"Well... it's not the prettiest shelter I've ever looked at, and I definitely wouldn't buy it, but it's leagues above that shit from earlier. Good job, kiddo. You've successfully made a slightly less shittier rain shelter! Hahahaha!" Sandy said to Daz as he slapped the awestruck twenty-year-old on the back.
Congratulations! The host's skill, Basic Craftsmanship [E-Rank (Middle Tier)], has reached level 2!
Tears began streaming down Daz's face as a huge and innocent smile took a hold of his facial features. "I did it... I don't know why I'm so emotional about this... but I did it!" Daz almost screamed as he looked at the screen that acknowledged his hard work from the past four hours.
Lyle was standing next to Rimmy along with Sarah and Ellie, and at seeing Daz's mild success, Lyle suddenly started clapping. "Well done, my Lord! I knew you could do it!" Lyle said as his voice choked up from his own emotions, much like Daz's had. His cheeks were stained with tears of joy and pride for Daz's small achievement here.
Ellie and Sarah laughed before they joined in the clapping. Rimmy was standing nearby naturally, and after a few head bobs, he also clapped, very slowly, so as not to scare any people by the sound of his hands coming together.
Sandy turned to look at them and a strange look crossed his face. "You're a buncha weirdos," he said before he faced Daz once again. "You really a killin' machine when you get so emotional over building something so simple?" he asked Daz with a perplexed, but otherwise amused expression.
"Shut up," Daz said while he wiped his tears away. "I'm allowed to be happy about my accomplishments, aren't I?" he continued as he stared lovingly at the shelter he had built with all of his efforts. Daz carefully walked up to one of the now sturdy wooden posts holding up his creation, his child, and gently hugged it.
"Sandy might make fun of you, but know that even if the whole world hates you, Daddy will always love you," Daz said as he soothed and caressed the wooden beam.
"That's enough for me. You're crazy, kiddo. Don't put your dick inside that post, 'kay? Wouldn't want you to get splinters. Gimme a shout if you're gonna try to build something big again. I'll give ya a few pointers," Sandy said with a dismissive wave before he strolled back to the half sleeping group of citizens.
"Well," Daz said before he let go of the post and collected himself. "That's enough jerking off at my own hard work. Time to make some simple tables, surely even I can do that with just the help of the system-granted knowledge, right?" Daz said to himself as he looked at the several separated piles of wood and metal that lay under his newly constructed rain shelter.
"Hmm, I should probably start with just wood, right? Shouldn't be too hard to build a table, what with my ingenuity and all," Daz mumbled as he started sifting through the assorted wooden pieces of broken furniture and similar such objects.
"He really is pretty funny when he's not being all 'I'm gonna kill everything, the system this, points that, rawr!'. I might even go so far as to call him 'cute'. What'dya think, Ellie?" Sarah asked her twin sister as she sat on a metal chair that had previously been salvaged, apparently finished with her participation in applauding Daz's efforts.
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"Mmm, be's cwute," Ellie said almost reflexively before she quickly covered her mouth and sunk into her own chair, embarrassed at her slip of the tongue.
"Hoho, indeed. Our Lord does have a few quirks, doesn't he?" Lyle said as he took out a packet of biscuits from a pocket in his coat and started to eat them carefully, so as to not waste any crumbs.
"It's a bit strange though, isn't it? Y'know, how he basically has two personalities. Nicey-nicey 'I can take a joke,' Daz, and 'you insulted Rimmy, how do you wanna die?', Daz. Most people aren't so liberal with their different faces," Sarah said as she stuck her hand out to her Father's previous employer.
Lyle reciprocated and handed her a biscuit before he answered her. "Well, I think Lord Daz was always like this, even before the Apocalypse started, but he more than likely bottled it all up," Lyle said in an analytic manner, showing that he had put some thought into the manner previously.
"Bwat do bu mean?" Ellie asked as she took a biscuit for herself.
"Why, young Ellie, quite like yourself from a few days ago, how you chose to avoid the bullying you received as a child by simply not speaking, I believe Daz knew his personality wouldn't be accepted by society, so he hid his true self, and as a result, gained a split personality of sorts," Lyle explained as he ate another biscuit.
"A split personality..." Sarah mumbled as she chewed on her biscuit. It was delicious.
"But then again, you could argue that everyone has a split personality since nobody is one-dimensional. A personality only ever gets quantified as a disorder when the contrast in personality traits is too vivid. I could also be completely wrong, and Lord Daz might just genuinely love taking pride in his accomplishments. As small as it looked to us, he did build that shelter with his own hard work and effort thanks to the very educational tutoring of Mr Cliff," Lyle said before he stored his biscuit packet back inside his coat and stood up.
He wiped the few crumbs that had escaped his mouth and somehow found their way onto his lap before he concluded his thoughts, "Either way, Lord Daz is, just like the rest of us, a normal human being underneath all of his... kinks. I personally find this creative side of him to be very refreshing," Lyle said with a light smile before he walked back to the other civilians, presumably to help them.
Sarah jumped off of her seat and stretched her arms over her head. "Well, I think I'll go find Dad, either that or train my new skills. Or maybe both if Dad will let me experiment on him. Ufufufu," she said with an evil smirk.
"I'll stay bere. I want bu bwatch Daz some more," Ellie said as she remained seated.
"It's so weird that you like him so much since he's a bit nuts, but I guess he did cure your deafness which we can't thank him enough for. Speaking of, you're talking is getting much smoother. Keep up the good work, Sis," Sarah said with a happy tone before she started skipping gleefully away. She suddenly lurched to a halt, alarming Ellie.
"Take things slow. You look like me, so you're pretty, but Daz doesn't seem like the type to care about looks much, hehehe," Sarah finished with a mischievous grin before she ran off to find her Father, Ger.
Ellie was left there with a fully crimson face as her heart struggled to stay in her chest. 'He... he doesn't have a girlfriend, does he? M-Maybe after all of this has settled down a bit... I-I could try?' the inexperienced twenty-three-year old asked herself in self-doubt as her insecurities began gnawing away at her self-esteem.
All the while, Daz was far too busy building a simple wooden table as his best friend Rimmy watched him eagerly. It was as if he was trying to support his Master to the very best of his ability just by striving to radiate positivity from his huge jewelled body.