[DAY 5]
The first productive thing Ein did upon waking up was look for a river... somewhere nearby, he's sure.
If he could find an ore deposit, he can probably find some source of water nearby. Preferably not stagnant and filled with microscopic parasites.
Unfortunately, luck was not on his side today. It's been an hour since he'd disassembled his initial base and set out on his expedition, but he had no luck. I should've just invested my XP in luck... He regretted not dumping more points into the stat, but what's done is done. "Oh, fuck it." He takes out Galepierce, deciding to rely on the weapon for what direction he should go next.
[GALEPIERCE]
[DURABILITY: 43/250]
He'b been trying so hard to avoid using the weapon, not because he didn't like the weapon, as was evident by the fact that he talked to it on the regular, no. It was because of durability concerns. What if Galepierce broke permanently when its durability ran out? Ein didn't want that. Think of the sentimental value!
"Alright fella, time to shine again. Guide my way." Ein let go of the spear. Maybe it was the influence of the Razorwing Soul, but it felt as if a slight gust of wind tipped Galepierce over to the northern direction.
That filled him with plenty more confidence than when Galepierce was just a mere Flint Spear that just tipped over. "Make this two for two." And he began his run.
---
Not more than ten minutes later, he heard it. The sound of flowing water. "Yes!" Ein didn't hesitate to run straight towards the source of the noise. A river. An actual, proper, flowing river. He excitedly made a safe zone, "Create, Camp Fire! Create, Leaf Tent!"
[(TOWN SQUARE) AND (HOME) DETECTED IN PROXIMITY OF ONE ANOTHER. CREATING SAFE ZONE.]
He also built his crafting stations back up. As his stations were being constructed by the system, he simultaneously worked on a schematic of a sort of his plans for a proper base. "Do I have a builder mode or something?" A ping.
[SKILL REQUIRED: (CARPENTRY)]
As is to be expected. Ein thought with a click of his tongue. He did remember seeing a research node of the same name though, back in his second rebirth in the Production skill tree.
Hm... What about— "Create, Oak Cabin." He waited... and nothing. He let out a disappointed sigh out loud. Guess it'll be a while 'til I can get lazy with the whole base building thing. Ein arched his back with a groan. "Welp, no use complaining. Guess I just gotta throw shit against the wall until it sticks." With a bunch of wood in his inventory, his tin tool set, and a stubborn mindset, he got to work.
---
Upon further inspection, he managed to figure out the rough radius of a LVL 1 safe zone, which was about fifteen meters. That's a circumference, or a fence length of about ninety-four meters. Though thanks to the river, he didn't quite have to make a wall so long, as the river provided a natural wall for his safe zone, so he only needed to make sixty meters worth of fencing. The problem now was—
How do I make a fence? He asked himself. He wasn't looking for a normal picket fence that would break under a light pushing force—he needed sturdy and reliable, but cheap. So, he devised a plan. Looking at his scroll, he could see that it was just past 10 AM. He'd build multiple fence wall designs and see whatever would work best in three tests. Time to create, durability, and cost. He got to work immediately, wanting to get the testing done before noon. "Craft Oak Wood Planks."
---
The beeping of his scroll told him that his time was up. In the end, he made three fences. Each one, at the time of their construction's completion, were given a proper system designated description. Unfortunately, he still needed the Carpentry skill to automate making them, even if he did make them himself.
The first candidate was a wooden plank palisade.
[NAME: CRUDE OAK PLANK PALISADE (MEDIUM)]
[QUALITY: HORRID (TIER 1)]
[DURABILITY: 500/500]
[DESCRIPTION: A MANUALLY CONSTRUCTED WALL BY THE (HOST OF REBIRTH). A 2 METER TALL, 1 METER WIDE, TIGHTLY PACKED BUNDLE OF VERTICAL PLANKS, SUPPORTED BY A HORIZONTAL PLANK. A TRIED-AND-TRUE METHOD OF TRIBAL DEFENSE.]
In all honestly, Ein was worried that his constructions wouldn't be supported by the system, and therefore, wouldn't hold up against attacks from creatures of Grimm. But his worries fell flat once the screen popped up when he first contructed it.
He was getting off track. He shook his head. Firstly, time to create. He had checked his scroll when he first finished the construction. Thirty minutes rounded out. Now he had his baseline. Next up, the durability. It was five hundred points, sure, but he had no basis as to how it would actually hold up against attacks. "Let's see... my AGI is about the same as a normal Beowolf's." It was a two-point difference, to be specific, but it was good enough.
He kicks the barrier as hard as he could.
[CRUDE OAK PLANK PALISADE (MEDIUM) HAS BEEN STRUCK]
[DAMAGE CALCULATION (FOR LOWER BODY BASED MELEE ATTACKS):]
[(50%-100% AGI + WEAPON STAT BONUSES + ARMOR STAT BONUSES + SKILLS) x WEAKPOINT BONUS - ARMOR CLASS]
[DAMAGE CALCULATION (FOR STRUCTURES):]
[BASE CALCULATION - (TIER NUMBER x 10)]
[(10 + 0 + 0 + 0) x 1 - 0 - (1 x 2)]
[8 DAMAGE HAS BEEN INFLICTED]
"I see..." Now he had a basis for structure damage. He was plenty satisfied with the result. The wall could hold for a while then.
The final condition, cost. When Ein counted as he built the wall. He did so for all the walls. The palisade came out with a cost of twelve wood planks and twenty fibers. He also made a cost metric based on his inventory, fiber being and rocks being one point, and wood planks being two points. The palisade would then come out to fourty-four points of cost.
Using the palisade as a baseline, he moved on to the other two walls.
[NAME: CRUDE STONE WALL (MEDIUM)]
[QUALITY: BAD (TIER 2)]
[DURABILITY: 1500/1500]
[DESCRIPTION: A MANUALLY CONSTRUCTED WALL BY THE (HOST OF REBIRTH). A 2 METER TALL, 1 METER WIDE, HASTILY STACKED PILE OF DRY-STONES ARRANGED IN A WALL-LIKE STRUCTURE.]
Ein had realized partway through constructing the stone wall that this was not the right choice. Even if it was made of only one material, giving him a better ease of construction, plus the durability it had and the fact that it was Tier 2, he still counted a hundred and fifty stones. That's a hundred and fifty points of cost for something he'd probably replace anyways. "I'll just disassemble this later..."
[NAME: CRUDE OAK ABATIS]
[QUALITY: HORRID (TIER 1)]
[STATS: DEALS 5 DAMAGE WHEN ATTACKED]
[DURABILITY: 250/250]
[DESCRIPTION: A 1 METER TALL, 2 METER WIDE MANUALLY CONSTRUCTED SPIKED DEFENSE BY THE (HOST OF REBIRTH). A CONSTRUCTION MADE OUT OF A LOG AND SHARPENED STICKS MANY MODERN FRONTIER TOWNS IN REMNANT STILL USE THEM TODAY AGAINST THE GRIM, ALBEIT MADE OF MORE DURABLE MATERIAL.]
By far, the most unique choice out of the three by virtue of the fact that it was the only one with a thorns-like effect to it. It was dragged down by its durability and size, though. A large beowolf could probably just hop over the fence. He could upscale it, sure, but the material cost would be enormous. A log, for the sake of the argument, would be worth twenty points, and a long wood handle would be five points.
He made the spikes by having the system craft the long wood handles and whittling a sharp point on the ends pointing towards the outside. It was a forty point construction, making it the cheapest option, though only by four points.
He also assumed that, just like the pitfall, the Abatis would deal a flat five damage.
Now that all three options were properly laid out in front of him, it was time to make a choice.
---
Luna was on a stroll.
She had run out of alchemical materials, so she was out in Bois de Domremy to collect more. Especially Mugworts. A mage like her could never brew enough mana potions. Or Chamomile, being the main ingredient for her regeneration potions. She was an apothecarian after all.
She always stuck close to the river unless she was hunting for Grimm for their alchemical organs. The moist environment near such a place made it ideal for finding such herbs. So far, she'd collected seventy-five of each. Normally, it would be enough... but the past week has more than told her that she needed to stock up on way more. What if another mutant showed up again and Arthur or Ein weren't there? She'd be fucked, all things considered.
It was also a good opportunity to take in the nature. That was always a plus.
THUD!
"O-Ow!" Luna stuttered, running into a hard, wooden post. What in the hell? She looked up at the wall in her way. When was this a thing? Before she could stand there in confusion for any longer—
[YOU HAVE ENTERED A SAFE ZONE. YOU HAVE GAINED THE FOLLOWING EFFECTS:|
--20% UNIVERSAL DETECTION RATE
-+5 UNIVERSAL REGENERATION
-TEMPERATURE REGULATION]
"What the hell is a Safe Zone?" She asked in total confusion, walking around the wall, hearing the subtle sound of stretching twine. The system gave her the notification, informing her of the Safe Zone's capabilities.
Ah... That makes sense. She muttered under her breath. She was picked up almost immediately by Arthur, so she never had the opportunity to explore the construction capabilities of the system. She never had the opportunity to find out was a Safe Zone was, either. And why would she? Domremy was comfortable enough. She just didn't realize there was such a benefit to making a proper base.
Wait... if this is system made... then—! "Yo, edgelord! You there?!" She called out to Ein. "What the—Luna?" He responded, reaching his head around the palisade. "What are you doing out here?" He asked, dragging the newly made palisade along on the ground with labored grunting, aligning it with the rest of the built walls.
"I was gathering some herbs. I didn't realize you'd be here." That, and the last time she was here, there was no such base being built. "So, Arthur Morgan. What are you doin' 'ere?" She smirked, doing her best impression of a western accent. "Who the hell's Arthur Morgan?" He asked in confusion as he tied the palisade to the rest of the wall.
"You've never played Red Dead?" "What's Red Dead?" Luna gasped, grasping her chest like she'd actually been struck. "Uncultured swine." Ein snapped his eyes towards her. "Rude!" He exclaimed, getting started on the next palisade. Though not before giving her a glare. "Anyways... To answer your question, I'm building a base for myself. My last one was... Er, sad. To say the least. And vulnerable. There also wasn't any water close by, and I didn't wanna keep mooching water off of Domremy. So I moved here."
"It's hardly mooching if they give it to you willingly." Ever since that day with the mutant, the townsfolk were more than eager to give him whatever supplies he needed. "Well... I don't think it was anything to write home about." The system rewards were reward enough. He simply asked for a few donations of water.
"How meek." She criticized as she watched him assemble the palisade with curiosity. "I prefer the term humble." Luna shrugged. Who was she to judge? If he was gonna look a gift horse in the mouth, that was on him. "Hm..." She hummed curiously, now changing her focus to the prospect of a Safe Zone. According to the system, the universal regen ticked on a minute basis. She was regenerating six mana a minute. a far-cry from the usual one mana a minute.
...I have an idea. "Hey, Ein." She called him by his actual name. "...Yeah? What?" "You need help?" She offered her own hands. Ein didn't so much as hesitate to say, "God, yes please—" "But!" She added. "You've gotta let me use your base sometimes. Just to regen my bars." Ein breathed a sigh of relief. He thought she was going to ask for more. "Really? That's it? I mean, sure."
Thanks to her help, Ein managed to complete a two day project, surrounding the border of his Safe Zone with walls, into a project that was done by the evening.
---
[DAY 6]
[YOU HAVE FULFILLED ONE CONDITION FOR A SAFE ZONE {LVL 2}. FULFILL ALL THREE CONDITIONS TO LEVEL UP YOUR SAFE ZONE.
-SURROUND YOUR SAFE ZONE WITH ANY TIER DEFENSES
-???
-???]
Ein had been looking at this screen since he woke up, even past making the last of his Bronze Scout Set, being the helmet.
He didn't expect to be able to level up his Safe Zone, arguably his greatest asset, this quickly. He certainly expects it to get way more difficult though. All in due time, he supposed.
His next goal, a proper shelter. He got extremely lucky with the weather over the last few days. Having no rain meant not getting wet, and therefore a lessened chance of catching a cold, but he knows he's not gonna get this lucky forever.
Which is why he needed to get his Cabin project on the go. Maybe he could convince Luna to help him out with this project too?
The ding of a crafting station took him out of his thoughtful trance. Must be the cap. Ein thought. It was time to see just how worth it a set bonus was.
[LIGHT BRONZE CAP EQUIPPED]
[QUALITY: BAD (TIER 2)]
[DURABILITY: 500/500]
[STATS: +1 AC, COVERAGE AREA = 0.8x DAMAGE.]
[SET: BRONZE SCOUT SET 4/4]
[DESCRIPTION: A ALL ROUND BRIMMED BRONZE HAT. PERFECT FOR VISUAL SUPPORT, ABLE TO BLOCK THE SUN'S RAYS.]
[SET: BRONZE SCOUT SET 4/4]
[SET BONUS ACTIVE: +2 SPEED, SKILL (FARSIGHT)]
[SET BONUSES ARE LOST UPON UNEQUIPPING]
"It gave me a skill." It was decided. From now on, he'd try and craft set bonuses when they become available to him. If set bonuses could give him skills, abilities he could only get from dying... "Maybe I could even avoid dying all together..." He murmured.
[SPECIAL SKILL ACQUIRED: FARSIGHT.]
[FARSIGHT.
-GAIN +2 DEX
-"Zoom."
-HOST MUST HAVE ONLY ONE EYE OPEN
-ALLOWS THE HOST TO CONTROL THEIR VISION, UP TO 4 TIMES ZOOM
SKILL COST: N/A
COOLDOWN: N/A
SKILL LEVEL: N/A]
"Special skill? I'm guessing special skills are just skills that aren't given by the system." He speculated before trying out the skill. After all, it had no cost. Why wouldn't he test it out? He closes his left eye. "Zoom."
The effect was immediate, his vision narrowed, but he could see much farther, and much more clearly, too. In his peripheral vision, he could see the current zoom of his skill. 1.5x, it said. "Four times." He said, making the mistake of going up to the highest setting immediately.
The feeling of going from his normal sight to zooming in to one point five times was already disorienting. Going from one point five to four times zoom— "O-Off! Off! Turn off! Zoom off!" His last statement seemed to be the deactivation keyword for Farsight, his vision, now back to normal.
Another big mistake. His disoriented dizziness worsened further. His stomach couldn't take the constant in and out zooming. In the end—
BWAH!
He vomited his breakfast out. "Ugh..."
[WOLFYSTEAK HAS BEEN VOMITED OUT]
[BONUSES LOST]
"Disgusting..." He muttered, wiping himself off. "Looks like I'll need to get that in control... Eugh." He shook his head. Farsight will be useful, as long as he manages to get it under control.
And besides, an additional +2 to his DEX was always nice. Plus, whatever +2 Speed meant.
[1 SPEED = 1 KM/H]
Guess that answers my question. Ein chuckles before waving his hand, putting the panel away. I guess it's time to clean up.
---
One very messy cleanup later, it was back to his base building woes.
No more getting derailed! He thought, before adding a— Hopefully... at the end.
He'd already made a blueprint. Or a groundprint, to be more precise, considering he drew it in the dirt. He didn't need so much space. Just enough for a proper bed and workshop for his crafting needs.
The forge can stay outside, though. He doesn't want his future cabin to go on fire and activate rebirth in his sleep. That'd be a stupid way to go out. Maybe he could make some sort of blacksmith building sometime in the future? Another plan to go in the backburner for now.
He could already smell the moisture in the air. He could also see the black clouds of the storm that is approaching Today will be his first experience with rain in this world. His first weather condition.
He hoped he could get the cabin up before the storm hit.
---
[WEATHER CONDITION: RAIN {MODERATE} DISCOVERED]
[RAIN {MODERATE}.
--0.5 CELSIUS PER HOUR IN THE RAIN
--1 USE (HOME) BUILDINGS {LVL 1} OR BELOW WHEN DURATION ENDS
--1 HOUR (TOWN SQUARE) BUILDINGS {LVL1} OR BELOW PER 30 MINUTES
-+10% CROP GROWTH SPEED]
[TEMPERATURE REGULATION (SAFE ZONE {LVL 1}) HAS BEEN ACTIVATED
--0.1 TEMPERATURE FLUCTUATION]
He did not, in fact, get the cabin up before the storm hit, if the notification wasn't enough to go by.
All he managed to get up was the flooring and the foundations, using whatever fibers he had in his reserves to keep the crude plank floors together. The flooring was simple enough... but then came the hard part.
The walls.
He had only one idea as to how he'd attach the wall down to the floor. Brute forcing it with nails. But would that be wise in this weather? Would the furnace even burn in the rain?
The answer is no to both. The former due to how precise he'd need to be to smith a nail, and the latter being due to the fact that the system was way too grounded in reality to give him that sort of edge.
Even without a fire won't work in the rain stat on the weather condition screen, he knew full well if he tried, it wouldn't work.
In fact, he'll try it right now.
"Craft Tin Arrow."
[UNAVAILABLE]
"Bitch." With a sigh, he decided. "I'll just finish this tomor—"
"Need a hand, kid?" The familiar voice sounded from behind him. "Arthur?" Ein turns around to look at the man. He carried an umbrella, shielding himself from the rain. "Luna told me you were building a base out here. I thought I'd give you a hand."
"That'll be nice—Wait, you know carpentry, right? How do I make a wall—Actually, scratch that. how do I make like—the rest of the house?" Ein asked, his frustration entirely evident, much to Arthur's amusement. "Easy, kid. You use notches."
"Notches?" Ein asked. "Saddle notches, to be specific. Let me show you." From Arthur's inventory, he took out a pair of ornate, jet-black tools. A hammer and chisel with handles so intricately carved, you could only assume they were done by a master. "Let me borrow one of your logs and follow my lead, Ein."
Ein would love to. One problem, though. "Artie, I don't have a chisel."
"Oh." How awkward.
"In that case, just watch me then, and I'll let you borrow my chisel once we're done." Arthur reassures the teen as she got down on the wet dirt and began his lesson.
---
Ein thought it'd be way more complicated than this. Instead... it was actually really simple? "Did you follow all that?" Arthur asked, the saddle, clean and finished, stacked up onto another log. "Sure did... That was so... simple?" Ein vastly overestimated how complicated the process would be. With his DEX and STR stats right now, he could definitely do a saddle notch without much issue. With his statement, Arthur throws the chisel at him, which he catches.
[SOUL OF THE DRUID]
[QUALITY: ??? (TIER ???)]
[DURABILITY: ???/???]
[STATS: +1 TOTAL DAMAGE.]
[DESCRIPTION: THE PENULTIMATE WEAPON OF THE TARNISHED (HOST OF THE DRUID). A WEAPON AND TOOL, ONCE HOLDING THE POTENTIAL TO SLAY THE MOST MALEVOLENT AND BENEVOLENT GODS, NOW REDUCED TO A MERE CHISEL DUE TO THE DEATH OF (???).]
"Don't ask, kid. Just use it" Arthur warned him. Ein looks at him, frowning slightly. "Touchy subject, then?" Arthur doesn't respond verbally. He only nods. Not wanting to Rebirth right now, Ein drops the subject before he gets potentially murked.
First step, strip the bark off the trunk. Boring, unmentionable, moving on. Secondly, measure where the log would go. As they say, and as Arthur repeatedly drilled into him, measure twice and cut once. He creates a notch line in a saddle shape with his pencil, provided for by Arthur, which unlike the chisel, didn't have a mysterious description. It was just a regular pencil. Step three, hack away at the marked spot with an axe. Finally, use the chisel to cut away the rest of the waste wood. Optionally, do a bit more fine adjustments and refining, and voila! A saddle notched log.
He didn't even need to use any of his precious fibers. Gravity did the work in sealing whatever little crevasses would normally be present in such a structure. "Great job, kid." Arthur gives him a thumbs up. "I'll help out a bit too."
The two of them got to work immediately.
---
The build took five hours, but it was complete. A proper shelter away from the rain. Just in time too, since he'd started to feel the effects of the cold. Not teeth chattering by any means, but warmth would be awesome by now. Thanks to the completion of the home, it was given a proper stat line.
[YOU ARE INSIDE A BUILDING (NO HEATING). NEGATIVE WEATHER CONDITION EFFECTS HAVE BEEN HALVED.]
[OAK LOG CABIN {HOME LVL 2}]
[DURABILITY: 50/50 (USES)]
[STATS: -15% COLD, +15% HEAT, +3 STP, AP, AND MP PER 2 MINUTES.]
[DESCRIPTION:]
[A MEDIUM SIZED, EMPTY WOODEN SHELTER OUTFITTED WITH A FIREPLACE FOR A FIRE. CAN HOUSE UP TO FOUR PEOPLE. THE PREFERRED HOME OF LUMBERJACKS AND GAME HUNTERS. IF PAIRED WITH A (TOWN SQUARE) TYPE OBJECT, IT CREATES A SAFE ZONE. IT DOES NOT GET DESTROYED WHEN IT RUNS OUT OF DURABILITY. REPAIRABLE.]
In all honestly, Ein felt like he did little to no work in building the cabin. He gave any and all credit towards Arthur, who built the slanted roofing and the fireplace.
One could argue that, sure it may be worse than the leaf tent due to the fact that it restored his resources over the course of minutes rather than a few seconds, but he'd argue back that that's a restoration of nine accumulative resources every two minutes, as opposed to the leaf tent's one STP for every thirty seconds.
He checks his notifications, which he'd been ignoring up until now.
[-0.3°C]
[-0.3°C]
[-0.3°C]
[-0.3°C]
[-0.3°C]
Yeah, it was definitely time to deal with that. He put a campfire down in the fireplace, which suddenly began to glow and integrate itself into the fireplace—no, into the cabin itself.
[SPECIAL STRUCTURE BLUEPRINT DISCOVERED]
[FIREPLACE]
[DESCRIPTION:]
[A SPECIAL CROOK MADE OF STONES AND NON-FLAMMABLE MATERIAL. BUILD IT IN ANY BUILDING AND PLACE A CAMPFIRE {TOWN SQUARE LVL 1} IN THE INSIDE TO INTIGRATE THE CAMPFIRE {TOWN SQUARE LVL 1}'S STATS INTO THE BUILDING AND PROVIDE HEATING.]
[CRAFT]
[COOK]
"Huh..." Ein looks over to the smug Arthur. "Useful, isn't it?" He chuckles. "I myself almost died from hypothermia back then, when I was flying solo. Building a fireplace saved my life."
[HEATING ESTABLISHED]
[YOU ARE INSIDE A BUILDING (HEATED LVL 2). TEMPERATURE IS BEING REGULATED AND STABLIZED WITH +0.5°C PER HOUR CAP. KEEPS BODY TEMPERATURE STABLE AT 37°C. WILL NOT WORK IN ARID CLIMATES AND WEATHER.]
[YOU HAVE FULFILLED ONE CONDITION FOR A SAFE ZONE {LVL 2}. FULFILL ALL THREE CONDITIONS TO LEVEL UP YOUR SAFE ZONE.
-SURROUND YOUR SAFE ZONE WITH ANY TIER DEFENSES
-{HOME LVL 2}, HEATING
-???]
This. This is peak. Still, what could the third condition be? He had a few guesses. A level two Town Square, a population increase, maybe? More things to put on his checklist.
"Thanks so much, Mister Arthur." Arthur groaned, annoyed but not truly bothered. "I get enough of that from Luna, kid. I don't need more from you too. Just call me Artie." Ein shrugged. "Yeah, but she says it because you're old. I say it because I respect you."
Truly, Ein did respect his predecessor, being that he was being nothing but helpful to both him and presumably Luna too. Unfortunately, his rude wording struck the Thirty-six year old man too closely. He grasped his chest, as if he'd been actually struck. "I-I'm not that old..."
"Oh, right." Ein gets his attention before he could wallow in his old-ness any longer. "Can you help me get all my worktables in here?" Ein requested.
It wasn't too big of a task. Using a couple more minutes... Ein's moving day was done and Arthur went off to do his own thing. The clouds weren't parting just yet... but it was the perfect weather for training.
He'd been meaning to finish The Specifics of Mechashift.