HC: Pacifist | Ch. 236 - Leather (Patreon)

Hopefully, Drake and the rest of the crew were doing alright back in Hilsford, and the Leafies were doing OK up in the garden. Roth, however, had to focus on the here and now. This place was very comfortable, and Lin was obviously settled, so it was time to buckle down and get crafting.

Roth took the laser and glass gun from his inventory.

Bergelmir’s Glass Gun (Rare)

A device used by light trappers to form beads of reflective glass.

Effects:

Requires sand and energy to work;

Creates a reflective bead of glass.

Bergelmir's Laser (Legendary)

Description: A fundamental tool of any respectable light trapper. This laser can fit any gem.

Gem: [Red Quartz]

Effects:

Used to carve and activate light traps;

It can use any gem.

He had been itching to experiment with his light trapper profession. The glass gun required sand to work, which he didn’t have yet, making it one item to add to his shopping list. He had to visit the auction house soon and buy supplies. But to avoid having to go back and forth between his new base of operations and the auction house, he might as well first gain a better understanding of his new profession so that he could make a complete shopping list.

Roth grabbed the laser and lightly tapped the button on the side of the laser, causing a powerful beam of light to cross the room. Afraid of damaging anything inside the rented space, he quickly turned it off. He approached the fire and turned on the laser again, this time pointing it at one of the burning logs.

As he pushed the button, his energy bar began slowly draining, and the burst of red light dug a hole into a piece of wood relatively untouched in the fire. Roth gulped hard. This laser was no joke. Even though it only had the weakest, least expensive gemstone, it still could put out a potent beam of light that quickly left a mark on the log.

Now more aware of how this tool worked, Roth grabbed one of the wool sweaters he had crafted from alpaca wool and then the laser. “Now what?” he asked aloud. Should he just point the laser at it and start crafting? Roth frowned and scratched his beard as he tried to anticipate how things would go.

He set the wool sweater down. A plan of action was in order. For that, he wanted the input of a couple of friends he hadn't talked to in a while.

“Hey, Leanne! Hi, Rhapsody. I was wondering if you girls could take a moment to answer a couple of questions about tailoring?” he tried.

The answer came almost immediately. “I am enough. You don’t need crooked stitch’s help!”

“Let’s talk just the two of us, Pax. Picasso here isn’t good enough to give you pointers.

Chuckling at the goofy bickering between the two rivals, Roth replied. “I’ll set up a conference call. Accept the invite.”

“Coming!”

“Will join soon!”

Roth eagerly waited for the master tailors to join the call. Rhapsody was the first to enter. She still wore the same black wool sweater with a long turtleneck. She had changed her hairstyle, however. Instead of the bangs, she had her hair neatly braided as if she had decided to knit with her own hair. Roth felt that the change favored the girl. At least now, he could see more than just her nose.

“Hello. What's up, Pax?” she asked with curious eyes. He couldn’t see her smile because of the long turtleneck that muffled her and covered her lips, but he could hear it in her voice.

“Hey, Rhapsody! Good to see you. How have you been?”

“Good, good. Just knitting and stuff.”

“Have you been having fun in the Union?”

“Oh, yeah. Been trying to do at least one crafting battle a day. It’s inspiring, you know? You get to learn all these awesome techniques from other artisans. Those extra stats from being a VIP made a difference, too. Since I joined, I've already earned two levels in my profession.”

“Oh, wow, that's awesome.” Roth was happy that the organization they had created to rescue him could also help craftsmen at the same time. “And have more tailors been joining the Union?”

“Yeah, new ones join every day.”

“Anyone better than you? Roth teased.

“Actually, there is an excellent tailor who just joined. He belongs to the Phoenixes. He’s their head tailor. Once management scheduled a tournament for all the major professions, the number of applications spiked. He’s one of the tailors who has joined the union to participate in the tournament. I faced him in a crafting battle recently.”

If this tailor from the Phoenixes had challenged Rhapsody and entered the union… Roth pursed his lips, afraid to comment on what that meant.

“Yes, Pax. That’s it. I lost, and he has entered the union.”

For him to beat Rhapsody, he had to be very good. Rhapsody didn’t seem upset about it, though. If anything, she seemed excited! The little girl continued, “I have to step up my game to beat him at a crafting tournament.”

Roth had forgotten about his suggestion to start a tournament. There were always many messages on the Union chat, but he hadn’t been reading all of them with everything that had been going on. He should take the time to check in on his gang and find out how things were going.

While he and Rhapsody made small talk, Leanne joined in. Her face was the same, with her neat ponytail and her round nose, but she was wearing new pieces of jewelry. Judging from the looks of the large wood berlocks hanging from her ears, she had commissioned some of it to Nakia. “Hey, Roth. Sup crooked stitch?”

Rhapsody playfully poked her tongue out. “Hey, Picasso,” she greeted in return.

Turning to Roth, Leanne gave a wolfish grin and got straight to the point. “So what does almighty Pax need us for?”

Rhapsody giggled. Roth came from a family of boys. He had two brothers, no sisters. It had always fascinated him how when two girls got together, their every word seemed to become conspiratory.

“Well. As you know, I'm a novice tailor, level 13 now.” Roth made an effort not to react to their blatant facial expressions. ‘What a noob,’ their smirks seemed to say.

“I wanted to ask you a quick question. What hard equipment can tailors make?”

Rhapsody's brows raised slightly while Leanne scowled. “What do you mean? Are you talking about equipment that is difficult to make? Or are you talking about leather armor?”

“Hard as in not soft. But it can’t be leather.”

Roth's reason for this question was simple. He had two professions: eco tailoring and light trapping. In a perfect world, he would level both together. That would save him time and enhance the price of whatever equipment he crafted. The problem was, as far as he could tell, that light trapping required a hard, even surface. He would just burn the wool if he tried to carve a light trap on it. Also, if he mounted the trap on a wobbly surface that wasn't rigid, he wouldn't be able to get the light to hit at the right angle and become trapped indefinitely.

“That's a weird question,” Leanne said.

“It really can't be leather?” Rhapsody insisted.

“No,” Roth answered promptly. “No leather of any kind.”

“Why not? It's the obvious solution to your problem.”

“Here's the thing, girls: I have a unique profession.” There were little twinkles of interest in the girls' eyes. Roth had hoped that he didn't have to go into much detail, but as far as he could tell, this wasn't a quest that could be shared. It also came with obvious limitations. If they asked him questions about it, he didn’t feel there was any harm in sharing.

It was also fair that if he asked for information and guidance from them, he'd be willing to show his hand. Roth wouldn't have been able to do this one month prior, but he had been learning to warm up to people and open up a little.

“My profession requires me only to use eco-friendly fibers. Since leather is made from dead animals, I can’t use it.”

Contrary to his expectations, there was no barrage of questions, and the girls did not try to pry into his secrets. Instead, there was a contemplative pause as the girls tried to think of a solution to the problem.

“Not necessarily,” Leanne countered. “Can’t you recycle shed snake skins and use them as leather? In the real world, that would never work, but in the game, even though that kind of leather is considered poor quality, you wouldn’t have to kill the animals to produce it, right?”

“Right! If it’s skin that is shed from a higher-level mob or an elite, it should still have some rigidity. Maybe it’s just a matter of experimenting with the materials for sale at an auction house or reaching out to any Union tanners,” added Rhapsody.

Hearing the girls’ simple reasoning, a bulb lit in his mind. “Of course!” How could he have been so stupid? He had snake skins among the items he traded with Golden Mountain. And snakes weren't the only animals that shed their skins. Other reptiles did the same. Off the top of his head, he could think of the rock lizards around town. Maybe they shed their skin, too! If those skins could be tanned and hardened enough, he could perhaps mount light traps on them.

“Oh man, you guys helped me. Thank you so, so much!”

“No worries. You did well to call the great Leanne and the mediocre Rhapsody as consultants.”

“Who are you calling mediocre?” Rhapsody demanded.

“The tailor who lost the last crafting battle?” Leane answered cheekily. Roth was surprised. He hadn’t expected that the girls had arranged a rematch between them.

“Oh yeah? Are you ready to take me on again, crooked stitch?”

“Bring it on, Picasso!”

“Where are you right now?”

“I'm actually in Hilsford near the Union.”

“Okay. Crafting battle. Now! What are we betting?”

“One stack of [Heavenly Wool],” offered Leanne.

“Got one skein of [Grimy Lotus Silk].”

“Deal! See you there.”

The girls disconnected and didn't even say goodbye to Roth. He felt slightly dizzy after the call but had gotten what he hoped for. He now knew a way to evolve both professions at the same time. He rushed out of his rented private workshop and headed toward the shop front.

“Hey, Keith.”

“Oh, my dear patron, it's so good to see you. Are your quarters to your liking?” Even though he still remained polite, the bonus effect of his charisma had worn off. Keit’s adoration and admiration had gone down a notch. “Listen, I've been focusing on crafting with wool so far. But I want to run some experiments with leather. Do you sell it here?”

“I do sell some leather. Take a look.”

As Roth went through the listings, all the available materials were grayed out. They had been obtained through hunting. He noticed there was hare leather, coyote leather, and goat leather. They wouldn’t do.

“Thanks. I appreciate it. I’ll be back in a moment.”

“No worries, weaver. I’ve turned on security. While you’re renting the workshop, no one will go in. I’ll make sure of it.”

“Thanks!”

Roth ran out the door and toward the elevators that led to the canyon floor. As he boarded the platform, he tapped his foot as it slowly ascended through the city. Even though his new workspace was comfortable and out of the slavers’ territory, it came with its inconveniences. Being so far from the auction house was a big one.

After ten minutes, he finally arrived at Sapphira’s auction house. It had some architectural similarities to the ones in Green Country. Its columns and staircase made it look like the entrance to a Greek temple. Here, however, the whole building was sculpted into the cliff. The solidity of the rock, and the way the pink sandstone reflected the torchlight gave it a more solemn look.

Roth raced up the stairs and, finding the same configuration he was used to, went into the trading plaza where players sat around fountains and a beautiful indoor garden. He sat by the bench and opened the trading window. He operated the filters so that it would show only materials that he could craft with based on his current professions, and wrote leather. Rubbing his hands, and licking his lip Roth studied the listings available.

Ch. 235 - Wooden Castle

INDEX

Ch. 237 - Rapid Fire Hammer