The day was still young, but Floris had used up all the space available in his pack and all the pockets in his armor. He was loaded with many different herbs he needed for his experiment, but this would only be the first trip out of many to Arrowhead Loch. While his pack was loaded, a single backpack wasn't enough to fill even a single chest back home and every one of his chests had been dried out. If he were to fully restock his chests, he'd need to make many, many more trips to the Loch.
"So much for this trip. It's been a long time since I've used up so many of my resources; I've forgotten how much trouble it is to fully restock everything. I'm going to need a much bigger pack at this rate." Floris thought quietly to himself as he walked through the thick vegetation.
The trip back to the village always seemed shorter than the trip to the loch. His pack was always full of the herbs he needed, so he didn't need to stop and collect every herb he came across unless it was one that he desperately needed. He was now less than a day's walk back to the village and it was time for him to begin his second objective. He readied his bow and trapped a poisoned arrow on the string between his fingers. It was now time to hunt and he already had his eyes on his first victim of the day. A doe - a female deer - had gotten separated from her herd and was grazing the tall grass by herself and was unaware of the hunter slowly approaching her from downwind.
As Floris moved closer and positioned himself for a clear shot, he pulled the arrow as far back as he could and aimed for the neck for a quick clean kill. He sucked in his breath and prepared to release the arrow, but stopped as something caught his eye.
A fawn hopped out from the tall grass and looked in his direction curiously. The fawn was young and still had its white spots, meaning it was still dependent on its mother and was too small to be of any use. With an annoyed sigh, Floris lowered his bow but shot at the ground out of frustration. The two deer heard the "thwump" from the bowstring and darted off into the tall grass, disappearing from sight. Floris shook his head in annoyance and continued on his way back to the village.
Along the way, another opportunity presented itself. Another deer had wandered off alone and was drinking on the embankment of a creek. This time, he was much closer to the village, which meant he wouldn't have to carry this deer very far unlike the other one. Floris drew his arrow back as far as he could and prepared to let the arrow fly. However, just as he was about to release the arrow, something unexpected happened. A huge splash exploded the water's surface and one of the largest Swamp Lizards he had ever seen bit down on the unsuspecting deer; swallowing half its body with the first bite.
Unable to believe his luck, Floris stared at the river monster as it drug what remained of the deer into the water with it. Wide-eyed and jaw hanging loose, Floris stared in awe and disbelief at
where the deer was standing. He had been robbed of his own kill twice in one day, but he had never seen a Swamp Lizard in action before. While he was annoyed and frustrated, he was amazed by what he had just witnessed.
Floris had hunted Swamp Lizards in the past, but there had to be a very specific reason to take them on. Swamp Lizards were near the top of the food chain in the swamp and their natural armor made them tough to take down. Their meat wasn't very good, but their hide made for excellent armor. Without the right bow, bows that were specifically made for dealing with these animals, they were next to impossible to kill. Arrows used with normal hunting bows would rarely ever puncture their armor; even if they did, they wouldn't go deep enough to cause any kind of fatal damage. The bows used to take these animals down required two people to pull the arrows back with one person holding the bow steady.
With nothing else to do but curse under his breath, Floris put his bow on his back and continued his trip back to the village.