In the corner stood a rack with multiple pieces of Raw Wood Logs. The middle held a workbench with a device that looked like a lathe. The master walked over to the bench and motioned for him to join.
“Alright, let’s do this step by step. First off, walk to the rack and select a piece of wood,” Atlas did as commanded and selected a piece that was relatively straight.
Master Grannith showed him how he needed to attach it to the device. Small wooden rods adjusted the length of the grip and allowed it to clamp firmly. This is definitely a lathe, just a more old school one made of wood.
The master pointed out the floor pedal that would make the device spin using a leather belt. With an effort of will, Atlas started spinning the wooden piece while he showed him his next steps.
His tool bag contained a small gouge that he hadn’t noticed before. Probably because he didn’t expect something like a lathe to exist. The half circle shaped piece of metal stood out now that he realized what it was.
The master made him pedal the device while using the gouge to clean the edges and rough it down to a uniform shape. None of the jagged blade lines marred its surface.
When that task was complete, he had him take a leather strap covered in a thick gritty substance. He brought it to his face and looked closely. It’s sandpaper! Small specks of sand dotted the surface, held on by a resin glue.
The master showed him how to use the sandpaper to smooth the surface even farther. Holding it against the wood while it spun cut the time to clean the wood. Once finished, he pulled it from the device and ran his hand across it.
Not a single bump or blemish was visible. The wood itself held the perfect shape from one end to the other. No bulging sections that were carved slightly larger than another. A notification popped up in his view.
You learned Create Smooth Wood Log.
You gained 35 experience in Woodworking.
“Fantastic. This is so much nicer than the rough wood I’ve had to work with so far.”
“The craft gets even more detailed as you stick with it. Before you know it, you’ll be carving intricate scenes and inlaying gems to give it boosts. Until then, work on leveling up.”
Atlas agreed with the assessment and looked at the available skills. There were two he could learn.
Woodworking - Create Smooth Wood Rods
Requirements
• Woodworking Level 10
Rarity: Common
Requirements: 1 Smooth Wood Log
Description: Creates eight small rods from a single piece of smooth wood. Used for construction.
Woodworking - Create Smooth Wood Wand
Requirements
• Woodworking Level 10
Rarity: Common
Requirements: 1 Smooth Wood Log
Description: Creates two magic wands from a single piece of smooth wood.
The abilities should prove interesting. He was really interested in seeing what the stats looked like for the Smooth Wood Wand, but needed to wait until he could make one. With a farewell, he left the shop.
One last check of all of his belongings and he turned and headed for the city gate. He needed to get back to questing.
Chapter 16
Grinding
The monotony of the questing was grueling. Atlas ran out to the surrounding area, fought a bunch of monsters for the quests, and went back to town. The first set of four quests didn’t take him long. After a few hours of walking through the grasslands and the trees, he successfully eliminated the targets.
Oddly enough, the Jackalopes were exactly what he thought they would be. The comical creatures with their deer antlers and rabbit bodies were almost difficult to kill because of their awkward cuteness. He had no problem killing the Wildrunners. They looked like a goat and a deer had a baby. Their long and slender body made them really fast, but their curved horns and thick skull gave them real knockdown power if they hit you.
More than once, Atlas took a solid thump to the chest. The attacks hurt, but when he grew frustrated, he would shift to his dire bear form and the animals would all but wet themselves as he ripped them apart. The Elegant Fur took the longest to find. It dropped from pretty much anything that contained fur. A couple came from the Jackalopes while some also came from the Wildrunners. Luckily, they dropped in addition to the actual animal hide, so he still got his hide to turn into leather in addition to the quest item. The first set of quests yielded a nice reward.
You gained 700 total experience.
You gained 790 quest experience, 4 silver, and 60 copper for turning in The Finest Fur, A Hunting we Will Go, Wide Open Space, and Sunshine Blossoms.
Success! You’ve reached level 11.
Success! You’ve reached levels 5 and 6 in Herbalism.
Not only did he rack in enough experience for another level, he also grabbed thirty-three more hides to add to his pack. His luck even held, and he grabbed a few additional Sunshine Blossoms to sell over what the quest required.
He switched it up with his 2 skill points, choosing to drop them both in Agility. His slow pace caused him to take a few hits in this area. Even with the images showing him how to counter, he struggled to keep up with the speed they required and a lot more attacks landed before he could deflect or block.
While looking for his next set of quests, he realized a few errors he made. One major problem was he didn’t ask Master Greenfoot what abilities the druid could teach. That didn’t bother him too much since he doubted there would be anything new before level 12. The class skills commonly skipped at least one level.
The even more glaring problem was he never checked the prices of basic hides or wood in town to see if it would be worth it for him to buy them out like he
