With a source of actual lighting, the potential to keep working—and the urge to finish what he’d been doing—tugged at his mind. Instead, he moved towards the larger campfire he’d made and started prepping it for use. It was pretty much in a good position to light already, so he used the [Bow-Drill] to conjure himself up a tiny, flickering coal and then worked with the kindling until it caught alight. From there, it was only a few minutes of work to spread the nascent flame to the rest of the wood. He watched as Kalter called for Morningstar and then vanished around the bamboo wall, heading for the lake. Boko had clearly decided to leave the rest of the pillars for the next day because he moved to approach him at the fire—Rittan remained out of view entirely, but he thought he could hear someone moving on the other side of the wall in the direction in which Kalter had gone.
“I’m seeing actual light,” Boko said, nodding his head towards the well-illuminated corner of the undercover area. “Not that terrible natural stuff that’s been chasing us around all day—the real, artificial one.”
“You can thank Melon for teaching me how to do it,” August said in answer. “I probably should have made more of them already, but I was trying to get the tools done first.”
“You won’t hear me complaining,” Boko said, dropping down to sit beside the fire. “Did you try for anything like a weapon yet?”
“I wanted to talk to you about that,” August admitted, “I need to know what kind of weapon you can actually use and the size—you can probably see it from here, but those three bones standing up against the bench are the longest ones we got from the Otrogon.”
“Not quite long enough to make anything with the type of range or heft that I’d prefer, but we’ll have to make do until we can take down a bigger Otrogon,” Boko said, eyeing the bones in question. “A pair of javelins might be the best use of what’s there; think you can put a blade on the top of those?”
“What type of blade?” August asked.
Boko reached down to the dirt beside the fire and then sketched a line for the pole, then a slightly wider triangle at the top. August nodded at the design, already thinking about how to make it work—the bones had larger, rounded nodes near the ends, so it wouldn’t be too hard to carve those down to a triangular blade. It would also have the benefit of being a single piece with no weak joint, so provided Boko wasn’t trying to use it as a wedge or something, it should stand up to a lot more force than wood or bamboo.
“Yeah, I can definitely do that,” August said in answer. “Just the two?”
“I’ll take as many as you can give me, but it’s probably a good idea to make some for the others as well,” Boko said, “Kalter has experience with fighting, so maybe ask her what type of weapon she wants.”
“I’ll do that when she gets back,” August agreed. “Boko, I was thinking about going back to the bamboo forest tomorrow—with all the work you guys have done, our supply isn’t going to last for much longer.”
“I was going to suggest it as well,” Boko said, leaning back on his hands for a moment. “We should bring some of the others along with us this time, see how much we can cut down with two or three of us working at once.”
“Right, I wasn’t much help with the cutting part, was I?” August wondered, “That’s probably a good idea anyway—I want to go check out the ring this time, so maybe we should see if Melon is willing to come with us, she might be able to figure out what it is.”
“We could all go, bring the monsters with us and everything,” Boko wondered, “Maybe try and single out an Otrogon while we’re there, and then see if we can carry the ring back with us.”
It would sacrifice any progress being made at the camp for the better part of a day, but the benefits seemed to be plenty.
“We’ll have to vote on it, and they might not want to be involved, but I’m on board for all of that,” August said, nodding. “I finished some knives and a few axes, so there will be enough of those for everyone who wants to come to pick something to take with them—they might work as a makeshift weapon.”
He’d have to use [Etch] to farm some stacks of chains of the two Efkini tonight as well; between the artifact-boosted mana regeneration and [Tame], he should be able to collect a decent amount. The sounds of voices grew louder at Rittan, and Kalter returned. They appeared around the edge of the almost finished wall, the limp body of a [Mitikos] hanging from Kalter’s hands. Rittan broke off, moving to collect his cutting boards, and August excused himself for a moment to go collect the knives he’d made. He picked two of them—the fourth and fifth largest ones—from the bench and then brought them toward where Rittan was now setting up beside the fire.
“Rittan, I come bearing gifts,” August said, holding them out, handle first. “I did my best to make them sharp, but we might need to find a good stone to sharpen them on—if they’re too small, there’s one larger one, but it’s kind of way bigger than the others.”
Rittan held out a pair of hands, palm up to receive the knives, and August passed them over.
“Thank you, August,” Rittan said, smiling. “They are just about the right size—this should make the task a much simpler affair.”
Kalter, who’d been standing beside Haiko and Melon as they finished off the last wall, led the two of them back to the fire, dragging the Mitikos along beside her. Rittan thanked her and then moved to begin processing it. [Predator] slowly accumulated everyone in the group as they came to join them at the fire, and August did his best not to react as Haiko chose to sit directly beside him. It was the first time he’d really sat with them properly in several nights—at least, where he hadn’t been kind of hovering outside of the huts—and although there was the slightest hint of strain with all of them within his range, he managed to keep it under control.
Seeking Direction: Revised Edition is now live; It's a revised RWBY fanfiction following an OC with Direction Manipulation as his Semblance.
Please remember to leave a rating and a review, it helps a lot with visibility!
If you like my writing and want to see more of it, you can find links to my original books on Elbowsnapper.com
If you want to show some support, get early access, or see my first drafts, go check out my Patreon
Love you guys, keep on keeping on!
Recent Releases:
Ameliorate: Intersect
Reroll: Falling & Shatter
Systematic Soul Sorting: Book 1 & Audiobook. Book 2(First Draft)
Seeker's Precept: The Dragon's Marble
With a source of actual lighting, the potential to keep working—and the urge to finish what he’d been doing—tugged at his mind. Instead, he moved towards the larger campfire he’d made and started prepping it for use. It was pretty much in a good position to light already, so he used the [Bow-Drill] to conjure himself up a tiny, flickering coal and then worked with the kindling until it caught alight. From there, it was only a few minutes of work to spread the nascent flame to the rest of the wood. He watched as Kalter called for Morningstar and then vanished around the bamboo wall, heading for the lake. Boko had clearly decided to leave the rest of the pillars for the next day because he moved to approach him at the fire—Rittan remained out of view entirely, but he thought he could hear someone moving on the other side of the wall in the direction in which Kalter had gone.
“I’m seeing actual light,” Boko said, nodding his head towards the well-illuminated corner of the undercover area. “Not that terrible natural stuff that’s been chasing us around all day—the real, artificial one.”
“You can thank Melon for teaching me how to do it,” August said in answer. “I probably should have made more of them already, but I was trying to get the tools done first.”
“You won’t hear me complaining,” Boko said, dropping down to sit beside the fire. “Did you try for anything like a weapon yet?”
“I wanted to talk to you about that,” August admitted, “I need to know what kind of weapon you can actually use and the size—you can probably see it from here, but those three bones standing up against the bench are the longest ones we got from the Otrogon.”
“Not quite long enough to make anything with the type of range or heft that I’d prefer, but we’ll have to make do until we can take down a bigger Otrogon,” Boko said, eyeing the bones in question. “A pair of javelins might be the best use of what’s there; think you can put a blade on the top of those?”
“What type of blade?” August asked.
Boko reached down to the dirt beside the fire and then sketched a line for the pole, then a slightly wider triangle at the top. August nodded at the design, already thinking about how to make it work—the bones had larger, rounded nodes near the ends, so it wouldn’t be too hard to carve those down to a triangular blade. It would also have the benefit of being a single piece with no weak joint, so provided Boko wasn’t trying to use it as a wedge or something, it should stand up to a lot more force than wood or bamboo.
“Yeah, I can definitely do that,” August said in answer. “Just the two?”
“I’ll take as many as you can give me, but it’s probably a good idea to make some for the others as well,” Boko said, “Kalter has experience with fighting, so maybe ask her what type of weapon she wants.”
“I’ll do that when she gets back,” August agreed. “Boko, I was thinking about going back to the bamboo forest tomorrow—with all the work you guys have done, our supply isn’t going to last for much longer.”
“I was going to suggest it as well,” Boko said, leaning back on his hands for a moment. “We should bring some of the others along with us this time, see how much we can cut down with two or three of us working at once.”
“Right, I wasn’t much help with the cutting part, was I?” August wondered, “That’s probably a good idea anyway—I want to go check out the ring this time, so maybe we should see if Melon is willing to come with us, she might be able to figure out what it is.”
“We could all go, bring the monsters with us and everything,” Boko wondered, “Maybe try and single out an Otrogon while we’re there, and then see if we can carry the ring back with us.”
It would sacrifice any progress being made at the camp for the better part of a day, but the benefits seemed to be plenty.
“We’ll have to vote on it, and they might not want to be involved, but I’m on board for all of that,” August said, nodding. “I finished some knives and a few axes, so there will be enough of those for everyone who wants to come to pick something to take with them—they might work as a makeshift weapon.”
He’d have to use [Etch] to farm some stacks of chains of the two Efkini tonight as well; between the artifact-boosted mana regeneration and [Tame], he should be able to collect a decent amount. The sounds of voices grew louder at Rittan, and Kalter returned. They appeared around the edge of the almost finished wall, the limp body of a [Mitikos] hanging from Kalter’s hands. Rittan broke off, moving to collect his cutting boards, and August excused himself for a moment to go collect the knives he’d made. He picked two of them—the fourth and fifth largest ones—from the bench and then brought them toward where Rittan was now setting up beside the fire.
“Rittan, I come bearing gifts,” August said, holding them out, handle first. “I did my best to make them sharp, but we might need to find a good stone to sharpen them on—if they’re too small, there’s one larger one, but it’s kind of way bigger than the others.”
Rittan held out a pair of hands, palm up to receive the knives, and August passed them over.
“Thank you, August,” Rittan said, smiling. “They are just about the right size—this should make the task a much simpler affair.”
Kalter, who’d been standing beside Haiko and Melon as they finished off the last wall, led the two of them back to the fire, dragging the Mitikos along beside her. Rittan thanked her and then moved to begin processing it. [Predator] slowly accumulated everyone in the group as they came to join them at the fire, and August did his best not to react as Haiko chose to sit directly beside him. It was the first time he’d really sat with them properly in several nights—at least, where he hadn’t been kind of hovering outside of the huts—and although there was the slightest hint of strain with all of them within his range, he managed to keep it under control.
Seeking Direction: Revised Edition is now live; It's a revised RWBY fanfiction following an OC with Direction Manipulation as his Semblance.
Please remember to leave a rating and a review, it helps a lot with visibility!
If you like my writing and want to see more of it, you can find links to my original books on Elbowsnapper.com
If you want to show some support, get early access, or see my first drafts, go check out my Patreon
Love you guys, keep on keeping on!
Recent Releases:
Ameliorate: Intersect
Reroll: Falling & Shatter
Systematic Soul Sorting: Book 1 & Audiobook. Book 2(First Draft)
Seeker's Precept: The Dragon's Marble
