Chapter 14 - Dash dash man
Manic laughter could be heard throughout the whole forest. A small figure was dashing around madly, whirling up dirt and small rocks. Over and over he got into a sprinting position, air visibly stirring up around his legs. Once he released the tension, he shot forward, explosions of air currents following his burst of movement.
Cantorn felt happy. Truly happy. This was the first-ever skill he had, that could be used in combat. And it was one hell of a skill. Depending on who you were and how you fought, movement skills could either be very valuable or borderline useless. Sure, they usually had some applications in a fight, but imagine being a heavy fighter or even a tank. The opponent is supposed to come to you, not the other way around, so why would you need to move fast, especially in bursts of movement. For Cantorn however, things were different. He was a nimble fighter, slashing his opponents with his dagger whilst trying to avoid most of their attacks at the same time. Therefore this skill was basically like a blessing to him. It would help him both evade and attack faster and stronger, making it a perfect fit for his fighting style.
Reading through the skill again, he still couldn't quite believe it. He knew that he could gain skills from eating his enemies, but gaining one this soon was totally out of his expectations.
| Infused Dash (uncommon; level 1) | |
| Description: |
A skill that allows the user to move very fast for a short amount of time. To allow for those quick movements, mana is channelled into the legs. While the skill is active, it will use up a moderate amount of mana and stamina each second. |
An uncommon skill at a low level was invaluable. Most would gain an uncommon skill at around level twenty-five, maybe even later. Having one early meant that you outranked your enemies in the skill department for the next ten to fifteen levels. Sure the Alpha Avankh had been an exception, but that was mostly because it was a rare variant of its race. Normal enemies weren't like that. He genuinely felt like his chances to survive had not only improved, it basically wasn't even a matter a chances anymore. Maybe he could finally stop surviving and start living.
While the skill certainly helped, equipment would do so as well. With his newly acquired Darkwood and a large boost to his morale, the dark elf finally mad his way back.
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A fire burned in the corner, fat sizzled in a bowl shaped stone lying in the embers and a constant scraping sound could be heard. Cantorn worked hard to properly tan those Avankh skins. Two of them already laid before him, devoid of all hair and meat that had previously stuck to them. Around an hour later, the rest of them were ready as well. Carefully taking the now mostly liquid fat, cut from the meat he had previously looted, he slowly put each hide into the fat. As soon as they were lightly coated, he began massaging the fat into the pores, really trying to make them smooth. It took some effort to really do it well, but in the end it would be worth it. Sure, the leather wasn't going to be the best, but other methods of tanning would simply take way too long. And he was far from knowledgeable in both mana control and magical leather treatment to properly tan them that way.
Apropos mana control, he'd really have to get into that. While trying to light a fire before he had noticed just how useful some basic magic would be. Instead of being able to just use some heat magic and easily burn some wood, he had to manually do it. Doing it with a hand drill had costed a lot of his patience and almost drove him mad. Time and time again the damn tiny embers went out. It took him almost an hour to finally get the fire started.
A few hours later, now almost nighttime, Cantorn began prepping everything he would need tomorrow. The hide of the Alpha Avankh would still have to wait a little, but the rest was ready to go. Some sticky tree resin he had found earlier was gathered in one of the large Payabe leaves; the treated hides were lying stacked up in a corner of his cave, right next to the Alpha's horns and the piece of Darkwood. This would be the hardest part tomorrow. Judging by how hard it already had been to just cut the branch off the tree, carving the handle, or rather two handles, this would take a while. However, all of that didn't matter right now. Getting a good nights rest was a far more important task.
*******
[You have crafted a 'Darkwood dagger handles (uncommon)'. A large amount of experience is being awarded for your creation.]
['Basic Craftsmanship' has leveled up to level 2.]
It was already high noon when the dark elf finished crafting his two dagger handles. He was quite happy with the end result, but it also cost him his old knife. The thing had completely broken during the finishing touches, forcing him to substitute it with a sharp stone instead. Anyways, new daggers were on the way, and they hopefully wouldn't dull as easily. His handles turned out to be of uncommon rarity, providing a good base for the new daggers. However, he guessed that the rarity had mainly been achieved by the rarity of the wood itself. While his crafting skills may have improved, they were far from enough to truly make such a good product.
With this last part completed, all that was left now was assembling the dagger. He hoped to at least get it to uncommon rarity, but that part was almost guaranteed with such high quality blades. Rare daggers would be pretty neat, though it would be a real challenge. The hides he would use to wrap the handle were common, the resin as well, while the rest were the uncommon handles and the rare horns as blades. In the end it was all up to him, and he knew that. Well, he'd better take his time and do this properly then.
First. Thanks for the chapter.