Max let Ma Erk sleep a bit longer, it was the least he could do. The young wolf had played an important role last night in baiting Rik-re up the cliff. That fight with Rik-re was too close for his liking, he wasn’t sure if he would have come out on top if Rik-re wasn’t already partly exhausted by Ma Erk’s antics.

In the meantime, the plan was to start cleaning. The fight last night and the work he had done this morning had made a mess of the cave and the cliff. Max did his best to erase the traces of him and Ma Erk, by smoothing out any large indents in the ground. He also carried the wolves' remains back into the cave. By keeping the food inside the cave and out of the sun, he hoped it made the meat last longer. Along with the bodies, the firewood that the little guy collected and the meat that was cooked also went into the cave.

Lastly, looking over to Ma Erk’s ‘food’, Max grabbed a few of the remaining feathers and covered them. He placed a few rocks on them so they wouldn’t be blown off by the wind. After all that was done, Ma Erk was woken up with a few taps on the snout. “Wake up, time to get going.”

…

Going down the cliff, the pair’s first destination was a stream. The whereabouts of a water source were one of the first things Max had asked about when he had questioned the young wolf. The past two days, dehydration was a constant worry. So far he had been getting by with the moisture in the leaves, moss, berries, and the occasional Midnight Dew. He wasn’t sure if the last one counted. The dew had turned into energy shortly after entering his mouth. Water had been one of his limiting factors when it came to working on his cultivation. He often had to stop his exercises before he lost too much water.

The way to the stream was surprisingly not towards the ocean, which was also the direction where the little guy had fled after the fight with the wolf trio. If in this world the sun also rises in the East and sets in the West then from the perspective of the cliff they were heading South.

The entire trip to the stream probably took no more than half an hour at a normal walking pace.

‘Damn, I can't believe it was actually this close all this time. I might have been able to see it from the cliff if I wasn’t always looking in the direction of the ocean.’

Max walked up to the stream and cupped his hands. Submerging it in the stream, he noticed the water was cooler than he initially expected. Holding it up to his lips, Max took his first sip of water in this world. He was careful to only take a tiny sip. After using Analyze on it and it returns with nothing out of the ordinary, his thirst was finally quenched.

“Fuck, that was good.”

Some of the food that he had cooked earlier was brought along. It was a bit too early for lunch, but he didn’t mind. The refreshing water coupled with the meat and roasted berries made this feel like he was on a picnic. Seeing the food, the little glutton that had just woken up from a food coma patted over.

“Hahaha, here you go little man.” Max portioned out some of the food and placed it next to Ma Erk.

For the next hour, the duo enjoyed themselves, but they didn’t let their guard down. Every few minutes he would scan his surroundings. He also had Ma Erk keep his nose out in case he missed something. The pair chatted some more over the food and he learned more about the forest, the little guy, and cultivation in general. Ma Erk had mentioned the new memories that had appeared in his mind when the wolf had reached the 1st stage of Body Tempering. That was also how it knew it started cultivating. That instantly piqued his interest, but it would be best for him to wait until they got back to the cave. He didn’t want to get lost in his questions and get ambushed by some beast.

Instead, he walked into the stream, the deepest part only came up waist high and the currents weren’t that strong. Readying himself, Max held his breath and dropped into the water. Not a second later, he came back up sucking in a lung full of air. It was freezing, the cold water reminded him of all the times he had gone to the pool with his family and friends. That first dip into the chlorine-fill water was always the worst.

Thinking of his family and friends, a sense of melancholy washed over Max. The feeling of loss and loneliness had greatly diminished, especially now he had a “pack”. He was still sad and missed everyone on Earth, but it was no longer crippling and anxiety-inducing.

‘I hope everyone is safe and healthy. I’ll be back.’ that last part of thought in the “Terminator” accent. It lightened the mood and brought a small smile to his face.

He dunked himself into the cold refreshing water a second time. This time he scrubbed his hair and face with his fingertips. Working his way down his body, he made sure to get all the dirt and grime off him.

‘Ahh man, I wish I had a bar of soap or something.’

Slowly opening his eyes underwater, it stung a bit but was bearable. Back home, in the public pools, he would never dare do something like this without goggles.

‘Did the higher Constitution also strengthen my eyeballs? If it did, maybe one day I could take a bullet to the eye too. Neither the Hawk nor Rik-re was at that level yet.’

There wasn’t much to see underwater, some fishes were swimming around which he noticed before he had gotten into the water. He made a note to come fishing if he ever got tired of the wolf meat. After seeing that there were no “hidden treasures'', Max stood back up and finished cleaning himself. Walking out of the stream, Max felt like a new man. He was already planning his next trip back here.

Next on his list was figuring out a way to store water. It would be cumbersome coming all the way here every time he got thirsty.

‘Might just end up making a bigger version of my dew collection bowl, a lot bigger.’

This time, he wasn’t going to make the bowl out of rock, but wood instead. Looking around, it took only a couple of minutes to spot a large fallen tree. If he tried, his arms were just long enough to wrap around the trunk. Satisfied with the size, he got to work. The first step was to chop it to the desired size, once that was done, he hollowed the center of the truck. The process took longer because of the size of the remaining Chi-Infused Rock. He was also careful not to break this one as well.

By the time he was finished, he had a tub that came up between his knee and waist and was approximately two feet in diameter. Max filled his new tub with water up to half full. Even at half, it was a struggle for him to carry, especially each time he took a step he took the water would slosh around causing him to spill some. Pouring some more water out so it was only a quarter full, Max began his trackback to the clearing.

The way to the stream might have only taken half an hour, but the way back to the clearing took almost three times as long. Max had to stop several times to catch his breath. Once he got to the clearing he was faced with another challenge.

“Fuckkkkkkkk.”

Looking up the path up the cliff, there was no way he was going to be able to carry the water tub up.

“Ughhhh”

Taking a few sips of water, Max found a place to dump the rest. The empty tub was brought up the cliff and placed in the cave. It was just large enough to fit through the entrance if it was rolled in on its side.

Sigh.

“Well, I guess I know what my cardio workout is going to be. Filling water…”

After situating the tub, Max came back down and called over Ma Erk.

“Ma Erk are you still able to smell the hawk?”

The little wolf pointed his snout upwards and took a sniff.

“Faint, Boss. This way. Go?”

Max gave the young wolf a short nod in the affirmative. As expected, the little guy started walking in the direction the three wolves had dragged the hawk. The hawk’s body was pretty big and the tracks were fairly visible but now that he had Ma Erk, he could rely on Ma Erk’s sense of smell instead of his almost non-existent tracking skills. The tracks and scent led them west, in the opposite direction of the sunrise.

Ma Erk was in front and Max was tailing behind and keeping an eye for any threats.

After some time of walking, Ma Erk said “Boss. This direction, old pack.”

Hearing that, he stopped and told the young wolf to do the same. Max already had so much trouble fighting three wolves, this would be an entire pack? That was out of the question.

“Ma Erk, how far from here is the pack?”

“Long way out.”

Hearing that, Max let out a sign and said “Ma Erk, as soon as you smell any of your old packmates we head back.”

Max didn’t want to take the risk, but he was lacking a weapon and the claws on the hawk would be a good substitute for the Chi-Infused Rock that he lost in his fight with Rik-re.

Cautiously, the pair made their way through the forest. Both of them were now on high alert for any movement at all. Thankfully they reach the Hawk without incident. What remained of the Hawk was a sorry sight. Chunks were missing from all over the body. It looked like most of the Hawk’s innards were gone.

‘Are innards considered a delicacy for wolves, is that why Ma Erk was also eating them?’

Max confirmed with the young wolf that he didn’t smell anything nearby, although there were scents left by other wolves aside from the trio.

Were they hiding this from other wolves in the pack? Is that why the trio didn’t bring it back to their den?’

That seemed like a possible answer and he didn’t have time to dwell on it further. Max quickly got down to business. He knew that the Ling Wolves were nocturnal creatures and would likely not be up and about during the day, but he still wanted to get in and get out as fast as he could.

The three claws were still covered in dried blood, likely his blood. Seeing that, he couldn’t help but unconsciously rub his chest where the claws had pierced.

The plan was to remove the entire talon all at once, it would probably take too long to remove each claw by itself. First, Max located the joint where the talon connected to the rest of the leg. Next, he started to hack with the Chi-Infused Rock. It took some time, but it finally came off. During the last part, Max had Ma Erk hold the end of the talon so he could more easily hack through it.

Max quickly picked up his prize and started heading back. Before going back to the cave they made a stop at the stream. There, another container was made, This time it was a lot smaller. It was about a quarter the size of his original one, it was more the size of a bucket. Once it was filled up with water, the pair started their trek back.