Chương 19: It Stays Down

Okay, let's do this. Mark walked back into the forest towards his failed trap. When he got back to his pit, he looked down into it. Then over to where his log from the deadfall sat next to the tree. Both had hurt him. Just not enough on its own. Mark decided to combine the two traps. He first looked at the placement of his pit trap. If he could hit it hard from the side, it would push it deep into the pit. The first task was to dig deeper and wider. Make it so that it could not climb back out.

Mark pulled out his shovel and started digging deeper. As he dug, he separated out the clay from the normal dirt. He had some ideas of things to make with it. As he added a foot of depth to the pit, he realized he had a problem. The deeper he got, the harder it would be for him to get out. As he crawled out, he also made the side collapse. When he was finally back on the ground, he realized he needed to build something to climb up and down from inside the trap.

He also needed something to keep the walls from collapsing. He first found two sturdy long staves and put them on the ground side by side. Then he lashed crossbars to it. He made sure to get wood that was strong enough to hold his weight. He made some last adjustments and received a system message. [New Craft Discovered: Crude Wood Ladder] Mark gathered more wood. He needed to build a containment wall on the sides of the pit. He put his ladder into the pit and climbed down. That was much better.

Over the next hour he continued to dig deeper and build a containment wall. When the pit was twice as deep, he finally climbed out using his ladder and took a look down into it. He finally decided that if he could get it into the pit, it was not getting back out. Mark then started to gather thicker and longer staves for the pit. He made sure they were thicker at the base, and he used his axe to make sure the end sticking up was as sharp as he could make it.

He also drove them deeper into the bottom of the pit so they would not fall over this time. With the pit finally finished, he turned to look at the log he had used in his deadfall trap. It was okay, but he wanted a little bigger this time. He went into the forest and found one that was a little larger. Not too big or his ropes would not hold it. But it was stronger than the previous one and would put more weight behind the hit. He then put up his new deadfall trap and looked at it.

It was good, but he needed another improvement. Pulling out his axe, he sharpened the end that would hit the beast. If the weight alone was not enough, this should at least put a hole in its side. Mark then covered his pit trap, making sure that it was secure. Not so thick that it would not fall, though, but not so thin it fell on its own. He then tested the deadfall a few times to ensure it had the right speed, height, and angle. Then at last he set up the tripwire.

He also tested that before connecting it to the deadfall. The last thing Mark did was clean up around the area. Mark stepped back and looked at it one last time, and then he received a system message. [New Craft Discovered: Deadfall Pit Trap] Deadfall Pit Trap Tier: Primitive Type: Composite Trap Combines: • Pit Trap • Deadfall Mechanism Effect: • Knocks target down • Restricts movement • Increased lethality ◈ ◈ ◈ Oh, that was cool. He was starting to understand more.

The more effort he put into something, the more the system recognized it. Mark was excited about his trap. He could not bring himself to do anything but wait for the beast. He found a spot a few trees back and settled in to wait. After two hours he was getting discouraged when he finally heard it. The bushes started to rustle; the scrape of the hooves could be heard. It was finally coming. Mark watched as it slowly approached. It stopped just two steps before the trip wire. Oh no, it had wised up about this spot.

Maybe he should have built it somewhere else. Then it took one tentative step forward and stopped again. The anticipation was killing him. Then it started to lift its hoof, and then it all started at once. Unauthorized usage: this tale is on Amazon without the author's consent. Report any sightings. The deadfall swung down and slammed into it hard. Mark could see that the tip was rammed into its side. Then it cried out. It then flipped over and into the pit. The ground shook when it hit.

Mark jumped up and ran to the pit. Looking inside, he could see it was still alive. Three spears stuck through its side and out the other. Without thinking, he pulled out his bow and started shooting. It was not going to get away this time. Mark's chest was pounding. He was about to shoot his sixth arrow when the system message appeared.

[Rootback — Level 4] +130 XP Loot Acquired: • Rootback Meat (x7) • Thick Hide (x2) • Heavy Bone (x3) • Barkhide Plate (x1) • Tusk Fragment (x1) ◈ ◈ ◈ System messages flooded his vision. [Major Threat Eliminated] [Zone Status Updated] Control Level: 68% Status: Established Control ◈ ◈ ◈ [New System Unlocked] Territory Map ◈ ◈ ◈ [Level Up] Character: Mark Level: 4 XP: 15 / 200 Stat Points: +5 Skill Selection Available ◈ ◈ ◈ The forest was now silent. Even the wind seemed to hold its breath.

All of the background noise vanished. Like a tension on the forest had been removed. Mark slowly put down his bow and looked into the pit. It lay motionless in the pit. He fell to the ground panting. The rush slowly faded. The background noises slowly returned. The rushing of blood in his head eased. That was a lot. He had gained a level, territory, and control. Mark just sat there looking at the rootback. It was finally over. He finally looked at the system messages.

A level up, he had more stat points and choices to make, skill selection. That was new. He looked over the zone status message. Established control. This was his now, but what did that mean? A new system unlocked, a map that would help a lot. Mark then focused on the UI and brought up the new map feature.

[Territory Map] Zone: Unnamed Forest Sector Status: Established Control Control Level: 68% Known Locations: • Camp (Center) • Stream (West Boundary) • Clay Pit (Resource Site) • Trap Lines (Primary: West) Points of Interest: [?] Dense Grove (Northeast) [?] Rocky Rise (Northwest) [?] Burrow Cluster (South) Exploration Status: West: Mapped (Stream Boundary) North: Partially Mapped South: Lightly Mapped East: Unmapped Zone Boundary: Defined (West) Unstable (North / South / East) Notes: Control reveals terrain and resources. Unmapped regions may contain threats. Infrastructure improves control stability. ◈ ◈ ◈ Mark looked over the map. He could see the places he had been were easy to see. The places he had not traveled or traveled only lightly were hazy.

Just symbols and words indicating general areas. His traps were all marked out. Where he was standing was the label for the clay pit. Mark looked into the sky; the sun was setting. It had been a long day. He had stats and skills to pick, but that would have to wait. He needed to get back to camp before it was dark. Mark looted his kill. Looking into the pit at the mess he had left behind. He would have to come back later to clean this up. As he walked toward camp, he looked around.

This was his now, well, okay, 68% his. There was more out there. Now he had to go discover it.