As before, one went hunting for a pole, another began tying up the bear’s legs, and Joe went to work retrieving his weaponry. The spear proved to be unharmed at all, and three of the arrows he was able to retrieve without any problems. The first arrow actually was still intact but was now unusable since the bear had swatted it a few times and the arrow was now bent beyond use. He still retrieved it since he could at least use the arrow head, and he spent some time carefully cleaning all his equipment even as the hunters took the time to drain the bear of as much blood as possible, although it took three of them to lift it up so it could drain.
One of the hunters began an animated discussion with Garnedell and the boy quickly agreed with whatever the man was saying and he jogged quickly to Joe’s side.
“Me go village! Man come!”
“OK! Seems like a good idea! Don’t get lost!”
Garnedell realized it was a dismissal even if he didn’t understand and simply nodded in agreement with a beaming smile even as he took off towards the village. Is that the right direction? I thought… But none of the other hunters corrected Garendell, even the one who watched the boy take off. It took about twenty minutes before the bear was drained and Joe was well recovered by that time. He was anxious to get back since that had already attracted one predator with the boar’s blood, and the stink of the blood of both animals was now quite overwhelming. He called to the hunters and suggested the move on, but the four seemed to be unwilling to go, pointing at the bear and expressing how big it was. Joe smiled then pointed to himself before pointing to the bear.
“I can pick up one side just fine! If we can have two or three take the other side. The last guy can take the boar and let the other end drag if we need three on the bear!”
Joe explained but realized nothing was going to get through unless he showed what he could do. So he brought the pole of the bear up under his shoulders before lifting it from the ground with a soft grunt and began pulling it away, the other end dragging through the forest floor! Man, this thing’s heavy! I’m almost at my limit! But then he felt the other side wobbling under him and he stopped, looking back to see all four struggling to lift the other side. Huh… their going to need my help! He looked around quickly and found a tree with a low Y in its trunk and dragged his end to it before propping it in the tree.
He then went to where the four men were struggling to lift the bear and braced himself under it before using his legs to stand, lifting it with a bit of struggle. The four men looked at him with shock before talking excitedly and began setting themselves up to carry the bear. Joe was at the head at the moment, and it seemed to be the lighter end, so he called them back to take over this side of the bear. He had three of them come under, and the easily bore the weight of the bear. When he tried to drop it to two people, he saw them struggle, so he decided to leave the three there. He ran over to the boar quickly and offered it to the last hunter, dropping it carefully on the hunter’s shoulder and he easily took the weight. He was soon tromping off through the forest, letting the other end of the log drag behind him and Joe quickly settled himself under the pole at the bear’s rump. The men happened to be facing the bear, so he put it at his rear so that he could walk forward and follow behind the boar and the last hunter.
The bear pole settled on his shoulders, and the four started walking after the lone hunter dragging the boar. Joe found the trip not too difficult, although the weight of the pole dug painfully into his shoulders, and he ended up resting the pole on the palm of his hand which was then pressed into his shoulder by the weight of the pole. The hand didn’t help hold any weight, but it made the pole rest much more comfortably against his body.
About thirty minutes later, and after one rest break, the returning hunters heard the excited chatter and loud crashing of a group of villagers. Garnedell had returned help for the hunters and when they came into sight of the hunters, the quickly helped the lone hunter pulling the boar but soon fell into hushed awe when they came upon the last four pulling the giant bear, shock freezing them in place as they stared on the great beast’s carcass. Joe smiled then finally called out for help.
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“OK! OK! It’s big. So help us carry this thing!”
The villagers came out of there shock, and four or five of them rushed forward, Kargallen the smith being one of them. Huh… makes sense.. He must have a lot of strength in his stats! I wonder what the other ones are? Maybe a miner? Probably farmers though, and day laborers? Four other men stepped up to take over carrying the bear, and Joe released the pole with a grateful groan even as two men took over his shaft and two men took over the three hunters’ place at the rear. Must be farmers… they get a bonus to strength, right? Or… I don’t remember!
The trip back was an excited romp of laughing cries and disbelieving shouts of shock as it seemed the gathered people asked questions of the hunters or listened to them speak about their hunt in hallowed shock punctuated by gasps of whispered surprised. The trip back didn’t seem to take as long, although they did swap out the people carrying the bear another three times and the boar carriers were swapped out two times. Joe helped with the bear once again on the last time, all the men already having helped carry, and he was feeling refreshed enough to help out again anyway. It was certainly a lot easier with another person helping him on his end.
They came back into the village with the sun just past noon and everyone lining the streets, the news already long known by all the villagers. Their prizes were brought to the inn and dropped around back where a bevy of people began butchering the boar. Several people stood expectantly around the bear, looking at Joe. It took Garnedell coming to speak to him to realize the people were asking him what he wished to do with his kill. He blinked, a bit confused, but then waved at them to butcher the bear.
“Feast! Eat. Tomorrow!”
Garnedell grinned hugely and turned to the people, explaining. They cried out with joyful surprise and Joe waved those butchering to boar to take over the bear as well. The people standing to the side swarmed forward and began helping with the process while a few that were working on the boar shifted to work on the bear instead. One runner sprinted off around the field and Joe realized he was going towards the priest, as much as Joe was able to guess. Joe smiled for a bit before he slipped back into the inn to enjoy a delicious lunch. Garnedell showed up a few minutes later, eating quickly to catch up to Joe before both headed out into the forest once again. Joe didn’t need to stop by the priest as the priest had been brought to the village agora where he’d stopped and looked at the bear with some surprise before looking at Joe with considering eyes. He then performed some kind of working which he bathed the boar in something, which Joe found to be very interesting, his eyes watching the wave of light falling across the bear’s carcass in a liquid like form before appearing to soak into the boar. Joe watched for some time but the priest seemed done so he then asked the priest to swap his job back to what he was leveling so he could head out into the forest after the slimes once again.
The spent the afternoon hunting slimes and stayed late, well into the evening. The day ended with Joe at about half way to level seventeen and Joe returned to the village feeling much better, his mind settled and relaxed. He spent the evening bathing with Garnedell and several other men, no longer surprised by how many people were now joining him in his bathing, although it was a bit surprising when he found that the numbers had doubled even from just a couple nights ago. The men bathed quietly although the women seemed to chatter away happily, easily heard through the cloth wall separating them. Huh… maybe I should think about building a full on bath house? Wonder if I could find some marble or a good substitute? Do they have tile here?
After a delicious and filling meal, Joe went to bed in their room. Garnedell now had his own bed, something Joe had remedied pretty quickly when he realized the boy seemed to be serious about following him and the theft of his belongings had him seeking a safer place. When Garnedell had understood Joe’s question, he had spoken to the inn keeper and offered them a free upgrade to a much better room which had two beds and a small fireplace and living room like area. There was still no bath or bathroom, but bathrooms didn’t seem to exist, at least in this village. Man… a toilet and toilet paper! Just… Joe sighed at the loss of such convenience and dropped to sleep quickly, the adrenaline rush of the bear fight giving him a huge crash after that let him sleep easily and quickly.