The boar was close to leaving the cave. How to I lure it back to me?
Spawn more moss!
Another patch of moss, adjacent to the eaten patch, appeared. With a snort and mild squeal, the boar slowly approached the moss sample. After a few sniffs and snuffles, it consumed the moss.
"There's a good pig. Eat up!"
Looking around the cave, the boar found no other treats available. With one final snort to itself, it wandered out the entrance.
Dammit. Well, maybe it'll come back once more moss regrows. I wonder how long that will take?
An entire day?!?!?!
And so, I waited.
-
The boar came back to visit several times over the next few weeks. Each time it snuffled in, ate the moss, sharpened it's tusks and left. No new biomass deposits. However, it did finally net me an entire point of energy to use!
Time to expand my reach! Claim the area outside the cave!
"What do you mean, error? I want a square meter of space just outside the cave. It's not complicated."
"What? My 5 energy got me 5 square meters before. Why can't it do it now?"
Are you fucking kidding me?
Sigh. Back to growing moss then.
-
The next day, I heard squeals of rage and fear, and a lot of rustling and snapping of branches.
The boar suddenly appeared in my cave, bleeding heavily onto my floor. Panting, it stumbled forward, several wood pieces stuck into it's sides.
Wait, what? Who killed my pig?
"System, use new energy to claim 1 square foot outside the cave."
"Pause that. I see, what the hell is that ugly thing?"
A human, eh? Let's see if it takes the campsite bait I left for it.
-
"Useless boar, leading me out into the middle of nowhere. Hiding in that cave, eh? Let's see how tough you are," the human muttered as it entered the cave. Seeing his prey dead on the ground, the hunter smiled. "Excellent. you even had the decency to die next to this flat rock so I can gut and prep you."
Looking around the cave, the hunters smile began to slowly fade. "Preset campfire stones. Large table made of rock, and a bed of moss. Too good to be true. It has to be a trap." He began to slowly make his way towards the exit.
"Wait, dammit!"
"Who said that???"
Shit. I did not know he could hear me.
"I did. The rock. Over here."
The hunter drew an arrow, nocking his bow and pointing it at the stone. "So you're a haunted rock?"
"What is haunted?" I wondered aloud.
"You know, possessed by a vengeful ghost seeking to kill any living beings who enter? Evil spirits of the dead?"
"Sorry, can't make one of those for awhile yet. But you killed my boar, and now you owe me." Quick thinking on my part, I must admit. Realistically, I owed him for the material, biomass and energy.
"Your boar? You owned this pig? Pull the other one, wy don't you?"
"Let's see, I have my boars favourite moss to eat, his favourite scratching rock to sharpen his tusks, and when attacked, he immediately ran home to me, to die in my arms, as any good pet should."
The hunters eyes squinted for a minute. "Ok, you make a fair point. But how do I repay you? Get you another pig?"
I pondered over this for a minute. I wasn't short of biomass currently. What was really flagging were my materials and energy. But how to trick this human into giving me them?
"I know. For the next three dark times, you have to stay in my cave. Bring in wood, make a fire, cook food, whatever you like. But you have to be inside before the light disappears, and you can't leave until it comes back again. Sound fair?"
"Three nights? That's it? No hard labour? No work? No money?"
"What would I do with money? As for labour, You could chip away at the rock in the corner there if you wanted. I've been meaning to add a pool of water to my cave anyways."
"And what's to keep me from just leaving and not returning tomorrow morning?"
Hmmm. He had a point. "Nothing, I guess. Just your word you'll return and spend the night. Is there anything missing from the cave you'd like me to add?"
The hunter's eyes widened, and he immediately looked confused. 'What kind of cave am I in?'