After getting hyped up, Jiang Hao led the group to the lean-to he had built earlier.
Inside, there were many tools Jiang Hao had made before.
There were stone axes, stone knives, and the bow and arrows he used for hunting, as well as spears.
The bows, arrows, and spears were all made of wood, and the arrowheads and spearheads were also carbonized and then directly fitted with ground stone arrowheads and spearheads.
It could be said they were very crude.
However, this served as an example for the players who were preparing to make tools, letting them know they could start with stone tools.
So, after a discussion, they decided to go look for suitable stones later.
Jiang Hao slung the bow and the quiver made of beast hide over his back, picked up two eyebrow-length spears from the corner, handed one to Heitandou, who was going hunting with him, and kept one for himself.
"Let's go. Everyone is waiting for us to bring back food."
Heitandou played with the spear in his hand; never having hunted before, he was clearly a bit excited.
He showed off to the others for a bit, then followed Jiang Hao, trotting along happily.
The others watched the two depart, envy evident in their eyes.
As the two figures disappeared into the distance, the remaining four finally withdrew their gazes.
I Love A Wood looked at the others and said, "Then let's go find suitable stones first. Does anyone have experience making stone tools?"
The others immediately looked at each other, all shaking their heads, indicating they had none.
After all, in modern society, let alone making stone tools, most people were used to buying everything.
Seeing that no one knew how, South Sea Warlord was the first to speak, "It's okay. Although none of us have made stone tools, at least we should all know that stones suitable for making tools definitely need hardness and sharpness. Let's find this type of stone first, then go online and learn how to make them into tools."
Hui Shou Tao immediately echoed, "Yes, we must first find the raw materials. I remember when I was little, there were many pebbles or washed-down stones in the small river near my hometown. These stones are all very hard."
Never Empty Force also agreed with everyone's suggestion.
Since the objective was set, the group didn't hesitate and headed towards the low-lying area.
The Elf Tree was located on a large flat area protruding from the mountainside.
There were no other trees obstructing the view within five hundred meters around the massive Elf Tree, making it appear somewhat out of place.
However, this also gave the group a very clear view.
The group walked together, passing through this open area.
"If this tree were in the real world, it would definitely be worth a fortune, wouldn't it? This is too realistic—the feel, the bark texture!" Hui Shou Tao stepped forward and patted the exposed roots of the War Tree, which had a diameter of five or six meters, exclaiming in admiration.
But his exclamation didn't elicit any response from the others.
Hui Shou Tao couldn't help but turn his head and saw Never Empty Force and the others crouching under a section of a massive tree root.
They made a shushing gesture to him, while also signaling that there was something ahead.
Only then did Hui Shou Tao carefully peer around the War Tree, looking in the direction the others were pointing.
About seventy meters ahead, in an open area, two beasts were facing off.
One looked somewhat like a cow, but its antlers resembled those of an elk on Earth.
However, each antler looked as sharp as a blade.
The other, though not as large as the cow, was no less imposing than this fierce beast.
It looked like an enlarged rabbit, with green fur all over its body.
Its long ears stood upright; just looking at these, it seemed quite cute.
However, the slightly open mouth, full of sharp teeth, and blood-red eyes proved that this creature was the attacking predator.
The group, hiding and peeking from a distance, couldn't help but swallow their saliva at the sight.
"Holy cow, these are monsters from the game world!" Never Empty Force muttered softly.
The others also had varied expressions, clearly startled by the scene before them.
These two creatures looked like ferocious beasts no matter how you saw them. If they had to face these monsters directly, saying they weren't scared would definitely be a lie.
Even knowing it was a game, the visual stimulation was simply too intense.
For the first time, the group felt that a game being this realistic wasn't necessarily a good thing.
Before they could complain, the two ferocious beasts had already begun to fight.
The Blue Rabbit attacked first, pushing off with its hind legs and charging fiercely towards the Horned Cattle.
The Horned Cattle lowered its body, aiming its sharp horns at the charging Blue Rabbit.
Just as the group thought the Blue Rabbit would crash into it and be impaled all over, the Blue Rabbit quickly pushed off the ground again at that moment, changing its direction of impact.
While avoiding the sharp horns, it also opened its mouth and bit the Horned Cattle's exposed neck with its mouth full of sharp teeth.
Thud!
The immense impact, combined with biting the Horned Cattle's neck, immediately caused the Horned Cattle to cry out and collapse sideways.
Seeing the Horned Cattle, which was now only wailing and occasionally kicking its legs in struggle, the still-peeking group quietly retreated in unison.
At I Love A Wood's signal, the group stealthily left in another direction.
Only when they felt they had reached a safe distance did I Love A Wood pat his chest, saying with lingering fear, "My goodness, was that a rabbit just now?! It was too damn ferocious!"
"Exactly! Especially how fast it was. If it were me, I couldn't even dodge it head-on, let alone it changing its path midway."
"How are we supposed to fight this? Even a newbie village rabbit is this powerful."
The group immediately began discussing the scene they had just witnessed.
"I finally understand why the leader assigned us production tasks," I Love A Wood was the first to realize.
The others immediately looked at him.
I Love A Wood didn't keep them in suspense. As he continued walking, he said, "Production tasks are just to allow us to safely get through the novice period. When our levels increase and we learn combat skills, we'll probably be able to fight these wild monsters."
His words immediately enlightened the others.
"You're right! We players can learn skills! It's all because this game is too realistic; I thought we were in the real world."
"If it were real, it would be great. One shotgun blast from me, and those two guys just now would be a dish."
"Alright, let's hurry up, bypass these wild monsters, and collect usable stones. I can't wait to learn skills!"
"Let's go, let's go!"
...
On the other side, after receiving confirmation from Lilith via consciousness that the group had chosen to leave quietly, Jiang Hao also breathed a sigh of relief.
At the same time, he inwardly grumbled about how lucky the group was.
He had lived in this forest for half a year and knew more about wild monsters than they did.
The Blue Rabbit was considered a top predator in the food chain, and they encountered it on their first entry into the forest.
He could only say their luck was too good, and he was also glad that the group didn't choose to rush in recklessly.
"It seems death penalties are still very necessary, otherwise, I'd go bankrupt cultivating bodies for them every day," he muttered softly.
Heitandou, following behind, didn't hear clearly and thought there was a situation, immediately holding up his short spear in a proper manner, aiming it around.
Jiang Hao noticed his unusual behavior, turned around, and began to act as an NPC.
"To successfully hunt in the forest, we must first find our prey. We need to track prey based on clues, such as footprints and unnatural plant marks," Jiang Hao said, pointing to a patch of grass next to them that had been dug up, forming a large hole.
Heitandou saw that the NPC had started teaching and immediately began listening attentively.
"From the traces, you can determine the type and size of the prey, but these require experience. You'll naturally understand when you have more contact with them in the future. For now, let's continue tracking this wild boar."
"Yes, Leader," Heitandou again stood at attention to confirm.
The two followed the footprints and the traces left by the wild boar all the way.
Soon, they found a wild boar scratching itself against a War Tree.
Jiang Hao raised his hand, signaling Heitandou to stop.
At the same time, he took off the bow and arrows from his back and said to Heitandou, "Do you see the War Tree next to you?"
Heitandou turned to look at the War Tree, which was about one meter in diameter, then nodded to indicate he saw it.
"Climb up. To give you a clearer demonstration of hunting, I will deal with this wild boar alone and will not use martial arts."
Although Heitandou didn't understand why Jiang Hao wanted to do this, he still complied.
Seeing that Heitandou had climbed to a safe position, Jiang Hao drew his bow, aiming at the wild boar, which was facing him sideways.
Thwack!
As the bowstring vibrated, the arrow flew out.
Heitandou's gaze involuntarily followed the arrow.
But as soon as the first arrow flew out, the second bowstring twanged.
Heitandou was momentarily stunned, then two arrows appeared in his vision, one after the other, flying towards the still unaware wild boar.
Thunk ~ Thunk ~
The two arrows almost simultaneously struck the wild boar's exposed side chest.
And because the arrowheads were made of ground stone, their penetrating power was not very strong.
It seemed to have caused little damage to the thick-skinned wild boar.
However, the wild boar also felt Jiang Hao's attack and immediately roared, charging towards him.
Heitandou, in the War Tree, saw the estimated four-hundred-pound wild boar charging fiercely towards them and was initially a bit flustered.
But then he realized.
"Holy cow, this is a game! Why am I worrying about an NPC?"
Thinking this, he immediately relaxed, simply hugging the War Tree and continuing to watch the cutscene.
Now he just needed to watch carefully and learn well.