"You, young mister go and have some fun doing something else, while we teach Laney how to cook some delicious food for you."
Just like that, Kaden was left standing alone, rejected by everyone, though luckily not for the worse.
"Oh, stop moping as if the entire world abandoned you. Go learn some crafting yourself, smithing, architecture or whatever you can think of," Razor scolded him through their link.
"Hey! No need to yell at me, bird!" Kaden replied. The bird croaked and laughed before making a few rounds above his head and flying off.
Kaden looked around for anything interesting going on, and spotted one of the villagers repairing a tower near the southern gate. He walked over to the bear-like villager and knelt beside him, observing what the villager was doing. His presence was noticed an instant later as the bear-man yelped in surprise.
"F-Forgive me, Mister Kaden," the man stuttered. Kaden put a hand on the man’s shoulder and squeezed gently, offering him a warm smile.
"Do not worry, friend. Tell me, what’re you doing?"
The man sighed and relaxed noticeably before he replied, and started hammering at the wood again. ‘I'm repairing the gate and adding a ladder at this moment, if that’s what you mean.’
"No. I mean generally, what is your craft?" Kaden asked.
The man brightened up, taking pride in what he was doing. "I’m something like a siege and fortification engineer," he replied with a broad smile.
His fur seemed to change color slightly, but that might have just been Kaden’s imagination. "Can you teach me the craft?" Kaden asked, grinning. "If it’s something that one can learn easily I mean," he added hurriedly.
The bear-man looked at him in surprise, as if he didn't understand what he had been asked. He closed his eyes, breathing in and out. He was contemplating to say what he wanted or not, but in the end he went through with it.
"I'll teach you everything I know, but on one condition. Give me two villagers for a whole day. I'm in need of materials, and with the monsters spawning outside, we can only gather resources when they are dead. The eaters won’t respawn for a while, so now would be the time to get working on our defenses."
"Frederic!" Kaden yelled, his smile never faltering. The man turned around to search for the person calling him, and ran towards Kaden upon spotting him. "Give this man two villagers and get them to gather resources for him. Let them help him for rest of the day." Frederic first mulled things over, but did so without as much as a reply.
"Thank you, Mister Kaden," the bear said, his eyes wet with tears. "You have no idea how hard of a time I had doing everything alone. It’s just that we are stretched too thin. Now, let us get it on!"
For the next few hours, the sound of Pooky’s hammer slamming onto the anvil, the chatter and clatter of the women cooking, Kaden’s hammering and screams of pain as the hammer found his finger more than once was all there was to hear.
Most of the villagers had been outside gathering gravel, stone, leaves, branches, sand and the usual lumber. Finishing the tower, Kaden finally looked at the message that had been chiming every now and then.
You have gained a crafting skill: Fortification Engineer
You have gained a crafting skill: Siege Engineer
His eyes wandered to the skill window that popped up before his eyes and observed his skills.
Fortification Engineer. Current level: 2. Skill description: Allows the user to build stockades, towers, ramparts, gates and similar buildings.
Siege Engineer. Current level: 1. Skill description: Allows the user to build ballista, catapults and all kinds of engines of war, including traps.
He smiled like a little child, who had just gotten its hands on candy after they had finished setting up a ballista on top of the two towers, adjacent to the gate. Kaden and the bear-man, whom he had called Arma as short for Armaments, had been exchanging impressions and ideas during the whole process. They came up with new concepts for defense against large-scale attacks or infiltration by single attackers.
"What about the ammunition?" Kaden asked. Arma smiled and pointed towards the pile of logs and iron bars.
"I will now teach you one last thing, Mister Kaden. That is, how to make ammunition." Kaden’s grin widened as the two dropped down the tower, and strode towards raw resources waiting for them. This guy was war incarnate, Kaden thought on more than one occasion.
Eliana walked up to the two, as she saw them drop down the tower. She smiled broadly and motioned towards the smithy.
"Is something the matter?" Kaden asked.
"On the contrary. You will want to see this for yourself." Upon arriving at the smithy, Kaden’s mouth dropped open. A vast array of weapons and shields had been arranged along the wall that had been constructed earlier. A wicked-looking battle staff caught his eye. As if in a trance, he moved towards it, taking the weapon into his hands. Feather-light, but sturdy was his first impression. Tracing along the shaft, he found an indentation and pressed it. The cudgel at the end of the shaft changed abruptly, as nine long spikes darted out from within.
"Pooky? Is it supposed to do this?" Kaden asked, barely audible. The big bear laughed heartily, slapping his back with a meaty hand.
"It sure is. Slam the end into your enemy's head and it will hurt them, a lot."
Kaden shuddered at the thought and looked towards Eliana, who was strapping on a wicked-looking bow. It had edges along the two ends, or rather, two long blades. Next to Pooky lay a large war hammer that looked like it could destroy a mountain. Beside it lay another battle staff, and two short spears attached to thin chains, but they looked rather thick for spears and were even thicker near the blades.
"Are those for Laney?" he asked curiously. Kaden had no idea that the bear was so talented in making cold steel weapons, and the fascination just wouldn’t stop. At that moment, he was more than happy to have the big guy on board. "Speaking of which, is she still cooking?" Eliana shrugged.
"I have no idea. Pooky and I have been here the whole time, creating our new weapons, so we have no idea where your woman is," she teased. Kaden went red at the remark, and turned towards Pooky.
"Depends on what she chooses. Now, if you will excuse me, I need to sleep the work off," the bear said and dropped like a log, snoring. Both Kaden and Eliana looked at him, then each other and burst out in laughter.
"Whose woman?" Laney asked, walking up to them with one of her eyebrows raised. The bunny woman chuckled and made a strange gesture with her hand.
"Oh, you know whose. Why are you acting so hard to get, my dear?" Eliana teased.
Laney’s mouth opened and closed multiple times in close succession. She stood there frozen, at a loss for words. "How about you mind your own business? When Kaden and I are ready for something more, we will talk about it like adults. Until then, stop forcing something on him."
"Right," Kaden butted in, "how about you show me the food you made, Laney?" A change of topic was the best thing one could do in this situation, though he would gladly talk about it some more at a later date.
"Children. She wants you, and you want her, yet the two of you act as if it's something forbidden. Who will judge you? A couple of Bardos worshippers? Tsk," Eliana hissed and turned away from them.
"I learned how to prepare some basic food," she finally said, breaking the awkward silence that had ensued. He took one of the meatballs and smelled it in delight. It wasn’t any worse than the one from earlier, at least in taste and smell. The buff that appeared was slightly weaker than the other meatball, coming in at 90 health recovered.
"It’s actually working," he whispered, looking into Laney’s eyes.
"Idiot, kiss her already," Razor said over their link, startling Kaden from the moment.
"Get lost you damned bird. You think that I could just do it like that?" he replied angrily. At that moment, Razor dropped down beside them in all of his majestic glory.
"Right. I see that the two of you have something to discuss. I shall take my-"
"No. It's alright," Razor croaked for all to hear. His voice was scary in that brief moment.
"What else can you cook?" Kaden interjected before Razor could go on.
"Ahh yes. At the current stage I can only use two ingredients, a basic ingredient and a seasoning. At level three, I'll be able to use two basic ingredients and one seasoning, while at five I can use two seasonings. Beyond that, I have no idea," she smiled sheepishly.
"Man does she look cute, even when she's acting all strange," Kaden thought. Razor croaked once, shook his head and flew off to make rounds above the village.
"So," Kaden said, not quite knowing how to steer the conversation.
"So," Laney replied, not meeting his gaze. Something within her was coming alive in a way she hadn’t felt in a long time, but was it the time to make a move on him? It's not like she had millions of others to choose from. A bear here, a bunny there, a bird somewhere else, but there was no one quite like Kaden. Just as it became uncomfortable, they were saved by Arma.
"Mister Kaden! Mister Kaden!" the villager yelled, running up to the two other-worlders. Behind him trailed the other two villagers that got assigned to Arma. They were carrying something that looked like a miniature ballista, and a stack of bolts.
"What… is that?" Kaden asked in bewilderment. Arma’s grin was contagious, making both Kaden and Laney grin in turn.
"This is a miniature ballista, Mister Kaden. We have made it for you. It's lightweight enough to be carried on your back in two pieces. It takes about a minute to set it up, and launch the first bolt. Here, let us show you how it's done."
The next ten minutes, they proceeded in putting it together and taking it apart multiple times. The last time, Kaden and Laney did it together. They succeeded easily within the allotted minute. Kaden inspected the mobile armament with a wide grin on his face.
Mobile Ballista. Level: 1. Attack power: 2000. Recharge speed: 15 seconds
"This is awesome!" he yelled out after reading the description. Something caught his eye beside the statistics. An upgrade option. He focused on it, and a new information window opened.
Material needed to upgrade to level 2: Iron Bar x 10. Fir wood x 10
Item stats after upgrade. Attack power: 2500. Recharge speed: 13 seconds
"I want to try this thing out!" Laney squealed. "Please, please, let me have at it!"
"Wait up," Kaden interrupted. "We need ammunition, or a way to make it before we tackle any monsters. Arma?" The villager grinned and nodded. ‘I got your back, mister. Here, let me show you how to make them from the spare materials here.’ Arma took some of the raw material, and just held them in his hands. His eyes lost focus, and the items started rearranging themselves, forming a ballista bolt ten seconds later above his hands. It dropped with a thunk onto the ground.
Ballista bolt. Attack power: 250. Piercing value: 20]
‘No way!’ Kaden hooted, jumping up and down like a little kid. "This is amazing. Please teach me the skill!" Arma got up and smiled broadly. He motioned for Kaden to take the raw material, and placed his hands on top of Kaden’s. A chime rang out with a message popping up a moment later.
You have learned a new crafting skill. Armament production. Level: 1
"How much raw materials do we have?" Kaden asked after he hugged Arma for a long moment. The villager was at a loss for words, until Kaden spoke to him again.
"Umm, right. I think that you should have enough for thirty bolts. There are twenty-nine finished ones, including the ones we just created."
"Nice! But hey, wait. I just had an ingenious idea. Let me try something." Kaden took one of the bolts and closed his eyes. A blue and white glow engulfed his hands. Moments later, the bolt turned frosty and turned white. "Ha! Take that!" Kaden roared.
"Mister Kaden? Are you alright?" Arma asked. Laney took the villagers hand and squeezed it.
‘Thank you for all the work the three of you have put in. We all appreciate it dearly," she said with a smile. She was happy, everyone could clearly see it, but the way Kaden acted exasperated her sometimes. One moment he acted all grown up, while in the next moment he looked like a five-year-old. She sighed after Arma turned back and went off towards the southern gate.
"We got to try out this baby on the eaters," he smirked.
"Wait, Mister Kaden, there is more!" Arma called out, stopping him. He turned around toward the bear, his grin even wider.
"What, there’s more?" he asked stupidly. Arma nodded his head quickly.
"Yes! Once you crafter enough ballista bolts, you can make different types of ammunition! Like one that spreads out over an area, or one that can hold an enemy down in place! The possibilities are almost endless!"
Kaden’s jaw dropped open as he stood there with a dumb look. "I need to go try this thing out first, then we will see about making more interesting stuff!"
"Go do what?" boomed Pooky’s voice as the bear stood up, rested enough to stand.
"Go off to kill some monsters with our new toy," he replied, pointing at the portable ballista. "And wait, have you rested enough already? You were out for only half an hour or so."
Pooky shrugged. "Hey, I sleep fast. Now, I want to see that thing in action!"
Chapter 18
The group set foot outside of the northern gate as the sun was getting ready to set. Without wasting any time, they ran past the area where the Ground Eaters had first been killed. Some thirty meters towards the forest’s edge, two more groups of worms roamed around lazily. Within a minute, they had set up the ballista and cocked the frost bolt.
"Wait up," Laney interrupted a moment before the shot. "Buff up first, just in case." Kaden sighed at the interruption, but was glad someone had thought of it. This could go horribly wrong, after all, so being prepared was imperative. Laney buffed everyone and made sure they had a few meatballs with them, just in case.
All four of them wore their newly made gear; Kaden had his staff, Pooky had the war hammer, Eliana had her bow and Laney, to everyone’s surprise, chose the two thick, short spears. To her surprise, Pooky had made them so that, upon the press of a hidden button, two small fans folded out from within the thick ends. They formed a somewhat sturdy shield, which would protect her against anything weak monsters could throw at her, at least for a couple of times before they needed to be repaired.
"Are you guys ready?" Kaden asked as the buffs coursed through them with a familiar sensation. All three nodded, or grunted in Pooky’s case, so he let loose the ice bolt. The projectile flew straight into the enemy formation, and killed the center Ground Eater upon impact. The bolt shattered into a dozen shards that caused moderate damage on the eaters, freezing the ground where it struck.
You have inflicted 2312 damage to Ground Eater.
You have inflicted 361 damage to Ground Eater.
You have inflicted 334 damage to Ground Eater.
A few seconds after the bolt exploded, the worms followed with a couple dozen smaller and larger shards that shredded everything around them. Most of the worms had been killed or badly wounded, leaving them no match for the group’s normal weapons.
The Ground Eaters made a noise that could only be described as pain mixed with anger. They charged the group, but arrows struck them one by one, bringing them down by five to ten percent per hit. The group took care of the three remaining worms that had made it towards them with ease.
To Kaden’s surprise, the staff hit the worm for 217 damage without the use of any skill, except for the extended spikes from within the cudgel. It worked much better for him at close range, rather than being forced to damage his hands with [Ice Orb] every time. But not every monster would be a lowly worm.
Laney laughed as she seemed to be reading something over, probably happy with her own damage.
"This is amazing. We can do this all day if you guys are up for it!"
"Maybe we could the monsters around the village first after we are done with the dungeon, and then the villagers could gather resources,
meats and stuff?" Everyone seemed to be in the same state of mind, drunk by the sudden rise in power. For the first time since coming to this world, everything seemed to be working out for them, and they enjoyed every moment of it.
"This is great, but only if you attack the enemy first from a favourable position," Pooky replied. The two women didn’t say anything, instead they ran off to loot the dead creatures.
"Or against the boss, if they are very big and slow. Speaking of slow, would you like for me to add ice to your weapon? I thought of trying my weapon out, and see how it works," Kaden offered. Pooky shrugged, but didn’t hand his weapon to Kaden. He added ice to his own staff and got ready to shoot again. "Ladies, are you done yet? I would like to kill the rest of eaters."
The two women finished looting and ran back towards Kaden. He gave them a strange look, as if the two women were up to something. Not wanting to press it, he released another bolt.
Half an hour later, the worms were cleared up and looted without even one point of damage sustained to the group. The harder part was before them, as darkness crept up with anever quickening pace. They had half an hour of light left, nothing more. Would that be enough to run the distance, fight and loot the enemies, on top of entering the dungeon?
The path to the cemetery was eerily quiet, not even a single attack for over two thirds of the way. When they arrived at a small clearing near the dungeon, they finally understood why. The place was teeming with all kinds of creatures: zombies, skeletons and ghosts. That was only the first layer they could see roaming around; the the inner part was even more densely populated.
The group stopped some thirty meters distance from the cemetery and decided that Eliana, as the nimblest among them, would climb the tree closest to the cemetery. She had the biggest chance of escaping if something were to go wrong, so it would have to do.
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