went around getting the necessary materials to start a fire including birch bark shavings, small twigs from a pine tree, dead, dry gorse for kindling and finally some larger sticks for firewood that he snapped up into chunks by propping them up and stamping on them as hard as he could. Marcus made more of an effort to find the best wood so he could practice using the firesteel.

The birch shaving tinder went up in only a few minutes but it took Marcus a second attempt to properly start the fire as he didn't expect to get it so quickly the first time.

He made sure not to suffocate it too much and slowly built up the pyramid/tee-pee shape. It was comforting to sit by a perfectly lit fire.

The part where all you had to do was wait for it to die down to hot coals allowed Marcus time just to wonder and poke the fire with a stick now and again, sifting through his thoughts peacefully.

Although it was warm during the summer, the heat from the fire was still a comfort. Marcus could shift his position whenever one side of him got too hot as well. Not wanting to waste all the time waiting, Marcus found a section on gutting fish in the handbook.

He needed it to distract him after receiving a flashback of camping with his family. He didn't feel sad but tears had trickled down his face. This broken identity of his was coming together and it was unnerving.

Now Marcus was focussed on gutting. He made sure to follow the directions with precision as he sliced along the side, shearing away scales. It was his job to then remove any bones and unwanted organs but not everything.

Marcus managed to convince himself to be adventurous when considering how hungry he was and ate one of the eye's raw like the book said. It was extra salty but otherwise not too bad so he ate the other.

Trying a new method of cooking, Marcus decided to turn it over a spit which he speared through the poor things mouth. It was already dead of course as Marcus had remembered to whack it against a hard rock but the action seemed like a violation.

He'd get used to it. 'I can't be this silly over the small things. What will I do if the first REAL person I meet ends up being a murderous psychopath...' The thought wasn't a possibility he wished to consider.

Soon the aroma radiating from the fish was too much and Marcus dug in greedily. The fishy flesh was soft beyond belief. It was full of mineral ions and oils he'd certainly been lacking for a while.

Hundreds of years in fact. Marcus chuckled positively. If a child had been sent here, were they now old enough to drink? It was a peculiar idea but then again laws didn't really exist in this world either.

Marcus tipped the dregs of his water down his throat to compensate for the salty fish taste. There had to be another way to get water other than what the handbook mentioned.

Looking up at the sky, Marcus realised his lunch had become his dinner as he'd spent all day trying to catch the fish. Still with no proper bed, he'd have to sleep on grass in the cave again...