While running through the forest with the corpse of a large white wolf, I opted not to be sneaky and decided to blitz through the inner area, at least until I reached the outer area, which was quite close as I hard lured the wolf a good distance. Again, it's not like I really had the option to be stealthy, not when I'm hauling a white wolf atop my back.
Though it was nice that the wolf's corpse acted somewhat as a deterrent to other beasts, I happened to encounter, and while I'm sure they would've realized the wolf was dead eventually, I didn't give them the chance as I just continued running. Luckily, no beasts attempted to attack me while traversing through the inner area, and when I finally arrived in the outer area, I slowed down from a sprint to a jog as I was pretty much in the clear, though my guard was still up, while my senses were still highly active.
I jogged for about another ten minutes until I finally reached my home on the beach, and while it wouldn't usually take me that long, I was injured and carrying a giant wolf, so it took some time. When I arrived before my makeshift home, I dropped the wolf's corpse on the sand, and just to be on the safe side, I climbed the rock formation and tried my best to conceal my presence while keeping my eyes locked on the forest I had just emerged from.
As I wasn't in the best condition, I wanted to make sure I wasn't being followed before I dropped my guard, since even though if push came to shove, I was still able to fight, it would just be quite dangerous for me, especially if the beast took me by surprise.
After waiting for another ten minutes and seeing nothing emerge from the forest, I finally released a sigh of relief and lowered my guard as I hopped off the top of the rock formation.
"Haa, now that I'm finally safe, let's eat; I'm hungry." Remarked Diddy with a smile while his stomach growled in agreement.
Approaching the wolf, I reached down and began skinning it using my nails; It wasn't my first time skinning an animal, as I've hunted numerous rabbits and deer before, so I have some experience, though it was my first time skinning a wolf, so I did make a few slight mistakes. Still, it's not like it mattered; it wasn't like I was planning to use it.
'Actually, that isn't a bad idea; how come I've never thought about that earlier? I could definitely wear some clothes. I've been running around in the nude for the past four years.' Thought Diddy as he looked down at his junk that was out in the open for all to see.
'The only problem now is that I don't know how to turn hide into leather; do I just let it dry in the sun? Haa, I don't know, so let's just go with that, and if it doesn't work, I can just hunt another wolf.' Thought Diddy as he shook his head before focusing back on skinning the wolf.
Once I had finished skinning the wolf, just like I had said, I laid the hide on a large rock with the inside facing the sky as that side was wet with blood, though since it was dusk, I'd have to wait until the morning anyways.
With the size of this wolf, I'd have to cut it into smaller pieces to properly cook it all the way through since even though I have a large bonfire which is big enough even to cook those large deer, I've learned the hard way that not all of it gets thoroughly cooked. Thankfully, it seems like whatever species I am, I can eat raw meat just fine without any adverse side effects, though it doesn't taste as good as cooked meat.
"Alrighty then, let's start with the hind legs first; they should have the most meat on them." Remarked Diddy as he entered his hut to grab a large stone knife.
Since I doubted I'd be able to cleanly cut through the wolf's bones with this stone knife, I decided to just cut all muscle, ligaments, and whatever else was attached from the leg to the body. Unsurprisingly, it was far more challenging to butcher a wolf than a deer; its muscles were denser than the deer's, not to mention there was much more muscle as well.
"Well, it wouldn't be able to properly hunt if it didn't have all this muscle, after all." Commented Diddy as he dropped the stone knife after finishing detaching the leg from the body except for the bone.
With only the bone left, I grabbed the wolf's leg before violently striking its bone with the heel of my foot, managing to crack the bone, but it seemed like I'd need to hit it a few times to break it; once I broke the bone, officially separating the leg, I neared one of my campfires and placed the leg atop the rock slap which was resting right on the campfire.
Striking two stones together to create a spark that'll light the campfire; only took me a minute to do, which is actually my personal best. With the campfire now light and cooking the leg, I exited the house and did the same with the three remaining limbs, though with the size of my campfire, I could only cook two at a time.
While the food was cooking, I finished butchering the rest of the body, which mainly consisted of separating the organs from the rest of the body; the organs may be edible, but without any seasoning, they taste utterly terrible; besides, I don't need the extra food, this wolf should last me for the next few days.
'If only I knew how to store it properly, then I wouldn't have to worry about it being spoiled. I'm pretty sure I can turn it into beef-jerky or wolf-jerky, but to do that, won't I need salt, or do I just need to suck all the juices out? Either way, I don't have the knowledge or the equipment to do such things.' Pondered Diddy while lying in the hammock, looking up at the stars.
As I had nothing to do until the food was finished cooking, I figured I should inspect my body to see the extent I'd been injured during the battle.
'Hmm, considering I feel pain every time I either inhale or exhale, I'm pretty sure I have at least one broken rib, probably more; my back seems to be mostly fine; I can't pinpoint an area that hurts more than others, so I should me good. However, my left arm is quite damaged; I should probably wrap it in some bandages.' Thought Diddy as he eyed his left arm, which had three bloody gashes.
Hopping out of the hammock, I headed inside and searched through one of my storage boxes until I found a bandage I had crafted by weaving plant fibers and spreading honey on it; I'm sure honey isn't the best so-called ointment I could use, but I'm no doctor or botanist, so I just went with what I know.
Splashing my arm in fresh, clean water, which was supposed to be my drinking water, I carefully dried it off before tightly wrapping it in the self-made bandage. Once that was done, I inhaled a strong scent of cooked meat, causing me to nearly drool as I was currently starving.
"Finally, I can eat!" Said Diddy as he approached the meat, which was sizzling on the heated stone slab.
Grabbing the meat, only to drop it on the ground as it was still hot, I wrapped my hands in some palm leaves I had lying around before carefully grabbing it, this time without dropping it.
"Ah, that's good; it's tough to chew, but this is definitely the best-tasting food I've had!" Exclaimed Diddy as he took a bite of the wolf meat.
Quickly devouring the first leg, I grabbed the second leg and finished that one as well; only then was I satisfied and no longer hungry.
"Now it's time to go to sleep." Muttered Diddy as he patted his bulging stomach as he approached the hammock, and not even a minute later, he was already fast asleep.
___
___
"That was a magnificent sleep!" Said Diddy as he woke up and exited the hammock full of energy; his stomach had returned to normal.
Doing some stretches, I noticed that a significant amount of my pain had disappeared, and my arm and chest were still sore, but other than that, I felt pretty good.
'Looks like I will be able to train today; no need to take a rest day.' Thought Diddy with a smile.
Though before I started my morning training, I cooked the remaining two wolf legs and ate them; then, I headed to my training area.
Standing before the massive boulder, I lifted it up, only to note that it seemed lighter, though I didn't think about it much, and like usual, I began doing some squats. However, while doing so, I started noticing that it wasn't nearly as difficult as yesterday, and within fifteen minutes, I hit one-thousand squats, yet I still had some more in the tank. So out of curiosity, I continued doing squats until I felt I had reached my limit.
"1497… 1498… 1499… 1500!" Exclaimed Diddy while breathing heavily, though he had a large smile.
Dropping the boulder behind, I looked into the sky and began laughing like a maniac, as I might've just found something entirely game-changing about me.
"Hahahaha!! I fucking love this body!"
___
___
Elven Legacy (Chapter 125: Goliath the Titan) || Hero of Harmony (Chapter 7: Mana Theory and Repercussions) || One Piece: Chaos Kong (Chapter 9: New Technique!) at [patreon.com/Ozonelayer691]