Hvethrungr here!
I really enjoyed writing this chapter, but I couldn't put in everything I wanted to, since it was getting quite late. If I had my way, the chapter would be about another 2.5k words longer. Again, I should have started working on the chapter sooner, but I've been building something awesome.
For those interested, it's a shield! I've had a viking sword for a while now, and I like to practice with the weapons that I have. Unfortunately, the style of fighting with a viking sword requires a shield, so I decided to make one.
Here's a few pics:
http://imgur.com/a/IHsnY
http://imgur.com/a/OAbn9
It's not finished yet, I intend to sand and even out the edges, and cover the front with cloth (the cloth will help in stopping piercing weapons like arrows, as the threads wrap around the projectile and restrict it from going further).
Anyways, I hope you enjoy the chapter, I sure did! :)
Happy reading!
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After screaming obscenities at the unresponsive sky, David decided to take matters into his own hands and create some clothing himself. He apparently had some supernatural powers, so why not use them? To get a better idea of what he could do, David pulled his status screen up by saying, “Status”.
Name: David Jon TailorClass: N/ATitles:Warrior to the EndHealth: FairMana: 100%Stamina: Full (Rested)Soul level: MortalPhysical Status:Soul Status (non deteriorating):Well RestedBlessed, Powered, ReincarnatedBlessings: 3 (Limit 30)Deia Patrons: 3 (no limit)Powers: 3 (limit: 3)Followers: 0Strength (Physical): 39Endurance (Physical): 15Dexterity (Physical): 18Agility (Physical): 9Mana Pool Size: 15Mental Resistance: 293{???}
PowersImmortality (Lesser)The holder of this power will have an infinite lifespan. This power automatically repairs cell and DNA degeneration due to old age. The holder will take damage and heal from physical trauma normally.Conjure ObjectOnce per day, the user may conjure any object he can imagine within a 30cm cubed area. The detail, mechanics, and physical nature of the object are up to the user’s power of imagination and their understanding of the object they are attempting to conjure.
Time to reset: N/AQuick LearnerThe user is able to learn new subjects 5 to 20 times the regular rate depending on the nature of the subject and length of time learning would normally take. The longer it would take for a regular person to learn a subject, the faster the user will be able to do so.
BlessingsBlessing of Bruno, God of StrengthAs one loved and blessed by Bruno, your physical strength and capacity are greatly increased. You shall never fear to do battle, nor will any mental effect affect you during a fight.Blessing of Unora, Goddess of Wisdom and ShadowAs one loved and blessed by Unora, your leaning abilities and mental capacity are increased. As one chosen by Unora, scholars and assassins may go out of their way to help you.Blessing of Neera, Goddess of Freedom and WindAs one loved and blessed by Neera, you have a natural talent in wind magic, learning and using it will be easier for you. You will have a small increase in ability when fighting for the freedom of another, and when fighting for your own freedom, mana regeneration and focus greatly increases.
TitlesWarrior to the EndYou have died fighting in glorious battle against unjust enemies. In your next life, your physical strength will be increased by 10.
David skimmed over the information while stroking his non existent beard.
“Hmmm, strength increase? I always used to be more nimble than strong, but now the Strength stat has surpassed all the others. I’ll have to test it out later.”, he said to himself. “For now, it’s time to create some underwear!”
David sat crossed legged and breathed deeply. He imagined a simple pair of boxers with an elastic waistband. He thought about how the material felt, how big it should be, and how it should fit. When he thought he had it right, he activated his ability and opened his eyes. In a flash of light, a small object appeared in front of him and plopped onto his legs. He lifted it up and found himself holding the world’s worst pair of boxers.
David sighed.
The waistband was stiff, the material was lumpy, and one leg was shorter than the other. Fortunately, though, it fit him adequately, and David slipped it on, happy to finally cover his treasures.
Somewhat clothed, David stood up fully and looked around. Unora had decided to drop him on a large grassy hill devoid of trees that was surrounded by dense forest. Fortunately, the hill let him see over the tops of the trees. Unfortunately, David wasn’t able to see anything but more trees and a few mountains in the distance.
David only shrugged. Who needs people anyway? Not him!
With that, he trudged down the hill and headed into the forest in a random direction.
The undergrowth, which consisted of large flat leafed bushes and thorny vines, was very dense. David had to push his way through slowly while avoiding the dangerous looking viny plants.
“Damn plants. Damn gods. Oh, let’s just drop in the middle of the forest, why don’t we? That would be great! Let him fend for himself in the goddamn forest, with no civilization for miles. Thanks! This is just what I wanted!”, David muttered to himself, moderately annoyed.
He spent half an hour like this, trying to make headway through the forest, which seemed dead set on not letting him go any further. After a short while, he was seriously regretting making underwear instead of shoes.
Eventually, he stumbled upon a game trail, a small path made by countless animals trampling the plants and creating a clear way through the forest.
He chose to go right, and began walking. When he had left, the sun had been beating down at him from a quarter way up the sky, which David assumed meant late morning. The light, which barely made it through the canopy, casted a light green glow over the forest floor.
The game trail, which had started out fairly dry, turned damp in some shadier parts, and downright muddy in others. Soon his feet, which had already been dirty and bleeding slightly from smashing his way through the bush, were completely covered in mud and dirt.
“Fuck.”, David swore as he stepped on a particularly sharp stick. David had started off talking to himself and swearing loudly often, but the activity had quickly dried out his mouth. Without a safe source of water, David had opted to be quieter for the time being.
He wasn’t quiet enough, however, as a short green humanoid creature jumped out of the forest in front of him and yelled excitedly. David stopped and stared at the monster. It had long flared ears, dark green skin, and was about four feet tall. It carried a small wooden spear and wore a hide loincloth. A small leather pouch also hung at its waist. No matter how he looked at it, David was certain it was a goblin. Even he had heard of the fantasy creature before. Though, it was surprisingly handsome for a goblin.
“The fuck are you, some kind of Goblin Brad Pitt?”, David asked it incredulously.
The goblin seemed to take that as some kind of challenge, because it shouted strange words that sounded like, “Gobu gegogo huu!”, and rushed at him with the spear.
David sidestepped the thrust, grabbed the spear, and kicked out at the goblin’s shins, sweeping them out from under him. The goblin fell on his face, and David swiftly spun the spear around and stabbed it through the goblin’s back, right into it’s heart. The goblin made a weak gasp and died.
David left the spear there, since it was a crappy weapon, and untied the little pouch from the goblin’s waist. Inside was an unidentified dried meat, which David wrinkled his nose at and dumped out.
“Not desperate enough for that yet, whatever the hell it is.”, he said to the forest.
He tied the pouch around his own waist, and was about to head off again, when he felt something small and light land on his head. He reached up and plucked something extremely soft and fluffy off his head and held it in front of him. What he held was some sort of... Pink rabbit fox monkey cotton ball. It had long, fluffy pink fur that covered it’s little feet and made it look like a ball of fluff with a tail. It’s face was a strange mix of fox and rabbit. Overall, it was extremely cute.
Suddenly, tiny clawed hands shot out of the fur and stopped in front of him. In its hands it held a variety of strange nuts and mushrooms.
“Are these for me?”, David asked the creature incredulously
The creature looked at him expectantly.
“Well, alright, if you’re offering.”, David said, and used one hand to take the variety of foraged foods. With the offering accepted, the creature slipped out of his grip and shot up his arm, settling once again atop David’s head.
He shrugged, and told it, “Well, as long as you’re going to be useful, I don’t mind if you stick around. I’ll call you... Li, for lithium.” David could feel the swish of air behind his head as Li waved its tail happily. Expectedly, David’s naming sense had stemmed from his passion.
“Damn.”, David swore unpassionately. “Now it looks like I’ve got a pink ‘coon hat.”
He walked away from the site of battle, the spoils of war hanging lightly on his body. After a few hours of monotonous walking and chatting one-sidedly with his new friend, he began to get very thirsty
A few times, he had heard the trickle of water nearby, but the streams he found were muddy and heavily contaminated, not worth boiling even if he had a pot.
In his first year of university, David had taken an interest in microbiology, and taken an introductory class in it. He quickly found it wasn’t for him, however, and when he finished the class, he never took another.
Now, though, the knowledge was proving useful, as David became wary of wild streams and other water sources, which were often contaminated with harmful bacteria and even parasites. With the relatively weak immune system of a modern man, David didn’t want to risk drinking from streams directly. He would have to find some way to boil or purify the water before drinking.
With thoughts of water on mind, David eventually stumbled across a small clearing, with a rocky stream running through one end of it.
Looking up at the sky, David noted that the sun was now directly above him, signalling it was noon. He decided to make camp in the clearing and try to figure out how to start a fire.
When he stopped, Li jumped off his head and took a few drinks of water from the stream before scampering off into the woods. David looked on enviously, and began thinking about how to go about firestarting.
David remembered something about how spinning a stick in a notch in a piece of wood would create enough friction to create a fire, and decided to try it himself. It wasn’t like he had any other options, so he thought it was worth an attempt at least.
He located a small straight stick and a larger one that had a small indent, and lined the small stick up with the notch. He placed his palms together on the stick and spun it while pressing down.
He repeated this constantly over an hour. It was a painful process, and the birds and beasts of the forest were serenaded with a vulgar song of frustration.
This content has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.
At one point, he was rewarded with a thin stream of smoke, but when he excitedly checked the fruits of his labour, all that he was given was blackened wood.
In frustration, David had kicked the wood across the clearing, then sighed and retrieved it, determined to get a fire going.
Eventually, he gave up, painful blisters covering his hands, and tried to think of a better way. Without fire, he couldn’t drink, so he urgently needed to learn.
As soon as he thought about learning, he felt something change in his head, and he instinctively knew his ability had activated. Almost immediately afterwards, he recalled a distant memory.
David was taking a break from studying in the living room, where his mother was watching a survival show. Mildly interested, he had watched a few minutes of the show. On screen, a man was teaching his audience how to make a ‘cord drill’, a strange tool that makes starting friction fires much easier and efficient.
With the idea in mind, David set out to gather materials. He gathered a circular flat rock from the stream, a thin stick that was thicker on one end, and some vines from the thorny plants.
First he created a small hole in the rock by digging it out with another rock, and slid the stick into the hole. The rock could go no further than three quarters down the stick because of the way it expanded. Then, he stripped the vine of thorns and ripped it into thin fibers. He twisted the fibers together, creating primitive twine.
He cut a notch in the top of the stick with a sharp rock, and tied the middle of the twine to it. Then, he wrapped wrapped the two ends of the twine around the stick.
He put the end of the stick with the rock into the notched wood he had been using before, and pulled the ends of the twine. The stick spun quickly, and the centrifugal force from the stone twisted the twine back around the stick. He pulled on the twine again, and the stick spun once more.
Thirty seconds later, he had smoke. Ten seconds after that, an ember was glowing in the notch.
Not wasting any time to celebrate, David took some dry grass he had collected and covered the ember, blowing gently. The grass took, and he had a small fire. He piled some small sticks to the fire, and built it up slowly. Soon, he had a small, but energetic fire.
Ecstatic, David stood up on creaky legs, and shouted at the darkening sky, “Eat that bitches! FIIIIREEEE WOOHOO!”. A wide grin stretched across his face and he did a little dance around his fireplace. While he still couldn’t boil water for his lack of a pot, he finally had completed one of the vital requirements to surviving in the wilderness: fire.
Li took that moment to come traipsing out of the woods, arms laden with nuts, mushrooms, and berries. The little furball was a little wary of the fire, but David didn’t seem to be afraid of it, so Li scampered up to him.
Seeing the foraged goods, David’s stomach grumbled threateningly, and he was reminded that this body hadn’t eaten anything since... Well, ever. He had been too absorbed in his task to notice earlier.
Together, they had a small feast. David smiled, satisfied, and stroked Li, who purred contentedly like a cat.
David hummed, and said, “Alright, it’s bothering me too much, I gotta know. Sorry little buddy.”. With that, he picked up Li and looked for identifying marks. Li squirmed uncomfortably, but David kept a tight hold on his companion.
“Hmm, I don’t see any dangly bits, though that could mean anything. Female... I guess?”, David guessed. He put Li down, who pouted at him. He grinned back, and Li huffed intelligently and turned away.
David laughed at her, and set about building a makeshift bed by the fire. They slept together soundly, Li curled up cozily on David’s chest.
Some time in the middle of the night, David woke up to the sound of leaves crunching and the sniffing of an animal.
He shot up, Li catapulting off his chest, and looked around.
Across the small campfire, which by now was only embers, was a large dark shape. It stood on four legs, had a long tail, and stood about up to David’s waist. Two glowing yellow eyes stared back at him. David lunged towards the fireplace and grabbed a long stick with a glowing hot end.
He waved it at the creature, and shouted, “Get back you creepy cunt!”. The creature backed up a little, confused at the sudden shouting.
“I’ll smack you so hard your mama will feel it!”, he shouted again and rushed at the animal.
Thoroughly intimidated, the creature spun around and leaped into the cover of the forest.
“That’s what I thought, you little bitch! Nobody messes with the firestarter David!”, David screamed arrogantly into the forest.
He tossed the stick back into the fireplace and looked around for Li. At first he couldn’t find her, but then he heard a rustling from above him, and a light weight landed on his head.
Assured of her safety, he tossed some more sticks onto the fire and stoked it back into a full flame.
He reached up and pulled Li off, and went back to bed, mumbling about stupid cats and his amazing fire starting ability.
They were not disturbed for the remainder of the night.
The next morning, David was awoken by a beam of morning sun shining down on his face. He yawned and sat up, shaking Li off his chest, who also yawned. They stretched together, and David rubbed his back, saying quietly, “Doesn’t beat a mattress, that’s for sure.”
Li scampered off into the forest again, no doubt foraging for food.
He stoked the remaining embers of the fire, and soon had it roaring again. Opening his status screen to check how much cooldown time he had left on his creation ability, he was surprised when it said there was only 4 minutes left.
He looked up at the sky, and sure enough, the sun was about a quarter of the way up. A large pine tree had blocked the sun’s rays for most of its ascent, leaving David peacefully dreaming.
David spent the four minutes he had left meditating and thinking strongly of a steel pot. He had learned from yesterday’s lesson, and imagined the pot in much greater detail.
He thought of the steel it was made of, an alloy of iron, carbon, and minute amounts of various other elements. David decided to go a step further and make it stainless steel, adding about 11% chromium to the mix, with carbon taking up about 1.9% and iron taking the majority of the rest.
He thought of the shape, a cylinder with only one end covered. The cylinder being 15cm in diameter and 10cm deep. The thickness was 2mm. A long handle stuck out of the uncovered end.
He spent four minutes thinking of this, and when the cooldown timer was finish, he released it.
Light flashed before him, and a loud clang sounded as something metal bashed into David’s knee. His eyes shot open in pain.
“Ow! Fuck!”, He shouted, holding his knee.
When he recovered, he held up the thing that had attacked him.
The pot was reasonably well done. The steel was rather dull, but that was to be expected, since it wasn’t polished. The overall shape was decent. There were a few warps, dents, and thickness inconsistencies, but it was pretty good. Only time would tell if he had managed to make it into proper stainless steel, though. If it rusted, he would have only regular steel or simple iron. It would tell him a lot about his ability.
David filled his new pot with water from the stream and put it over the fire and waited patiently. A few minutes later, he had a boiling pot of water. At that moment, he was particularly dehydrated, and would be drooling over the water if he had any drool left in him.
Li took that moment to waltz back into the clearing with an armful of brown mushrooms. On a spur of the moment, David took them all, ripped them up into smaller pieces, and dumped them into the pot.
Li looked a little disappointed at the perceived loss of her share, but David patted her head, and said, “Don’t worry, this’ll make ‘em taste better.”
Apparently curious, Li stuck around and waited for the soup to be done. They waited for a few minutes to cool, and David washed his hands in the stream.
When he came back, he scooped a little of the soup with his hands and slurped it up.
“Hmm, not bad. Could use a little salt. And thyme. Fuck me, it’s literally just mushrooms in water, I could add anything to it.”, he said to himself.
Li curiously lapped up a little of the watery soup, and, finding it to her liking, continued drinking, occasionally snapping up a mushroom piece. Together, they managed to eat most of the pot, but a little was left at the bottom.
David heard a twig snap on the other side of the clearing, and he looked over to see a pretty green face peering in from behind a tree.
“’Sup?”, David called to it, waving his hand. The face recoiled, but when it noticed that David didn’t seem to be coming after it, it returned to watching.
David stroked his chin. “You want some of this?”, he asked, pointing at the pot.
An almost audible gulp could be heard from the goblin girl.
David smiled, and pushed the pot in her direction. “Go ahead. You can have it. Be a shame if it went to waste anyway.”, he reassured her.
The goblin didn’t seem to understand his words, but she saw his intention. Cautiously, she approached David and his pot. When she was close enough, she grabbed the pot and retreated quickly.
“Hey! Don’t take it out of the clearing, you little shit!”, David called angrily, putting a hand up to stop her. She froze, and David gave her a thumbs up. She seemed to get the message, and started eating from the pot quickly. David leaned back and digested his meal leisurely.
When she was done, she chattered thankfully, “Gu yoji gombu tog!”, and bowed, before scampering off into the trees. David retrieved his pot and washed it thoroughly in the stream.
He stuck it, and his cord drill in his pouch belt, and whistled to Li, intending to continue his trek. This was only a temporary campsite, anyway. He still wanted to find civilization of some sort.
They headed past the stream and pushed into the woods a little, before finding another game trail. The forest was littered with them, if you were to walk in any direction into the woods, you would find a path within a few dozen meters.
They followed the trail for a few hours before they stumbled on, in David’s opinion, a great find.
A small cave mouth as the entrance into a tall cliff face. Unfortunately, it seemed to be lived in, as the ground around the cave was littered with hide scraps and bones, and the dirt was packed under the weight of many feet.
Before he could investigate any further, he heard a familiar chattering from inside the cave, and dozens of goblins streamed out. They carried a variety of improvised weapons, such as bone clubs, knives, and sharpened sticks. Overall, not much of a threat to David, but he entered a cautious stance anyways. David was relieved to find that they were not all Brad Pitts.
One of the larger goblins growled at him and yelled, “Gobu jijo luda u gogogo. Budo yelah!”.
“Fuck man, I don’t speak goblin. If I find a way to learn it, then I will. Until then, English is all I’ve got.”, David replied. As soon as he said the word, ‘learn’, he felt a pressure in his head as his ability activated.
“Never mind.”, he began. “I’ll get it eventually. ‘Gobu’ probably means goblin, right?”
The goblins perked up at the familiar word, and some lowered their weapons slightly.
Suddenly, a female goblin came running out of the cave, yelling at the other goblins and pointing at David. He recognized it as the goblin from this morning. The goblins looked surprised and looked above his head, at Li, and started chattering amongst themselves nervously.
The female goblin started talking again, and pointed at David, then herself, then rubbed her stomach. The goblins looked at David in surprise, and lowered their weapons slowly. David relaxed.
The leader goblin walked cautiously up to David, wooden spear lowered, and spoke to him, pointing at Li.
“You want to see Li?”, David asked. He reached up and took her off his head. She squirmed a bit, then relaxed in his arms. A few of the goblins gasped.
The leader goblin hummed thoughtfully, then apparently decided on something. He spoke, and pointed at David, then made a ‘follow’ gesture, and pointed at the cave. David nodded, and the goblins led him inside.
As he followed them, he looked pointedly at the female goblin, who he decided to nickname, ‘Cu’, for copper, and said, “You better not expect me to cook for the whole damn tribe. Those mushrooms were all I had, babe.”
Cu stared at him blankly.