By the time Serena got to the stream she had worked up a light sweat. Her body was aching a bit showing just how weak her new body was compared to what she was used to.
It would take some intense training for her to work up her stamina and strength to a level she was used to. As she walked to the stream, she made sure to use her enhanced senses to check for others.
Other than some distant noises of crickets and the trickling sound of water, Serena could not hear anything. Nor could she smell any other beastmen. And least from what she could tell.
Her sense of smell was on a bit of overdrive and it was a bit hard to focus on one scent alone. It would likely take some time for her to get used to her new sense of smell.
Once Serena was sure she was alone, she quickly undressed and stepped into the stream. Serena moved slowly as she entered the cold water, both to let her body adjust to the temperature and to make sure there was nothing in the water.
She did know it was mostly safe because many females from the tribe used the stream to bathe, however there was still a small chance something could've gone into the water.
Serena began washing the layer of sweat on her body when she was fully submerged in the water. It was a mindless task, so Serena took this chance to chat with the system some more.
"System, please open System Shop." Serena asked in a low voice.
[Opening Shop…]
The notification appeared before her before a larger screen popped up a second later showing the System Shop. The top right hand corner showed her amount of coins while all goods offered were split into rows, each row showing five items.
There were also categories to organize what types of goods certain things were which was quite helpful to Serena. The problem was most things were greyed out, meaning she wasn't available to access them for some reason.
Or items she was able to access cost way too much. At least the useful things to her. It took her several minutes of scrolling though everything to find something worthwhile.
[Lvl 1 Beast World Field Guide - 75 Coins]
[A basic guide to the Beast World's plant life with detailed illustrations and basic descriptions about the plant.]
While Serena knew it costed quite a lot considering she only has a hundred coins, the guide book was still something very useful for her.
As someone who'd been on multiple missions exploring different planets, she knew how much a field guide could help. Especially for survival.
And in a world like the Beast World where it was mostly a natural world, it was extremely important for her to know what kind of plants would save her or kill her.
The story had given her a bit of knowledge on plant life, but it didn't mean she was an expert. She lacked the ability to properly identify the right plant, even if she could remember what they were for.
Thus making her knowledge somewhat useless if the plant had a similar looking counterpart that could kill her.
At least with the field guide, she could better identify plants, even finding useful ones that weren't mentioned in the story or had forgotten about.
So despite it taking a huge chunk of her coins, Serena bought the guide knowing she would make very good use of the guide while she lived in this world.
"Purchase [Lvl 1 Beast World Field Guide." Serena said as she got out of the water.
[[Lvl 1 Beast World Field Guide Purchase]
[Confirm]
[Yes] [No]
"Confirm." Serena stated, beginning to get dressed.
[Purchase Confirmed]
[Total Coins Left: 25]
A moment after the system screens appeared in front of Serena, a small leather bound book appeared in front of her feet. She picked it, quickly flipping through the book.
It was about three hundred pages long with two to three plants a page. A fair amount of knowledge about plant life, but Serena doubted it covered everything.
"Likely why it had levels." Serena mused to herself before she wrapped the book in an animal fur and hid it in her basket.
As much as she wanted to go through it right away, she knew she needed to get back to the campsite. The sky was getting lighter, meaning the sun was going to rise soon.
Of course, she couldn't let anyone see her field guide knowing how valuable it would be to others. After all, healers and priests were the only beastmen that really had expert-like knowledge on plants.
And that gave them high status wherever they went because they were the first to know how to get rid of illnesses as well as other things.
Once she was packed up and dressed, Serena headed back to the campsite. She took a slower pace this time and by the time she got to the campsite, everyone was bustling about.
Kiro was sitting on the fur by the now put out fire with a piece of dried meat wrapped in some leaves in his hands. The moment he spotted Serena, his eyes lit up.
"Sister!" Kiro called out, scurrying up. "Where were you?"
"Just went to the stream." Serena answered, eyeing the meat in his hands. "Where did you get that meat?"
Food was a precious thing in this world and people didn't easily give such things away. Especially to a young male cub. It made her a little suspicious.
"It's your rations for the day." The tiger beastman she had babysitting Kiro answered. "We won't be stopping until tonight so you'll need to eat while we move."
"I see." Serena nodded her head in understanding. "Thanks."
The tiger beastman gave her a small smile before moving away to get back to prepping for the trip. Meanwhile, Serena took the meat from Kiro, giving him a small piece for breakfast, before packing the rest away.
The two then waited on the sidelines as the males around them bustled. Eventually, everyone was ready to move out as the sun came up.