Like the original Sanji, Sanji Meow was mentally resilient. After feeling down for a while, he soon recovered and bounded cheerfully over to the two Bullfango King carcasses to assess his newly acquired ingredients.
"Just like yesterday, you damaged the ingredients too much, meow." After inspecting them, Sanji Meow shook his little head regretfully. "The smaller one is in pretty good condition, but it lost too much blood and has been sitting here a bit too long. The meat will be a little dry when cooked, meow."
"So..." The little yellow cat beckoned to Xie Wen. "Hurry up and carve them with that magical little knife of yours, meow!"
Even without Sanji Meow saying anything, Xie Wen had intended to do just that.
He took out the Carving Knife, walked over to the larger Bullfango King, which was closer to him, and casually stabbed and sliced...
Boar tusk ×1
Uh... not much luck there...
If they had a smith, this boar tusk might have been useful as a material. But as things stood, even if they did find other humans later, they probably still would not be able to forge authentic hunter equipment.
Xie Wen smacked his lips and plunged the knife in again.
Squish.
"Huh?"
The sound of the blade piercing flesh was unmistakable. Xie Wen looked closely and saw that the Carving Knife in his hand had genuinely stabbed into the Bullfango King's body...
So in this unknown world, even bosses could only be carved for materials once?
Xie Wen immediately understood what had happened, though he did not feel particularly disappointed.
After all, he did not even know whether hunter smiths existed here, so being able to carve materials did not seem all that important anymore. Besides, this extra carve had been a free bonus in the first place. The monster's own materials were not going to disappear.
Pulling out the Carving Knife and giving it a flashy twirl, Xie Wen walked over to the smaller Bullfango King and carved it...
Boar hide ×1
Xie Wen: "..."
Sanji Meow: "..."
It seemed their luck really was poor today.
Xie Wen quietly put away the Carving Knife and tucked the boar hide into his pouch as well...
Neither he nor Sanji Meow knew how to process hides. They had previously either cooked and eaten the animal skins along with the meat or simply thrown them away. Now that they finally had a whole, properly processed hide, they could take it back and use it as a mattress.
Moreover, judging by the current situation, there were probably no other intelligent beings on this island. If they wanted to leave someday, they could also use this hide to make a sail.
In fact, Xie Wen had started thinking about leaving a long time ago, when he first realized this might be an isolated island. Once he confirmed that this was not the world of Monster Hunter, leaving became an absolute necessity.
Honestly, given the choice, Xie Wen would rather not set out to sea. The ocean was far more dangerous than this resource-rich island. But spending the rest of his life here was another matter. Never mind Sanji Meow, who wanted to find female cats-Xie Wen himself could not stand the thought.
Still, there was no rush at the moment. Xie Wen felt he should at least wait until he was two or three years older and had grown stronger. Ideally, he would summon another cat or two as well, giving them more help when they sailed.
In the meantime, Xie Wen could take his time preparing.
And after carefully analyzing his advantages, Xie Wen felt that even setting out to sea right now would not be much of a problem.
The dynamic map in the Hunter's Notes would do a great deal to keep them from getting lost, while the Pocket Dimension Pouch meant they did not have to worry too much about supplies. Sanji Meow even knew a little about navigation, though Xie Wen was not sure whether that came from the character he was based on or whether Palicoes were simply that versatile...
After all, from the early cat hot-air balloons to the later Meownster Hunters and trade ships, Palicoes had always shown considerable expertise in long-distance travel. It was perfectly normal for Sanji Meow to know a little about navigation... right?
Of course, it would be even better if he could summon someone like Nami Meow or Jack Sparrow Meow in the future.
Daydreaming away, Xie Wen packed up their two hunting trophies with Sanji Meow. They did not rush back afterward, but wandered around the area to expand their explored portion of the map. Only when the sky began to darken did they return to their temporary camp with the large haul of ingredients and some potentially useful materials they had gathered that day.
"Sanji, do you know how to make a tent?"
While Sanji Meow prepared dinner, Xie Wen took stock of their various materials and asked him.
"I know roughly how it's done, but I've never made one myself... why, meow?"
At Sanji Meow's casual answer, Xie Wen's cheek twitched slightly...
He had finally figured it out: every one of these Palicoes had remarkable skills. Even a chef cat knew handicrafts!
Still, the more advantages like this he had, the better, so Xie Wen did not dwell on it. He explained, "To make more progress exploring the map, of course..."
Their current base was not far from the beach where he had first awakened, putting it near the island's edge. If they wanted to explore farther toward the center, a portable tent would be essential, whether they camped temporarily along the way or moved their base outright.
He had not considered this earlier because, until yesterday, Xie Wen had planned to become an overleveled starter-area sword master, maxing out his level before exploring the map. Besides, before discovering the Carving Knife's special ability, they had not had suitable hides for making a tent.
"You have a point, meow..." With older Palico ladies at stake, Sanji Meow became unusually serious. "We don't need to move that soon, but spending some time practicing how to make a tent wouldn't hurt, meow."
And so, after dinner, Sanji Meow explained the tent-making method he knew to Xie Wen in detail.
Based on those instructions, Xie Wen sorted out all the materials they would need...
"Hmm, we still need to cut some flexible branches for the frame... too bad there's no bamboo on this island... and we might not have enough hides."
Since neither the human nor the cat had unlocked any tailoring skills, they had to account for wasted hides. The boar hide originally intended as a mattress and sail would also have to go toward making the tent first.
Over the following days, Xie Wen added tent-making practice to his routine of hunting and training.
The tent frame was not difficult. They only needed to find suitable wood and heat it over a fire to set its shape. With Sanji Meow, a chef cat who was excellent at controlling heat, they failed only once while shaping their first wooden strip. Every attempt afterward succeeded on the first try.
Then they lashed the finished wooden strips together with vines, completing the frame.
The real trouble lay in sewing the hides. Just as Xie Wen had feared, he only vaguely remembered a few simple stitches from his elementary school craft classes, so he wasted quite a lot of hide during his early attempts.
Only after a long period of practice did Xie Wen's stitched hides become barely presentable. Even then, he could not guarantee their strength or how well they sealed, so for now he could still only practice with smaller pieces.
Sanji Meow tried to help along the way, but his talent for tailoring was even worse than Xie Wen's. While sewing, his claws would often slip out accidentally and poke several holes in the hide he was holding.
Although Xie Wen finally had something he could use to mock Sanji Meow for being clumsy, he would much rather have a Machi Meow, Tomoyo Meow, or Uryu Ishida Meow to free him from this work.
And besides a tailor cat, Xie Wen also wanted to summon a craftsman cat with shipbuilding skills...
Thinking about it that way, the mere third of a Palico Summoning Ticket he currently had was nowhere near enough!
Before you continue