Ten days later, Thaddeus finished chopping the trees he needed. He cleared so many trees, his settlement expanded by half an acre. He cut and carried 670 logs to the sawmill. The more trees he felled, the more his lumberjack skill increased. He was now a Level 102 Journeyman Lumberjack with four more SP.
The weather over the past 10 days was a mix of rain and sun. He got in the habit of cutting whether it rained or shinned, but when it stormed, he stayed in the sawmill cutting planks and beams. He had so many boards they couldn’t fit in his kiln. He had to move the dried wood into the sawmill, to make room for the rest.
According to the game’s mechanics, it took wood between one to 12 days to dry. Which gave him a week a little over a week to put up 10 houses. Then dried wood needed to be planned and jointed by hand before he could use it for construction.
As a child, he remembered hearing his mother say how much she disliked cookie-cutter houses. Cookie-cutter houses were houses that had similar exteriors and interiors with slight variations.
But now, he knew understood the appeal. Cookie-cutter houses were fast and easy to build. The familiarity was appealing. Already knowing where the nails, studs, beams, and planks were all supposed to go made construction easier.
Thaddeus used his hand planner to get ride of any curved or bows. He plan the each plank and bean until they were smooth and flat. The he used a table saw to make sure each corner was 90 degrees. When he was satisfied he threw the dry, planned, jointed wood in the done pile.
When finished planning and jointing the dried wood, he walked over to the 10 houses and checked out the translucent 3D designs. The first step was easy, he laid down stone walls to make the floors. He placed four identical stone slabs on the east side and six on the west side of the main. When he finished, he started to build the 40 feet and 20 feet interior wall frames.
Thaddeus worked on his knees hammering the planks and beams into place. As an Adept, his speed and accuracy were improved. He worked faster with fewer mistakes. When he finished his second 40-foot frame, he got a notification his woodworking advanced a level. But that was two done out of 40. He had another 40, 20-foot frames to finish. Unfortunately, he couldn’t make all the frames, because the majority of the wood was still drying in the kiln. He only had enough wood to make four houses.
Just like the sawmill’s construction, he hoisted the wood frames in place and screwed them down into the stone floor. When the walls were finished, he cast [Stone Walls] to complete the exterior walls. Inside the house, he hammered planks onto the frame to make the interior walls. He realized he was out when he reached to grab a nail to hammer a plank. Laying down his construction hammer, he walked to the forge, picked up his smithing hammer, threw some coals in the fire pot, an ingot in the furnace, and sat down to work.
He liked having the forge out in the open. The heat from the furnace and the wind felt nice on a breezy day. But on windy days or when it stormed it made it difficult to forge. When it stormed, he had to guard the fire pot. Tired of running back and forth from the Yurt to the forge one night. He cast [Stone Wall] and surrounded the forge with three stone walls, and a stone roof, and went to bed.
He used the bellow to stoke the coke, making the fire pot below the furnace nice and hot.
Thaddeus removed his shirt, he was used to embers and sparks hitting his skin randomly, but it didn’t bother him anymore. Thaddeus realized he was wearing his shirt less and less. He looked at his tanned chest and arms. When he worked with his shirt on, it became drenched and sweaty and stick to his skin. It was just easier to keep his shirt dry and put it on after he finished working.
As he watched the ingot slowly melt inside the crucible, he watched carefully making sure to not let it burn. When the ingot melted, he cast molten metal into a mold. He and Roy made nail and screw mold. The need to heat, shape, and hammer everything by hand was a myth. Metal casting had been done in and out of the game for thousands of years. With metal casting, molten metal was poured from a crucible into a mold, where the metal cooled in the cast. After the metal cooled it was safe to use.
Blacksmiths forged items based on their utility. The gears for the sawmill needed to be shaped, and hammered, due to its heavy use. If he used a mold to make the gears, their structural integrity would be weak and most likely snap in half after a single use. However, wrought iron nails and screws weren’t needed for heavy-duty, use, but could last for decades.
Thaddeus poured the molten iron into four nail molds and threw another ingot into the furnace. Each mold was the size of a small luggage carry-on. Inside were 25, 3-inch nail molds. He had four nail molds and four screw molds. Thaddeus’ stayed in the forge until he cast 500 nails and screws.
While the last molds cooled, he walked inside the yurt and made himself a grilled cheese sandwich. Bread, he didn’t think he miss it so much. Eating meat every day was getting tiring. He wanted variety. Thankfully, his campfire cook gave him different ways to cook, grill, and boil coyote meat. After finishing lunch, he went back into the forge and decided to build a coil trap. Upstream, near the dam lake, he noticed a common drinking hole for deer.
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He through two ingots inside to forge. When the golden was hot, he took one ingot out and started hammering it. Slowly he shaped it into the jaw of the trap, he temporarily put it back in the furnace and took out the second ingot. He took out the second ingot and hammered it. He flipped the metal back and forth while he pounded it. When he was satisfied, he wrapped it slowly and tightly around an iron rod to mail the coils. With the jaws and coils cooling, he made the spring trap, straps, and link chain. Tomorrow morning, he placed the trap.
With the nails and screws cooled, he went back to finish nailing the boards inside the second house. By evening, he finished two houses the exterior and interior walls of two houses. That gave him thirteen days left to finish.
The next morning, after finishing his chores, he walked 15 miles upstream to the dam. When he arrived, he saw the lake had expanded. He suspected the spring sun and melted more snow and ice near the mountain peaks. The lake looked majestic and pristine. Flocks of ducks and geese were lazily sitting on the lake, and fish jumped in the water. Deer, foxes, elk, and wolves drank from the lake in different locations. A painting could not have painted a pretty picture.
He walked along the edge of the lake until he found a tree where the bark was scratched off. Thaddeus guessed a buck or male deer used it to help shed its antler’s velvet. In spring, grew a set covered in velvety skin. Bucks rubbed against trees or low branches, to peel the velvet skin away. Thaddeus targeted bucks because he didn’t want to harm does. Killing nature’s breeders would upset the ecosystem. But killing a buck or two would be fine.
“Alfred, can you monitor this trap?” Thaddeus asked.
“Yes, sir. I’ll alert you when the trap has sprung,” Alfred agreed.
On the way back he checked out the dam. From the outside, the dam looked fine. But he needed an engineer to tell him if the dam was structurally okay. Maybe he could ask someone from the engineering program to check it out later, or maybe Alfred knew.
“Alfred, do you know if the dam is okay?” Thaddeus wondered.
“Yes, the dam’s durability is 15,000/15,000, sir,” he said.
“Wait, can you tell me the durability of everything in the settlement?” said Thaddeus impressed.
“Yes, sir,” he replied.
“What else can you tell me? Thaddeus wondered.
“Based on your trap’s location, you have a 24% of capturing a rabbit, 52% of capturing a deer, 79% of capturing a wolf, and a .01% capturing an elk,” Alfred explained.
When he returned to the settlement, he spent the rest of the day, casting the stone floor, framing the walls, casting the stone walls, nailing the interior walls, and speaking with Alfred.
By evening he framed two more houses. If he continued with this speed, he’d have all the houses constructed, minus the roof in three days. That gave him four days until the end of the month to finish the roofs. Although Demeter didn’t give him much time, he managed his time wisely, and soon he’d be able to start on his house.
That evening, as he was bringing the animals inside, he received a notification. When he opened it, his mouth dropped in shock.
System Message: Global Announcement
A Blood Moon is expected to rise tomorrow night. The Blood Moon increases beasts’ blood lust. A beast wave is predicted on settlements. The empire has solicited players’ aid. Players earn one point for every beast killed. The person who kills the most will receive a gold treasure chest. Second place will receive a bronze treasure chest, and third will receive a bronze chest.
This is what Thaddeus dreaded most, a disruption. He was already on a tight schedule. And now his settlement was under threat.
“Alfred, which direction is the beast wave likely to come from?” Thaddeus asked.
“Sir, I calculate there’s a 60% chance of the attack from the Forest of Wrath, 30% from the Dragon Prairie, and 10% it comes from both sides,” he warned.
“Well fuck,” Thaddeus cursed.
“Sir, you received a settlement message,” Alfred informed him.
“Open it,” Thaddeus said angrily.
System Message: Defend your settlement
A Blood Moon is expected to rise tomorrow night. The Blood Moon increases beasts’ blood lust. A beast wave is predicted on settlements. Rid the beast from your settlement. Players earn one point for every beast killed. The person who kills the most will receive a gold treasure chest. Second place will receive a bronze treasure chest, and third will receive a bronze treasure chest.
“Alfred, how many players are building a settlement?” Thaddeus asked.
“There are 23,674 people who own a settlement. They are a mix of individuals and guilds, are 23,457 settlements are Level 1 hamlets, 168 are Level 2, 49 are Level 3, and 1 is Level 4,” he explained.
“I never thought so many people would build would want to build settlements,” Thaddeus said in surprise.
“Yes, guilds are interested in settlements. Although they are more interested in building citadels than farmsteads,” Alfred informed him.
“I need a strategy,” Thaddeus thought when Sabrina called him.
“Thaddeus, what are you going to do about the beast wave? Are you going to be, okay? I’m so angry, all that hard work is now in jeopardy,” Sabrina said.
“Yes, I’m planning to defend the hamlet. I’m trying to come up with a strategy,” Thaddeus replied.
“Well, I’m worried about you. I put two more middle-grade healing potions, just in case you need them. Also, you didn’t need to pay the full price last time. As I said, you can have them for free,” she said shyly.
“Sir, would you like me to adjust the payment for healing potions from Sabrina?” asked Alfred.
“No, it’s fine,” he ordered. Soon two middle-grade healing potions appeared in his inventory.
“Thanks for the potions, I really appreciate your help,” Thaddeus said gratefully.
“Why did you pay full price again? You’re very supportive. Well, I’m excited to visit Woodhaerst in five months. And, I don’t want to see hamlet in trouble, so do a good job!” she said passionately.
“Well, I can’t wait for you to come,” said Thaddeus giving a platitude.
“I’ll get off and let you think. I’ll be hoping for your victory tomorrow,” she said happily and hung up the call.
“Alfred, update me with information on the beast wave tomorrow. I'm going to bed," Thaddeus said walking up to the loft and logging off for the evening.