Our trio consisting of myself, Gobukichi-kun and Gobumi-chan went out hunting this day. After hunting for the past few days, we have managed to become fairly highly equipped, though the equipment is so crude that I don't know if it should count.
From several horns, I chose two comparatively large ones which I dual wielded. In case I was ever hit, I created a simple body armor full of gaps by binding the remaining horns together with ivy, then fastened it around my body. The horns are surprisingly hard; but against thrusting attacks, the armor has little effect. Nonetheless, it's quite effective against against blunt damage. This should be enough protection for now to ensure that I don't get any serious injuries.
Gobukichi-kun is equipping a wooden chest armor along with a wooden club as thick as his torso, the handle had been shaved by using horns to make it thinner. Because the club is very heavy; he has to use both of his hands to hold it. Well, since he's both the physically strongest out of us and the most stupid, hitting stuff with his full strength is the style that he can use the best to his advantage.
Together with the scraps from the Horn rabbits' pelts and a sturdy piece of ivy, I made a simple staff sling to strengthen Gobumi-chan's ranged capabilities. She used stones lying around as ammunition, and was our rearguard who could deal with birds and so forth while specializing in ranged combat. She was currently not equipped with armor, but given the time I'd like to make one for her. By the way, the worn-out loincloth is still the standard equipment.
I want new clothes.
As expected, with more numbers, hunting gets easier.
With Gobukichi-kun as the vanguard, me as mid-guard, and Gobumi-chan covering us as a rearguard, our formation was very efficient, so the fruits of today's hunt included, in addition to Horn rabbits, new kinds of prey.
The first was a poisonous snake with a length of sixty centimeters, a diameter of approximately six centimeters, and covered with black scales that carried a speckled pattern. I named the three we caught [ Night Viper ]s (temporary name).
The other one looked like a bat, though I think that it's probably something else. They couldn't help but stand out since their wings were shining in seven different colors. We found one of them and I named its kind as [ Seven Colored Bat ]s (temporary name).
The third prey looked like what you would get if you combined an armadillo and a racoon dog together, with its back covered with a hard shell. We found two of them and I named them [ Armored Tanuki ]s (temporary name).
Along with them, we also routinely caught two Horn rabbits. Overall, it was a pretty great haul.
However, Gobukichi-kun and Gobumi-chan seemed to be strongly hinting at something by staring at me with round eyes while uncontrollably drooling. Well, it's not like I don't understand them. While other goblins would normally eat their captured spoils on the spot where they caught them, I wanted to dismantle the usable parts to make weapons and armors of them, which takes more time when compared to eating them right away.
I also wanted to dismantle everything at the same time, so we didn't get to eat in the middle of the hunt. That's why I understood the reason for why they would get hungry. But I ignored this while continuing the work. Then I saw them hunging their heads in disappointment. Ha, it can't be helped.
After removing the horn from a Horn rabbit, I threw its body towards Gobumi-chan and Gobukichi-kun. Initially I wanted the pelt too, but the appearances of the drooling Gobumi-chan and Gobukichi-kun were too pitiful to look at. However, Gobumi-chan and Gobukichi-kun were for some reason staring at me blankly while slightly tilting their heads to one side in puzzlement after receiving the meat.
...Ah, it's because I told them not to eat earlier, so they were probably wondering if they can eat it or not, so I told them "Because dismantling is going to take a while, go ahead and eat this". After looking perplexed for a while, Gobukichi-kun and Gobumi-chan greedily munched on the raw meat with bloodstains around their mouths.
After averting my eyes, I first decided to remove the shell of the Armored tanukis. Since I couldn't break the shell with the Horn rabbit's horn it seemed to be of a good quality, so it would make a good armor crafting material. The makeshift knife that I made using the obsidian-like material yesterday shined at this time, although its sharpness wasn't really that good; when compared to cutting with the horn, it was much better.
When I started dismantling, I noticed that the Armored tanuki's shell was formed as a result from the rigidification of a part of the skin, so it was easier to remove the skin with the shells attached. When I managed to peel it off after some struggle, I heard a mysterious voice again.
[ Goburou obtained[ Beast Skin Covered With Shells ]!! ]
Like usual I thought "what's this?" However, I quickly stopped thinking about it, I should leave it alone for now because I don't understand the principles behind it.
Thinking about taking a rest before continuing the dismantling, I cut the Armored tanuki's heart, brain and right leg and ate them. I gave the rest to Gobumi-chan and Gobukichi-kun, there was still a lot of meat left after all.
Nevertheless, the meat of the Armored tanuki tasted good! The texture when chewing it was seriously awesome. When chewing, the flavors mixed together into a wonderful blend. Aah, I'll try to eat a bit of the shell to assess it.
[Ability learned: Shell Defense ]
From just chewing it slightly, I learned the ability. It might have been because I ate the heart, the brain and the right leg earlier. Incidentally, [ Shell Defense ] is an ability that increase my defensive power when using armors made from organic shells, in addition to increasing the amount of damage that the armor can block and reducing the chance of being hit with a fatal attack.
Yes, it's a fairly good ability. It's a profit, a profit. Feeling good, I finished skinning the other Armored tanuki quicker this time, since I now knew how to do it.
In my previous working place, I got used to dismantling creatures; so after I understood its body's structure after the first time, it became easier to dismantle. This time, I ate half of the meat and threw the remainder to Gobumi-chan and Gobukichi-kun, after which I ate some more shells to raise [ Shell Defense ]'s level slightly.
Ah, calling it levels is just an expression of mine.
To make it easier to understand, I'm just calling it levels and there's no specific meaning behind it; understanding that the ability has gotten stronger is enough.
Next, I started dismantling the Seven-Colored bat. I removed the wings from their roots and pulled out the fangs which looked like they were for sucking blood. Then I split the meat and we all shared it.
The flesh of the Seven-Colored bat was very tender compared to that of the Armored tanuki, yes, a very good taste. Or how should I put it, ever since turning into a goblin, everything I ate tasted good.
Is this perhaps because I've gotten the sense of taste of the race I was born as? Not that I really care why anyway. Also, unfortunately it seems I didn't learn any ability from eating the Seven-Colored bat. But it seems my body have been strengthened slightly, judging by the sense of fulfillment I felt from my body after eating the meat.
My ESPer ability [ Absorption ] doesn't give me only abilities like [ Shell Defense ], but could also increase my physical strength, defensive strength, stamina and such, thus strengthening my body which I was very thankful for.
Anyways, I wonder if ESPer abilities originate from the soul ? At any rate, it doesn't seem like the thesis of a certain famous scholar that I had heard before is correct, I think its name was[ Getting infected by a special virus causes ESPer abilities to appear in compatible individuals ].
I tilted my head to the side wondering, how does it awaken then? Well, thinking about it is useless, I have no way to collect information in that regard right now after all.
Finally I started dismantling today's main dish, the three Night Vipers.
First, I cut off the heads of the snakes with the obsidian knife; but since the snake-skin was awfully hard, the edge of one of the knives got chipped. Then I hung them up and peeled the skin off, because I thought that I can use the snake-skin to make something.
With the heads cut off and the snake-skin peeled off, each goblin received a snake each.
It's quite delicious. Yeah, it's so delicious that the instant I tasted it I thought that the taste would be outstanding if it was grilled and served with sake.
Just from imagining it, I started salivating. The Horn rabbits' and the Armored tanukis' crispy and slightly hard meat is delicious, the super tender meat of the Seven Colored bat is also delicious.
However, the Night vipers' slightly exceeded those three in taste. My hands stopped working because of how delicious it was.
Just like that the three of us greedily wolfed down our shares.
[Ability learned: Thermography]
[Ability learned: Venom ]
[Ability learned: Poison Resistance]
[Ability learned: Sense Presence]
[Ability learned: Evil Eye ]
After eating one, I learned 5 abilities. Apparently Night vipers are in a different league compared to the current me. When I eat something stronger than me, the probability that I receive abilities from it significantly increases. This is one of the characteristics of my [ Absorption ] ability. But to get five abilities at once, it's truly a first. My guess is, this is because goblins are a weak species.
Well, I am truly satisfied with the results of this day's hunt. The remaining poisoned fangs can be used as tools. However, if Gobukichi-kun or Gobumi-chan were to even graze it, they would without doubt immediately be on the verge of death since they don't have [ Poison Resistance ] which I acquired today. Worst case scenario is that they'd die instantly.
Besides, this time, I also received the ability [ Venom ] which I can use to secrete poison from the tip of the horn that I'm currently using. If I'm not in direct contact, this ability doesn't activate; but compared to the poisoned fang, it's a lot safer to use.
Because they are dangerous, I ate the three heads of the snakes by myself to strengthen [ Venom ]. Eating them by myself is a lot safer.
Yeah, poison - which is completely harmless to me because of the two abilities [ Poison Resistance ] and [ Absorption ] working in concert - only made the meat taste better to me by giving it a slight sting. However, the two goblins were directing envious gazes at me.
Hey, if you eat this, you'd die, you know.