HC: Pacifist | Ch. 237 - Rapid Fire Hammer (Patreon)

The listings in the auction house confirmed Roth’s suspicions. Lizards shed their skins, and he could craft with it.

Rock Lizard Subpar Leather (Common)

Description: A rock lizard's shed skin that has been cured. The quality of the hide is mediocre. It might be used for crafting.

Requirements: Tailoring, lvl. 10.

Here it was. He really could use this leather. Perhaps it was one item that the players could find when they ran lizard dungeons or hunted them. Or maybe they just left it behind when they molted. Even though the leather was weak compared to regular leather, it was still an item Roth could use. All that he had to do now was experiment.

He checked the pricing: 1 silver a piece. It was a little more expensive than he was expecting. After all, he wasn't just buying the lizard's raw skin but a product that tanners had already processed. There was a whole profession dedicated to skinning animals, curing hide, and getting it ready for tailors to craft armor with it. So he was also paying some tanners in Sapphira for their work, including their profit margin. Roth decisively bought a hundred.

It all came down to one gold, but thanks to BlueFire’s generous contributions it didn't make a dent in his finances. He also stood to make much more money from these materials. Had he known how to work leather, he would have experimented with this new material then and there. But he didn't know how to do so yet. He had to return to Keith's shop and ask for a lesson on crafting leather armor.

He exited the auction house, found the nearest elevator, and began the monotonous trip back. The elevator seemed to take forever. Somewhere around the 30th floor, Roth even considered jumping off the platform to speed up the trip. He had never tried this, but perhaps if he jumped and activated [Peace Decree] at the very last minute, he could avoid taking any damage. It was a long shot. Something told him, however that wouldn't work. After all, whose damage was he going to negate? The floor’s? Additionally, that wouldn't mitigate the pain that he would feel from falling to his death.

He decided to be patient and waited for the elevator to complete the slow-paced trip. Once back on the 3rd floor, he ran back to the Cloth of the Wadi and found Keith inspecting the mannequins in the shop. Keith’s staff had dressed them in new outfits, and the tailor nudged and adjusted the clothes so that they looked perfect.

“Hello, Keith.”

“Nature’s weaver. You’re back so soon!”

“True. Listen, Keith. I was wondering if you could teach me how to work with leather.”

“Oh. Does this mean you haven't yet learned such basic skills?”

“No, I only know how to craft with wool. I’ve only done knitting so far.”

“You haven’t worked with linen yet, either?”

“No, sir. No leather either.” Roth was currently a level 13 ecotailor, and after level 10, a few doors were opened to him. Unfortunately, due to his busy schedule, he still hadn’t had the chance to take these fundamental lessons.

“Well, you seem to be a respectable tailor, and you’ll have to find your calling soon. It would be good for you to try out the different types of products you can make as a tailor to make an informed decision when the time comes to choose your specialization.”

“Specialization?” Roth asked. Keith was probably talking about something similar to class advancements. He had read a little about it but hadn’t delved too deeply into it.

At level 30, warriors could choose to become fighters, tanks, or berserkers for example. Once Roth had reached level 30, he himself had to choose between becoming a peace enforcer and a peacemaker. Professions worked like classes, and one could select specializations as one broke certain thresholds. He knew that blacksmiths could specialize in weapons or armor at level 30 and that tailors could focus on leather or cloth armor, but he didn’t know how things worked for his unique profession.

“Sure, I do want to try with all of them,” Roth said after some thought. There was nothing to lose from giving it a go.

“Very well. I usually ask one of my staff to explain these basic techniques to apprentices, but I guess I can teach you myself. I’m not too busy at the moment.”

You’ve been offered a new quest: [Leather Greaves].

Keith has taken a liking to you and decides to teach you the basics of leatherworking. He hopes that you’ll achieve great things and bring honor to the Cloth of the Wadi shop.

Quest objectives: Craft a pair of leather greaves under Keith’s direction.

Would you like to accept? [Y/N]

“Thank you!” Roth said excitedly. How cool was this? He would learn the craft from the best tailor in the shop!

“Let’s go to your private workshop.”

Roth followed Keith into the room he was renting. Keith positioned himself near the cutting table, and Roth stood across from his new teacher.

“What leather do you have?”

Roth took out one of the lizard subpar hides he had just purchased in the market and stretched it over the workbench. Since the rock lizards were as big as crocodiles, their hides were also quite large.

“Interesting choice of material. Rock Lizard, is it? And it wasn’t skinned. It’s shed,” Keith said, frowning.

“What’s the matter?”

“Difficult material to work with, nature's weaver. Very frail. Very punishing,” he explained.

“What do you mean?” asked Roth, worried.

“I mean that if you make a mistake, the leather will crack, severely impacting the quality of the end product. No worries, though. Nothing that a talented tailor such as yourself can’t overcome.”

Roth gulped. He hoped Keith was right.

"Alright, nature’s weaver," Keith began, gesturing toward the lizard hide spread out on the workbench, "the first step in crafting your leather greaves is to draw the shapes onto the hide. You'll want to use a piece of chalk or a leather marker. You can buy the shapes at a supply store, like yours truly,” he winked.

Keith grabbed three patterns from his inventory. They were made out of leather, had irregular shapes, and were riddled with holes. He grabbed a series of clips and clamps to fasten the shapes to the hide, then grabbed a piece of chalk and began contouring the shapes. He only did the first one.

“Now you do the rest,” he said invitingly, handing him the chalk.

Chain quest activated: [Leather Greaves] has changed to [Preparing the Pieces].

Preparing the Pieces (Common)

Prepare the individual parts that will be assembled into a pair of leather greaves.

Quest objectives: Draw and hole the shapes according to Keith’s instructions.

Roth accepted the chalk from Keith’s hand, feeling its weight.

You’ve received a quest item: [Chalk].

With careful strokes, he carefully outlined the greaves’ shapes onto the leather's supple surface.

"Good," Keith nodded approvingly. “That’s it. You got the shapes down. Now, do you see how the patterns have holes in them?”

“I do.”

“We’ll run stitches through them later on. We’ll punch the holes into the hide.”

“Already?” Roth asked, surprised. He had expected that such a step would only come much later.

“That’s right. This is called a stitching chisel,” he said, showing Roth a small metal rod with a sharp, pointy edge—it looked like a giant nail. “And this is your striking tool. You must position your chisel over the hole, then strike it with this hammer.”

Keith demonstrated this. He struck the chisel with two decisive strikes that seemed gentle and robust simultaneously. “There are different chisels that make holes of different sizes. For now, just use this one.”

You’ve received a quest item: [Basic Softwood Hammer].

You’ve received a quest item: [Basic Stitching Chisel].

Keith handed Roth the hammer. It was entirely made of wood. The purpose of a normal hammer was for it to drive a nail into wood. This one was different. Roth felt that if he hit a nail with this hammer, the nailhead would burrow itself into it, and the nail wouldn’t budge.

Hands shaking, Roth positioned the chisel over the hole in the pattern. He made sure it was straight, and then, like Keith, he gave two gentle, confident whacks. He felt the leather give under the hits and, removing the chisel from the table, confirmed it had gone through it.

You’ve punched a hole in a piece of leather.

+1xp in ecotailor.

“Good. Again!” Keith commanded. Roth carefully followed the pattern. There were three shapes in total that would be assembled into leg protective gear. One of them, shaped like a small sarcophagus, had holes all around the edges. The other two were longer and had a row of holes in one of the edges and the other somewhere in the middle of the piece. How the whole thing came together was beyond Roth.

He kept systematically punching holes through the shapes. With each hole, he got 1xp. It wasn’t much, but it added up! He had no idea if the holes were turning out well or not. From what Keith had told him, this leather was brittle and could easily crack. He hoped that none of the holes had tears.

He didn’t bother counting the holes he had to punch, but it was surely well over a hundred. Keith watched silently, waiting for Roth to finish.

“It’s done,” said Roth, wiping the sweat off his brow and stretching his back. “All the holes are punched.”

“Are you sure?” Keith said, frowning.

Roth looked over the shape, ensuring the chisel had gone through the leather in every single one. “Yes. Sure.”

“Are you making only one?”

“Excuse me?”

“How many legs do you have?” Keith asked suggestively.

“Right, right. I need a pair of glasses. I need two of each shape. Is that it?”

“There you go,” Keith said, chuckling. It looked like this was a common mistake and part of Keith’s hazing tradition.

Roth moved the patterns over to an empty patch of hide. As he uncovered the work he’d been doing, he saw that although many of the holes were perfectly circular and flawless, several of them had cracked the leather. “Oh, no,” Roth sighed, disappointed.

“Don’t worry. It’s your first time. Just focus on drawing the other three shapes.” Nodding, Roth positioned the patterns, fixed them in place using clamps and clips, and drew three more shapes. He then grabbed the chisel and the wooden mallet and began another round of hole punching. As he punched the last hole, he received a notification assuring him that, this time, he was done.

“You can lose the patterns. Set them aside for now. We'll need to cut these shapes into manageable pieces using shears. Do you have any?”

“No.”

“What do you use to shear sheep, young man?”

This was the first time Keith addressed Roth as something other than ‘nature’s weaver’. It looked like his stupid remarks were making the old tailor lose some of his respect for him. “Of course. Silly me. Sorry, sir.”

Roth took the chrome pair of scissors he used to shear sheep from his inventory and got them ready.

“All you have to do is cut along the shapes that you drew. Fairly easy, right?”

Chain quest activated: [Preparing the Pieces] has changed to [Cut it Out].

Cut it out (Common)

You’ve done a good job getting the individual pieces of the greaves ready. Your new equipment begins to take shape.

Quest objectives: Cut the shapes off the hide as cleanly as possible.

Roth nodded. As he grabbed the leather, it really was easy. Maybe it was because of how thin this leather was. His shears glided effortlessly through the leather with a satisfying snip. With a newfound confidence, Roth took hold of the shears and began cutting along the chalk lines, the sharp blades making quick work of the hide.

You’ve cut a piece of leather.

+5xp in ecotailor.

“Good! It’s more difficult when the leather is thicker, but even so, brilliant job.”

Roth cut out all of the other pieces. “What do I do with the hide now?”

“I’ll use it to teach you the next step of the process. A good tailor makes the most of every material. Do you understand, nature’s weaver?”

“Of course, sir!”

"Now, it's time to assemble the greaves.”

Chain quest activated: [Preparing the Pieces] has changed to [Assemble the Greaves].

Assemble the Greaves (Common)

Everything you’ve done brought you to this moment. The time has come for you to assemble the individual pieces of leather and combine them into a fine piece of armor.

Quest objectives: Learn the basics of the [Saddle Stitch] technique.

Keith took three pieces and positioned the sarcophagus-looking piece over the other two. Finally, Roth understood how the whole thing would come together. The front of the greaves would have a double layer of leather to offer extra protection. The whole thing would come together, bound by threads that closed the piece of equipment around the back.

“I’ll use the rest of the hide to demonstrate the next technique,” Keith explained. He folded the lizard hide upon itself, bringing both seams together. He then clamped them so they wouldn’t budge and grabbed a chisel and a hammer. His hands blurred, and Roth could swear the tailor sounded like a machine gun in rapid fire. Roth gulped, feeling like a child before this monster.

After checking his work, Keith nodded, grabbed a long needle from a nearby shelf, and threaded it. He held it up toward Roth. "Next step. It's time for you to learn a new stitch.”

Ch. 236 - Leather

INDEX

Ch. 238 - Saddle Stitch