Those two glowing spots in the darkness were fixed directly on the freshly tilled soil of our field. I held my breath. Eliz had already reached for her silver bow, drawing the string as silently as a shadow. Barun dropped his pickaxe and balled his massive hands into fists, grunting, "What in the hell is that?"
As the eyes drew closer, a ragged, huffing breath cut through the rustle of the forest. The creature that emerged from the brush was no ordinary wolf; it was a massive wild boar, its bristles standing on end and froth dripping from its snout. The scent of the freshly turned earth and the nearby deer had lured it here.
"Wait, Eliz!" I said, catching her hand. "We have to drive it away. If we kill it here, the smell of blood will bring every predator in the forest down on us."
The boar pawed the ground like a bull and suddenly charged toward Barun. Barun stepped aside with a booming laugh, but the animal's speed surprised us all. The boar smashed through a section of our new fence and trampled into the field.
That's when I remembered the Red Slime. I grabbed the glowing red jelly from the stone where it rested. As the boar prepared to charge again, I used the fierce heat radiating from the slime like a torch. As the crimson glare cut through the dark, the boar's eyes were dazed by the sudden light and heat. While the beast faltered, Barun delivered a heavy blow to its snout with the handle of his pickaxe.
Eliz fired an arrow, not to kill this time, but to terrify. The arrow struck a stone right at the boar's feet, creating a sharp metallic ping and a shower of sparks that broke the animal's remaining courage. With a high-pitched squeal, the boar turned and fled back into the darkness of the deep woods.
"It wrecked the field," Barun said, looking at the overturned soil and broken pickets.
We got to work immediately. There would be no sleep until dawn. Using his mining expertise, Barun began digging a deep trench around the perimeter of the field. "A fence isn't enough," he said, tossing shovelfuls of dirt. "We need a barrier from below the ground, too."
Eliz and I fixed the trampled rows. Essence (the Green Slime) hopped over the crushed sprouts, standing them back up with its healing secretion. That night, we learned that building something in this forest wasn't just about stacking stones; it was about defending what you've built.
By sunrise, the trench was complete. Just as we were about to head back to the shelter, Barun knelt at the bottom of the ditch. Where his pickaxe had struck last, the earth was thick, dark gray, and slippery. Right next to it lay a white, crystallized layer that sparkled like snow.
Barun ran his finger over the white crystal and tasted it. His eyes lit up. "This... this is Salt!" he said excitedly. "And this gray mud beneath it... this is pure Clay, lad! We used to see this all the time in the mines."
Our exhaustion vanished instantly. This discovery was priceless. With salt, we could preserve our meat for months without it rotting. With clay, we were no longer limited to makeshift buckets; we could craft real pottery, plates, and perhaps even a proper kiln to trap the heat of the fire. We now held two of nature's greatest keys to survival.
ESSENCE HAVEN
KINGDOM POPULATION: 3 (+6 Animals)