State of Chaos - Chapter 9：Sunset Mountain Range (3)

He walked for another two hours while looking for a good place to stay during his two week outing in the Range before he found a cave that was in one of the cliff sides. He decided the clear it out and see if it would be a good spot to stay. If there were fierce beasts inside he would have to kill them so he can take over the cave. He just had to make sure that he would be able to take care of them by himself because not even he could five against five fierce beasts at once.

He went up to a tree that he found that had a hole in it and hid his bag and prey in there so that it would not get eaten again. He covered it up with leaves and sprinkled Odor Sleuth on the prey. This was an alchemy creation that completely masks the odor of the designated target. In this case he tried to cover his prey so that fierce beasts won’t get attracted to it and come eat it.

Alchemy is not prominent in the new era because science and technology are not as capable of outclassing evolvers abilities. There are evolvers with abilities that are able to create healing potions or strength potions that completely defy previously known logic. There are also ability users that can use their minds to make new technology, but the laser guns they make are not as strong as an explosive potion the others make, so they are not well distributed.

After Danny hid his backpack and prey he started to walk towards the cave. It was about ten feet from the ground and was accessible fairly easy as long as you could climb. Danny picked a rock off the ground and threw it towards the entrance of the cave to try and draw out any potential inhabitants. A loud *CRACK* sounded as the rock hit the floor of the cave before it tumbled around going silent. Noticing that there was no noise coming out of the cave Danny threw in another rock for good measure, but still nothing came out.

Danny decided to finally check himself and pulled out his sword and began climbing with the sword in his mouth. He needed to use both hands to climb so he wouldn’t fall, but he also needed his sword to be easily accessible in case of any danger, so this was the best choice.

Once he climbed over the edge he quickly rolled and put his sword in hand getting in a crouching stance prepared for an ambush, But there was no fierce beast there. Danny was less vigilant as a fierce beast would have sensed his presence by now and would have come out to defend its home Danny walked into the cave with his sword in hand. He checked out his new home for two weeks to see what he had to work with.

The cave had two rooms in it with the first room being about five meters deep with the second room being branched out from the back. He had to crouch in the first room as it was only about a meter tall, but he would work with it. The second room was way more spacious and he was able to freely stand in here. It was about one hundred square feet and was of decent size. Now that he scouted out the cave and made sure it was safe he went back down and got his stuff.

After collecting his gear and climbing back up to his cave he mumbled to himself ‘I need to make a ladder so that climbing up would be easier’. He went into his “Bedroom” where he decided he would sleep and set up his tent. Although no rain would get in here he didn’t want to be sleeping on the hard rock floor, and this tent had a built in fluffy floor, so he decided to set it up. To make himself more comfortable, that is.

Since he knew it would get down to twenty degrees at night in the Sunset Mountain Range he decided to build a fire to keep warm during the night. He still had a few hours of daylight left before it would be pitch dark. He also wanted to build something to block the entrance at night, so the light from the fire won’t escape and attract unwanted troubles. Sighing he picked himself off the floor and left the cave to get wood to make a door and firewood.

When he was leaving he decided to set a trap to know if anyone had entered after him because he still felt that lurking presence following him. He put rocks at the entrance in certain places and if they were moved, then he would be able to tell if someone enters. He deftly evaded his trap and jumped down from his cave to go get firewood.

It took him about an hour to gather the wood he needed to finish his task. Chopping the trees down with his sword blunted his blade a little bit, but he figured it was worth it. When he was carrying the wood up to the cave he checked the rocks only to find out that they were moved from their original place. He quietly set down the firewood and entered into the cave with his sword drawn.

He walked in deeper and peeked into the “Bedroom” only to find it empty. There was not a soul in sight. ‘Has he left already?’ Danny had no idea where it would have gone. He checked his tent and saw that it was empty as well. He gave up and made the door while he was still able to see and set it up to block the entrance to his cave. He covered it with camouflage as well to make it harder to see. Finally done he made the fire and cut up the fire lion to prepare dinner for himself after a long day of hard work still wondering what has been following him.