Without wanting to chance it, Ashton took off. He aimed to stick to his path but everything was moving so fast it was hard to be sure. Of course he could use his map but he did not want to pull it out since he had no idea if the clearly stronger skeleton was following him, especially since he had no way to protect himself since his slingshot broke.
The forest steadily became more and more green. The paleness disappearing, as he continued moving forward. He managed to get to the point where the bark was only partially pale very quickly to have fast he was moving. The danger still felt like it was surrounding him, all he could picture were the eyes, those piercing blue eyes. Since he was almost fully out of the zone he decided to turn back and look to see if he was being chased, seeing nothing but the normal forest surroundings other than the pale bark, but as he turned back he did not realize until it was too late that there was a tree right ahead of him. Running full force into the tree with his right shoulder, causing him to spin and fall to the ground. He was on the ground for a bit holding his arm. By the time he stood to his feet he had no idea which direction he was supposed to go, but in better news he did not see any skeletons.
Assuming he was safe at this point he pulled out his map. It now showed the straight line from his base to the white zone and it was even visible on the map, the white slowly appearing more and more as it went on. But using the map he was able to easily find his way back on the path. The sprint made him move a little south comparatively to the path.
Since he did not feel in danger he thought about solutions on making a new weapon. Since it felt urgent, the only way he had found to protect himself was the slingshot and without it he felt vulnerable.
An idea came to mind, he looked up and saw some vines in the trees. He thought about it and climbed up the tree in order to grab a bit of it. Got secured in a spot and started to yank, it only took a few pulls before a whole strand came down. Holding it in his hand it felt okay, not the best but usable. But then he decided to try stretching it.
He knew that whatever material he used had to be elastic or stretchy in some way. Sitting in the tree holding the vine still he thought through all he had experienced in the forest trying to figure out the perfect material.
Ashton had not been a crafty guy ever, so when it came to thinking through materials, his ideas were quite insane. One of his ideas was to tie taller grass with one another and use a rabbit ear for a pocket. Yet there was no way he could tie grass together and the idea of using a rabbit ear really made him uncomfortable.
Jumping down from the tree he brought the vine with him. Setting the vine down on the ground he stood up and closed his eyes. Acting out taking a shot he thought about all the characteristics he was wanting for the band. Mainly it being durable and having a strong elasticity. Doing the motion over and over it finally clicked.
The perfect material was actually nearby but it meant going back into the Pale zone. Debating if it was worth it, he settled on going in since he would not need to go far in.
Resolving himself he looked around once more to make sure he didn’t see anything and made absolutely sure he did not hear anything nearby. Taking a step back towards the horror he saw just a little bit ago.
Within just a minute of slowly walking he found what he was looking for. The bush that grew the whisperberries. Grabbing a branch from the bush he tested his idea.
Earlier he had noted that this bush had a weirdly elastic branch which made it annoying to pick the berries. He had to pinch right above the berry then pull it or else the branch would just stretch.
So now he grabbed from the base of the branch connected to the stem and pulled. But all it did was stretch yet again. So he stood there pondering on how to cut off a branch.
Pulling a bone from his inventory he brought it close and started trying to carve it out with the tip. Slowly it was being cut out but a quarter way through he tried a different way and stabbed by the base. The bone went straight through making so only a small part was still connected. Cutting the last bit using his first method with the bone did the trick as
He pulled it away from the bush.
Holding it in his hand he gave it the same test as the vine he held earlier. This time it was perfect, it was durable, it was very elastic, and it snapped back into place. Putting the bone and branch into his inventory he found it to be called Whisperberry Branch.
Walking back he found the downed vine again and started thinking about the rest of the slingshot. He knew he needed to find some good wood for the frame. As he looked around the immediate area he saw the vine again and thought it may help to made the slingshot secure, he tried putting it in his inventory but it didn’t work so he put it in his knapsack. Afterwards he set off to look around for Y-shaped wood pieces while he brainstormed other options.
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Also making sure not to just wander he pulled out his map and made sure to head back towards his cave. Every few minutes he would find a Y-shaped piece, some thick, some thin, some right in the middle. By the time he made it back to camp he had 8 different Y- shaped pieces, all stored in his sack with the vine and map.
Finally being able to sit down, he laid out all the pieces organized from thinnest to thickest. Of course there were a few that were thick at the base and much thinner as it went on. The thinnest one he picked up and started to bend the top to see if they were durable, but it broke off quite easily. Then he grabbed the thickest one, it stayed consistent on width all the way to the top of it, but it was uncomfortably thick. He set it aside just in case but he hoped not to have to use that one.
Going through them all and testing their durability and comfortability, he ended up breaking three of them and putting two on the side for further experimentation.
Now he pulled out the branches and thought about how he was supposed to attach them to the frames. He tried wrapping them around and tying them individually on either side but each time it just fell down or became untied whenever he pulled on it. Next he pulled out a bone and grabbed one of the frames for experimenting and started trying to carve a slit for the branch. It was working, poorly, but nonetheless working, until the tip broke off. The slit had gotten down enough to be able to test this idea though. So he held the frame with his legs and managed to stretch the branch enough to get in the hole. Tying the other side so it didn’t come through, he pulled on it, knowing it was only on one side but this would at least give him a grasp of it would work. But it managed to go upwards and out of the slit, whipping right past his head, causing him to pause and breathe out from almost whipping the hell out of himself.
Trying to come up with a solution, he aimlessly looked around, then an idea came to him. Setting a rock on a flat part of the cave, he took another rock and started hammering away at the other rock. The stone flaked off a decent chunk that he ran his finger over and could tell it was sharp.
Going up to the experimental frame he started carving out a divot on one side of the wood and hole on the other to meet the divot. Pinching a branch and pushing it through the narrow hole he grabbed it on the other side and made a thick knot on the other side. Pulling on it caused the wood to crack but he knew this was the perfect way to make his slingshot.
Going through he found the thickest piece that was both even from top to bottom but the base, though comfortable, was a bit small. Pulling on the top just to make sure of the durability, it seemed secure so he moved forward with his endeavor.
He managed to make the holes and divots on both sides straight across from one another. Bring the branch up and he fed it through on both sides. Tying a thick knot on one side he pulled it as much as he could through the other side so the middle was tight then made another knot on the other side. Now with an extra piece extended on one side he ignored it for now since it’s moreso a cosmetic issue.
Now for the next issue he needed a pouch in the middle of the band. Looking at it he decided to test using the extra piece since he needed to cut it off anyway. So he broke off another stone as his last one had gotten dull from making 3 holes now. Walking back over he cut off the extra piece easily and laid it down. He cut a slit down the middle and two more on the inside of the slit, one on top and one on bottom. Spreading it fully out it seemed to still hold up well, so to hold it in place he put a heavy stone on it to hold it in place.
While waiting on that he decided to try making a makeshift handle grip with the vine. Pulling it out of the bag, it was too thick to put it straight on, but his mind was on a crafting overdrive. He sliced down the middle of the vine, the middle was sticky. So he started to wrap it up the handle, slowly so he didn’t leave a gap. Once getting to the top of the base he wrapped it around and around until he reached the end of the one side of the vine.
Walking back over to the experiment, he lifted the rock and watched the branch start closing back in on itself. Disappointed, he stared blankly.
It closed back to as if it did not have a slit at all. Spreading it back open, he watched it close and then an idea struck him. He brought the extra piece over to the leftover vine that was cut in half. Then used the piece of branch as a measurement and cut a piece of vine off then cut that piece in half long ways and did it again and shoved the pieces into the gaps of the branch. After doing that it stayed open. Holding one end with his foot and the other with his hand he pulled it back and fired. It held strong.
Repeating the same steps on his slingshot, it was definitely makeshift, but absolutely usable.
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Title Acquired: Crafting - Novice
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Immediately Ashton responded, opening his title screen and focusing on his new title.
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Crafting - Novice
Prowess in the art of crafting has been shown.
Basic knowledge on crafting skills and techniques as well as knowledge of how to make basic items.
+2 Intelligence
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Stunned about the title, he was more than anything proud of himself. This was the first complex thing he had done that he had truly self taught himself how to do. This was a new feeling but he enjoyed it. “Is this fulfillment?” He asked himself.
As he pondered he brought the slingshot up to himself.
Whispering Primitive Slingshot
Quality: Uncommon (Self-Made)
He focused on the phrase “Self-Made” which made another screen pop up
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Self-Made Status
Only given to the creator of an item, status cannot be transferred.
Rewards wielder with twice the experience.
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Turns out that breaking his slingshot actually ended up helping him in the end. He did not know what to think, but he knew he wanted to go hunting to try out his new creation.
He went off in a new direction, slowly making his way through the forest, keeping his ears open to anything. It did not take long to hear a rustling sound nearby which made him creep up to it. Hiding behind a nearby tree he peaked around and saw a creature with brown fur and green spots but due to his angle he couldn’t tell what it was but having already seen that color scheme he guessed it was a rat.
Grabbing a bone, he loaded it. This slingshot felt much more comfortable than his last one. Pulling back it launched with much more force than his last one. The bone lodged itself deep into its back going right down the middle, incapacitating the rat by paralyzing it.
Walking over he pulled the bone out and stabbed the rat using the same bone.
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Creature Defeated: Forest Rat - Level 5
Absorption Activated:
Absorbable Skills:
- Disease Resistance - Low - (Constitution 2)
- Basic Frontal Charge - (Speed 2)
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Level Criteria Met
- +1 to all stats
- +2 free points
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Gold mist drifted from the rat into Ashton on his left rib cage, giving him another tattoo, this time of a smiling skull with two bones in an X shape underneath.