Resource gathering

Energized by your resoulution, you get up and begin making your way down the mountain. Mt. Imporne. A massive, jutting peak in the middle of a wild forest. It wasn't a favorite of adventures, due to the low level mobs and high level mini bosses. There were kobolds at the peak, a few hill Giants wandering around, and you thought there was a harpy clan on the other side of the mountain somewhere. The low level mobs consisted of small monsters (like you), and animals such as bears and mountain lions. The mountain was also home to the Great Wyrm, with the kobolds serving as it's cultists. You had never been up that far and you had no desire to go that far, as you didn't really want to die if you had any choice in the matter. Still, it usually meant that lower level adventurers didn't come up here much, and the high level ones usually just went after the minibosses. The forest you were less certain about, as it wasn't really your bailywick, but you knew that there was a goblin village nearby. Then again, when wasn't there a goblin village nearby?

As you walk, you begin compiling a list of what you need to do.

1. Get your bed back. This was going to require you to gather some nice comfy moss, or kill something for it's skin. It would probably be moss, since you were not very good at hunting.
2. Find some food. Again, you'd prefer meat, but anything would do. A mouthfull of healing herbs or wild garlic might not be as good or as filling as venison, but it was better than nothing.
3. Test out your new magic. You wanted to know exactly how effective your spells were.
4. Find some material to make a blockade. Stones or branches would do. You were going to try your dammdest go down fighting this time.

And above all, you added mentally, don't die.

As the path leveled out into forested foothills, you turned left and began walking more quickly. Soon you see a cluster of trees that were a slightly different color from the rest of the forest: Resource Nodes. These occured randomly in most forests, but usually only one at a time. Finding this a cluster had been a lucky break, and you were glad to see that the update hadn't changed it. You experimentally punch the node and are suprised when you receive a pop up.

Skill penalty, Tool penalty, Dexterity bonus

Huh. That was new. You knew you weren't as good at harvesting as most adventurers, but now you knew why. It was because you lacked a tool, and (apparently) a skill. Wait don't I have a skill for that? You think. You check, and sure enough, there it was.

Woodworking 16

Huh. So woodworking wasn't for harvesting. But then what was it for? You let your mind wander for a few moments before shaking your head and getting back to work. A second punch repeats the pop-up, but it also provides a reassuring progress bar, mostly black with a sliver of green at one end. You hit the tree again and the green moves.... A little. You sign and settle down to harvest. This is going to take a while.

After about ten minutes of punching the tree, you fill the progress bar for the first time.

DING

A chunk of wood shot out of the tree and fell to the ground. You ignored it. You were more interested in the new popup in front of you

Resource node (1/?)
Common, Tree
Drops: Pine Wood, ????, ????, ????

That was.... Also new. After looking closer, it seemed that the tree dropped pine wood and three other things that you hadn't discovered yet. That was interesting, though, again, not very relevant. You picked up the chunk of wood that had appeared when you filled the progress bar and studied it.

Pine wood (common), ????

There's another pop up. They were happening a lot more than they used to before the update. You looked suspiciously at the chunk and the pop up expanded, startling you.

Pine wood (common)
A pale, easily harvested wood. Cheap and plentiful, It has many uses, from building to firewood, though the latter is more common due to it's softness.

Okay, what the hell is going on here? You though in irritation. How in blazes did you get that pop up to expand? You start picking up detritus from the ground and and doing it again, but it nothing happens. When you try it on the resource node, however, you get the same pop up you got after harvesting. You rack your brains for any idea of what's going on, and after about fifteen minutes you remember something:

Five or six deaths ago, one adventurer had chopped off your head, something that didn't happen often, which is why you remembered it so well. You had remained conscious just long enough for you to see the adventurer squint hard at your head and receive a pop up just like the one you just got for the pine wood. You thought they called it "triggering their Perception". Is that what this is? You though in disbelief. But you weren't an adventurer, so how could you do that? Was it a function of the update? Or did you already have the ability, and just never triggered it before? Your thoughts continued in that direction for a few minutes before you reined them in. While the ability was certainly useful, you still had harvesting to do, and you were wasting time experimenting and daydreaming. You returned to the resource node and resumed punching it. The second time the progress bar filled only gave you another pine wood, but the third produced what you were looking for:

Creeping moss (uncommon), ????

The moss wasn't as good as a skin for bedding, but it was better than nothing. You continue hitting the resource node until, at the sixth time the progress bar filled, the tree vanished, leaving a stump, and spat out two more pine wood and another creeping moss.

(6/6)
Resource node depleted 7:59:45

You picked up the moss and were about to put it in your inventory when you had a thought. Holding the moss in your hand, you trigger your perception.

Creeping moss (uncommon)
A species of moss that is often found on trees. It naturally secretes a mild paralytic, and is used as the main ingredient in minor paralysis potions.

You stare at the description in shock, then throw your head back and groan. There go your plans for a bed. It just couldn't be easy, could it? No, the gods had to make it so that your most accessable source of bedding caused paralysis.

After fuming for a few minutes, you got up and stashed the four units of moss you've collected in your inventory. You doubt you'll find a use for it, but it only takes up one inventory slot out of five, so you figure you'll take it. You take the five units of pine wood too, with a vauge idea to biuld a barricade in front of your lair. After all that hard work to get it, it seams a shame to just leave it behind. Besides, it might turn out to be good for something, and you can always dump it later if you need the room. Right now you've just essentially wasted about an hour on a useless endeavor, so you need to get moving on plan B.