At the first light of dawn, Aldric sat up on the tree branch where he'd slept. He stared blankly at the eastern glow for a long moment before the reality of it all washed over him.
I really did transmigrate. Everything that happened yesterday wasn't a dream…
He slapped his cheeks hard, slid down the tree trunk to the ground, and went through his morning routine. He filled a bottle with river water, lit a fire to boil it, and by the time he'd washed up, the water had cooled enough to drink.
After finishing his breakfast ration with the warm water, he began another day of trekking.
As he walked, the rushing river grew wider, its great heart embracing every tributary.
On the afternoon of the fourth day, with his rations completely gone, he finally reached the end of the river, a vast, boundless, azure sea.
The moment he saw the horizon, Aldric fell to his knees, bracing himself on the ground as he gasped for air.
Though his stamina and strength were far greater than they had been on Earth, three straight days of forced marching under heavy load had drained his body and will.
The magnificent seascape shattered the last of his resolve. Aldric simply collapsed onto the ground, lying motionless for a long time. Only when the afternoon sun heated his armor to a searing temperature did he crawl into the cool shade of a tree.
His food was gone. His limbs were sore and weak from the continuous cross-country trek, and his mind was exhausted.
After thinking for a while, Aldric couldn't find any reason to keep pushing himself. He decided to settle down here at the river's mouth, rest for a few days, and at least stockpile some food before continuing.
Once he'd recovered a little strength, Aldric got up and walked a few dozen meters upstream from the river mouth, finding a cliff face near the riverbank.
The cliff, on the east side of the river, was about four meters high, perfectly shielding him from the sea breeze.
Across from it was a flat river shoal with a dense thicket of trees and grass, convenient for daily activities.
The river current was slow here, the water about half a man deep and crystal clear.
Aldric took off his armor, waded to the center of the river, and looked around. He figured if he could carve a cave into the rock face and build walls with wood, mud, and stone, it would make a warm shelter.
The river flowing at his feet would serve as a natural alarm. If any beast tried to sneak up on him while he slept, the sound of it stepping into the water would surely wake him.
With his mind made up, Aldric waded barefoot across the river and began examining the cliff's composition. He soon found several weak cracks in the rock.
He chose a crack about half a man's height above the water as his starting point. After roughly marking out the area he planned to excavate, he went into the forest, gathered several bundles of dry branches, and stuffed them into the crevice, piling them up. Then he used his flint to light them.
The roaring fire licked at the rock wall. Just as the flames were about to die out, Aldric used his helmet as a bucket, scooped up water from the river, and suddenly splashed it onto the scorching rock.
A cloud of choking steam rose and dissipated. The blackened crack in the rock visibly widened.
After the charred rock cooled completely, Aldric took the mining pick he'd carried all this way and began striking the fire-treated sections of the wall.
The rock couldn't endure the alternating heat and cold. Under the blows of the pick, it quickly shattered into small pieces.
After prying off a few large stones, the rest of the rock face refused to budge no matter what Aldric did.
He had no choice but to scrape the wet charcoal into the water, go back into the woods, and fetch another large pile of firewood to continue the process.
He didn't need to watch it so closely the second time. Noticing his shadow lengthening on the ground, Aldric rubbed his stomach, remembering he still hadn't found dinner. He ducked back into the forest, selected a small tree about two fingers thick, and cut it down near the base. He stripped the bark and wove it into a thin cord.
The cord was over two meters long. Aldric gave it a tug and found it reasonably strong. He tied one end to the tip of the wooden pole, fashioning a simple fishing rod.
The hook was easy enough. He found a forked twig, sharpened it with his dagger, and tied it to the line.
Bait wasn't hard either.
Aldric pried a few snails from the riverbed rocks, cracked their shells, and threaded the meat onto his wooden hook.
Making the tool was one thing; using it was another. How to get the fish to bite? How to pull it up quickly?
Before transmigrating, Aldric had only gone fishing a few times with his grandfather at a suburban reservoir as a child. He was hardly familiar with the sport.
But in the game World of Warcraft, it was a different story.
Certain high-level potions required specific types of fish as main ingredients. Buying those potions was expensive, but gathering the materials himself reduced the cost significantly.
Some alchemists were even willing to provide additional materials in exchange for practice.
As a frequent potion user, Aldric had learned Fishing as a secondary profession in the game. When he wasn't raiding, he'd often spend hours by the water gathering supplies.
And now, for some reason, that in-game experience had transformed into vivid, practical memory, turning him into a capable fisherman without him consciously realizing it.
Crouching on the bank, Aldric stared at the unknown fish flapping in the grass. If fishing knowledge carried over, what about mining? Smelting? Blacksmithing? Cooking? First Aid?
He had learned all of them as secondary professions in the game, investing considerable time and gold into mastering them. Aldric decided to experiment immediately.
Let's start with the most basic: Cooking.
Aldric reviewed his memories, selected a grilled fish recipe, and after gutting the fish, lit a campfire. He slowly roasted the fish, skewered on a branch.
As the aroma wafted out, Aldric tore off a piece of fish meat, chewed it carefully, and felt a thrill of excitement. The texture and flavor were far better than he expected.
Cooking was a success. First Aid was mainly making bandages, and he didn't have the materials to test it now.
Mining was primarily identifying ores and smelting ingots.
Identifying ores required trekking through mountains to find veins. It was getting dark, and searching rocky slopes at this hour would be foolish. He would leave that for later.
Smelting ingots and blacksmithing both required a forge and ore. Stranded in the wilderness, he didn't have the means to verify them.
Once he'd solved the problem of food and shelter in a few days, he could build a forge or borrow tools from a blacksmith's shop in a human settlement.
Since his life skills could be imprinted on his mind, what about his Sunwalker combat abilities? Were they in his mind too?
If he could awaken those skills, the future would be far less uncertain.
Aldric tried, and sure enough, he could recall how to use every single Sunwalker class ability. His heart rate skyrocketed.
But after a moment's thought, his mood soured again.
If some higher power had granted him these abilities, then whatever lay ahead would not be simple.
Saving an entire continent... where would he even begin?
With a trace of anxiety about the future, Aldric picked up a snail from the water, placed it on a rock, and extended his right hand towards it. He silently tried to summon the Sun Force that might exist within him and whispered, "Ha!"
A cool night breeze blew past. The snail wobbled on the rough stone surface.
"Ha! Ha!"
The snail rolled, fell into the water with a plop, and sank.
"Damn it!"
Furious and embarrassed, Aldric slammed his fist into the water, sending a splash into the air.
So, this truly was not a world overflowing with magic.
Without the Sun Force, a Sunwalker was just an ordinary warrior.
Fortunately, his skills that relied purely on physical strength, like two-handed weapons and sword-and-board techniques, had become as instinctual as cooking.
This gave Aldric a small measure of comfort amid his disappointment.
With advanced martial skills, his own tall frame, and the top-tier gear he'd brought from Azeroth, surviving in a chaotic world shouldn't be too hard.
Thinking this, Aldric resolved that once he was settled, he would spend several hours every day practicing these combat skills until they were truly his own.
After several more rounds of burning the cliff face, the rock became even more brittle. Aldric swung his mining pick repeatedly, finally carving out a recess about two meters long and a meter wide.
It was a tight squeeze, but it could fit his body.
If he didn't mind curling up, he could also fit his equipment inside.
He quickly stored his gear in the back of the cave, using his body to shield it.
Then, using his pack as a pillow, he curled himself into a ball and managed to fall asleep.
Perhaps because he hadn't slept lying down for several days, Aldric slept very comfortably that night.
The only downside was that being so close to the river, he was chilled by a cool breeze all night long.
Waking up, Aldric stretched his stiff body and planned his day's work:
First, build a wall for the cave to block the wind.
Second, gather vines to weave fish traps.
Third, fire some pottery to use as daily utensils.
The first two tasks required fresh, flexible vines.
Aldric took his short sword into the forest, seeking vines about the thickness of his little finger wrapped around sturdy tree trunks. After cutting them down and stripping the leaves, they became tough ropes.
The vines were pliable, the branches firm.
After gathering a large bundle, he cut thumb-thick branches to the length of his forearm and stuck them into the ground in a circle.
Using the branches as a frame and the vines as binding, Aldric wove them together, creating a basket with a twenty-centimeter diameter, a rounded belly, and a narrow opening.
He sealed one end, then wove a cone-shaped lid with a small hole in the center and attached it, completing the fish trap.
Aldric stuck his fist inside to test it, confirming he couldn't pull his hand out if it was clenched. Satisfied, he built four more.
After making five fish traps in total, Aldric scooped up snails from the river, crushed them with a rock, mixed them with mud into small balls, and dropped a few into each trap.
Once the traps were baited, Aldric dragged them into the water, using large stones to hold them in place. All that remained was to check them later.
By the time he finished, the sun was high overhead. If he didn't hurry, he would be sleeping in the cold wind again tonight.
So, despite his hunger, Aldric began weaving materials for the cave wall.
Logically, if he cut calf-thick logs into uniform shapes and joined them to form an outer wall, the insulation would be excellent.
Wood, being porous, retains warm air effectively.
But building a proper cabin required felling dozens of trees and careful shaping, which couldn't be done in a single day.
He wanted a barrier against the wind tonight.
So he chose another method: weave a wooden lattice from thin branches, plaster it with mud, add another layer of lattice and mud, forming a simple wattle-and-daub wall.
Finally, covering it with branches and leaves would conceal and insulate the shelter.
The mud had to be fine and evenly moist, free of excess organic debris, or it would crack as it dried.
At the edge of the forest near the river shoal, Aldric used his mining pick to dig a deep pit. After clearing away the topsoil mixed with leaves and weeds, he dug out yellow clay from below and mixed it with river water.
To ensure it was evenly blended, Aldric, still wearing his armor, stepped into the pit and used his weight to knead the mixture smooth.
After repeating the process several times, the mud was ready.
He spent the afternoon building the wall.
Lying in his cave later, Aldric looked out through the small opening he had left, watching the quiet riverbank.
As dusk approached, he retrieved the fish traps.
The five traps yielded only seven small fish.
Barely enough for a single meal.
It seemed the fish trap plan wasn't very effective.
Maybe I should check the seashore?