NOVEL WEB 21st | Homewrecker
Day 22
I barely sleep. As exhausted as I am from my whole journey, meeting another person has reinvigorated me so deeply I may never have to sleep again. I meditate until the sun just barely peaks out of the horizon.
It's time for work.
I'll make a bow later, I dont have the materials for a good one right now, so I'll hold off until I interrogate Lily about what her skills are. I have a sneaking suspicion that she has an appraisal skill.
Until she wakes up, I'll be making arrows. I have hundreds of those shark shaped wolf teeth, and most of the hexsidian left. For those, I'll need to go back to The Gash for volcan stone. Luckily, the bird that attacked us yesterday was, you know, a bird. Which means feathers! Finally, I don't have to deal with those stupidly fragile aero leaves anymore.
< [1st] Tier [Meditation] Has ranked up into [2nd] tier: [Lofty Meditation]- Allows ease of entering meditation, no longer requiring intense focus. Further refreshes the mind and bolsters healing. Enhances range of senses while in use. >
My [Stitching] also got to level two when I was making lily's blanket last night. I just put a couple wolf pelts together, at least the ones that weren't eaten by bugs. Predictably, without some sort of store house, much of the wolf parts were damaged in one way or another. Not a huge loss though, it was just the ones on the outside, the ones that weren't directly touching air are untouched.
I Make a pile of maroon wood sticks, wolf-shark teeth, bind weed, and the overgrown birds feathers. I sink into intense focus as I diligently craft arrow after arrow, eventually earning a slot in [Schematica].
An hour or so later, and I have ninety shark arrows done. I think about test firing them, until I realize I still haven't made a bow yet. It's now clearly day, I wonder when lily’s gonna wake up?
Turns out, not for another four hours.
During that time, I've been busy mining more vulcan stone, and looking for a stronger alternative to bind weed. After a bit of searching, I came across a cave full of spider webs. I ask [Complex Crafting] if it'll work, and it will, but this is the wrong type of web. Of course, I could still use it, there's simply better alternatives. I'll still take a bunch for stitching and arrow making though.
<[Greater Deft] Experience threshold Reached. Lv7 -> Lv8 | +3 Dex>
<[Tracing] Experience threshold Reached. Lv8 -> Lv9>
<[Travel] Experience threshold Reached. Lv3 -> Lv4>
<[Spring] Experience threshold Reached. Lv1 -> Lv2>
<[Tree Hopping] Experience threshold Reached. Lv1 -> Lv2>
Nearly an hour of cave exploring later, I find the specific brand of cobweb I need. The only problem is the eight billion spiders I have to fight to get it. I don't really need too much, so i'll just take this bundle here.. I roll a ball of spider web almost the size of my head and put it under my arm. I rely on my stealth skills and modifications to not get detected. Unfortunately, due to how many there are, it's impossible to sneak out without turning invisible.
When I hear chattering and the sound of clacking chitin, I activate my dash and begin booking it out of the cave. Thank god for [Terrain memorization]. I make my way home while my dash is still active, and I get back with time left to spare. Now I have to turn this hunk of webbing into string.
I probed [Complex Crafting] to go through the steps again, and it happily obliged. Step one, flatten the web into a sheet, then put a stick on it and roll it into corndog shape. Step two, attach a strand of web onto a stick that turns quickly, then spin it as fast as possible. This will pull the string into a neat line. For this, the best way is to make a wheel and crank to spin it.
Eh screw it, i'll make the wheel.
Chopping wood, cutting them into precise shapes, and finally putting them all together. An hour and a half of time consuming work and intense focus later, and now I'm ready to start spinning. I flatten the webbing into pressed sheets, then I roll them up and place them to my side. I get a little less than forty before the special cobweb is gone.
I hook some string onto the thin wooden rod. I then start spinning the wheel with the other hand. Somehow, I can do two different things at once. It's not just my intelligence bonus at work here.
< 50 Dex auxiliary stat effect: Ambidextrous- you can use your right hand just as well as your left, and vice versa. >
Sweet. I continue coiling the string onto the stick, eventually forming a spool of slightly yellow tinted string. The whole thing actually took half an hour, due to the wheel continuously breaking. I'm not perfect, and neither is my skill. We’ll both get better as we level up. Until then, I'm done with this. I leveled up a lot though.
<[Complex Crafting] Experience threshold Reached. Lv1 -> Lv2>
<[Existential Empower] Experience threshold Reached. Lv9 -> Lv10>
<[Greater Deft] Experience threshold Reached. Lv8 -> Lv9 | +3 dex>
Class - Thresher | lv 17/50 | 525/3400 xp **
Race - Modular Human m
Achievements- The Special | Self indulgent | (+6)
Name - Maximilian | Condition- Curse of Soul Fray
Hp- 3400/6800 (1/2) | St- 6500/6500
SkP- 6 | Stp- 3 | Souls- 342 96 1
Legacy: Sky Wyrm ( Wind | Draconic )
Ability’s: Chaos Potential | Overload | Resonation
Assimilation Bonus:
Stats - (+17 phys)(+3A)(+5L)
Strength 52
Speed 63 (+5A)
Stamina 66
Dexterity 67 (+41)
Intellect 51
Insight 10.1
Sense 85.8 (x2.6)(+10)
Vitality 34 (1/2)
Charm 16 {locked}
Special Skills -
Existential Empower ||| lv10/20
Death Resistance \ lv3/99
Corruption Resistance ||| lv1/20
Defense Orientation || lv4
Class Skills -
Desperate endurance || lv3
Schematica (3/5) || lv2
High Hound || lv3
Defense Orientation || lv4
Passive Skills -
Complex Crafting ||| lv2/20
Multishot || lv8/10
Tracing || lv9/10
Adv Dismantling ||| lv2/20
Grinding || lv5/10
Storm Wise | lv1/5
Greater Deft || lv9/10
Toxicology || lv6/10
Targeting | lv9/10
Travel ||| lv4/20
Night Owl | lv1/5
Strafe Lith || lv1/10
Greater Regen || lv5/10
Terrain Memorization || lv3/10
Stitching | lv2/5
Evasion || lv4/10
CQC || lv1/10
Feather Foot | lv2/5
Tree Hopping | lv2/5
Active Skills -
Brash Dash ||| lv1/20
Spring 3/3 || lv 2/10
Power Boost || lv3/10
Lofty Meditation || lv1/10
Pierce | lv3/5
Smash | lv4/5
Slash || lv2/10
Supplementation ||| lv2/20
Resistances -
Greater Pain res || lv7/10
Shadow res | lv1/5
Force Res | lv4/5
Stocks - +14 Str | +11 Spd | +9 Stm | +24 Int | +5 Vit
Piercing chomp lv1-2 x5
Crushing Bite lv1-3 x13
Ripping Snap lv2-4 x9
Healing Rush x5
Alright, it's almost noon, about the time Lily wakes up.
Just as I think that, I hear rustling from inside my shelter. No longer worried about Lily’s lack of diligence, I began cutting apart the Volcan stone in preparation for the seven master arrows I was soon to make. Hopefully this crafting session will put them in [Schematica]
Ten minutes of preparation later, I hear footsteps and a tired yawn slowly approaching from behind me. I turn around to see an almost more bedraggled lily than last night. Her curly brown hair resembling a bird's nest, the cuts on her arms had scabbed over now, only barely healed from last night. She stops a few feet away from me, yawning once again as she drowsily rubs sleep from her eyes.
“Mornin sleepy head.” I greet her. “ Welcome to the realm of the living.“
Another yawn.
“What are you doing so early in the morning?“ She asks, less as a question and more as an excuse to make conversation. I oblige.
“Work, unlike a certain someone. Also, what do you mean early? It's noon.“
She looks at me confused until she looks up at the sun, I watch as she comes to a conclusion in real time, before she looks back down at me apologetically.
“Woops. “
“Woops indeed. So, what's your plan?”
“What do you mean?“ She looks at me with slight intensity, (or maybe alarm?) All evidence of drowsiness gone at the mention.
“Ya know, what're you gonna do going forward?“
I see a flash of panic swim across her face.
“ … You didn’t think about it did you? “
“.. I did not.”
I can tell from the look on her face, no words necessary.
“ Listen!..” She begins panicking but I shut her down before she makes a hasty claim.
“No need to explain yourself, it's fine. Really.”
“You essentially have two options." I continue. "Leave or stay. If you choose to leave, I'll make you some equipment and rations, no hard feelings. But then, you'll be on your own again. If you choose to stay, you can hang out with me for as long as you want. We can both try to survive together.“
I once again cut her off as she opened her mouth.
“BUT! You need to come clean about your class and abilities. Of course, I'll do the same afterwards.“
I let her think. After a minute of silence, she speaks.
“ ...I want to stay here. I'll tell you whatever you want to know.“ She admits after a moment of thought.
“Cool. You sit there, I'll sit over here, and we can do our introductions. Sound good?“ I point to two seats diagonally facing the campfire. She sits and so do I. She looks noticeably uncomfortable.
Yeah, this is gonna be awkward, but it has to happen, otherwise I can't trust you. Plus, division of labor and all that.
“Okay, let's do this. Name?”
“... Lily.”
“ I'm Max. Technically maximilian, but I hate that name. Never call me that. Age? ”
“ I'm twelve years old. ”
“ Damn, I thought you were like eight, that explains the maturity. I'm sixteen, last I checked. Class, Tier, and level?”
“ How do I look eight? Oh uh, Grand Paragon, tier six, Level twelve ”
“ I've seen kids shorter than you teaching highschool classes, you just never know nowadays. I'm a Thresher, Tier two, Level seventeen. Specification and class skills?”
“ Thresher? Isn't that what they do to wheat? Leadership for my spec’s, then Soul exploitation, War conduction, and super appraisal for my class skills. ”
She jumps as I loudly exclaim: “ I knew it!! “
“ Hehe, sorry, I just had this theory that you had an appraisal skill, so hearing that I was right is super gratifying. Continue.”
“.. It's your turn.”
“ Ah, that's right. My specification is Adaption. My skills are- wait a second.”
I eye her suspiciously.
“ If you have an appraisal skill, don't you already know all that? ”
“ Just seemed like it’d be rude to not let you have your turn, plus, its not like I can see your specification, nor is it obvious. ” She finishes with a small smile, and a mischievous look on her face.
Despite the banter, there's an air of nervousness around her. Damn, looks like she's still afraid of me. Under the guise of this friendly conversation, and the bright smile painted on her face, I can see the minute fluctuation in her eyes, the small twitches alluding to anxiety. She grips her shoulder nervously, eyes darting around and occasionally landing on one spot of air. Must be a piece of her status.
I stand up and hold out my hand.
“ Let's shake on it, to our new friendship!”
I just need to try and be as friendly and open as possible, until she warms up to me.
She waits a moment before eventually putting her hand in mine. I shake softly, trying not to grip too hard. Actively ignoring my dads advice.
“ So, getting right into it; How high are your stats?”
“ My intellect is forty, everything else is lower.… My strength is five” she admits bitterly.
“ That’s rough… mine was thirteen. But my stamina was trash.” I explain while staring off to the side, feigning distractedness.
“Anyways, I need your help appraising stuff for me. I need a strong type of wood to make something, and I want your help finding it. ”
Sure, I could just use [Tracing], but I don't want to get mind controlled again. Plus, it'll be a good team building experience.
“Oh uh.. Sure?” She says, sounding uncertain.
“Great!” I exclaim, ignoring her almost regretful look. “There's a forest nearby with all sorts of different trees, so let's head there first. By the way, how do you feel about heights? ”
I smile to myself, and before she can begin to protest or even utter another word, I pick her up and dash out of the stone circle. I use [Spring] to hop onto one of the stone barricades. Then, I use [Spring] again, to launch myself into a tree. I begin dancing between branches, quickly flying through hundreds of trees.
Lily was screaming the whole time so I felt bad, but if we went at her pace, the journey would have taken all day. I'll apologize once I get back on the ground. As I flit between branches, I feel one of my skills flood with xp. It's probably [Tree hopping], can't wait for the downpour of notifications.
Only two minutes after [Brash dash] runs out do I hop onto the ground, Lily having gone limp in my arms.
“Rise and shine!” I exclaimed while shaking her up and down lightly.
Safe to say, she was absolutely pissed. She yelled at me for three minutes straight, and I did my famous strategy I use when my parents yell at me: Stand stock still with a blank expression while staring past them. Works every time (at pissing them off).
Once she stopped yelling to catch her breath, I simply patted her on the shoulder once, said sorry, and started walking into the forest. Moments later, and I heard leaves crunching hurriedly behind me.
“Just, warn me next time! Okay?” The anger had been replaced by wary annoyance.
“ I mean.. I kinda did?” I piped up sheepishly.
“ ‘What's your opinion on heights’ Like that counts!!”
“ That's not what I-” she glares at me. “.. Message received.” I looked forwards again and narrowly prevent my collision into a tree, that would have been embarrassing.
She wasn't genuinely mad at me, more scared than anything else. Though in hindsight, she might still be too afraid of me to show true anger. We’ll work on it.
“ Alright, we're looking for elastic and non brittle wood. ” Not that I'm really expecting much. I'm not really sure how powerful a tier six is compared to a tier two. My jump from one to two hasn't really been much of a power boost, and from her performance yesterday, I have no real expectations for her.
I try my best to keep my doubt from showing on my face as we continue to trek through the colorful forest. I steer us away from any danger, outright killing some of the weaker monsters out of Lily’s sight.
An hour of small talk and appraising later, and we've narrowed it down to two options. One was a little more flexible, a hazel brown tree with oddly smooth and wavy bark. The other was more hard, but a bit less malleable. This one looked similar to the smoking tree I saw before. It was charcoal black, with thin streaks of glowing orange flowing all throughout the trunk.
“ Interesting! This one has an affinity for fire. Whatever that means. Says here that it slightly warms whatever's connected too. " She traces her finger across nothing, eyes seemingly reading the sky. I kinda thought we'd be able to see each other's statuses, as I've seen similar settings in fantasy stories, but I guess it just wasn't meant to be.
I wonder if the warming property will affect the string at all? I hold up the spool of yellowish string a few feet from Lily’s face. “ That might be a problem. Appraise this real quick. ”
She begins tracing her fingers over an invisible line of text once again. “ ..Says it was spun by a ‘Summer Spider’ which appears rarely in the deeper parts of caves. It changes a bit depending on temperature. It gets a little harder in the cold, and a bit more flexible when warm. “
“Interesting. Yeah, this’ll work.” I only have to design for the extra flexibility, since the string will constantly be warm from the fire wood.
“ How are you going to- “
In a single thunderous leap, I soar into the treetops and grab onto a thick branch. I leverage my feet on the trunk, and tear off the branch with a vicious ripping sound. I grabbed a few more branches before I fell back onto the ground.
“ Welp, I got what I came here for. My hands are full now, so I can't carry you back. ” I refuse to meet her eyes, knowing full well it might prevent me from doing what I'm about to do.
“ oh noooooooo.. “ she said sarcastically.
“ So, try to keep up. ” I set my legs into a sprinting position before she can speak another word.
“ What? “
Without using [Brash Dash] I speed off, leaving lily in a whirlwind of dust and autumn leaves. Before I did so, I left a marker on her with [Tracing] so I'll react if she's in danger. I step heavily in the ground, making sure my footprints are molded deep into the earth.
Six minutes later and I'm back at base, Lily still far away. Welp, time to make my bow. I'm not being intentionally neglectful. She needs to struggle to grow, plus I made sure there was nothing around that could pose any danger. You know what they say; suffering builds character.
I begin cutting away at the branches, trying to curve them properly. I messed up on the first one, But I had selected that one for practice anyway. A little over half an hour later, and I'm just starting to string my new bow. It's almost twice as big as the last one, and if I do the stringing properly, it'll be much more powerful.
As I begin winding the string along the other end of the bow limb, I notice Lily’s marker getting very close. She bursts into the clearing, panting and sweating like she just ran a marathon. She took longer than expected. That means she must have poured most of her stats into intellect and sense. She probably has some sort of magic build, I'll have to ask about that later.
I decided not to say anything, instead waving at her without looking away from my project. She also doesn't say anything, instead choosing to plop onto the ground and loudly catch her breath.
“ Have fun? ” I said slyly.
“ Don't talk to me. “ She whispered, explosive anger having long given way to uneasy defeat.
“K.” I said simply, unwilling to spur her quelled anger. Normally I'm not a fan of the ‘ unbelievably powerful main character saves maiden and she later physically and verbally abuses him for the rest of the series’ trope, but at this point I'm just being an asshole, so her anger is justified.
After another five minutes of fine tuning and plucking the string, checking for structural integrity, the bow is now ready for a test fire. I take one of my new shark arrows and begin looking around for a test tree of reasonable distance. As I stand, I notice Lily’s gaze on me.
I lock onto a tree and knock my arrow, before pulling back the string and noticing the feel. I wrapped some of the summer string on the handle of my new bow, and it's much more comfortable than I thought it would be. Once I feel satisfied with my aim, I fire the arrow. It sails through the air with a low crack, its sheer speed making it look like a black stripe against an otherwise beautiful canvas.
Much faster than the last bow, it strikes the target, embedding itself deep into the tree. I let the status notifications ring away in my mind as I walk to collect the arrow.
<[Complex crafting] Experience threshold Reached. Lv2 -> Lv3>
<[Tracing] Experience threshold Reached. Lv9 -> Lv10>
<[Feather Foot] Experience threshold Reached. Lv2 -> Lv3>
<[Tree Hopping] Experience threshold Reached. Lv2 -> Lv4>
<[Brash Dash] Experience threshold Reached. Lv1 -> Lv2>
< [2nd] Tier [Tracing] Has ranked up into [3rd] tier: [Seeking]- Greatly improves ability to keep track of multiple individuals or groups. Overall improvement to finding things. Provides a conscious sense of direction while seeking a target. The amount of targets than can be tracked at once and locational specificity will increase with level. >
Always good to evolve one of my base skills. Now I just need to level up [Multishot] and [Targeting]. This new ability lets me put permanent markers on things, so I immediately put one on lily. Now I can tell where she is without even trying, how useful.
“ I didn't know you could use a bow. “ Lily pipes up once I get back to the clearing, the arrow safely recovered.
“ Didn't you see my skills that were clearly meant for archery? ” I shoot back incredulously.
“ Well, you didn't have a bow on you so I thought they were just sword skills! “ She almost shouts back, frustration radiating from her voice. Maybe I've messed with her too much today.
“ Well, my old one got broken a few hours before I met you. ”
Silence. I wait a few moments until I'm sure she's cooled off.
“ So, you know how to do magic? ”
She looks at me surprised. “ When did I say that? I mean, you're right, but I don't think I ever said anything about it?“
“ It's just the conclusion I came to considering your stat distribution. ”
More silence. She turns away from me to stare at nothing. I wish I learned how to carry conversations before I was dislocated. They don't teach you THAT in school.
“ So… magic? ”
“ Yeah? “ She looks back at me again.
“ Explain how it works. ”
She takes a deep breath before diving into a long winded and practiced explanation about sky strings and weaving lessons. Apparently, magic comes in the form of these strings of energy in the sky, which you need the [Mana perception] skill to see. Then you need an entirely separate skill to even touch the mana, which you then have to weave manually into spells.
Huh, I wonder why I can't see magic? Lemme look at the magic skills.
As I scroll through the skill list, I notice something interesting. [Brain enhancement]- increases intellect by 3 per level, starting at five. Yeah, I'm getting that. Hopefully at higher levels it'll increase my resistance against manipulation, and other conditions of that nature. Sure I have [Corruption Resist] but it's level one. The more the merrier right?
Hmm, now I have to figure out why [High Hound] isn't picking up the mana strings. On the spot, I sit down and cross my legs. I easily enter a meditative state, but instead of letting my consciousness drift, I focus on trying to perceive mana. I focus on [High Hound], urging it to do me a solid. Suddenly, I feel a wave of energy explode out of my heart.
< [Existential Empowerment] Activated. Target: [High Hound]. Skill level has been temporarily increased. +10 >
< High Hound || lv13 >
< Sense 184.8 (x5.6) >
Suddenly, a vast bubble expands around me, and I feel something lazily drift in and out constantly. Focusing on the disturbance, I see the mana strings Lily was talking about. I attempt to move and maintain my enlightened state at the same time, which puts a huge burden on my mind. Despite the difficulty, I reach out and attempt to touch the mana string.
< Achievement attained >
Class - Thresher | lv 17/50 | 525/3400 xp **
Race - Modular Human m
Achievements- The Special | Self indulgent | (+7)
Name - Maximilian | Condition- Curse of Soul Fray
Hp- 3400/6800 (1/2) | St- 6700/6700
SkP- 6 | Stp- 3 | Souls- 342 96 1
Legacy: Sky Wyrm ( Wind | Draconic )
Ability’s: Chaos Potential | Overload | Resonation | Mana Sense
Assimilation Bonus:
Stats - (+17 phys)(+3A)(+5L)
Strength 52
Speed 63 (+5A)
Stamina 66
Dexterity 67 (+41)
Intellect 56 (+5)
Insight 10.6
Sense 85.8 (x2.6)(+10)
Vitality 34 (1/2)
Charm 16 {locked}
Special Skills -
Existential Empower ||| lv10/20
Death Resistance \ lv3/99
Corruption Resistance ||| lv1/20
Class Skills -
Desperate endurance || lv3
Schematica (3/5) || lv2
High Hound || lv3
Defense Orientation || lv4
Passive Skills -
Complex Crafting ||| lv3/20
Multishot || lv8/10
Brain Enhancement | lv1/5
Adv Dismantling ||| lv2/20
Grinding || lv5/10
Storm Wise | lv1/5
Greater Deft || lv9/10
Toxicology || lv6/10
Targeting | lv9/10
Travel ||| lv4/20
Night Owl | lv1/5
Strafe Lith || lv1/10
Greater Regen || lv5/10
Terrain Memorization || lv3/10
Stitching | lv2/5
Evasion || lv4/10
CQC || lv1/10
Feather Foot | lv3/5
Tree Hopping | lv4/5
Seeking ||| lv1/20
Active Skills -
Brash Dash ||| lv2/20
Spring 3/3 || lv 2/10
Power Boost || lv3/10
Lofty Meditation || lv1/10
Pierce | lv3/5
Smash | lv4/5
Slash || lv2/10
Supplementation ||| lv2/20
Resistances -
Greater Pain res || lv7/10
Shadow res | lv1/5
Force Res | lv4/5
Stocks - +14 Str | +15 Spd | +11 Stm | +24 Int | +5 Vit
Piercing chomp lv1-2 x5
Crushing Bite lv1-3 x13
Ripping Snap lv2-4 x9
Healing Rush x5
Welp, since I can use mana now, guess I'll just go ahead and get the other magic skills. My passive skill list is getting way too long. Hmm, I wonder if I can rearrange it somehow?
“ h- ” I barely get a syllable out before Lily verbally tramples over me.
“ Oh that reminds me! I have this new class skill that I want to try out. “
I push my embarrassment aside. “ What’s it called? ”
She looks happy as she starts gushing about her skill. “[Party Link]. It says it'll link two people together, allowing them to see each other's stats and skills. It even said we could borrow each other's skills!“
“ Isn’t that kinda busted? Bet it has some annoying restrictions. ” My previous emotions dissipate as I get caught up in the wonder of skills. Finally, someone I can talk about the system with!
Spurred on by my clear interest, she dives deeper into the skills explanation. “ Lets see… amount of people that can be linked restricted by skill level… and~.. Borrowed skills can only be active, the cooldown is shared and they can’t be used by two people at once. Also, the skill’s level is restricted by [Party Link’s] skill level. “
Max: “ I mean, it's still a pretty good skill despite the drawbacks. How do you use it? ”
Lily: “ I think I just have to like.. Mentally designate you as an ally.. There we go! “
< Link created >
< Party Composition: Max (None) | Lily (None) >
“ What do the (None) parts mean? ” I ask.
“ Huh. Looks like I can give out roles. They even have small buffs! “ She almost squeals, caught up in the excitement.
“ Oh really? Like what? ” Buffs huh? Not what I expected from the name alone.
“ This one; Damage Dealer, grants -10% skill cooldowns. Another one; Tank, increases defense by 20%. There's even a Leader, though this one's buff kinda sucks. “
“ What is it? ”
“ It says it’ll make it so their words can always be heard. “
“ So, what, like telepathy? Or is it more grounded than that?”
“ It doesn't say, but probably not. That'd be a little too strong wouldn’t it?
”Either way, that's pretty handy. Besides, it's not like a leader would fight anyways. ” I look at her pointedly, Expressing my intent to make her the leader. From her reply, it seems she understood.
“ I guess… “
“.. Do you want to fight?”
“Well no but.. Wouldn't it be unfair for you to do all the fighting?”
“ Nah. “ I trample over her words before she can bite back. I'm not letting a twelve year old fight. End of discussion.
“ Alright, you give me Damage Dealer, and you’ll be the Leader? ”
“ Why am I the leader? “
“ …. Cause that's the whole point of your class? ” I continue, almost exasperated.
“ Listen, for now, you can just stay back and try to grow your skills. That's the best option for both of us. Once you have your foundation built, then you can join the fights, but until then, I'll carry you. “ She needs to figure out how to actually use her class before getting into any combat.
“ …Alright. " She seems a bit disappointed, but this is the best outcome.
< Party Composition: Max (Dealer lv1 | -10% Skill cooldowns) | Lily (Leader lv1 | Clarity Buff) >
With those roles decided, I notice something new appear in the corner of my vision. Health bars, just like a game, and I don't even need to summon my status to see it. At the top, there's me. A little circle with my face, and my name next to it. Below the name and beside the picture, are two bars. One is red, while the other is purple, and only half the width of the red one. Below my bar, is a slightly smaller one with Lily’s read out.
Max lv17 | HP 3400/6800 | ST 6700/6700
Lily lv12 | HP 2000 | ST 1500
“ You seeing this? ”
“ Seeing what? “ She looks at me with clear confusion.
“ Top right corner of your vision. ” I say matter of factly.
“ What..? Oh! I see it! That's cool. “
The conversation once again sputtered out after that. I could think of a few more things to say, but nothing that would be meaningful. I stand up and start going over to my storage racks. I should take inventory.
My camp is made up of a few parts. Near the entrance is a big campfire, with two logs around it. Behind that is my house, the entrance of which is turned to the left. Next to that to the left is my storage racks. It consists of about eight racks made of glued together straight sticks and wood planks. To the right of the dome is a brick oven, the bricks I made by chiseling rock into the shapes I needed. To the right of that, and closer to the campfire is my smoker. I put it on and off my campfire. It's just a triangular prism with two layers and grills made of sticks. Over there I also have two more storage racks with leaf walls for my dried meat.
Almost all of the meat I had dismantled was un-eatable in some way. Weather it was eaten by bugs, in which there would be the risk that they would plant their eggs in it. Or just regular rot. That's what happens when you leave for a week with no ice box.
I go over to my spinning area, which is also on the right half of my base and inbetween the fire and storage rack. I still need to make a string out of the rest of the summer web and regular cobweb. But, I also need to make an ax and chop down some trees. I'm tired of foraging around on the ground for wood. The planks for the racks I got by slicing up a dead tree with my knife.
“Lily! If you're not busy, come here for a sec. “ I yell suddenly from my place near the spinner. I hear rustling as she walks over.
“ So, I need to make an ax and go chop down some trees, but I also need to do this. ” I gesture to the spinner.
“ While I do that, can you do this? ” I gesture more forcefully towards the spinner. I feel irrationally angry whenever I interact with it.
“ Looks kinda complicated. “ She mutters nervously.
“ I already did the complicated part,” before she can look at me confused, I specify “building this stupid thing. All you have to do is route around in the web until you get a string, hook it onto this stick here, and then spin the wheel with this crank. Simple! ” I show her an example as I talk through the directions.
“ So while you do that, I'll be nearby when you inevitably break it. ”
“ whuh, hey!” She barks indignantly. “ What makes you think I'll break it? I am very delicate! “
“ I'm sure.” I say dryly. “Because I have broken it, and I'm the one who MADE it." Damn, I'm getting angry again.
“ So uh… good luck with that. ”
I march over to the storage racks, attempting to smother my anger while listening to Lily struggle the entire way.
Lets see… First we take the bindweed, coil it up and.. Huh? I get ping. Oh, looks like my bindweed schematic leveled up.
Schematica (lv2) slots: 3/5
Stone Arrow- Intermediate
(Sharp stone, Bind weed, Aero Leaf, Maroon wood shaft)
Bind twine- Skilled
(Twisted bindweed)
Shark Arrow- Novice
(Shark-like wolf tooth, Maroon wood shaft, Bind Weed, Overgrown bird feather. )
I swear those were levels before. Well, whatever. System, what are the [Schematica] ranks?
< Beginner -> Novice -> Intermediate -> Skilled -> Veteran -> Adept -> Advanced -> Master -> Grandmaster -> Perfect >
Cool. Anyways…
A bit of grinding for the first time in far too long, chipping wood and tying knots later, and the ax is done. I give it a few swings, testing its durability. It's a bit wobbly, but it'll get the job done. I go out to give it a try, and on the first swing, I feel something give way. But it’s not the tree. I stare at my ax, now only a frayed handle with the head nowhere in sight. Okay, so it WON'T get the job done. I guess I should just use my knife instead?
I shove the knife into the tree. My knife is sharp, but not otherworldly sharp. It's kinda like putting your fingers into sand, it doesn't just sink in, you gotta dig your way in. Eventually I get the whole blade in the trunk, and I start gliding around the entire circumference of the tree. I succeeded, but not like I'd hoped. Now there's just a wire thin circle around the tree trunk, no signs of falling evident. Guess I didn't reach the core.
Screw this. I'll just go chop off more branches.
And for the next two hours that's what I did. I slice off twenty or so, haul them to the base, and then I do it again. I stopped once it got too dark, not for me but for Lily. I check in on her, and she's on her eighth spool.
I walk over next to her and lean down. “ You can stop now. I'll do the rest. It's late, you should go to bed. ”
She jumps at my presence, before letting out a heavy sigh and letting her fingers rest. Suddenly, she asks an uncharacteristic question. “ Did I do good? “
Well personally, I would have done more in two hours. But it's her first time and she has less dex and stam than I do, so i'll give her some credit.
“ … yeah, you did good. ” A strange warmth creeps into my voice.
Without another word, we go our separate ways. Her saying that caught me off guard. Is she finally warming up to me?! Suffering really does build character.. She heads off into my dome, and I begin searching for rocks to carve into bricks. It's high time to get my infrastructure game up.
The weather gets colder, and monsters more ferocious. While my home becomes a little warmer, the days pass almost without notice.