[Basic Research Table] = 4 Wood (Any, 1.3m) + 5 Wood (Any, 0.9m) + 4 Wood (Any, 0.7m) + 2 Wood (Any, 0.8m) + 8 Wood (Any, 1.1m) + 2 Twine (Hemp, 1.8m) + 4 Twine (Any, 1m) + 36 Bone (Level 6+, 0.15kg) + [Hammer] (Stone) + [Knife] (Flint)
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His destination rose in front.
Sunlight spread across the valley as the sun descended, spreading shadowy tendrils across this forsaken land. Between the late afternoon lull from monsters shifting to their evening cycles, and the dwindling cries from all the human predation, the island had never felt quieter than here.
Shouldn’t be surprising, Jay considered as he gazed upon this spot.
Five hovels had been erected throughout this valley, each with their own defenses still set. Spike traps, tripwires, self-firing crossbows, deadfalls. Even if the tech wasn’t more sophisticated than what he could produce with a small amount of research, they were just about everywhere. A pocket of controlled chaos to hoard everything within.
The perfect spot for Amadi and his friends to stash their goods.
Thankfully, Jay had drunk his perception-boosting tea in order to track Amadi’s footprints here, and with it still in his veins, he could identify where all the traps lay, along with the way around them.
That, and the natural decay that seemed to have accelerated here, only made everything more obvious. The wooden spikes had grown cracked and gnarled, the metals were rusted over, and vines choked what remained, slowly digesting the constructions left behind.
It was almost like the moment their owners died, the land reclaimed what had been taken from it…
But the loot was still there too. That much Jay could see.
What did you get? Trish had asked Jay before. At the time, he’d merely taken his survival as the win. By outlasting the ambush, he’d lived to see the next day.
Yet, that alone would never be enough. In a zero-sum game where mats led to strength and resources dwindled faster than they appeared, Jay couldn’t just allow the free wins to sit and wait. He’d been too shell-shocked at the time to think of harvesting an Expat Core of his own after those men died, but there was still a chance to gain from those deaths so long as he went through here.
And no one else knew what had happened yet, no doubt still living in fear that Amadi’s crew might come back for them.
No, there would be no better time than now to get ahead.
Jay went to the nearest tree, his copper axe between calloused fingers.
Whack. Whack. Whack.
It took no time at all to collect the wood he needed. This was a simple craft he was replicating, and one that had almost become second nature. He quickly hacked the palm wood down to the right size and shape, got his bands of twine together, and began lassoing them together. Bones came next as nails, but they were a dime a dozen, especially since the dead men had their own supply intact. With the aid of his hammer and knife, he was finished well before the hour was up.
Jay dusted off his new research table with a grin, then placed his Guide in the appropriate slot.
The backboard quickly changed.
Crafting – General
Research Requirements: Examine raw materials for required length of time and/or expend desired material into table’s board to reduce maximum time.
Unlock Bloomery: 200-300 hours, or Stone (Granite, 10000-20000kg) + Clay (Any, 5000-10000kg) + Iron (Bar, 1000-2000kg)
Jay had been holding off on selecting this research, precisely because of how devastating it would be for something like him who lacked an Expat Core. Without the Core modifier reductions, he would be spending days, if not weeks, trying to fulfill this project.
And yet, now that Amadi and his men were no more, everything they’d collected remained nearby.
That much gave Jay options.
Research Selected…
Time Requirement rolled (Core Modifier: None).
Resource Expense rolled (Core Modifier: None).
Research Now Available.
Jay took a deep breath as the back panel changed.
Crafting – General
Current Research: Unlock Bloomery
Time Remaining: 278 hours, 48 minutes
Resources Expended: 0/18176.4kg Stone (Granite), 0/7322.1kg Clay (Any), 0/1974.5kg Iron (Bar).
His heart sank. Jay always knew the risk of rolling the dice on these major benchmarks, but he’d never expected to get this unlucky. Just about every roll had been on the higher end, and even with the time reduction, there was no way to get this done without spending weeks.
Jay wanted to cry. Why couldn’t he just get a break already!?
But then the wind shifted, casting long shadows over his research table, reminding him of the dangers soon to come with the afternoon so late.
He closed his eyes and cleared his head. There was a reason he’d come all this way, and it wasn’t to cry like a little girl because fate hadn’t been on his side.
The odds might work against him, but he’d just have to craft his own way through.
And so Jay did what he’d planned and took his empty cart to the nearest person’s house. Stockpiles of supplies sat in the back. Wood, stone, ores, clay. The last was where he started, filling out his cart, block by block, before rolling it back to the research table when full. He then casually ran the backboard down, the bright magical light of the table gobbling up everything with ease.
Time Remaining: 277 hours, 13 minutes, 52 seconds.
Resources Expended: 0/18176.4kg Stone (Granite), 164.8/7322.1kg Clay (Any), 0/1974.5kg Iron (Bar).
Jay sighed. Scavenger or not, this was going to be a long time coming.
One cart after the next, Jay absorbed the dead man’s base, starting with the clay because he knew it would be the biggest pain in the ass to collect on his own. Even granite could be gained by merely whacking a stalagmite with a pickaxe, but this required digging through the ground.
Jay gave a silent salute to his attackers. Though they’d been enemies while alive, there was no denying how much this was to his benefit now. So long as no one else came, he could afford to spend days out here.
Unfortunately, he was not so lucky.
The other cart creaked into the open within the hour. Jay held his sword close, expecting a fight to come.
But when he saw his rival enter the open, he could only lower his weapon and glower.
The other man grimaced, his sun-kissed blonde hair running unkempt across his cheeks, and beer belly stained with sweat.
“I see I’m not the only one with this idea,” Kevin said.
“Yeah? Well, I’m the first,” Jay said.
He sighed, already exhausted. “Let’s not make this difficult.”
“It won’t be if you don’t try to take what’s mine a second time.”
“Look, Jay. It’s late enough in the day already. We both came here for the same reason, so we might as well not fight over this.”
Jay peered across the valley, quiet as a cemetery. He studied the intricacies of its aging defenses, the natural cliffs beside, and the piles upon piles of mats, just waiting to be plundered. He thought about how much more he’d gain if it was all to himself, along with the cost imposed were he to fail.
“Fine,” Jay said. “Why don’t you do me a favor, though, and stay on your side of the valley?”
Wordless, Kevin turned around and went the other way.
The two men continued in tense silence. Jay watched as Kevin erected a research table of his own, something that he suspected he had not considered until seeing him do it first. Kevin had never been the best schemer, anyway.
Just let it go, Jay told himself. The theft of their shared iron vein was done and gone. Wallowing in the past served no one. Only the future mattered.
And yet… He had trusted Kevin for so many years. And right when the two reached the end of that ore vein, his friend chose selfishness over mutual gain. Now, it was too late to just go back.
Wasn’t that enough? A lower, more primal part of Jay thought about a different way that today could go down. One where he drew his softwood bow when Kevin wasn’t looking and started landing cheap shot.
Yeah, it would be so very easy. A nice kill. A clean kill. The kind that no one else would ever know about, much less care if they found out. Then, he’d not only get to keep this whole valley to himself, but he’d be able to cannibalize Kevin’s home for everything it was worth, restoring all that iron he’d been robbed.
Why not, too? The old way of thinking had gotten him into this mess. Whether Natura by night or Viktor by day, Jay was being squeezed on both fronts, without any allies of his own.
He fingered his bow, thinking of what to do next.
But then the wind blew again, and with it, a sudden, chill dread. Jay swallowed the lump in his throat and turned around, only to look straight up at the balloon closing in. Like a shark honing straight for blood. The giant “V” drifted in the failing light, a triumphant declaration into the world beyond.
Why did this guy always have to show up at the worst time?
Viktor strolled into the valley, with Misha marching behind. A grin remained plastered across his face as he studied everything in sight.
This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.
“Good day!” he hailed.
“What do you want?” Jay called out.
“I come and go where I please, no? You two seem to be having much fun.”
“Nothing fun about this,” Kevin said.
“Oh, then why do you do it?”
His face reddened. “Because you’re the fucking asshole squeezing us to death!”
Viktor tsked. “You should learn to relax, Kevin. All this anger is bad for your health.”
With a scoff, Kevin returned to his work, loading up more mats into his own research table. Jay continued doing the same. At least he’s letting us–
“Gentlemen,” Viktor said. “Have you forgotten already?”
Jay grumbled. “Forgotten what?”
“The New Rules, of course.”
A spike shot through his chest. “You can’t be serious right now…”
“What’s this guy talking about this time?” Kevin asked.
“Rule 7…” Jay started before swallowing the bile in his throat. “Viktor goes first.”
Viktor gleamed. “Yes! You have good memory, Jay.” He walked over to Kevin and held out his hand. “What about you, comrade?”
Kevin stared at his open palm as if it was covered in spikes, the blood rising to his cheeks. He grit his teeth, and for a moment, Jay was sure Kevin would lose his mind.
But then he turned and marched away, knocking over his cart with a scoff. The other two watched as he left the valley without another word.
And Viktor turned around, eyes still beaming and palm still open.
Every instinct Jay had told him to fight against this… That it was a completely unnecessary flex of power, and he deserved to at least have this win, and trying to push him down further would earn him nothing. He wanted to swing back for a change against someone he could never beat, if for no reason than to purge it from his system. He deserved to get something after what he went through.
But Viktor merely watched back, the fire still in his eyes. That was what he wanted. Viktor relished in the idea of seeing Jay lose his cool, knowing that he’d been the puppetmaster to set it all in motion. He wanted to see him unleash his inner beast to prove he could. To show that he’d gotten into everybody’s head.
Jay refused to let that happen. He handed over the nearest block of granite, not so much as blinking an eye.
“You planning on taking it all, or are you still just flexing?” he asked.
Viktor laughed, his glee exploding. “Why can it not be both? I have a young man to impress, after all.” He winked.
“Well, if you’re just going to get bored in an hour, I’m staying. I’ve got nothing better to do this evening.”
He sighed. “It is true, I did not come here for rocks and sticks. I wanted to pay special visit to you, in particular. I feel like we have had bad relationship, and I want to fix that.”
“This should be good.” Jay folded his arms. “Go nuts.”
“There has something I’ve been wondering since I got here this past week. Many people struggle, some fight, some die. It is the nature of things when I go where I go. But you? You have been enigma to me. So intent on not being trapped that you try to kill me when we first me, but the moment the dust settles, what happens? You are cool, calm, collected. More, you have stayed strong.”
He started to stroll in circles. Misha stared on. Jay shivered, and not just from the cold.
“It made me wonder,” Viktor continued. “‘How does this man stay so strong when he should be so weak?’ Where everyone else struggled, you have always been fine. So why? Why would a man be so afraid as to put himself at so much risk when I arrived, only to be safest one later? What could this man be hiding from me?”
Jay gulped. Where’s he going with this?
“I did not understand at first, but you were foolish and exposed yourself. First, with your fight against Hyuk, but again, when you gave your other friend the means to survive. No, that was no mere potion you used. It was something more… Nuanced. Something which you would not want me to find.”
Jay’s eyes widened as the implication took root. No, he couldn’t have…
Viktor held up a block of meat mixed with fruit and rendered fat. He took a bite and grinned.
From Jay’s pemmican.
Everything else faded. The trees. The bear made of ice. The rotting bases behind.
Jay only saw Viktor. He only saw that one sliver of an advantage he’d earned for himself in the hands of someone else… When no one thought to harvest the leviathan’s meat after its devastating attack… When he’d sacrificed his cursed item to protect everyone else… It had fallen to him!
And now, that was gone too? By this man? This monster!? Was it not enough that he got to take everything else from them? Did he need to have it all!?
Jay gripped the hilt of his sword tight, the world turning to a shade of red. He couldn’t allow this. He couldn’t surrender this last trump card too.
With a roar, Jay activated [Violent Storm], the muscles in his arm exploding as he launched a [Power Attack]. He would wipe this bastard from the face of the fucking earth, even if it killed him!
Yet the blade never hit. Viktor yanked his forearm before it could land.
A shockwave rolled out as the concussive force came anyway, but neither of the two moved. Viktor kept his eyes locked with Jay, his smile more devilish than he’d ever seen before.
“There it is,” Viktor said. “There is the animal you wish to hide.”
Jay’s eye twitched. Fuck this guy! He swung his free hand with all his might…
Only for it to be deflected without blinking.
Viktor headbutt him next. Jay gasped, a bright flash of light blinding all else.
It wasn’t over. Viktor kicked. He punched. He aimed for soft spots while Jay convulsed below.
Snap.
Snap.
Jay tried to block, but it was all in vain. Viktor was so powerful…
Snap.
He coughed, the taste of blood again in his mouth.
Snap.
Snap.
With one final kick, Viktor knocked him upright. Jay blinked through the agony, his breath turning into a whimper. Without his armor, he felt so vulnerable.
His sight fell back into focus. Viktor stared down at him, his face shadowed in the fledgling light of day.
“Now, you see,” Viktor said. “You understand man’s true nature.”
* * *
That night did not end well.
Jay stumbled through the jungle brush, the blood welling from a dozen Wounds. His vision faded in and out, trapped between the constant pain and the euphoria of being so close to losing his life.
Viktor had let him go after that beat-down. He’d let him take the cores without complaint. Why hurt him further? The message had been firmly delivered.
Viktor was on top. The apex predator in a world filled with predators. He was the most self-interested, and that was why he always won. Only through Jay’s hubris had he ever thought that he could outsmart him by hoarding his overleveled pemmican.
And now, that was gone.
And now, Jay was as vulnerable as everyone else.
Natura came for him in the woods that night, just as it always would. He hadn’t made it home. He hadn’t been able to replace the armor he’d lost. It was clear from the onset that he wouldn’t stand a chance.
Until he did. Jay lured the entire kill team to the largest cliff he could and used his weapon art combined with a [Power Attack], aiming into the ground instead of his enemies.
The result was immediate, burying Natura’s force under a wall of rocks that they wouldn’t be able to climb through until tomorrow.
Once again, Jay had dumped a final trump card, sacrificing his sword in order to win that one fight.
But at what cost? No weapons, no armor, no food to keep his vitality in check. He might have won the evening, but another was on the horizon, and he had no way out of it. No plan. No safeguards. Nothing but a protracted death.
All because of that one man.
He reached the door to his cabin and pounded his fist against the frame.
It wasn’t fair! Jay had never asked for this. He’d never done anything to deserve this much suffering. All he’d wanted was a second chance at life, not an endless crusade of murder and pain.
He curled his fists into palms. It wasn’t over yet, and he wouldn’t let Viktor win. There was still a chance to turn this around…
He waited until morning to get his Guide ready. The Crafting page lay in front.
The last time Jay had used this skill, his mind had been brought to the edge of madness, and his soul to the brink of ruin. Could he go through that a second time?
He had to. Without the pemmican, his vitality would only drip down from here, and with the disadvantage imposed on him, he’d never be able to catch back up.
He sighed, steeling himself for what was to come. If he was to walk the path to glory, then he’d have to be willing to do whatever it took. If that meant blackening himself to see this through, then that was a small price to pay.
His temporary freedom was worth the sacrifice.
Jay closed his eyes and opened his mind. The power of his skill started to flux, visions of impossible possibilities taking root.
Jay grinned, bathing in his [Forbidden Knowledge].
Name: Jay Reis (Copper Age)
Vitality – 99/99
Hunger – 49/72
Thirst – 24/24
Fatigue – 48/48
Sanity – 96/100 (Cursed)
Main Crafts: Alchemy 2, Armor Crafting 2, Base Building 3, Cooking 2, Jewelry 2, Medicine 2, Tailoring 2, Tool Crafting 3, Vehicles 1, Weapon Crafting 2.
Weapon Crafts: Axes 5, Bows 6, Clubs 5, Daggers 5, Spears 5, Swords 11.
Armor Crafts: Heavy Armor 5, Light Armor 5, Medium Armor 8, Shields 6.
Sub-Crafts: Curved Swords 5.
Character Skills:
[Forbidden Knowledge]
Armor Skills:
Heavy Armor: [Push], [Stampede]
Medium Armor: [Recover], [Leap], [Waterform], [Quickstep]
Light Armor: [Dash], [Feather Fall]
Shield: [Brace], [Track], [Break]
Weapon Skills:
Axes: [Chop], [Whirlwind]
Bows: [Sharpshooter], [Longshot], [Scattershot Arrow]
Clubs: [Bash], [Paralyze]
Daggers: [Slice], [Flourish]
Spears: [Thrust], [Sweep]
Swords: [Power Attack], [Slash], [Rend], [Shirk], [Violent Storm]
Armor:
[Silver Amulet]: Socketed with [Chipped Tourmaline] (Tempus)
[Silver Ring]: Socketed with [Chipped Ruby] (Ignis)
[Silver Ring]: Socketed with [Chipped Ruby] (Ignis)
Weapons:
[Basic Leather Quiver]: Contains 8 [Silver-tipped Arrows] (Elemental+2), (Stability+4)
Tools:
[Copper Knife+3]
[Copper Axe+3]
[Copper Hammer+3]
[Copper Pickaxe+3]
[Copper Shovel+3]
Boons:
[Minor (Speed)] (x3)