Mate Collecting System: The Beast Kings Are Obsessed With Me

By the time evening arrived, Nuan had successfully harvested every square inch of the thick, furry hide from the two Muskoxes, storing it safely away in her system inventory slots.

I’ll give it a proper wash in the river tomorrow morning, she thought, wiping a stray strand of hair from her sweat-dampened forehead.

She walked over to the died-down fire pit, checking on the bone-dry clay bowls resting peacefully in the warm ash bed before carefully stacking fresh, dry hardwood over and around them.

Nearby, the rest of the pack had already begun processing the rest of the Muskoxen carcasses, their sharp stone tools and claws tearing through the fresh meat with efficient, predatory precision.

Kael, wanting to show off his newly claimed friend-tier points, took her steel knife and expertly carved out a prime, succulent portion of meat all by himself.

He trotted over, sat down close beside her, and proudly handed the knife back, blade first.

"Wow, you’ve actually learned how to handle this thing without cutting your own fingers off. I’m genuinely impressed," Nuan murmured, giving him an approving nod.

Kael puffed out his chest so hard his ribs practically creaked. Eager to be useful, he grabbed a burning torch from the camp center and brought it close to ignite the wood pile she had just built.

"Whoa, wait, Kael! Hold your horses!" Nuan hissed, swatting at his hand. "I put my unbaked pottery beneath all of this. I need a very slow, gentle fire at first, or the heat shock will explode my hard work. Let me remove some of these heavy logs."

"Okay..." Kael mumbled, shrinking back slightly.

Nuan carefully lit a small, controlled fire first, letting the rising heat warm the clay gradually to drive out the last invisible moisture.

Once she was satisfied, she steadily fed more hardwood into the pit until the flames burned hot and strong.

Hmm, this should be perfect. The top can roast the dinner, and the bottom can bake my kitchenware.

Kael immediately went to work skewering the fresh meat onto thick wooden sticks, resting them over the roaring fire to roast.

The rest of the clearing filled with the mouth-watering aroma of sizzling fat as the other hunters did the same around their respective fire pits.

Nuan scanned the pile of extra kindling beside Kael, her eyes locking onto a remarkably thick, perfectly round, and incredibly durable hardwood stick.

"Oh, look at that! I’ve found Groot’s arm for my makeshift Stormbreaker!" Nuan chirped happily, snatching the wood up.

She turned it over in her hands, checking its weight and flexibility. "Hmm, perfect structure," she murmured. Reaching into her system inventory, she summoned the newly acquired milestone reward, and the heavy metal piece materialized right into her palm.

She held it up to the firelight, admiring it like a priceless diamond. Oh, sweet mother of metallurgy, actual structural metal!

Nuan peered closely at the eye of the hammer head, checking the opening meant for the handle.

She tried pushing the wooden stick inside, but the rough bark made it just a bit too thick to slide through.

"Uhm, let me quickly fix this design flaw."

Nuan pulled her steel knife out and began expertly shaving down the outer edge of the hardwood branch, curls of wood falling into the dirt.

Kael’s golden eyes locked onto the strange, dark object resting on her lap.

He reached out, picking it up to examine the smooth, cold surface. "What is this weird thing, Nuan? It is heavy like a river stone, but it smells completely different."

"Oh, that is iron, my platonic friend!" Nuan explained, her eyes sparkling as she whittled away at the wood. "It’s a magical substance found deep in the ground inside mines. But luckily, I managed to manifest it out of thin air only because of your cooperation! You should feel very proud of yourself!"

"Hm?" Kael tilted his head, turning the forged hammer head over in his large palm, thoroughly confused by the concept. "Do I throw it at the prey to kill it?"

"No, absolutely not, you caveman!" Nuan gasped, quickly snatching the heavy metal out of his hand and placing it safely on her far side as she resumed shaping the handle. "It is incredibly precious to me! It’s a tool I can use to build an entire civilization—or, you know, smash some skulls in close combat if anyone gets haughty with me!"

Nuan kept shaving down the edge, testing the fit every few strokes. Hmm, just a few more millimeters off the top...

While she was entirely absorbed in her carpentry, Kael was on high-alert chef duty.

He carefully rotated the skewer, blew gently on the sizzling, roasted meat to cool it down, and held the prime piece right in front of Nuan’s lips.

Without breaking her focus, Nuan leaned forward and took a massive, greedy bite.

"Mmm! Pure, glorious fat!" she mumbled through a stuffed mouth, wood shavings practically flying from her chin.

Kael took a bite from the exact same piece, chewed happily, and then brought the skewer back to feed her another mouthful, effortlessly falling into a domestic rhythm of one bite for her, one bite for him.

Finally, after one last precise shave, Nuan lined up the hardwood stick with the metal eye and jammed it inside.

She stood up and forcefully stomped the bottom of the handle against a flat rock twice.

Thud! Thud!

The heavy iron head slid into place, locking tightly. "Aaaand boom! It’s alive!"

Nuan spun the crude hammer through the air with a dramatic theatrical flair, caught the handle, and slammed it down onto the ground to test the force.

"Ouch!!!" She instantly hissed, shaking her hand out as the vibrations shot straight up her forearm.

Okay, not an ideal grip at all... Note to self! Raw wood has zero shock absorption.

"Hmm, I’ll add a layer of leather over the handle for a better grip and way less vibration impact!" she murmured.

Reaching into her inventory, she pulled out a scrap of dried boar leather and a few thin, flexible vines.

With quick, nimble fingers, she wrapped the leather tightly around the base of the handle and lashed it down securely.

"Now this is ready for maximum impact!" Nuan cheered, raising the hammer high above her head like a prehistoric, loincloth-wearing Thor.

"What does that do?" Kael asked, blinking at the shiny weapon.

Nuan looked down at a thick, heavy marrow bone laying on the dirt from their dinner prep.

With a wicked grin, she brought the hammer down with all her might.

CRACK!

The solid bone shattered into pieces. "See? It does that!"

Kael tilted his head, reached down with his bare, heavily muscled hand, and lazily crushed an even larger bone into dust with a casual squeeze of his fingers. He looked up at her, completely earnest. "I can do the same thing without the heavy rock-stick."

"Tsk... shut your mouth, you showing-off an apex predator," Nuan grumbled, rolling her eyes so hard she nearly saw her own brain.

"I can use this to strike glowing, red-hot metal into shape, which you cannot do with your bare paws unless you want medium-rare fingers. Just wait and see, I am going to build a whole pushcart for you guys!"

Kael just gave a soft huff, thoroughly amused by her fiery energy. He blew on the last piece of roasted meat and held it out.

Nuan took another giant bite, happily licking the savory juices from her lips as she lightly tapped her new hammer against random rocks, completely thrilled with her brand-new tool.

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