Finally reaching the hill, he walked around it and managed to find a small stream of drinking water. Thanking his ingenuity, he began to wash off the layers of dirt and treat the wounds from the leeches with something. "You can't underestimate infectious diseases in such damp conditions." Nobu silently washed the dirt off himself with cold water. He found this process meditative, after a rather stressful situation. Nobu wanted to climb up the steep hill, but it was too exhausting and risky a path, but fast. And there was a detour, but it would take, perhaps, a whole day. In the meantime, he decided to spend the night in the shade of the stones.
There were many different stones here, Nobu decided to find something resembling flint among the stones to try to strike a spark for fire. He sorted through the stones for quite a while, carrying and lifting weights. He was able to build a small stone enclosure to spend the night inside. Nobu was tired and it was hard for him to sort through the pile of stones, but it was worth it. Nobu rubbed small stones against each other, and gradually he began to notice a distinctive feature from the stones, but alas, he still could not get a spark.
Having forgotten about this matter, he remembered the guaranteed method of making fire. Having found the driest stick and tinder from everything wet that was nearby, he still managed to get fire by rubbing the stick. His hands were burning and calloused.
It was monotonous and tedious, then the tinder did not fit and turned out to be too wet. "Come on, come on, damn it!" fortunately, he was rubbing the stick against the stick while being among an artificial stone fence, so the wind did not interfere, but it still took quite a long time before he managed to create a smoldering coal. Now, the last hope of his world lay on this coal, all the responsibility and desire to get a good night's sleep and be well-fed on a warm night. He guarded this smoldering coal as if it were his firstborn. - Come on, baby, just a little bit more. - The coal began to smoke more and make pleasant crackling sounds. - Yes, just a little bit more... -
The coal turned red and the first flame appeared, along with tears in Nobu's eyes.
- It's... magical. I did it. - He swore to himself not to cry, but the emotions were too strong. Sleeping in the darkness, afraid of every rustle, suffering from mosquitoes, running away from a tiger. Suddenly everything fell out in a single lump of despair. Catharsis happened. A quiet emotional burnout. This flame meant too much to him, as if hope inside him had flared up again, after a time of darkness. But this naive boy would stay in the darkness for too long, he would lose himself in it. The light showed him how long he had been in the darkness, and when he saw it, he went blind. The sun was beginning to set. Here, the snake meat on the stick began to sizzle, a small smoke emanating from the surrounded small stone fortress for the desperate boy inside it. This flame is only for him.
His gaze looked gloomy, he remembered everything that happened during the day. Finally, he had time to think, but there were not many thoughts. Before the sun went down, he needed to practice Frost Breath, the strength will help increase the chances of survival. This quirk is, oddly enough, a gust of strong frosty wind ejected from the mouth. An ordinary person cannot tear such a strong breath from their lungs. Due to the affinity of Himura's blood with the element of ice, he did it perfectly. The strength of the breath was enough to, if not freeze the enemy at a distance of up to 5 meters, then restrict their movement with cold. Definitely a good defensive quirk.
He was itching to get another quirk from Samsara, but first he needed to solve the problems of primary importance for survival.
Nobu went down to the lowland and gathered some brushwood for a bed, also found an old tree stump that would burn all night as firewood and heat his small stone fortress. It was quite difficult to lift the stump up the slope, so he rolled it until it got dark. Definitely the best night in a long time. He managed to sleep a full 8 hours in the warmth, with a view of the stars. The side was warmed by a pleasant fire, and the wind howled between the stones, creating a curious whistle that attracted animals with its low frequencies. While Nobu slept, a group of monkeys flocked to the sound that interested them.
The morning awakening was not the most pleasant. Nobu opened his eyes and saw a smoldering blackened stump, his body gave off a pain in the muscles from yesterday's load, until someone tugged his leg.
- Grandma...just a minute...!? - Nobu woke up, jerked and pushed very hard one of the black and gray monkeys, who was preparing to bite his leg with sharp fangs. It flew down the slope, crashing into the frequent stones. The other monkeys became alarmed and angry. Nobu slept with a sharp bone at his side, which he had sharpened last night and now it was quite a dangerous bladed weapon. Nobu ran out of the shelter, throwing one of the monkeys aside, he found himself in more or less open territory. The monkeys followed him and surrounded him. One of them with a brownish mane bit Nobu in the forearm, for which she received Frost Breath right in the mouth. From the immediate proximity to the source of frost, her head froze and shattered into pieces, and Nobu hurried to get out of the grip of the mouth.
- I will not give myself to you, bastard macaques! - the heart was beating, pumping adrenaline through the body, feeding all the muscles at 100% capacity. The gray macaque went around him from behind and bit his shoulder, although it was aiming for his neck. Nobu threw it over and pierced it with a sharp bone, leaving the bone in the macaque.
- A-a-a! Well, bitches, come here! - Nobu grabbed a stone, waving it in front of the macaques surrounding him. They realized that this was not an easy prey and decided to retreat, losing three of the pack. As soon as they disappeared down the slope, back into the jungle, letting out a monkey howl, Nobu relaxed. He was breathing heavily from overexertion, his forearm was slightly frozen by the quirk of Frost Breath, so it did not bleed, but his shoulder was in sharp pain. It seemed that the fangs pierced all the tissue that could be pierced.
- Why are they so sharp?! Are they sharpening them on rocks or something? Ugh... - despite the wounds, Nobu was starting to like killing them, by God, let there be fewer and fewer of these creatures on Earth. It was necessary to quickly treat the wounds, he usually used leaves with water in the hope that this would help at least somehow. "They know where I am, they will come again for revenge and next time there will be more of them, I need to leave." was Nobu's only thought. An absolutely correct decision, albeit risky because of the wounds. Taking with him two small flints and a bone, somehow treating the puncture wounds by putting leaves on them and wrapping them with dry vines, he continued on his way to the hill. Nobu slowly descended the slope and began to leisurely walk around the hill from the other side. Of course, he did not forget to take the corpses of the monkeys with him, meat after all.
"What attracted them, did you track them by smell? They do not have such a strong sense of smell as a tiger. Was it possible that they had been watching from the trees from the beginning? And that sound at night, the whistling of the rocks. Well, never mind, it doesn't matter anymore." It was a long journey, avoiding danger, he safely reached the other side of the hill, it was hot, but his breath caught when he saw an incredibly beautiful valley, inside of which was a fantastic waterfall. The valley was surrounded on all sides by high rocky plateaus, which could only be climbed with the help of some equipment. Nobu whistled "It seems I have found shelter for a while."