Chapter 15 Small Accomplishments
After the fight was over, Kyle searched for the boar tusk short sword that he had let go off and picked it up before beginning to work on the moose carcass.
Using the dagger, he carved out the moose\'s organs as neatly as he could.
The sight of blood and innards caused him to grimace and he almost retched before focussing on separating large pieces of the moose\'s hide from the tender meat.
It was not difficult to imagine how great the meat would taste, and he could barely focus on cutting out chunks of meat while collecting as much hide as possible.
Only 10 minutes had passed, when Kyle got up from the ground after having reduced the carcass to a pile of bones with some meat sticking to it unevenly.
There was still more than three fourth of it left, but his backpack was already crammed with meat, the folded hide, and vines.
To make more space, he threw the stones out and rearranged the items inside the small backpack, but it was just too small to store more items.
Using some force, he somehow managed to cram his dagger into the small backpack, before picking up the moose\'s antlers which he had forcibly pulled out of its head.
They were heavy and Kyle was not sure what he could do with them. However, they were as sturdy as the boar tusks and had a much wider surface area.
"Maybe I can turn them into a shield to defend and attack at the same time?"
This was a silly thought because the antlers were too heavy for him to even move freely with right now.
Despite that, Kyle was reluctant to leave the antlers behind as he knew that he could make good use of them later, even if he couldn\'t think of anything at the moment.
Thus, with his hands and backpack full, he left the dead and half dissected moose before other beasts would find and ambush him.
Currently, his physique might have reached the standards of an ordinary Yadras adult, but he had yet to reach the bare minimum that would allow him to enter the Fortification stage!
As of now, his body was like a bottomless pit that greedily absorbed and merged with the soul force expelled by his Spirit Soul.
Kyle assumed that it would take him another month until his entire body would have merged with the soul force, allowing him to enter the Fortification stage.
This was mainly because the Emerald fox\'s current energy absorption and the conversion rate were too low.
Thus, it was sufficient to say that nurturing his Spirit Soul might be the best path for him to take right now!
Kyle tiptoed away, silently leaving the crime scene, as his Spirit Soul devoured the disintegrated soul.
While hungrily consuming the soul particles, the Emerald fox let out a yelp, and Kyle, who paid attention to every detail, noticed the vast difference between the nutrition received by a Soul at the Low Fortification stage and that provided by his Nurture ability!
\'I should focus on hunting beasts and accumulate more soul force. Otherwise, I might waste too much time and never break into the Fortification stage!\'
Nurturing, and allowing his Spirit Soul to become fully matured were the prerequisites to make this happen.
This was because every Spirit Soul\'s characteristics were not fully developed in the adolescent phase. It took time, effort and high-quality nutrition to help a Spirit Soul mature.
One simply couldn\'t compare a child with a fully grown adult, after all..
A child would be unable to do most of the tasks, while the adult would be much better at every task in comparison!
With that in mind, Kyle decided that he would have to hunt beasts, devour their souls and merge with the soul force procured by his Spirit Soul after it absorbed the surrounding energy.
Unfortunately, this was easier said than done.
Kyle was currently struggling to move around with the heavy antlers in one hand, his jam-packed backpack that was thrown over his back, and the boar tusk sword in his other hand.
More than an hour passed before Kyle finally returned to one of the hideouts he had scouted some time ago.
It was a small, abandoned burrow below one of the numerous gigantic trees scattered all over the Sadorla forest in the thousands.
Squeezing himself through the narrow opening of the burrow, he tried crawling inside on all fours.
The real struggle, however, was carrying the antlers and heavily crammed backpack with him.
Fortunately, it was not impossible and after fifteen minutes he found himself inside the burrow.
It was not even dark because faint rays of sunlight peeked through the entrance of the burrow, providing him with a source of light to begin his next task.
Thus, Kyle was able to carefully take out the hide and veins from his backpack without issues.
Rummaging through his small treasure to find what he wanted was more difficult than he thought. Thus, he emptied his backpack to spot the sand wolf\'s large fangs, which he had turned into a small knife and tiny fangs that had become his needles to sew something.
Before starting to work, he ate a few chunks of meat before arranging the required tools to sew his first set of clothes neatly in a row on the ground.
\'To think that I will have to sew clothes with a small wolf fang, veins, and moose hide…\'
Kyle smiled lightly as he wiped his mouth with the back of his hand.
He didn\'t need to sew proper clothes, and all he aimed to do was to make something that would hide his lower body.
If he were to walk naked in a small village, he might be deemed as someone who had lost his sanity.
Initially, Kyle wanted to make a whole set of clothes, but he decided against it once he noticed how difficult it was to sew them.
Compared to the crudely made backpack, the shorts he had sewed out of the Sra moose\'s hide were difficult to produce, given his lack of expertise and dull tools.
However, contrary to his expectations, Kyle felt that they were quite comfortable to wear!
This astonished him and he couldn\'t help but try moving around while wearing them inside the burrow that was larger than he first thought.
After testing if his movements were being obstructed, Kyle felt proud of himself.
\'Maybe my hands are blessed and I have the talent to become a grand manufacturer...\'
He was just trying to amuse himself, as he missed talking to other people.
After his reincarnation, he had found nobody to talk to so far.
It was completely different compared to his past life, where he had been a scholar doing his research while teaching his students.
\'I should start searching for a village and speak to the villagers there!\'
Suddenly, a thought crossed his mind as he mumbled,
"Is the universal language from my past life even used here…?"
If the universal language was not used, Kyle would have to face and overcome a language barrier. This would be extremely annoying and require lots of time.
Though, he had always been a good student and quick to learn something new so he didn\'t have to worry a lot.
However, there was a difference between trying to communicate in a broken language and having no other choice but to learn a new language that required time and effort!
Even if that would be bothersome, Kyle knew that he had to enter a village.
Furthermore, he doubted that the reincarnations from the old universe must have taught a new language to the others.
As such, his hopes were high!
Once Kyle had sewed the short pants, he made another backpack with the remaining hide.
However this time, he made a large one in which he could store the antlers!
Other than that, Kyle had created a small hole on the side of his trousers that allowed him to sheath the boar tusk sword, turning it into his temporary scabbard.
It was far from perfect and slightly uncomfortable, but Kyle felt that his small accomplishments were worth being proud of!