It was the morning after Sydui and I... got further acquainted shall we say....

She seemed way more relaxed than usual, which was good because I could tell she was incredibly stressed out up until this point.

I was a bit surprised though when she asked me the next question.

"So, your knife and saw..."

"The Great Stabbinsky and Shreddy Mercury..." I helpfully offered.

"Right, those two... are you any closer to understanding how they work?"

"Well, it seems a name was important... I had been playing with it in my mind, and apparently I was more settled on it than I thought. It also seems like having a strong immediate need helps a lot."

Sydui thought for a while. "Actually, I have another question... did you have a name for your crossbow?"

I shook my head. "Nothing I like anyway."

"What about 'Hole Puncher'? It's ancient tongue for 'Hole Puncher'."

I blinked. "That didn't translate well, it sounded like you just said 'Hole Puncher' twice."

She clicked her tongue in frustration. "Of course it did, it probably killed all of the nuance too."

"Probably." I looked over at her. "I liked your suggestion though."

With the threat having passed, the work sped up a huge amount.

With Shreddy Mercury working, it became a matter of how fast we could move the lumber.

It was even better because Shreddy could be used to dig holes, even if he complained every time.

'I don't get why I have to dig these holes, isn't that what a shovel is for?'

"Maybe, but you make them so nice and round." I countered.

'The show must go on I suppose...'

"That's the spirit!"

"If you're quite done talking to yourself and blaming the serrated blade, I could use your assistance over here." Hund interjected.

"I don't get no respect with you people." I said with a chuckle. "What's up exactly?"

"We're out of nails, which isn't surprising considering you didn't bring that many."

"Oh, I actually have a great idea for that!"

Find this and other great novels on the author's preferred platform. Support original creators!

The air was quiet, a metalcorn grazed on a strange nearby plant.

Suddenly a whistle sung through the air, followed by the sound of metal tearing.

Finally a metalcorn fell to the ground, a hole torn open in its head.

"Hell yeah, bagged me another one!"

Hund looked at me uncomprehendingly. "I fail to see how killing these 'metalcorns' will help us get nails."

I would have preferred Sydui, but she had to limit walking on her leg to help reduce the swelling.

I looked over at Hund. "As always, you just have to trust me on this one. Even if we can't cook them, they have their uses."

"What about the others who are looking for that small vine you asked for?"

"Again, you'll have to trust me, all will be revealed in time." I assured him.

Hund didn't seem convinced, but didn't say anything more about it.

After all of the metalcorns were killed, I used Shreddy to cut them up into small chunks.

'Now THIS is what I live for! Hell yeah!'

"Alright, we have the vines, what do we do with them?" Polyu, one of the villagers who came with us asked.

"Perfect timing!" I rubbed my hands together. "It's time to show you my second greatest creation, the waterwheel lathe!"

As we approached my lathe, I saw a champion turning some metal on it.

I signaled everyone to stop. "Hold on, there's a squatter." I whispered backward.

[Nghter The Craftsman]

Danger Level: High Threat

I unfortunately didn't have a clear shot without risking hitting the waterwheel, especially due to their likely lack of toughness.

I circled around them until I had a shot.

I fired.

Their blood splattered all over my lathe until it disintegrated away.

Huh, good to know.

After a little bit of making sure it was all in working order, I made a grand gesture to the lathe. "As you can see this wonderful device uses the power of nature itself to spin things extraordinarily fast, it's how we're going to make rope out of those vines you collected."

Lots of oos and ahs were had.

'Thank you, thank you, you're too kind!' The Great Stabbinsky messaged.

'Thank you? I did most of the work!' Shreddy countered.

'And I helped make you, which makes you my assistant.'

"Both of you be quiet for a second, you're distracting me from my big reveal." I whispered.

'Apologizes.' The Great Stabbinsky replied.

'This isn't over...' Shreddy threatened.

I rolled my eyes as I showed the villagers how to begin the process and when to stop.

Luckily for all of us, the process took barely any time at all in comparison to when I originally did it, mostly due to the fact that the lathe spins so much faster than the waterwheel by itself.

After that, I took an atlatl, put the rope between the main body and the nub, and tied a piece of metalcorn to the other end. "Viola! A fishing rod!"

None of the villagers seemed very enthusiastic, so I cast my line, getting a bite pretty much instantly.

I then yanked the weird tooth-fish out of the water and showed it to them.

They seemed impressed, if still confused.

Disappointed, I used The Great Stabbinsky to behead the fish and pulled out a tooth.

That did it and they finally understood.

Polyu was clearly disgusted, her face scrunched up like she swallowed a lemon whole. "That's where your nails were from? Oh heavens, I touched those!"

I looked down at the coiled metal tooth. "It's certainly strange, but it's the best and easiest solution to our problem... besides, it's fun."

I offered the makeshift rod and she took it hesitantly.

"The rope isn't very well secured, so make sure not to let it slip, once you feel a pull, use both hands to rip it out of the water got it?"

She nodded, but clearly didn't like where this was going.

I told her how to cast it and she did so.

In moments, she got a bite.

She fumbled with the rod, not expecting the sudden force applied.

She dug her hooves into the ground and wrenched the rod away from the water as hard as she could.

The fish came flying out of the water and landed at her feet, frantically trying to get back to safety.

I chopped off its head to put it out of its misery.

"Fun right?"

Polyu nodded between heavy breaths. "That... that was fun actually."

I smiled and went to help the others with their makeshift fishing rods.

Each one of us returned to the village that day with no less than ten fish each, totaling over six hundred teeth (as the fish had twelve each and we had five total people with us) as well as a pretty decent meal for the whole village.