Chapter 16. Leatherworking 101

“Professions first,” I said, ignoring her comment. “Then I’m going to talk to the Mayor. I need to get cleared so that I can get The Offspringers their gig back, and we can become local rock stars.”

Janica mumbled something under her breath.

I stepped out of the double doors. Morning light assaulted my senses. The air smelled clean, unlike anything that I had experienced living in Detroit. NPCs bustled up and down the main street, going about their daily tasks. I spotted Christian across the street, leaning against a building. He saw me, smirked, made a rude gesture, and took off in the opposite direction.

“I’d like to turn that one into a bug and eat him,” Janica said.

I looked at her with hope. “Is that possible?”

Janica directed me to the local tannery where I negotiated for some basic supplies. The tannery sold a variety of materials that people used to turn skins into hides. From my internet research, I had decided to invest in tools that would save me time in the long run. If I couldn’t buy the tools I wanted in-game, I would make them. I didn’t know how leatherworking worked in Integration Online yet, but I had a feeling the game would allow for some flexibility. Fortunately, I was able to get what I wanted: salt, an awl, a dozen small wooden frames, a small wooden paddle, a spool of thick thread, and a sewing needle. I paid 50 Silver for all of this, the equivalent of $50. I had 94 Silver left, nowhere close to my weekly goal of 1000. It hurt to spend this much, but Sofia was right. I needed to figure something out.

When Janica and I exited the store, Arthur and two town guards stood in front of us.

One of the guards stepped forward. “Warren, you’re arrested for the destruction of the Silverlode Mine. Please come with us.”

Your reputation with the town of River Junction has decreased. You are now Unwelcome with River Junction.

I quickly handed Janica the Elemental Shard from my inventory. I had never given Janica anything, and I didn’t know if she was able to acquire items. “Go clear this up for me,” I said. She was able to take the item. The guards led me away. I looked back. Janica watched me for an instant before flying off, shard in hand.

The guards did not take me to a jail cell. They guided me, one on either side, holding my arms, to the gate of the city. They threw me out.

I dusted myself off. Arthur, Christian, and Thomas stood inside the gates, smiling.

I showed them one of my most useful fingers and headed north, toward the only place that might help me use my time well..

I knocked on the door of Ellen and Jamon’s home and took a step back. When Ellen opened the door, I gave her a nervous smile. “I finished that quest.”

“Jamon,” she hollered, even though he was right behind her.

Jamon took more than a minute to get himself together. He stepped out of the door and walked past me without acknowledging my presence. He opened up a shed behind the house. Inside was a full workshop. Simple, yet it held all the tools one might need. Hammers and awls hung on the wall. Sacks of salt, buckets, and jars with oil rested on the shelves. Jamon had a collection of frames both small, like the ones I had purchased in town, and some large enough to stretch a deer skin.

He turned to me. “Let's have those rabbits.”

I handed over the rabbit carcasses that I had looted off of Thomas’s body.

Jamon’s eyebrows lifted, just a bit. “This is more than I asked for.”

“I’m more than you asked for.”

Jamon barked a laugh, then headed into the shed.

You have completed the Quest: Rabbit Season 2

Experience Rewarded: 35 points

“Jamon,” I said. “I bought some supplies.” I showed him the stuff I had picked up from the tannery.

He looked at them and nodded. “These will do if you want to create Low-quality Leather pieces.”

“How do I make High-quality Leather pieces?”

“First, hand me that knife I sold you.”

I handed him the knife.

He walked to a large flat stone. He grabbed a bottle of oil from above and drizzled some on the stone, then dragged both edges of the knife against it with care. “The key,” he said, “is keeping the angle perfect. A sharp knife makes a perfect shape.” He showed me a “V” with his hands. A moment later, he handed me the knife back.

You received Sharpened Skinning Knife.

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“Go skin them. Just like I taught you.”

One by one, I strung the rabbits up and skinned them, working from the feet to the head. I butchered my first attempt, losing at least half the skin. Jamon corrected me, helping me pull, slice, and cut at better angles. He continued to watch me until I heard him grunt in satisfaction. Then he left the shed. After that, I got into a rhythm and didn’t mess up again. Finished, I pulled the ten skins down and checked my prompts.

You received 9 Rabbit Skins.

You received 1 Ruined Rabbit Skin.

Your Expertise in Skinning improved to 11.

I brought them to Jamon. He discarded the ruined skin, and I winced. “Put your supplies on the workbench.” He took the first rabbit skin and punched holes all around the perimeter with an awl. Next, he centered the skin in the wooden frame and began tying those little holes around the outside of the frame, using a needle and thread. He worked top, bottom, left, then right, tightening the string every few loops and tying them off. Then he worked the corners, stretching the skin tighter and tighter over the frame.

He looked at me. “Get it?”

I nodded. I had seen this earlier on videos, but the process was easier in game. For one, there wasn’t blood everywhere, which I felt thankful for. For another, the process seemed to be simplified. It still required careful, strong hands, but it was more mechanical than the videos. Less variable.

He flipped the skin over to the side that was still covered with hair. He scraped the hair off, using quick angled motions toward himself. He cleaned the other side with his knife.

“Next we cure it,” he said. He spread salt over both sides. Another change from reality. In the videos, people had to fast forward hours or days before their hides dried out. For Jamon, it took seconds.

“We have a Low-quality Leather piece,” he said. “You want to improve that quality?” He raised a bushy eyebrow.

“Yes please.”

He walked to the pile of rabbit carcasses that were piled up, skinless on the bench. He set one on his table and removed its brain.

I nearly gagged, the smell and reality of the process overwhelming me.

“You said you wanted high quality,” he said.

“I thought you were going to work the leather,” I said.

“That comes later.” He squashed the brain into his palm and rubbed it into the hide, using every last glob of it. He mounted the frame, upright in a stable position. He took the wooden paddle that I had bought and began pushing on the skin, working the leather like I had seen in the videos. “The more you work the leather, the softer it gets. If you’re making soft boots, you work it longer.” After a few minutes, the leather visibly changed. It looked clean, brown, and smooth. Jamon removed the hide from the frame, unthreading the sides. He handed it to me.

You received High Quality Light Leather.

You learned the Profession: Leatherworking.

I whooped, which startled Jamon. “Sorry,” I said. An image popped into my head: I laid a bed of skins and silver coins so deep that I could make snow angels with all of my wealth.

“You okay?” Jamon asked.

“Uhh, yeah,” I said, shaking the vision away.

I accessed the Leatherworking menu which appeared as a holographic book.

Leatherworking

Table of Contents:

 Light leather

 Medium Leather

 Heavy Leather

 Tips and Tricks

 Index

I flipped to the Light Leather page. It looked like Leonardo DaVinci’s sketchbook complete with drawings, schematics, notes, and procedure. Weird enough, the handwriting was my handwriting. The sketches looked like my drawings. The side annotations reminded me so clearly of my style that I was sure the game had somehow created this Leatherworking manual from my own brain. I had a dozen notebooks on my bookshelf at home that I had created in high school. Each held detailed and perfect notes and sketches from Physics, Chemistry, Biology, and other subjects. They all looked like this. Jamon’s advice was written verbatim in quotation marks.

I shivered. This game had too much access to my memory. It was almost creepy.

I flipped to the Tips and Tricks section, but found only two notes:

You have a 2% chance to discover a new pattern with every Expertise point gained in Leatherworking.

Every skill point in Leatherworking grants the crafter a 1% increase in crafting speed.

My eyes went wide as I read over the notes. Not only would I get faster and faster with every point gained, but I also had a chance to gain new recipes. Were the discoverable recipes limited to simple ones? Or could I find something rare that I could profit off of in a major way?

I closed the menu, excited to gain some points. Jamon made each part of the process look easy, but it was not. I had to rethread my first hide four times because I didn’t evenly distribute the tension between the sides. I would frame a hide, show it to Jamon, only to see him shake his head. Then try again. When I poked a huge hole into the middle of a hide while scraping the hair off, Jamon chuckled. I shot him a scowl and threw the hide away. But the worst part, by far, was the brain extraction. I gagged a dozen times, vomited once, sent two slippery heads flying across the room, and lost one of them completely. I looked everywhere for that little thing, but gave up my search in a frustrated huff. Eventually, I got lost in the work and my body settled into a rhythm. It was during this period when a prompt lit up, interrupting my focus with good news.