Level Eater

Chapter 14: Life in this World, and Local Sourcing

"Tatsuro! Look over there!" (Ai)

The two have been walking for three hours after the Dispel magic test.

While trying to hide the excitement in her voice, Ai started pulling on Tatsuro's sleeves. In response, the boy looked towards where she was pointing at with curiosity plastered on his face. What he saw was a squirrel-like animal atop a branch of a giant tree, scratching and nibbling at a fruit in its hands.

"So there's those kinds of animals in this forest too That's a bit of a surprise." (Tatsuro)

"Right? I feel like I'm being healed just by watching it. Do you think we can hold it for a bit?" (Ai)

"We don't have that much of a leeway in regards to both time and energy. Please get back." (Tatsuro)

"I haven't even touched it yet. But that's true too We don't even know if our food can last until tomorrow. Too bad, li'l squirrel." (Ai)

"That thing survived in this world where the weak are food for the strong. You should learn a bit from it." (Tatsuro)

"That's true It might think we're threatening it too. Let's just leave it alone." (Ai)

"Agreed." (Tatsuro)

Without wasting any more time, they left the squirrel and were about to continue their journey when a black bird, about 50 cm in wingspan, suddenly swooped in on the squirrel.

"Ah" (Tatsuro)

"Look out!" (Ai)

Surprised at the scene, they could only let out a shout. In their eyes, the squirrel was a sitting duck for the bird. Just as the bird was about to catch the squirrel, a snake suddenly charged out of the other side of the branch and bit into the bird. Struggling to no avail, the bird could do nothing but watch as the snake took its life.

As if oblivious to the entire event, the squirrel continued munching on its fruit. After finishing its fruit, it jumped onto the snake like a mount and went back into the forest.

""""

The two watched on dumbfounded.

"W-what just h-happened?" (Ai)

"I-isn't it a symbiotic relationship? The squirrel acts as a bait for the snake to lure in its prey. In exchange, the snake protects the squirrel from the actual danger?" (Tatsuro)

"Plus an emergency food," is what he thought but, as it might be a pure symbiosis for all he knows, Tatsuro stopped his words right there.

"A-ah Symbiosis. There are animals like that on Earth too, right? Like with the fish and the sea anemone?" (Ai)

"Is it the anemonefish?" (Tatsuro)

"Yeah, that! The bear-san." (Ai)

"Calling it a bear is" (Tatsuro)

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For a brief moment, Tatsuro imagined a bear and an anemonefish in a comedy show but he quickly chased them out of his mind.

"Squirly's gone so we should get going too." (Ai)

"Squirly? That squirrel-like thing?" (Tatsuro)

"Yeah, calling it a squirrel-like thing all the time sounds too bad." (Ai)

"I see." (Tatsuro)

Squirly with that, Ai's naming sense was firmly etched in his mind. If they ever had kids in the future, he would be the one to name them.

Tatsuro vowed with all of his heart.

Four more hours passed. The sun was blazing right in the middle of the sky and yet, the two were still walking.

"We're halfway through the forest, right?" (Ai)

"Wait a bit, I'm gonna check Yeah, we're halfway through." (Tatsuro)

"Good to hear." (Ai)

As they had already eaten a rice ball this morning, they limited themselves to the assorted sweets for the moment. Seeing the situation that happened in the morning, they also tried to reduce their food consumption in any way possible. Unknowingly, their eyes were drawn towards the fishes swimming merrily in the river.

"Hey, can we really not eat those?" (Ai)

"I know how you feel but I don't know if those fishes are edible for us Wait If it's now, then maybe" (Tatsuro)

"You gonna use Dispel magic?" (Ai)

"Well, it should be able to assess if they're edible or not. I'm not sure if I can confirm for sure, but I should be able to ascertain their nutritional value." (Tatsuro)

Tatsuro remembered the first time he used Dispel magic. The sheer amount of information flowing into his head overwhelmed him.

However, this time, he was confident that he would be able to restrict the information flowing into his head.

"Then, I'll go catch one now! If it's with my current stats, even if I'm barehanded, I should be able to land one no, ten!" (Ai)

"No, I'll let you do the catching, but I'll be making something to help you out with that." (Tatsuro)

"Earth magic again?" (Ai)

"Yeah, we don't know if they can cut you with their fins or even bite you." (Tatsuro)

Without further ado, they formulated their catch-the-fish plan.

First, Tatsuro gathered stones at his feet without any consideration and strengthened them with Earth and Light magic. He had his Earth mana, along with alpha rays, permeate the pebbles one by one. In his mind, he pictured him radiating the magic onto the pebbles. The stones, as if turning into liquid, lost their original shape and took on the form that's pictured in Tatsuro's mind.

"Wow, those stones look like slimes now!" (Ai)

"I leveled up [Earth Magic] and with a boost from [Light Magic], I can do these kinds of things now." (Tatsuro)

After a few minutes of transfiguration, the item in front of them was a pole-like item about 30cm in length with a mesh made of stone at the tip of it. It was similar to the one used in your standard goldfish-catching game. The only difference was that the mesh inside the handle had a concave shape to help make catching fish easier.

"A net made out of stone, huh? So you can make things with details as good as this now too" (Ai)

"Try to scoop one out with this, then." (Tatsuro)

Tatsuro handed the stone net over to Ai. Carefully selecting some stones this time, he used his magic again to create a stone basin.

"And, place them here." (Tatsuro)

"OKAY!" (Ai)

Ai held the stone net and stared into the river. Taking the basin filled with Water Magic, she placed it beside her and yelped "Ha!" as she dipped the net into the water. Immediately after, she caught a fish with the net and released it into the basin.

"You're the first." (Ai)

Curling her lips into a smile that resembles a hunter's, she scooped up 5 more fish in the blink of an eye.

"Then, from here on is my job." (Tatsuro)

Tatsuro took a look in the basin and found 3 different kinds of fish inside. While he was examining them, Ai suddenly clung to his back and didn't want to let go. Though he felt heavy with the extra weight on him, the soft texture he felt on his back immediately drowned his thoughts out. As such, he got to work and activated Dispel Magic.

The first one he checked was the fish that looked to be the most dangerous of the bunch.

The fish was blue with a light-yellow polka dot pattern. Its dorsal fin looked like a bone that had been sharpened to a point and when he had a proper look at its mouth, it was lined with rows of tiny sharp teeth.

Casting his magic into the water, he let it flow towards that particular fish. Restricting the range of information, he wanted to learn whether the fish was edible or not and got the answer he wanted. It was not edible: the bony tip of the dorsal fin is poisonous; the same goes for the blood; even its bite is venomous.

The next he checked was a fish closely resembling a Japanese ayu fish. He expected this one to be edible, but the answer he got was a big NO. He found an organ that was like a big sac of poison inside its body. Anything besides that is edible, but without more information, he couldn't find the courage to separate the poisonous and non-poisonous parts.

If you were to ask what the last fish looked like, Tatsuro would describe it as something close to a trout. However, the river was already a paradise for poisonous fish in his mind so he had little hope of this fish being edible. But, in contrast to his expectations, it was actually safe to eat. He could not find any kind of poison in it.

They had finally found a food supply.

"Ai, this guy and this guy, throw them away. We can't eat them." (Tatsuro)

"Yes. And a throw, and a throw." (Ai)

Ungluing herself from Tatsuro for a bit, Ai took the stone net again and threw four fishes back into the river. Looking at the remaining two fish in the basin, Tatsuro had an idea and went to gather more stones. After gathering enough stones, he made a cutting board, a knife, two sets of chopsticks, a tray, and a grill with a stone net on a tripod base similar to those used in science experiments.

"Wow we have a lot of stuff with us now." (Ai)

"Not really They're just low-class imitations. For example, with this stone chopping board, I feel like a knife made of the same material will break pretty quickly." (Tatsuro)

"Oh Then, will you be chopping too?" (Ai)

"Ah, yeah. I'll do that too. I know when it'll break so I can use just enough strength to make sure it doesn't." (Tatsuro)

"Y-yeah" (Ai)

Tatsuro drained the water out from the basin. Grabbing one fish, he placed it onto the chopping board. Carefully inserting the knife under the gills, he put in just enough force to not break the tip of the blade. However, when it came to cutting the fish bones, he miscalculated his force and chipped part of the tip.

After a quick repair, he continued to cut it from the base of the neck down to the stomach. As if he was tracing a pattern, he continued the cut to the tail. He split the fish wide open and threw away its organs and other parts of the stomach. Once that's done, he peeled off the scales before placing the fish back on the tray.

He did the same to the second fish. Although the cut was a bit sloppy this time, he placed it together with the other fish on the tray.

"Tatsuro Do you have experience with this kind of thing?" (Ai)

"Nope. I did this for the first time today." (Tatsuro)

"You didn't even flinch at the sight of the fishes' internal organs so I thought you might be used to it" (Ai)

"No When I was grossed out, I just thought of nothing and continued what I'm doing. I think the [Focus] skill helped me out this time as well." (Tatsuro)

"Eh? I knew it. I should start practicing the [Focus] skill too." (Ai)

"Well, it might come when you need it most for all we know." (Tatsuro)

After saying that, Tatsuro created a sphere of water and threw a few cuts of the fish inside it.

"What are you doing?" (Ai)

"I thought I'd clean them before we cook them." (Tatsuro)

"And that's supposed to make them clean?" (Ai)

"Hmm Just watch me." (Tatsuro)

With a daring smile, Tatsuro made the water sphere spin gently. To not break the shape of the cuts, he cleaned them with utmost delicacy. Once it was over, he placed them all on the grill.

"Next, I will be cooking the dish." (Tatsuro)

"It's time for Fire Magic, isn't it?" (Ai)

"Yeah!" (Tatsuro)

Tatsuro placed his hand below the tripod. While paying attention to the amount of mana he used, he ignited a fire. Cooking the fish carefully, Ai used her stone chopsticks to flip them over once the side facing down was cooked. When the other side of the fish was fully cooked as well, the two lined up while holding onto their chopsticks.

"I'll say this now but, we didn't have any seasonings so I think it'll taste bland." (Tatsuro)

"That's fine. As long as we can eat them, then it doesn't matter if it tastes a little bad. Then" (Ai)

""Thank you for the meal.""

Clasping their hands together and saying the words, they reached out for the fish with their chopsticks and took a bite.

"Hmm It's a bit bland like you said but it doesn't taste bad at all." (Ai)

"Yeah. If it's like this, then it's fine." (Tatsuro)

Finishing that exchange, they continued to finish their food as well.

"Fuuu It's good that we found a way to replenish our food stocks" (Ai)

"Yeah. Even if it's such a simple thing, it still keeps the fire lit inside. With this, the next day looks like it wouldn't be a problem." (Tatsuro)

"Yeah, let's keep up the good work on the last day of the march too!" (Ai)

"Roger that!" (Tatsuro)