Chapter 649 Travelling Through The Forest
Taking a moment to rest up, Shiro tried her best to patch up her wounds but it was rather difficult considering her lack of tools and fabrics. The only outfit that she had right now was a potato sack that barely extended past her waist. Leaving her completely exposed should she jump.
In the end, Shiro decided to just give them a quick wash to make sure they're clean before searching for a few dry branches to make a fire to cook her dinner.
Spending the next hour or so to set everything up, Shiro sat down on a tree root and held the badly cut piece of meat over the fire with another branch.
While she was waiting for it to cook, she was thinking about her next steps.
'If my memory is correct, once I make my way through this forest, I should find myself in front of a small town. It's a gamble but I should be able to make my way through as long as I'm careful.' Shiro thought to herself.
Looking down at the cut on her thighs, which she wrapped up with her potato sack dress for now to stop the bleeding, Shiro sighed.
She'd have to go commando for a little while or else she'll probably die of blood loss. Even though it was shameful, it had to be done in the name of survival.
Once the meat was roasted, she started to eat it with renewed vigour. While it wasn't as tasty as the food that her mum and Yin made, it was much better than the watered down gruel that she had this morning.
While she was eating, she couldn't help but feel a little light headed from the blood loss but shook herself out of it.
'I can probably win another fight with a monster. After that, I'll be dead. Thankfully, I can use the bones of this monster to make some better weapons than the fruit knife.' She thought to herself.
For the rest of the day, Shiro focused on making a makeshift cloak with the monster's hide and a short sword with the femur.
Unfortunately, she wasn't able to sharpen it effectively so she had to spend much longer to make it into something that she could use. During this, she had accidently broken the tip so it had to be repurposed into a dagger.
With the experience of making a weapon from the femur, she was able to create the short sword effectively on the second attempt. With a bone dagger and short sword in hand, Shiro was a little more confident in killing whatever came at her next but her wounds still caused her some worry.
However, now that she had made a small cloak for now with the hide, she could cut up her potato sack dress and make a more efficient bandage.
Bandaging all of her wounds, after cleaning and cutting the potato dress sack carefully, Shiro started to prepare the tendon of the monster so that she could carry the meat to be used later. She didn't know when she'd hunt her next meal so she needed to be careful with what she left behind.
By the time that the sky started to turn orange with a hint of purple, Shiro had just finished making everything she needed right now and some shelter would be welcome.
Looking around her, she tried to look for a tree that was suitable for rest but the trees near the edge were all rather short in height so she'll need to venture deeper in order to find a decent place for rest.
As her wounds were still quite fresh, Shiro had to be careful so as to not make them worse. Looking for a large branch that she could use as a crutch, she then quickly filled up the bone cups up with water.
She had made these by scooping out the bone marrow and used some of the tendons and hide to act as a cap so that the water didn't escape.
Filling around 15 cups, which she hung around her body with some left over tendons, Shiro started to make her way through the forest.
After walking for an hour or so, she found a decent tree and decided to use it for now. Trying her best to climb up, she caused the wound on her thigh to reopen which caused her to flinch but she pushed herself up so that she could make it so that it was worth it.
Sitting down on the branch, she grabbed one of her bone cups and drank all of the contents.
Despite her trying to wash them out as best she could, the after taste was still horrendous but it'll do for now.
Tomorrow, she was going to climb to the very top and see how far this forest stretched out for. Hopefully, it shouldn't take her too long to escape.
Looking up at the sky, Shiro sighed and closed her eyes.
'One hour has passed outside. I wonder how the others are doing.' Shiro thought to herself and slowly fell asleep.
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For the next few days, Shiro tried to avoid combat if she could since the monsters she saw were rather large in size, as in they completely dwarfed her and should she even try to hunt them, she'd be signing her own death warrant.
During this time, her wounds had mostly been closed up and she had removed the bandages which stuck to her wound due to the dried blood but a few careful rinses and she was able to remove them without reopening her wound too much.
Following along the stream, her food was running out despite her rations but the end was near. She had constantly made sure to get a general feel of the area and knew that the town was only a day or two away.
There were a few small animals that tried to run away from her but were turned into a few short snacks. They weren't the most appetising but they were enough.
With only a little more to go till the town, Shiro gave herself another quick wash in the stream while making sure to clean her wounds and not soak them in water for too long.
Looking at her reflection, Shiro couldn't help but shake her head at how much weight she had lost which was surprising as she was already malnourished in the forgotten realm. It was a surprise that she could even hunt any beasts down in her current state.
'I wonder if there's a place like the orphanage in the town where I can rest for free. If not, I'll have to go rest on some body's roof or something.' Shiro thought to herself.
As she had no money on hand, she couldn't buy anything and that included transport. Meaning, she'll need to trouble some poor folk for some money which may or may not include stealing.
Shaking her head, Shiro wrapped the hide cloak around her body once more and started to make her way out of the forest.
While she was walking out, she couldn't help but hear some cries in the distance followed up by a monstrous roar.
Raising her eyebrows, she decided to go and have a look at what was happening. Who knows, she might be able to get someone's favour if they were in danger.
Making her way over as quietly as possible, she saw a father and son talking to each other while a monster growled at them in wariness. The monster was currently trapped in some nets and had wooden spears sticking out of his body.
Looking at the monster, Shiro could see that it was similar to the one she had killed the moment she entered the forest, only this one was much bigger and the spikes on his back were flickering with hints of electricity.
Before she could say anything, an arrow was shot towards her as she quickly stepped out the way and grabbed the arrow out the air.
"What are you doing!" The father howled as the boy flinched.
"But I sensed something was there and I thought it was another monster." The boy replied in slight fear. The bow quivered in his hands as the father quickly ran over to Shiro who had just caught the arrow.
"I'm sorry, are you ok? My son is on edge after helping me hunt the Terca." The father apologised while making sure that she wasn't harmed. Seeing her state, he couldn't help but wonder what had happened to her as she was wearing some beast hide cloak and walked around in her bare foot.
Despite not being able to see her body, he could tell that she was malnourished.
"I'm ok. Is the town nearby?" Shiro asked while giving the arrow to the father. He was a muscular man with short brown hair and a rather impressive beard. He wore simple clothing that stretched due to his muscles.
"Ah yes. If you travel down the stream for another hour and a half, you'll reach the town." The man replied as Shiro nodded her head.
Walking past the monster, Shiro heard him growl at her and glared at him with killing intent. This caused the monster to cower with fear as whimpers could be heard.
Leaving the duo with their hunt, Shiro made her way to the town.