Days turned into weeks, and weeks into months. Jasper had seen great wonders since he had been forced out of his home. It had been two months since he had finished building his cabin and since then he had thrown himself into the study of not only runes and crafting techniques, but also the flora and fauna around him. He had learned so many things and crafted many useful items in the months after he had finished filling in the crawl space underneath his house. His camp was now full of small crafts all neatly sorted into the baskets that he had continued to make simply to maintain a routine.
He could no longer receive stat points in strength by working out, at least if he wanted to get anything else accomplished in a day. So, he kept an hour window every morning for the workout and another hour for basket weaving before he would start working on whatever project he wanted to work on. The first project he had made after finishing his house was a water skin using the stomach of one of the beasts that had wandered too close to his electric fence. Jasper had given up on his clothes so when he had the idea for the water skin, he used his shirt and pants for thread and had made an incredibly sharp bone needle. When it was finished Jasper used Effen to etch the runes of grow, space, contain, shrink, cleanse and control to create a waterskin that could carry several gallons of water in a small space. Of course, having used a needle and thread during the crafting he had raised his proficiency with that as a tool meaning when he leveled up his Summon toolbelt again he had been awarded with a small sewing kit.
He did not know why the kit counted as one tool, but he had hoped that it would mean more kits like that later. The more tools that Jasper received, the easier it seemed to level up his skill. Trying new experiments with different tools, improving items that he could not have before, and taking copious amounts of notes had earned Jasper five levels over all bringing him to level 16, as well as 4 levels in Summon Toolbelt, 3 levels in Summon Journal, and 4 levels in Imbue runes. This allowed him to really get into the swing of things as far as crafting.
Now his toolbelt consisted of his crystalline pen, the crystalline saw, an adamantine pair of pliers, a sewing kit, a mithril mallet, a pair of half silver scissors, and a pair of sturdy work gloves. It was fantastic to have so many more options for his crafting, especially since each of the tools had their own special effects. Jasper had finally figured out the needle nose pliers would hold something without him even touching it when he had been using it to thread his bone needle one day and got startled by a lizard creature running into his electric fence. Jasper had dropped what he was working on so that he could finish it off, and when he came back the tool continued to stay floating exactly where his hand had left it still holding the needle. That function became especially useful as Jasper no longer had to hold his materials in one hand or his lap while he worked on inscribing runes into his crafts, freeing him up to work from different angles and improving his rune work greatly.
The sewing kit was not so much a full kit as he had hoped, but instead it was just a needle that would thread itself and change size dependent on what material he was working on. The thread that came with it never ran out no matter how much Jasper pulled. One day while he was curious, he spent an entire hour just pulling on the thread. He spooled it on a stick so that just in case he did reach the end he would not have wasted all that thread, but he never reached the end. The scissors were the most basic of all his tools, only being able to move around like his pen and cut in very exacting lines. It was the one he was least excited about because he felt that Effen could do the job just as well as any scissors. Still, he used them just to continue raising his proficiency and not get bored.
The mithril mallet was interesting in its use because it was so subtle Jasper did not even notice it at first. He had been setting up a pit trap one day using wooden spikes in the bottom of it for a more lethal effect when he noticed that as he was hammering the stakes into the ground, he was not flattening their tips. He tried it on other materials like stone and bark and he noticed that no matter how hard he hit the material he would never damage it. He used it whenever the roof started to shift and never once broke a single reed while he hammered them back into place. Jasper knew that the mallet would not be super useful when it finally came time for him to do detail carving work, but for large scale projects where he just did not want to waste material the mallet worked perfectly.
The tool that excited Jasper the most in his entire toolbelt though was his new sturdy work gloves. They were a simple pair of brown leather gloves that fit him perfectly. Not only did they protect against the small knicks and bruises that would accrue on his hands over time, but they also gave him +20% to strength and dexterity when he was wearing them and +30% to strength and dexterity when he was working on a craft while wearing them. This meant that not only did he have a boost while he was fighting monsters, but also that his crafting skills would improve leaps and bounds. Jasper could not help but think that the gloves were OP, but he was not going to complain about it.
Jasper's camp had grown over time with different structures popping up around the area. He had built a drying rack, an outhouse, and a tanning rack. Through his study of the plants in the area Jasper had managed to find several that when dried out they made for excellent seasonings. He had even crafted some small wooden jars to keep his new seasonings in after they had been dried and crushed up. The outhouse was built out of necessity and Jasper had made sure to place it at the very back edge of the camp away from his water source and with the mountainous wall standing behind his camp blocking off some of the wind it made it easier to stand the smell. It was not just the smell that Jasper had been worried about when he had built the outhouse. A small part of Jaspers mind had said that if he had visitors, he did not want the first thing they saw to be an outhouse.
It was not a logical thought because Jasper knew that there were no people on the surface of the planet except him. It was just a thought that he could not get rid of, the thought of visitors made him feel better. Sometimes while he was working his mind would slip away into a daydream about Brienne, Toby, and Pirka coming over to his new house for a dinner party. These daydreams only served to build Jasper's loneliness though and so he began talking to Effen and Flot more often. The two floating tools never responded of course, but every now and then they would bob or move in a way that made Jasper feel like they understood him. He knew that they could not, at least logically he did. Still having the two tools around gave him something else to talk to instead of just muttering to himself.
The tanning rack was the newest addition to Jasper’s homestead. He had been running around in the buff for the last few weeks and finally decided that it would be better for him to make some clothes. If his imaginary visitors did pop by one day, he did not want them to feel awkward after seeing his bits and bobbles. So far all he had been able to make was a leather loincloth. The process of making leather was difficult and Jasper had to experiment a lot before his creativity would give him the answers that he needed. Jasper had taken a day trip back out to the mountains outside of his forest so that he could hunt one of the goat creatures to start his leather.
He had to do that four separate times before he finally figured out his technique for making leather. He’d had to experiment with all kinds of plants before he found something that worked well as a natural tannin, plus his butchering skills while better than someone that had never butchered anything in their life still lacked the necessary skill, he needed not to fill the hide with knicks and cuts as Jasper attempted to dehair and deflesh it. Finally, he had managed to make a small amount of leather and sewed them together in a proper enough way that he could cover his twigs and berries as well as part of his peach. Jasper knew that he could not spend a whole lot of time on his leather skills though, because he did not know when the cold season would start.
It was the beginning of the warm season when he had been kicked out and it had been three months since he had started his new life. Right now, Jasper was doing well with all the fish, other monsters, fruit, and nuts that he had found, and various plants and grasses. During the cold season though Jasper knew that the plants and animals might become far scarcer. His current project was food preservation. Jasper had started drying out meat and storing it in different wooden pots and baskets, but he knew that if he did not want to run out when the cold season started, he would have to go out and find more resources.
Jasper checked over his equipment, feeling nervous about what he was about to do. So far, he had not gone exploring most of the forest, and only went to places he had already been. Today though he would be stepping outside of the zone that he had grown comfortable in. He had filled his water skin with several gallons of water and watched as the toxins from the water floated out of the skin’s spout. Flot carried enough dry meat and herbs for a few days of travel, as well as a length of vines that Jasper had braided into a sturdy rope. Effen floated around Jasper's head curiously while he prepared.
“Hey girl it’ll be fine, you’re going to be there to protect me, right?” he asked, gaining a small bob of approval from his small stone knife. “That’s a good girl.” As the toxins finally sputtered out no longer flowing from his waterskins spout Jasper squared his shoulders and took a deep breath. “Let’s get going!” He called out to his floating tools and started walking down the riverbank. Once he left the perimeter of his homestead, he activated the electric fence. After he had upgraded his fence a couple of times, he knew that the magic would hold until he got back.
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Jasper walked at a steady pace taking in the forest as he walked. Even though he was no longer in his camp he still did not feel all that nervous about the monsters. He had been doing well eliminating the monsters around his camp, and Effen had his back. The one thing that did make him nervous though was the cat monster that Jasper was sure still hunted him. Jasper named his constant companion “Stalker” and had a few run-ins with her since the first attack. He knew that she had also been helping clear the monsters around the camp too.
He did not think that it was for any reason like wanting to help him out, but more because she did not want to risk losing her prey to some other monster. The two times that they had fought after his first introduction to the saber-toothed beast had left Jasper with a large scar across his chest. The rapidly moving monster had been caught in the back by a strong wind strike; Effen’s magical ability. She had lost a couple of spikes off her back, and she ran away again. Even now Jasper knew that she was stalking him. He looked over at the area that he knew her to be and whistled at her hoping that it would draw her out.
A pair of eyes appeared in one of the bushes and glared at Jasper, but Stalker did not pounce. Seeing that made him smirk because he knew that a few months ago she would have attacked him immediately. She had grown in strength but so had Jasper, and now they were circling each other, just waiting for one another to make a mistake that they could take advantage of. The reason that she made him so nervous right now was because this trip made it much more likely that he would be the one to make that mistake. His camp and the area around it had many traps that he could take advantage of. Now he only had Effen, and the small arrowhead that he had crafted months ago.
Still if Jasper only focused on Stalker, he might wind up missing another creature planning a sneak attack. So, Jasper kept his eyes open every now and then, coming across a thicket that blocked his path and having Effen shred it so that he could continue his journey. He was looking for more food items that he could stock up on for the cold season and the thing that would make the entire trip worth it would be a grain of any type, or salt. Recently he had figured out a bit more about his creativity stat and found out that if he focused on a single issue for long enough innovative ideas would pop into his head. Through that method he had figured out better ways to dry out and preserve meat, as well as how to make bread.
Unfortunately, those ideas included materials that Jasper did not have, and tools that he had not built yet. Hours passed as Jasper made his way down the riverbank searching for a place that he might be able to cross without getting swept away by the strong current. It was possible that he could ford it already. His strength stat had made his body sturdy and powerful, but Jasper did not want to risk it. Those types of risks might lead to the mistakes that would cause his death. Eventually he found a place with several large boulders sticking out of the fast-running water. It was still slightly risky, but Jasper thought that it would be better than not being able to check out the rest of the forest at all. Jasper crouched down preparing to hurl himself onto the first boulder. His muscles coiled and when he jumped, he easily sailed to the top of the boulder. The action reminded him of the few times he had seen Hunters fight against monsters, and the super-human movements they performed.
He reminded himself to experiment with his own body more often to figure out what else he could do. Jasper had a feeling that he had not been using his newly strengthened body to the best of its ability and wanted to change that. Once more Jasper prepared to jump to the next boulder and sprang at it. This time as he landed his foot slipped and his heart pounded as he flailed his arms trying to rebalance himself. That was when Flot settled into his back and pushed him back up until he was balanced again.
“Thanks buddy!” Jasper said giving Flot a quick pat on its side. Jasper sat down on the boulder and tried to catch his breath. That was when he noticed that Stalker had landed on the top of the boulder he had just leaped from. He glared down at the cat and the cat glared directly back at him meeting his eyes.
“Do you mind!” Jasper yelled at the cat only to receive a whistling sound in return that sounded just like his own provocation from earlier. Stalker gave a toothy grin after seeing the disbelieving look on Jasper’s face. “That cheeky little asshole.” He muttered to himself while pushing himself back up to his feet and preparing for his next jump. Five more jumps and Jasper landed on his feet on the other side of the riverbank. Each time he had gotten to another boulder landing he would look back just to see Stalker smiling at him, so as soon as his feet hit the ground Jasper took off running into the woods. He did not want to make it too easy for Stalker to track him, so he took a running leap at a tree grabbing onto the lowest branch and pulled himself up into the canopy.
Once he was higher in the trees, he realized that there was another path of travel for him. Leaping from limb to limb and swinging when he did not have a foothold to land on, immediately Jasper started making his way through the forest playing with his new physical abilities and wondering why he had not tried this before now. He knew that he could lift far more than he had been able to before but aside from basic lifting and throwing Jasper had not spent much time figuring out his physical abilities. Right now, though he was having fun leaping from limb to limb and giggling like an idiot. After a while the initial excitement ran out and he dropped out of the canopy so that he could continue his search for food.
Jasper felt slightly sheepish after his childish display, but again he had to remind himself that no one was around so he had no reason to feel embarrassed. Effen and Flot floated down from the canopy a second later and took their spots around him. He wondered not for the first time how the two tools followed him without him deliberately making them move. He did not want to get into that too much right now though and he knew that he had a habit of focusing too much on something while forgetting other things around him. If it had not been for his routine, he would have skipped several meals while building his cabin.
As he walked Jasper started to notice that the grass and trees had started to get increasingly sparse in the immediate area. He knew that there was not a chance that he had already managed to make it to the other edge of the forest. Looking back at his memory of seeing the forest from the top of the large hill a few months ago he knew that the forest was massive beyond any other forest he had ever seen in his life, and that it would take him several days to get to the opposite side. Jasper continued to walk in the same direction for a while longer.
He knew that he would not find any food in the direction that he was heading, but something in the back of his mind told him that he would not regret going this way. It was a thought from back in his school days, when everyone was still taking classes to learn the basics of what Hunters went through even though none of them had a class yet. During one of those classes, they had been told about the formation of places that had been the downfall of the world years ago. Places that drew in energy from the world around them, and after a while if they were not cleared by hunters, they would spit out hordes of monsters.
As Jasper continued to walk in the direction of the devastated area of forest, he grew surer that he had stumbled upon one of those places. A mile of walking later and he knew for sure that he was right. There in the trunk of a twisted and even evil looking tree was a spiraling blue mass of energy that Jasper recognized as the entrance to a dungeon. He whistled appreciatively while looking over the portal leading to a place that Jasper knew would be full of monsters, materials, and opportunity for gaining strength that he had always wanted to visit. Cautiously he reached out and touched the surface of the swirling portal receiving a notification as soon as he did.
NOTICE: You have discovered a D rank dungeon (Unnamed)! Would you like to enter D rank dungeon (Unnamed)? Y/N?
Jasper did not know whether he should go into the dungeon just yet. He knew that a D rank dungeon would be weak compared to some of the other ones, but Jasper was a crafter. If he had been a caster, warrior, rogue, or even healer he would not have had any issues going into the dungeon immediately and trying to solo it. But all those kinds of classes had stats and abilities that were specifically geared towards combat. Jasper had faith in Effen as a weapon, but would she be enough to help him clear this dungeon?
That is when he remembered what would happen if no one cleared this dungeon. After a while the energy being drawn into the portal would reach a breaking point and it would explode outward causing massive devastation. After the smoke cleared hordes of monsters would come spilling out of the weakened dungeon entrance until the portal had absorbed enough energy again to solidify the portal trapping those monsters inside yet again. Scholars postulated that was the reason humanity had lost control of the surface thousands of years ago. Many small dungeons would either not be found or they would be ignored by higher ranking hunters because they did not offer as much in the way of experience, gear, or materials.
Those dungeons eventually broke, causing death and devastation to the highest degree. The monsters got to be too much over time and even high-ranking hunters would fall to numbers if they were not careful. If everyone were gifted a class it would not have been so bad, people could have combatted the monsters with numbers of their own. That was not the case though, and humanity was lucky that they had been able to escape using the traveling cities, but that was only after thousands of people had died. Jasper knew that if he did not clear this dungeon his new peace that he had found in his camp would be destroyed in just a matter of time. Jasper sighed and shook his head cursing his luck.
“Looks like we have got work to do guys.” Jasper said directing his displeased expression toward Effen and Flot. “Maybe we will find some of the stuff we are looking for in there.” Jasper was trying to be optimistic about the new situation that he found himself in. He had followed this path knowing what he might find specifically for this cause. Dungeons that were cleared provided all kinds of rewards which helped the cities maintain their way of life without running out of resources. Sometimes there would be fruits, grains, different metals that could be mined and other necessary resources that helped the cities survive.
If the ancient hunters had not been so short-sighted then the dungeons could have provided a great boon to the ancient people of the surface. Jasper grabbed his two floating tools with his free hand tucking them under his arm, since he was not sure if they would travel into the dungeon with him if he were not holding them then selected yes. As soon as he had selected yes, the hand that had been pressing against the portal sank through it and the rest of him soon followed. When he arrived on the other side of the portal, he took in his surroundings.
He was in a massive room inside a cave, the walls were covered in strange glowing green crystals as well as vines covered in flowers. It made sense that the cave would have plenty of plant life since the energy that it had been absorbing had come from a forest area. On the floor of the cavern were giant gourds and other types of fruits some of which were the size of his cabin. Jasper looked behind him at where he had come through the portal and cursed again. One of the things that he had forgotten about dungeons was that when you entered them the entrance would disappear and only reappear at the end of the dungeon after the boss fight. Another thing that he would need to worry about.
Bosses were much stronger than your average monster, and if you were not careful and powerful you might die quickly. Jasper had a sneaking suspicion that Stalker was one of these bosses from a much lower leveled dungeon. That or it was a natural boss one that was born on the surface and happened to be more powerful than her counterparts.
“Well, we are not clearing anything by standing around here, right? Let’s get going.”