A Goal (2)
I used grindstone found inside the tower but since it was small, it took a bit of effort to make bread for three meals.
By the time I had finished processing about five cups of grain into rough flour, and cooked them into simple flat bread, it was already four hours since first light.
I began digging the closest graves around the tower.
Since the graves were on average about half my height, making a perimeter in which one would need some sort of intelligence to traverse was beneficial to my safety.
And my hunch was correct.
Zombies require corpses and skeletons needed zombies that have decomposed. They were also alive when I unearthed them, reaching out like reanimated props from horror houses.
They were easy to kill with the spears, but they were immune to the sunlight.
That was different from what I knew about night-time entities.
They simply were dormant, and if I were none the wiser, I would’ve passed them on as regular corpses.
I made a mental note to crush the head of any corpse I found.
"They're sitting ducks, but I'm not doing so bad."
Still, I may not have been the strongest person to ever walk this land, but I for sure am accurate with my attacks.
And that was not a moment of ego self-inflation, no, I was truly amazed at my consistency despite not being well-versed in spears.
If they weren’t so damn annoying to carry in and out of the house, I would’ve considered using them as my main weapon.
Creating distance between me and probably death was a wise prospect to consider, but in most instances, I don’t have that luxury.
I opted for the classics instead, nothing beats the versatility of a sword and shield, although I’m considering using an axe instead as the primary.
Anywho, at the moment that was nothing but idle thoughts. I did not find an axe nor shield.
"What a drag..."
I uncovered eight monsters before the sun had half-way set in the horizon. Their remains vanished into puffs of smoke, like the first skeleton I killed. I sat down on the floor, legs crossed, with all the spoils of the day in front of me.
Eight Helmets, six partial chest plates, two full-chest plates, eight pairs of arm-guards, six-right shoulder pauldrons, eight pairs of shin-guards– I had a large variety. Whomever these people served was definitely wealthy to provide them such gear.
That was excluding the weapons.
The fact that surprised me the most was how the quality was still quite reliable.
The metal wasn't cracking by the edges, and neither did they feel brittle. I dare say they’re quite durable. The leather interior work did not survive the test of time however, and I spent much of the afternoon taking my flint knife and extracting them.
By the time I was done, I was left with a good variety of tools to work with. I assumed that six of the monsters that I had uncovered were scouts of some sort, as they had ten-inch knives respectively, with a bow and a quiver with some arrows.
Two of them were definitely infantry-men, because they were armed with swords that were heavily damaged. Maybe it was age, maybe it wasn’t, but scores upon scores of scratches can be made out with the naked eye.
The thought sent a shiver down my spine.
How formidable were they when they were alive? Their armor was beaten but not broken.
I'm more scared of what returned them to the dust than them themselves. Creepy.
“Back to the topic of them being well-off, I was not wrong.”
Five gold coins, twenty-seven silver coins, and a hundred and thirty copper coins– were my earnings of the day. Why were they buried with their money? I'm not sure, but neither am I complaining.
In total, I had six gold coins, thirty silver coins, and a hundred and thirty-eight copper coins.
“On top of the copper coins I found on the skeleton and the silvers from the chest… I don’t think I have to worry about money too much.”
If I ever survive to spend it that is. And, I might have to make a different way of storing my money. My gold coins can obviously hang inside my shirt pocket, since I’m going to be wearing my sweater over it. The silvers and the coppers are another matter entirely.
Having too much money wasn’t a problem before, but I welcomed it.
Money was money.
Although I complained about the heat, after tasting the bite of the cold night air, I think I’ll keep it on.
I rearranged the chests into the blockade of the first night and went to bed. For some reason I did not wake up to the noises of the outside.
And so dawn broke, marking another day to start.
I started the day by hand-grinding the grains back into a coarse flour. I had extra from yesterday but they weren’t exactly enough for two meals so I adjusted how much I ground accordingly.
That way, I spent less time grinding and spent most of the day working.
The eight holes I made the night prior trapped a monster each, but the eight holes did not have someone inside. One had escaped but I was not all too worried, as per the tracks it left behind.
They were easy to kill with the spears.
When the sun had half-way set, I had killed over twenty-one monsters.
Just like yesterday, I had great spoils and learned a few more things. More sets of armor, tools, weapons and currency were collected.
"Rinse and repeat..." I sighed, stretching my back.