CHAPTER 77 - A BUSY CRAFT-ERNOON
🙞❤︎🙜
There was no time limit for the quest, but the [Prairie Elk] wouldn’t stay in Blossom Valley forever, which meant that I had a limited time to hunt them. I hurriedly greeted Fengying and Deming, then rushed off to check the [Pit Trap].
Fortunately, all I had to do was walk near the trap in order to collect the body of the elk. I didn’t have to go down into the pit to lift it. I was more than a little uneasy when I saw the animal’s body, but Hunting in this world was a must if I wanted to feed my household. Though it would be difficult for me, I had to get over my squeamishness about killing animals for food.
I deactivated the trap, which filled in the hole automatically, then asked Lari where I should place the next trap. After I finished setting up the [Pit Trap] in another place, I invited the observers to go to the house with me where I could show them the guest bedrooms.
They took a quick look around the outer courtyard and the rooms I showed them, but they were much more interested in the [Dendrological Cultivation Chamber]. I took one out from my inventory and showed them all the features. The youngest of the observers took down notes and even made a drawing of it.
The rest of my household arrived an hour later in the ox carts, and the others got busy unpacking.
“Now kids, let me show you your new rooms.” I led them into the inner courtyard. “In the farm, you have rooms in the outer courtyard. It’s different here. Whenever we stay here during the winter, you’ll spend most of your time in the inner courtyard with me.”
They exchanged confused glances, and Kharli asked me, “Teacher, why are we staying here?”
The traditional courtyard house was built with a certain hierarchy in mind. The outer courtyard was used for most people, while the inner courtyard was the sole province of the owner and closest family. Therefore, on the farm, I was the sole occupant of the inner courtyard.
“That’s because we will need maximum privacy. I have set the house’s settings to only allow the four of us here.” I gestured at the courtyard and rooms.
Mo leaned closer to Kharli and whispered, “Oh, I have a bad feeling about this. Why do we need so much privacy?”
Kharli whispered back, “I think she’s planning something outrageous.”
“Ahem. The reason is simple. Winter is the time for crafting.” I walked over to the nearest workshop room and flung open the door. “Behold!”
“What are we looking at?” Mo asked Kharli.
“A table, bench, and a lot of shelves?” said Kharli.
“An anvil! Are we going to make weapons?” asked Lari.
I nodded. “And armor.”
“Woo-hoo!” Lari was excited and ran inside the room, picking up stuff and putting them down again when it didn’t seem valuable.
“Of course, we're mainly here to plant trees. We’ll do that every morning, and when we’re done, we’ll work on our crafting levels.” I sat down on the workbench and patted the space beside me.
The two girls sat down, while Lari continued to search the room for anything that looked expensive.
“Okay. Let’s try this. Try to pick this up.” I got a [Bronze Bar] from my inventory and put it on the table.
Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon.
“I can’t touch it!”
“Let me try.”
“Is this gold?”
As expected, they were unable to take the item because it was bound to me. “This is a [Bronze Bar]. I’ll show you how to use it.”
I went to the anvil with the bar of metal and got a hammer from the System toolbelt. Then I placed the metal bar on the anvil and started randomly hammering it. The first time I hit the metal bar, the Smithing menu appeared, even though only one choice was available. I mentally picked [Arrowheads], and immediately felt a force guiding my arm. The first five strikes were pretty much random and all they did was to heat the metal. The next ten hammer blows, however, were much more purposeful, and I let the System guide my movements. After the fifteenth strike, the metal glimmered and then changed into five [Bronze Arrowheads].
Wiping the sweat from my forehead with my sleeve, I scooped up the items and held them towards my apprentices. “Touch these.”
“Wow! Are these magic? What are they?” Lari’s eyes were as large as saucers.
The three of them took one arrowhead each.
“Ah, so you can touch these. Okay, then let’s do some Fletching.” I sat down on a stool and gestured for the kids to sit on the workbench. “Go to your toolbelt and take out a knife. It should be under [Fletching].”
I waited until they had done as I instructed. “Now, take a [Log] out from your inventory. Watch what I do first.”
The three of them watched in awe as I started whittling away at the piece of wood that was what we got when we did Woodcutting. The moment my knife touched the wood, the Fletching menu appeared, and I chose [Arrow Shafts]. I shaved off bits of wood until, finally, the [Log] glimmered then turned into five long, slender, and straight pieces of wood. Then I took back the five [Bronze Arrowheads] and [Arrow Shafts] and attached them to each other, forming [Incomplete Arrows]. The last step was for me to take five [Feathers] and attach them to form [Bronze Arrows].
My disciples watched me do the whole thing in complete silence, their eyes shining. When I held aloft the finished product, they applauded enthusiastically.
“Incredible!”
“Amazing! Teacher is a magic artisan!”
“What amazing magic!”
I stood up and bowed. “Thank you, thank you! Now you guys try it. When the Fletching menu appears, choose [Arrow Shafts].”
“Aaaah! We’re going to be magic artisans!” shrieked Kharli.
Mo let out a series of high-pitched incoherent screams.
I plugged my ears with my fingers and patted myself on the back on my foresight because I had set the room’s privacy mode to absolute, meaning no light or sound or anything else could be seen from outside. I didn’t want the rest of the house to know what we were doing.
Lari just stood there with his mouth open. After a while, he closed his mouth with a loud snap, then sat on the bench and started fletching. When the other two saw what he was doing, they stopped screaming and started crafting.
While they were hard at work, I gave them a few pointers about crafting. “Fletching is a skill that works in tandem with Smithing and Woodcutting. Unfortunately, you guys aren’t able to use the metal bars that I have right now. We’ll have to work together on different tasks. I’ll smith while you fletch.”
It took them longer than me to produce five [Arrow Shafts]. When we put the items side-by-side, they looked identical.
“I did it…” Mo whispered. She seemed half-joyous, half-disbelieving.
Kharli hugged her. “Isn’t it wonderful?”
“Teacher, thank you!” said Mo.
The two girls hugged me with tears in their eyes while Lari sheepishly approached and patted us on the back once or twice. He was never one for hugs.
“Aw, c’mon stop blubbering! You're wasting daylight,” said Lari.
I gave the girls a few more moments to savor their success, then told the three of them to continue fletching while I smithed us more parts. They were more than willing to do so.
For the next hour, the workshop was filled with the sounds of whittling wood and the hammering of metal until we had to take a break for lunch.
Of course, I didn’t tell them that we were making arrows to prepare for the upcoming Demon Boss War. According to the System’s Event tab, the Boss hadn’t spawned yet, so there was nothing for me to report to the authorities at the moment, and I probably shouldn't worry my apprentices about a possible future that might never come to pass.
The fact that it was showing on the System information though, meant that it was most likely going to happen. Therefore, I should prepare supplies whenever I could. I wasn’t too worried since this was a no-fail event. Even if I did nothing, the clans would undoubtedly take care of it.
Players generally played a very minor part in the war, and it was simply regarded as a good way to get rid of low-level items in bulk. I personally had no plans to take part in the actual fighting.
My life was too precious to risk!
We spent a pleasant day crafting and went to bed exhausted from all the excitement. However, a few minutes after midnight, I was awakened by the System’s notification sound.