Learning To Live As A Cultivator 15 Chapter Fifteen - I Can't Find The Right Mushrooms

With a sigh, he glanced at the roughly drawn map he had created. His small hut was at the centre of it. To the west and slightly north was the lake and in between this was the wild sunclover patch and the mushroom log. To the south of this he had found another wild sunclover patch, a whole mess of wild onions in a sunny, clearing, and a few small gatherings of different mushrooms. He tapped his chin with the dry end of the stick before deciding to head west from here. In this direction, he found a river that seemed to head northwards, perhaps towards his lake. It was just deep enough to contain small fish and small crustaceans. His mouth watered, wondering if the latter tasted like the sh.e.l.lfish he had eaten sometimes back home. He would come and check this place out again.

Continuing west, he noted down a few other features, such as a tree that was easily five times the size of most of the aging trees in the woodland, a steep decline, heading south down the mountain and the wall of an attached mountain to the furthest point west that he could walk. This, he estimated, was at least two and a half hours walk from his hut. It was also riddled with caves and would require a longer time to explore. For now, the sun was already declining, there would likely only be enough light to see him home, so he left the western edge and headed roughly in the direction of home, only stopping to take a fruit from his pouch and ease his hunger.

Ah, he should have had breakfast at the food hall that morning, he mused, but it was an hour away in the opposite direction of this land, so he had settled for finishing his last couple of tubers. He would have to find more once he was able.

With this thought still in mind, when he left for the west cliff caves very early the following morning, he took his basket in order to gather any foodstuffs he could find. He didn't want to soil the inside of his spatial bag with mud or bugs. Before he had even reached the caves, he had gathered onions and roots. He had not found any large crustaceans, but that was alright, he didn't want them to flee or go bad while he explored anyway. After picking some mushrooms that he knew were okay to eat, he finally reached the caves. He took out his glowing sphere that he'd taken from home and very cautiously peered inside the first one.

It was a bit disappointing. Really. It was just a small cave, no hidden tunnels or anything, with a dusty floor, rock for walls and ceiling. It was very dry, no moss nor fungus could thrive here. This was the case for many of these caverns, though one led to a larger cave that had sparkling crystal veins embedded into its walls. It was a mesmerising sight. Leon made a note of this cave.

As he followed the mountain side south, he noticed the amount of moisture increase within the caves, one that dipped below the ground level he was used to, even had a small, slightly salty spring. Naturally, weeds were peeking out in places where the light from the entrance touched the ground and mould lined the inner walls of this cave, but it still lacked any mushrooms.

Just as he was about to leave, he noticed a dark alcove to one side. It had been so drenched in shadows, he failed to notice it at first. He ducked inside finding it led to a narrow tunnel that he had to crawl through. Inside was an impressive sized pond, though like the spring, the water had a salty residue. To one side of the pond were mushrooms! It was too dark to see their colour, so he harvested a few, before turning to leave.

As he did so, he suddenly heard a shuddering breath. He froze and scanned the cave with the light from his sphere. In a corner, near to the small tunnel, there was the body of a man. There were wounds littering his body and his face was very bruised. Was he alive? His chest heaved once more. Yes, he lived but was unconscious.

Leon withdrew two jade bottles of pills from the spatial bag. He mostly had the one heart pills and they were weak at best. With a heavy sigh, he withdrew one of the improved blood pills he had made from Leo's recipe. It was the strongest pill he had on him, it would have to do. He took the pill from the bottle, then took out the bottle of water he had brought with him. He knelt beside the man and pushed the pill into his mouth before teasing his tongue with drops of water, his instincts forcing him to swallow.

Leon placed his basket upon the ground before slipping out of the cave to gather firewood. He could not leave the man as he was and he did not think the willowy frame of his current body would be able to carry him out, so he would make do and leave when the man was able to fend for himself. With such thoughts in mind, he returned to the cave to cook mushrooms.