The Rise Of A Tribal Deadbeat - Chapter 56

Zus had been living in the cold lands for more than a decade. Thus he was possibly the most knowledgeable person there could have been in terms of knowing more about the creatures found there than anyone else.

That being said, Zok was aware of this fact. If he had Zus’ knowledge, then he could know exactly what he had to look for to get out of the dungeon. Thankfully, the two of them managed to come to a mutual understanding, as both of them were betrayed by Skah and the shamans.

That pain of betrayal certainly made it easier for them to work together. However, even then Zok’s instinctual answer was to kill Zus and take his knowledge for himself. The thought only lasted for a second, but it almost felt as if he had almost given in to the temptation of killing him.

It was a weird feeling almost as if something inside his head wanted to kill Zus. But Zok somehow managed to fight back the urge. He didn’t need to kill Zus to think if he was answering his questions honestly or not.

Zok could just ask him whatever he wanted to and he believed Zus would answer him honestly. At least he expected him to, and even if he didn’t Zok would get to know about it instantly thanks to hivemind’s truth-seeking perk.

Thus as the raging storm calmed down, Zok wanted to step out to check out the surroundings. However, Zus told him not to. At first, Zok was worried about the change in Zus’ tone but he soon realised why it was like that.

Unlike Zus, Zok didn’t have any layers on him to keep himself warm, and going out of the cave almost naked wasn’t such a good idea. Especially, when he had already almost died once from the same reason. Even Cero didn’t want to let Zok go out but it was impossible for him to hunt down the boss level monsters if all he did was to sit around the cave.

“Hm… I know how to hunt. Don’t worry, I’ll quickly go out and hunt some beasts for food. Then later I can skin them to make something that will keep you warm. Will that be okay?” Zus said with a gleeful smile on his face.

“That should be okay…” Seeing no other way, Zok agreed to wait inside the cave while Zus ventured out on his own, ‘I just wanted to see if the creatures here can offer control points or not… but fine. I have some time to do it.’

All of a sudden a thought crossed him and made his plan of leisurely defeating the dungeon void. He had left Kaira and Shira alone and if he didn’t return to them as soon as he could, then it would inevitably cause some issue for them.

Thanks to the cave and Sofina’s presence, they might be safe for a while. But knowing Kaira, Zok knew she would soon start to act up and start looking for him. It was going to be bad news if they did that because even he was only able to safely roam the glades because he had Cero with him.

Zok knew despite their blessings, it was highly probable that they will not be able to survive in the glades for too long if they walk out of the cave. He had to prevent that from happening and the only way for Zok to do that was through hunting down the boss level creature.

“I can’t wait for Zus to make me clothes out of beast skin.” Zok mumbled and opened his inventory, “I should already have more than enough beast corpses in my inventory to make something out of them myself.”

He pulled a Hranta corpse out of the inventory and swiftly began slicing the skin off. Hranta’s hide should be thick enough for the cold to not affect him, without hindering his movement because his movement was one thing he couldn’t compromise with.

His Dodger class was all about movement, and since he was going to fight a beast that was probably much more levels ahead of him, then he needed to be on his toes. The more strikes he dodged, the better his chance of getting out of this frozen hell became. That was considering that the beast wasn’t faster than he was or had some other anomaly, which it probably would have.

While thinking about all that stuff, he successfully managed to ‘peel’ the Hranta. It wasn’t a clean job, but it was enough. Now all he needed was something to stitch the hide into his shape. Thankfully he already had something. The stretchy vines that he had found in the cave he had found Sofina in.

These vines were stretchable and durable. This solved both of the requirements Zok had, that is, he wouldn’t have to worry about the hide falling apart on its own and exposing him to freezing winds. He made multiple holes within the periphery of the hide and began sewing them together to make a make-shift cloak.

“This should be enough… right?” He said before wiping the thick beads of sweat off his head.

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Item: Hranta Hide Armour

Type: Armour

Rarity: Common

Effect(s):

• Can protect someone from chilly winds of the north. Provides a bit of protection as well, but mostly useless. Made up of insulating material, increases cold resistance.

• Not crafted by a skilled craftsman, but will still serve its purpose.

• Grants user additional Defense points: DEF +2

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“Eh… that additional defence points was an unexpected surprise,” Zok mumbled as he admired the fruit of his labour, “This should cover me pretty well… but I still need to make something for my feet as well. Creating things is tough… If only I was a creationist, things would have been much easier then.”

Zok shook his head and got to work once again as Cero stood guard at the entrance of the cave.. His master wasn’t aware of it, but his appearance in the Coldlands had awakened the sleeping nightmare.