While the fish was grilling on the flat rock that Ashwin had placed into the coalbed he got started on setting up the fish intestine to dry out over the next two or three days.
The dual stake option would have to do for now and he started by sharpening two large stakes.
Ashwin picked two ”Y ”shaped branches that he sharpened into stakes, the open spilt at the top would help hold a large stone.
There was quite a bit of fish intestine which was good, Ashwin would have plenty of cordage to work with.
Gingerly colleting the gut pile Ashwin carried the coils of intestine down to the water’s edge and rinsed them thoroughly, working the blood and mucus free with his fingers until they turned pale and almost translucent.
“Can’t let you rot before you’re useful.”
The washing process cleaned the intestines and now they were less odorous.
Next, he pounded one stake into the sandy bank at a forty-five-degree angle and tied one end of the free intestine to it, then he sat a large rock down on top of the angled stake.
Ashwin picked up the mess of guts and started walking out with it, unraveling the intestines as he went.
He unraveled the large and small intestines and was about forty meters out when he reached the stomach of the fish and cut it off with his curved obsidian clever.
He pounded the second stake into the ground at the same angle and leaned a large stone against it.
Ashwin wrapped the intestine tightly against this stake, and leaned a large stone against it, sitting the tip of the stone in the Y gap to create tension.
It would be grisly business for anyone watching Ashwin, but he was simply working towards the goal of staying alive.
Over the next day or two the sun would bake this intestine into cord that Ashwin could cut up and use.
He washed his hands in the lake water and headed back to the fish, which was now filling the air with a delightful aroma.He checked the fillets of fish; they needed more time. This chapter was taken from g.com without permission.
He sat down for a moment gathering his thoughts.
He would need to watch over the fresh intestine while it dried, to keep it free of scavengers.
The fruit of the baobab tree and the nap he took under the branches of the baobab tree had refreshed him greatly, even after the fight with the fish he didn’t feel exhausted or sleepy and felt sure he could stay awake throughout the night.
The moon was still out and not obscured by cloud.
A slow grin spread over Ashwin’s face, he could do it here.
He could practice rolling thunder.
Or at least give it a warmup attempt.
He sighed.
He would need to let a thin trickle of Animus flow into his leg muscles.
It was dangerous but he could flee to the top of the baobab tree if anything came for him.
He decided to risk it.
He touched only a thin wisp of Animus power and felt his leg muscles both invigorated and strengthened, Ashwin took a sharp gasp as he forgot how incredible the sensation was.He focused and replayed the memory of martial inspiration in his head and let his body naturally flow into the action.
He decided not to open the movement with a right hook but an open palm strike, a palm had more surface area compared to a person’s knuckles and therefore generated greater destructive force.
Palm strikes also didn’t risk injury to the knuckles another big advantage.
He leapt off the balls of his left foot forward and in the same instant twisted his shoulders and torso swinging his right palm forward, he curled his fingers at the last moment transforming the palm strike into a claw strike, just like the Gigas. Find the original chapter at novelping.com.
He allowed the momentum to carry him and followed through into the next step of the technique.
It wasn’t necessarily a front flip he would need to perform, that would involve tucking his knees tightly to his chest and wrapping his arms tightly around them trying to gain as much spin as possible.
This was something different.
The legs stayed extended at all times, and you rolled into the flip.
It was more like a sloppy forward tumble.
He pictured it clearly in his mind as his body committed to the action while airborne.
He rolled into the aerial tumble and allowed his left leg to swing viciously all the way out; it was almost like a whip strike.
Worse still?
If he missed with the left leg through the tumble, he could take aim again and swing the right leg.
And he did exactly that, after the left leg swung through the apex of the curve Ashwin allowed his right leg to follow, then he allowed his legs to whip his upper torso and follow the momentum threw.
He landed a few meters away from the campfire.
“So that’s rolling thunder…” he said breathlessly.