Ken rose with the soft light of dawn. The air was cool and damp, perfect for setting his new trap before the stream warmed and fish went deeper.
He carried the finished fish trap carefully—a woven cylinder of soaked willow and birch, about three feet long and narrow at one end, with a funnel-shaped opening guiding fish into the chamber and a bait pouch secured at the back.
Reaching the bend in the stream just past his garden, Ken anchored the trap between a pair of half-submerged rocks. He tied it in place with vine cord and carefully packed the bait pouch with crushed garlic stems and crushed chickweed—fragrant enough to catch a curious nose.
Once it was secure, he stood, brushing dew from his sleeves.
Now we wait.
---
Midday – Garden and Prep
Back at home, Ken checked his garden. Dew glistened on broad leaves and green shoots swayed in the breeze. It was time for a selective harvest.
He picked:
Green onions – 5 stalks, bright and crisp
Wild cress – bitter and peppery, perfect for wraps
Chickweed – small clusters for stew thickening
Lemon balm – 2 clippings, for subtle aroma
Mint – for wrapping and garnish
Crownroot sprouts – just beginning to bulge at the soil
---
[Basic Gardening EXP +7% → 28%]
[Ingredient Identification EXP +4% → 57%]
---
Inside the cottage, Ken placed the vegetables on the prep table. His mind wasn't just on the meal—it was on how to serve it.
He laid out possible packaging:
Flatbread Wraps – portable, edible
Mint Leaf Wraps – natural, fragrant
Bark Cones – for dry food
Clay Sealed Pots – for hot stew
Using pliable birch bark soaked in warm water, he folded cones and tested strength by packing them with pebbles. A clay pot, hardened by fire, was filled with a light stew of greens, then sealed with a dough lid and roasted gently to cook within its container.
---
[New System Update: Primitive Packaging]
[Food Packaging EXP +6% → 11%]
[Meal Preservation EXP +4% → 16%]
---
Afternoon – The Stream
After a full day of prep and testing, Ken returned to the stream, his basket on his back and hope in his chest.
The fish trap sat where he had left it, barely visible below the surface, water rippling gently around the funnel opening.
He pulled it up, heart pounding.
Inside: three small river fish—silver-scaled, fresh, and very much alive.
Ken grinned and tucked them gently into a netted pouch, then reset the trap for tomorrow.
---
[Basic Trapping EXP +5% → 39%]
[Ingredient Identification EXP +3% → 60%]
---
Evening – A Portable Feast
Back at home, Ken scaled and gutted the fish. Using his newly learned technique, he filleted them cleanly, removing bones and prepping for grilling.
---
[Butchering EXP +5% → 17%]
---
As Ken cleaned the fish beside the garden, his father approached with curious eyes and a faint grin. "Three fish, huh? Didn't think you'd take to the rod that quick."
Ken chuckled. "Didn't use a rod."
His father raised an eyebrow. "Oh?"
"I made a fish trap," Ken said, unable to hide the pride in his voice. "Wove it from willow and birch. Left it near the deep bend behind the herb patch this morning. Just pulled it up this afternoon."
His father let out an impressed huff. "You built a trap that caught fish on its first try? Well, damn. Show me later."
---
He grilled the fillets wrapped in mint leaves, then placed them inside freshly toasted flatbread wraps layered with chopped wild cress and lemon balm.
He sealed the wraps in softened birch bark cones, tying them shut with braided grass. The scent was mouthwatering—smoky, herbal, and warm.
On the table sat three wrapped meals:
Minted River Fish Wrap – with green onion, lemon balm, and cress
Herbal Flatwrap – light meal with crownroot shavings and wild chickweed
Clay-Sealed Forest Stew – thick and hearty, with arrowroot and garden greens
His father took one bite of the fish wrap and nodded with a grunt. "This… is good. You could sell this at the market."
His mother tapped the sealed clay pot. "Farmhands would love these. They stay hot for hours."
---
[Ingredient Prep EXP +5% → 69%]
[Fire Control EXP +4% → 49%]
[Food Packaging EXP +5% → 16%]
[Meal Preservation EXP +3% → 19%]
---
KEN — STATUS
Level: 4
EXP: 25/80
Unspent Attribute Points: 5
SKILLS UNLOCKED:
Ingredient Prep (Lv. 1 – 69%)
Fire Control (Lv. 1 – 49%)
Seasoning Sense (Lv. 1 – 60%)
Ingredient Identification (Lv. 1 – 60%)
Basic Gardening (Lv. 1 – 28%)
Basic Trapping (Lv. 1 – 39%)
Butchering (Lv. 1 – 17%)
Meal Preservation (Lv. 1 – 19%)
Food Packaging (Lv. 1 – 16%)
---
That night, Ken stared at the fire, the final wrap cooling beside him.
Tomorrow, he thought, it's time to test this. Not just on family.
It's time to feed someone else—and get paid.
-------
Later that evening, after the fire had died down and the plates were scraped clean, the two of them sat outside with a pile of freshly soaked branches. Under the moonlight, Ken walked his father through each step—how to bend the ribs without breaking them, how to weave the funnel so fish could swim in but not find their way out, how to tie off the bait pouch at the back.
"Never thought I'd be the one learning traps from my son," his father said, fingers working carefully through the weave. "But this'll do just fine downriver."
They finished just before midnight. Two nearly identical traps sat drying on the stoop, the faint smell of forest resin and soaked bark rising from them.
"We'll set this one first thing in the morning," Ken said.
His father nodded, giving his son's shoulder a proud squeeze. "If the forest ever stops feeding you, you'll still never go hungry."
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