Atlas decided it was worth the investment to his skill experience alone for that low of a price and bought all 12 hides. He’d stocked up on salt before he left Ramma’s so he had plenty to cure all 12.
“You have a work space I can use here or do I need to find somewhere outside?” he asked Trailia.
“I have one in the back you can use. Follow me.”
They walked toward the rear and passed a room full of skins in varied states of curing on racks. Two rooms sat against the back wall behind this one. They headed for the one on the right and it looked to have nothing more than a sturdy and plain table and a large wooden bucket.
While passing by, he caught a brief glimpse of the other room. Pieces of armor in different states of completion sat on wooden mannequins, and a variety of fancier tools filled the space.
“You can use this room as long as you clean up when finished.”
“Thanks,” Atlas said with a nod.
She left him to his work, and he heard her walk to the other room and close the door. Atlas wasted no time and immediately cured the 12 new hides. Those combined with the surplus he already had brought him to 22 total hides. The first hide he made more sinew thread with, and then he made two of the Hide Patches. May need those for repairs in the future. Five sets of reinforced gloves followed.
You received 300xp in Leatherworking for Cured Light Hide x 12.
You received 60xp in Leatherworking for Hide Patch x2.
You received 450xp in Leatherworking for Basic Reinforced Leather Gloves x 5.
Success! You’ve reached level 7 in Leatherworking.
With only four hides left, Atlas called it a day on the crafting. He still needed to find Master Proth. His first item on the agenda involved him slipping off his Basic Leather Gloves and putting on the reinforced version instead. Walking over to Master Trailia’s workspace, he knocked on the door. The sound of footfalls echoed through the room and the door swung open.
“What ya want?”
“Wanted to sell some stuff I made,” Atlas said slowly. The fire in her eyes still made him nervous.
She looked into his very soul with her piercing gaze as she waved her hand again. The menu blissfully took over his vision and blocked his view of her. Let’s see how badly they drove down prices. Selecting his Basic Leather Gloves, he winced as he hit the Sell button. Their price was down to 10 copper. Looks like I was right and people are flooding the market with this basic gear.
When he selected the first of his reinforced gloves, his eyes nearly bulged out of his head. One set of gloves was worth 2 silver and 80 copper. That was an astronomical price for such low-level gear. There must be no one high enough level to make this yet in this village. People must’ve chosen other skills. I missed a few days from work, so they should be plenty far ahead of me.
Selling all four of his sets of gloves added a pleasant 10 silver and 90 copper. The price of each set of gloves only dropped 5 copper per pair sold. This left him with 18 silver and 10 copper. Two more patterns were available as well. The first was Basic Reinforced Leather Boots, and the second was Basic Reinforced Leather Pants. He learned both for 20 copper a piece. They both added 1 Defense and 10 Durability to their respective patterns. Each of these also came at the price of one additional thread and one additional Cured Light Leather.
With his last four hides, Atlas made one set of the Reinforced Boots and swapped out his current set. The extra padding in the new boots showed him the importance of quickly upgrading his armor. He hadn’t noticed just how much he could feel while walking until he put more padding between his feet and the rough ground. His old set of boots sold for a measly 15 copper, but he was positive when he found more hides he’d make plenty of money to make up for it.
You received 100xp in Leatherworking for Basic Reinforced Leather Boots.
Atlas cleaned up his work area and tossed the scraps in the bucket. With the place back in order, he walked back to the door to Master Trailia’s workspace. The leatherworker opened the door with her usual charm.
“What?”
“Just wanted to say thanks for letting me use the room. I have it cleaned up. Wasn’t sure if you wanted me to dump the bucket out somewhere, so left it there.”
“That’s fine. I’ll take care of that later. Come back by when you have more hides to work with.”
Before Atlas could respond, the door swung closed with a thump.
Figures. Oh well. Off to go find Master Proth.
His surroundings shifted from fragrant leather to dirty streets in an instant as he walked from the shop. Refuse littered the streets as he walked down the road. The sight of it made him sad. The nagging feeling that it was part of the ‘Reborn’ problem resonated with him. Some people just don’t care.
Atlas passed another sign that intrigued him. The picture showed a small knife whittling away at a shaft of wood. Figuring this must be the woodworking place, he ducked inside. The smell of sawdust hit him, and aromatic lengths of log lined shelves around the room. Some longer pieces looked destined to be staves, while others looked like tool handles or even short wands.
“Can I help you, stranger?” the older man behind the counter asked.
“Of course. I’m Atlas and I’d like to learn Woodworking.”
“I suppose I could teach you that if you have the coin. Take a look
