Obviously, with his weaponless self and that low stats, it wouldn’t be wise to go outside the barrier nor would he be able to fight against a monster without risking all his health.
Even then, he was still worried for himself. Even bugs could be let in, and deadly non-awakened animals, too.
For water, he’d have to look for fruit. Fortunately, the barrier did cover a few trees, and a few plants were fruit-bearing. He already confirmed this by using the [Ingredient Scan] skill before.
Other than those, many other plants didn’t look familiar, but they looked like fruits, and it wasn’t like he didn’t receive a very useful appraisal skill.
At first, he was still worried that those fruits could be harmful to him. Sure, he had an assessment skill, but what if the data indicated was incomplete? Even if it was complete, would that really apply to him , a person not from here?
For example, what if something was poisonous to him, but not to others, would it register as poison at all?
For example, on Earth, chilli...was actually poison! Technically so. At least for bugs and other small herbivores. However, it was considered a delicacy for humans because that little ’poison’ was apparently stimulating to the taste buds.
Fortunately, Pang reassured him it wasn’t like that, so he moved on.
That said, how much could the barrier protect him from anyway? It specified ’hostile energy,’ so... if the enemy wasn’t hostile yet, would they be able to enter? How would that work?
Gurgleee
He looked at his poor, abbed, stomach.
He did not have the brainpower for this.
He wrapped his hand with leaves he knew to be harmless to grab these fruits. He could use the Scan skill earlier, but that would lead him to greens and other things that needed study and experimentation first. His most immediate source of sustenance would be fruits.
He got two varieties within the safety of the small barrier, one shrub and a portion of a tree (its trunk was outside the barrier, but several branches reached in).
He also reached out to another shrub beyond it. Interestingly (or not), he could just reach out to the barrier to get stuff from there. He was hungry, and considering there were no monsters bumping the barrier, it was possible it was safe to reach out at this time.
After testing things with a loose branch and shaking it around, he reached out, and fortunately, nothing bloodthirsty came out, and he managed to keep his hands.
One of the berries was a cluster of tiny yellow spheres he recognized as the Sunberry shrub, according to the Scan. As far as he knew, the berries were okay and even had a mild recovery effect.
In his mind, there was a spectrum of ’ok to eat’, ’non-poisonous in scan, but for further checking’, and just ’nope’.
Considering this one was edible with healing effects, it was most likely in the first strata.
Anyway, Finn grabbed a handful and ate every ripe berry, temporarily sating his hunger and thirst.
It had a taste of sweeter strawberry but the texture of a blueberry, and the zest felt like it exploded in his mouth.
This would be great with a few dishes—
Focus
Having little choice, he just took every berry to eat now or for later (he could process it for later). He also took some of its leaves for wrapping around future wounds, to take advantage of its minor healing effects, which could theoretically be multiplied inside the inn.This content belongs to n͟o͟v͟e͟l͟f͟i͟r͟e͟.net
However, he really was curious about the other potential edibles, too. Using a few safe leaves, he grabbed the other type of fruit found a couple of meters away.
It was from a tree about two meters high, and there was sparse peach-colored fruit. It was slightly oblong in shape, unlike the spherical pear, and it also had smooth, glossy skin, without the fuzz.
It was seducing him to take a bite—but he didn’t.
He really doubted that all of these were completely edible. Considering there were monsters out there, the forest itself would not be so kind.
Anyway, he would never eat random things. He might have lost his parents young, but they taught him enough common sense not to eat random things.
[Used! Ingredient Scan]
[Brightsweet Pear: Fruit with an elongated hourglass shape. It has smooth yellow-red skin and a juicy crimson core. The meat of the fruit is edible, filling, and hydrating. However, the seeds contain toxins that could poison awakened levels and below.]
Gulp
He also ate it (except for the seed, duh), and the system didn’t lie. It was really quite hydrating.
Heck, it actually tasted like watermelon...
He also put aside the seeds. Maybe he could use it for later.
He had to be extra careful not to mix them with edibles, of course. How stupid would he be if he died eating poison he actually knew about ?
That said, he couldn’t help but stare at the two fruits he had just eaten. His amber eyes then shifted to the other ’edible-looking’ plants, and then he looked at everything else.
It was taking all his self-control for him not to go through everything right now, use his skills, and figure out how to cook them all.
Back on earth, he felt he had reached a plateau. One of the reasons was that he simply didn’t have new dishes to make, nothing new.
Here... every ingredient was new.
Wouldn’t that mean he had a plethora of new dishes he could make?
This place...really wasn’t so bad, after all.