Adam had activated sure shot again and was crouched with his bow in hand waiting patiently behind one of the clumps of tall grass that were scattered around the plain between the coast and camp. He had forgotten about the small deer that he had spotted on the first day until spotting the herd that he was now stalking. They were smaller than the boar; between two and three feet at the shoulder around the size of a medium dog. They had spotted him as he approached and scattered, running quickly into the surrounding grassland. Instead of chasing Adam had waited and they slowly collected back into a group.

He drew the bow; putting an arrow to the string and aiming it at one of the larger male deer. It wasn't until the arrow hit that the herd realised something was wrong. The buck he had struck bellowed and dropped to the floor while all the other deer scattered again, running in all directions. Adam approached the wounded deer and finished it off quickly with his dagger. He considered using byproducts but resisted as this would make it much harder to carry. Instead he lifted the deer to his shoulder and continued his jog.

Adam gutted the deer outside camp and then used his skill which removed the hide. He left the carcass hanging in the smaller hut next to his and made a mental note that they probably needed somewhere else to store their meat. He was disappointed that he had failed to obtain a weapon making profession so thought back to how he had unlocked bowyer. This had required one bow and two arrows, three items in total. So far he had received two notifications about weapons, one for the staff and a second for the spear. Fingers crossed that a third would do the trick.

Two Iron Tipped Spears later and Adam had still not received a notification about a new profession. He had designed these to be shorter than his own, more tailored to the vermite. Perhaps he needed a different type of weapon. Both the spear and staff were medium melee weapons and he had the dagger for short range. What he wanted was something in between. He had the axe but that had not unlocked a class and he wasn't sure he could manipulate that amount of metal at the moment. Adam decided on a short sword. He would form the body of the weapon from a piece of wood; like a training or practice sword and then use metal mana to coat the blade in a thin layer of iron to form an edge.

Making the shape out wood Adam used a slightly curved piece of wood carving the handle and blade out of one piece. He left a guard above the hilt with enough room to hold the sword with two hands. Once he was done the finished product looked similar to a katana with a blade about two feet in length. Happy with the shape he used fire mana to seal the wood and remove minor imperfections. Next he picked up some of the iron; choosing it as the easiest metal to manipulate. He held the metal in a malleable form in his right hand he used the fire mana in his left to help the metal and wood to bond.

Engrossed in the process Adam was aware that the Vermite had left their burrows and started mililng around the camp doing various chores but continued to concentrate as he moved along the blade smoothly coating the surface with the metal. It wasn't until he had completed his task that he fully looked up to find Lei watching him intently across the fire pit.

Notification:

You have created Iron Coated Sword. You gain 10 exp

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Profession Unlock Criteria Description Skills Weaponsmith Make three weapons Can create weapons through a combination of skill and mana manipulation [basic wooden creation]; [basic iron creation]     Gain experience with initial skills to unlock [basic copper creation] and upgrade to [intermediate] level skills.  

Adam grinned. He had done it. He lifted the sword to examine it Iron Coated Sword - Attack +1. He took a swing with the sword, noticing the metal of the blade now unbalanced the weight and made it harder to hold. He ran his finger along the edge and realised he would need to sharpen the blade too. In all the wooden practice sword had probably been a more effective weapon than the finished product.

Placing the weapon down at his side he realised that Lei was still watching from across the fire. He activated the link and felt the curiosity Lei had for the blade immediately.

"Do you want to see it properly?" Adam asked, lifting the sword again. He had forgotten how wary some of the vermite still were about him as Lei crept closer like Adam would suddenly jump up and attack him. He sent reassuring feelings through the link as he calmly held the sword out for Lei to examine.

"Sword" Said Adam as he gave the weapon to Lei, answering the unasked question of what it was called.

"Heavy." Replied Lei as he took the weapon. "Too heavy." He corrected as he tried to lift it straight. Adam watched as he then examined the blade. "Not sharp. Need more sharp."

"Yes," replied Adam "it needs sharpening." He was surprised what happened next as Lei dropped the sword to rush out of camp, reappearing moments later with some stones in his hands.

"Make sharp." Said Lei. Placing the selection of stones down next to him before selecting one and rubbing it along the blade. Adam watched on in surprise. Because of the professions he kept neglecting to remember that the vermite had a variety of skills already before they were even given a profession. He was still amazed at how the vermite were naturally helpful and quite content to be left to a task once they had started. They all seemed to be slowly becoming more expressive and interesting as their basic needs of food and shelter were being met.

Adam left Lei with the sword and picked up the two shorter spears to find Ma just outside the inner area of the camp directing the other vermite in their tasks for the night. Two groups were already gathered to head out; one to the forest and the other to the orchard and river area. A third group was already working with Pa Adam watched with spears in hand as Ma gave a mixture of encouragement and warning to the vermite depending on who she was speaking to. It was obvious to him who she trusted to be sensible and who she didnt. Since there were now over thirty vermite in the camp the two groups had grown to have several vermite in each that he did not recognise at all.

He explained his new Spear Wielder class to Ma who selected a pair of twins that had recently joined the camp who would be suitable for the role. Ail and Dee took the spears with the characteristic enthusiasm of the vermite and with Ma's permission Adam sent them both with the group to the orchard to protect Wu. This left Adam with the ability to add one more follower for the day.

"Ma, are there any vermite who would make a good miner?" Adam asked.

The answer was a short stocky vermite called Trey that was happy to accept the profession but became wary when he found out getting to the mine would mean a journey alone with Adam. Ma quickly found a solution of sending Cae to the mine to keep them company. This meant Adam had a small party of three as he headed back out to the mine.