Corbin Crowley led her deep into Tagren Forest, walked a little further, and finally stopped.
His body flickered with white light, about to shift into human form, but didn't bother to greet Luna Sutton.
Seeing that she was about to get left behind, Luna's eyebrows twitched and she muttered: Damn bastard, not even a hello.
As he was about to transform, she quickly jumped down and landed steadily on the ground.
Corbin caught sight of her move, raised his eyebrows a bit, and glanced at her in surprise.
Then his face twisted with disdain and he said coldly, "Stay here and behave, or die and I won't care."
He didn't wait for her reply, shifted into wolf form, and vanished from sight in a flash.
Clearly, he went hunting.
Luna Sutton didn't care about his attitude, just looked around attentively.
She realized she was the only one here—no other Beastmen in sight—leaving her a bit stunned.
So, he just left her alone here?
Her father had told Corbin to bring her along, hadn't he?
Just dumping her here—how does that count as "bringing her"?
Her expression soured.
Staying put was out of the question; she came here to gather supplies, and sitting around wouldn't help with that.
But she didn't start searching right away.
She first pulled some flexible yet sturdy vines nearby, sat under a tall tree, and began weaving a backpack basket.
With a basket, it'd be easier to carry stuff.
The Beastman world overflowed with resources: mountains full of treasures, but you needed something to carry them.
She picked a long, flexible vine for the main structure, rubbed its texture and strength lightly—seemed decent.
Then started weaving the base of the basket, criss-crossing the vines to form a circular mat.
Gradually, she worked upward, crafting the body of the basket.
She'd watched wilderness survival shows and people weaving baskets before, so she knew the process, just hadn't made one herself.
This was basically trial by fire—no choice but to give it a shot.
Luckily, her hands were nimble; a bit of tinkering and she got the hang of it, fingers moving faster and faster.
Before long, the basket was done.
The shape wasn't perfect, but it looked decent, and the base was sturdy enough—would hold stuff just fine.
No point worrying about looks; as long as it carried things, it'd do.
To make carrying easier,
She deliberately picked two thick vines to tie at the top of the basket, one on each side, knotting them tightly so they wouldn't come undone.
Luna Sutton looked at the decent basket, eyes flashing with satisfaction, then slung it over her back and started her search for supplies.
Tagren Forest was rich in resources, wild fruit everywhere: wild bananas, milk fruit, Chinese date, wild loquat...
This was The Blazing Season, with fruit covering the mountains, huge and sweet; she hadn't gone far before her basket was mostly full and heavy—good thing it was sturdy.
She didn't pick many wild bananas; they spoil easily and don't keep well.
The Chinese date, though, she picked plenty; if she couldn't finish them, she'd make preserves—great snacks for Winter.
She also spotted two chestnut trees, tall and thick, bursting with fruit, with quite a few already splitting open.
Chestnuts were prized, considered a staple food—small, but seriously filling.
They could be eaten raw, roasted, or boiled.
She started by picking up the spiky burrs that had fallen from the trees, stashing them in her basket.
After clearing the ground, she found a thin, long stick nearby and carefully climbed up the tree.
It took a lot of effort—her body was too heavy and climbing was tough.
She stood on the main trunk, the thickest part; no way she'd risk standing on any other branch, worried she'd break it and fall.
One hand clinging to the trunk, the other wielding the stick, she started whacking the areas packed with burrs.
"Crash crash crash..."
The chestnut burrs rained down from the tree.
Soon enough, the ground was covered in burrs—at least several dozen pounds, she reckoned.
She was enjoying the smashing when suddenly a voice sounded behind her: "What are you doing?"
Luna Sutton nearly died from fright, almost falling from the tree, but managed to grab the trunk just in time to avoid crashing down.
Still shaken, she looked behind her.
Malachi Arcanus stood there—no clue when he arrived—staring at her strangely as if baffled by what she was up to.
Seeing it was Malachi, she let out a relieved breath, gave him an annoyed glare, "Can't you walk with some noise? Don't you know jumping out at people—no, beast scaring beast—is enough to kill a beast?"
Malachi didn't reply, just stared up at her, puzzled.
How did she manage to climb up there with that body?
Besides, in his impression, Luna Sutton was lazy and gluttonous, always lounging in their cave, waiting for them to feed her.
Forget climbing trees—getting her to walk faster was already hard.
Now, not only was she not lazy, she was working hard and bold, even tagging along for hunting and daring to climb trees?
Could it be the new abilities that changed her?
Luna saw him staring but didn't care, tossed the stick aside, and carefully slid down from the tree.
She crouched to pick up the burrs.
She wanted to shell the chestnuts on the spot and carry them back, but it would take too much effort, so she just collected them all to save shelling for later.
Malachi watched her, couldn't help but ask, "What are you doing with these? They prick your hands, and the nuts inside are tiny—can't even fill a tooth gap."
Almost no one gathered these in the Beastman world—too prickly, too little meat, much easier just to hunt for actual flesh.
Luna glanced up at him, "Don't underestimate them—these are delicious, really filling, full of nutrients, and can be stored for ages, perfect for Winter."
She kept picking, and soon her basket was stuffed full.
Plenty of burrs still lay on the ground, but nowhere left to put them.
Good thing vines were everywhere in the Beastman world.
She pulled a few more vines from nearby, sat squatting, and started weaving another basket.
Malachi was surprised to hear the burrs could store for so long.
He wondered where she suddenly learned all this stuff—and from whom?
But he didn't dwell on it—the nuts were so little and barely worth the trouble.
Even hauling them all back wouldn't last more than a few meals.
He watched her pulling vines and weaving, didn't quite get it at first, but as the basket took shape, he understood.
His gaze drifted to the basket full of burrs—realized she was weaving baskets to carry them.
He raised his brows—it really did make carrying easier.
"What's this called? How do you know how to make it?"
Malachi couldn't help but ask.
Luna paused her hands and replied casually, "This is called a tote basket; it's just for carrying stuff. As for how to weave it, I just winged it."
No way she'd admit she learned from TV in the apocalypse, so she just gave a vague answer.
Malachi said nothing, but kept staring at her intently, lost in his own thoughts.
She didn't mind, just focused on weaving baskets.
This time, the basket looked much better than the last one, and she was quicker at it, too.
"Ding! Malachi Arcanus's likability has changed, would host like to check?"
Just then, the system's voice sounded in her mind.
She froze a second, glanced at Malachi, but didn't check right away; instead, she asked silently, "What's his current likability?"
"-40!"
The system gave a crisp reply.
Luna was surprised—she remembered his likability was -60 when she woke up this morning.
In less than a day, it went up by 20 points.
She guessed it had to do with showing off her abilities, weaving baskets, and collecting burrs.
An industrious and capable female always drew better impressions.
She smirked, eyes drifting to Malachi again, and asked cheerfully, "Aren't you going hunting?"
The guy didn't have any prey with him, so she figured he hadn't caught anything yet or hadn't found any targets.
"Of course I'm going hunting; you be careful yourself."
Malachi shot her a look, left these words behind.
A flash of black light, and he turned into a huge black wolf, leaped away, and was gone in seconds in the woods.
Luna watched him leave, smiled slightly, then turned her attention away.
She shoved the two stuffed baskets under the tree, leaving them there for now, planning to come back for them later.
Nobody wanted these things in the Beastman world, so she wasn't worried about them being stolen.
It was still early—time to wander nearby some more.
She set off with an empty basket on her back.
After walking a bit, she suddenly stopped and looked toward a certain direction.
"Eh? Is that wild ginger?"
Not far away, there was a patch of plants that looked just like wild ginger, thriving, their leaves broad and lush—pretty pleasing to the eye.
But compared to what she'd seen in her previous life, these were much thicker, and the leaves had subtle differences.