[Chapter 21: Waterfall Lair]
With an actual cutting instrument my work can progress once more. I have decided that my cave is no longer an adequate base for my future plans. Though it served me well my future plans require more civilised accomodations. Problems such as the moisture getting in and just the uneven surfaces in general will make more advanced projects difficult.
Not that I plan on abandoning the cave, not when I can just improve it. I've been planning this for a long time. Every time i layed on the stone floor trying and didn't immediatly fall asleep i was thinking of ways to improve my abode. My plans are ambitous and currently way beyond anything I will be capable of for a while, but I should be able to make a simpler version for now.
And with that sentiment I began the long project to refurbish my cave.
The floor was an easy enough problem to fix, I just had to grind it down with another rock. It did take a very long time though because as with everything else I had to learn as I went along. And while it isn’t technically the same thing, my experience with making stone tools helped me figure out what to do. Overall, it was pretty simple to get a flat floor for my cave, especially considering everything else I had to do.
Case in point, the door, a fiendish contraption thought taught me just how little I knew about medieval architecture. The door itself was simple enough, even including the hinges. Cut some planks, cut them into a rounded top, sand them down. For the metal bits make wooden molds for nails, hinges, and a small metal stick and then get the iron sand and actually make said items. And to assemble it all you line up the planks then nail them to two planks near the top and bottom of the back side of the door to keep it all together while also nailing the hinges, which were finished using the metal sticks which they are now wrapped around, to the left of the front side of door using the same nails that go to the supporting planks. As for the handle, I decided to save myself some trouble and just made something out of stone that will get caught in a rope on the inside. Seems like a lot of work but really it only took me like three days and I even got skills out of it.
[Obtained skill]
[Carpentry| lv.1]
[Carpentry speed increased by 20%]
[Obtained skill]
[Nimble fingers| lv: 1]
[+1 dex]
But I knew the real problem before I even started making the door. The cave entrance is in no way the right shape for a door, it’s too uneven and large to fit a door. So in order to get the door to work I had to do the worst part of the entire project. So first I broke of the jutting out bits of the entranceway and smoothed it down as best I could then following the directions of one of my books I had track down limestone, which took way too long, and then haul a bunch of big pieces all the way back to the cave where I then had sand them into shape so that they would fit the door as well a use nails to chip hole into some blocks for the hinges to attach to. And then take some of the limestone and bake in my clay furnace then adding water and sand to the resulting powder in order to get mortar which I then used to attach the limestone blocks to the sides of the cave entrance, in cracks of door to prevent any moisture from getting through and in the holes where nails go to attach the hinges to the stone because I have nothing else to keep them in there and even around the inside of the doorframe as an effort to keep out moisture. Absolutely terrible I hated the entire thing but I have a door now so everything’s fine.
[Obtained skill]
[Masonry| lv.1]
[Masonry speed increased by 20%]
[Skill level increased]
[Strong arms| lv: 2]
[+2 str]
Another creation of note is the fireplace, I made it by roughly measuring where parts of the cave would be on the top of the cliff it’s inside of and then dug a hole all the way down by slowly chipping the stone away. I kind of missed sand was of by a bit causing the hole to go through the wall instead the ceiling. But since I could still see the hole as it went through the left side of my cave, I just continued and made the fireplace into the wall, using rocks and mortar for both the fire place itself and making the chimney for the smoke to go up. But since I immediately realized that was a good way to die of asphyxiation I made another hole at the opposite side of the cave for ventilation. Both holes have rock and mortar chimneys at the top of the cliff with sticks stoping small animals from crawling in and pieces of wood stoping the rain. With that light and heat were safely installed in the cave.
Less impressive but still important was the obtaining of furniture. The additions to my cave are a table, chairs, and a workstation which is just a table but thicker planks and a back that I can theoretically hang stuff on. Though I wanted a bed, nothing I haven’t quite figured out how a mattress would work so I haven’t done anything for the frame yet. All in all, some good improvement for standard of living.
[Skill level increased]
[Carpentry| lv.2]
[Carpentry speed increased by 40%]
[Skill level increased]
[Woodcutting| lv.2]
[Woodcutting speed increased by 40%]
Not to say that I slacked on weapon training either. Though since sword proficiency is getting harder to improve I starting getting my other proficiencies up their as well.
[Skill level increased]
[Intermediate sword proficiency| lv: 2]
[When using a sword damage is increased by 36% crit damage by 4% and crit chance by 12%]
[Skill level increased]
[Intermediate sword proficiency| lv: 3]
[When using a sword damage is increased by 39% crit damage by 6% and crit chance by 13%]
[Skill level increased]
[Basic spear proficiency| lv: 3]
[When using a spear damage is increased by 6% crit chance by 3% and crit damage by 3%]
[Skill level increased]
[Basic spear proficiency| lv: 4]
[When using a spear damage is increased by 8% crit chance by 4% and crit damage by 4%]
[Skill level increased]
[Basic spear proficiency| lv: 5]
[When using a spear damage is increased by 10% crit chance by 5% and crit damage by 5%]
[Skill level increased]
[Basic spear proficiency| lv: 6]
[When using a spear damage is increased by 12% crit chance by 6% and crit damage by 6%]
[Skill level increased]
[Basic spear proficiency| lv: 7]
[When using a spear damage is increased by 14% crit chance by 7% and crit damage by 7%]
[Skill level increased]
[Basic spear proficiency| lv: 8]
[When using a spear damage is increased by 16% crit chance by 8% and crit damage by 8%]
[Skill level increased]
[Basic spear proficiency| lv: 9]
[When using a spear damage is increased by 18% crit chance by 9% and crit damage by 9%]
[Skill level increased]
[Basic spear proficiency| lv: 10]
[When using a spear damage is increased by 20% crit chance by 10% and crit damage by 10%]
[A Skill has evolved]
[Intermediate spear proficiency| lv: 1]
[When using a spear damage is increased by 22% crit chance by 12% and crit damage by 12%]
[Skill level increased]
[Basic axe proficiency| lv: 2]
[When using an axe damage is increased by 8%]
[Skill level increased]
[Basic axe proficiency| lv: 3]
[When using an axe damage is increased by 12%]
[Skill level increased]
[Basic axe proficiency| lv: 4]
[When using an axe damage is increased by 16%]
[Skill level increased]
[Basic axe proficiency| lv: 5]
[When using an axe damage is increased by 20%]
[Skill level increased]
[Basic axe proficiency| lv: 6]
[When using an axe damage is increased by 24%]
[Skill level increased]
[Basic axe proficiency| lv: 7]
[When using an axe damage is increased by 28%]
[Skill level increased]
[Basic axe proficiency| lv: 8]
[When using an axe damage is increased by 32%]
[Skill level increased]
[Basic axe proficiency| lv: 9]
[When using an axe damage is increased by 36%]
[Skill level increased]
[Basic axe proficiency| lv: 10]
[When using an axe damage is increased by 40%]
Over the project I improved my accommodations by a tremendous margin. Though one day I’ll probably be able to remake it as my capabilities improve and I can do everything I did with a wave of my hand through magic I still feel it was worth it. I will be able to do more with the new amenities to reach that point faster than waiting, and it’s not like I didn’t gain immensely from this as well. Now, let’s begin unlocking the secrets of this world.
[ |Name: Yellow Stone|
|Species: Human|
|Class: Scholar|
|Lv: 3|
|Hp: 50/50| |Mp: 57/57|
|Str: 5| |Dex: 4| |Agi: 4| |End: 5| |Int: 19| |Cha: 3| |Luk: 3|
|Skills: [Intermediate sword proficiency| lv: 3] [Intermediate spear proficiency| lv: 1] [Basic axe proficiency| lv: 10] [Mana circulation| lv: 3] [Mana manipulation | lv: 2] [Basic mana reinforcement| lv: 1] [Fire magic| lv: 2] [Water magic| lv: 1] [Earth magic| lv: 1] [Wind magic| lv: 2] [Ice magic| lv: 1] [Lightning magic| lv: 1] [Magnet magic| lv: 1] [Inspect| lv: 1] [Sprint| lv: 2] [Butchering| lv: 2] [Woodcutting| lv: 2] [Sewing| lv: 1] [Carpentry| lv: 2] [Masonry| lv: 1] [Knapping| lv: 2] [Stealth| lv: 1] [Flee| lv: 2] [Stong arms| lv: 2] [Nimble fingers| lv: 1] [Swift legs| lv: 1] [Tough body| lv: 2] | ]
Hello! I think a dedicated editor could help with the spelling and grammatical errors, but TBH overall I'm enjoying the story a lot. I think the strong ideas and snappy pacing really carry it over the writing bumps and make it a lot of fun to read! The only thing I would strongly beg to change, as we are seeing more of it, is the handling of the skill increases. Listing each increase one by one in a huge list like this is SO difficult to read, my eyes blur over trying and it all becomes word salad.
When doing multiple level jumps like this, I think it's smoother to just post the before and then the after so people understand how far it jumped. Eg.
[Skill level increased]
[Basic spear proficiency| lv: 2 → Intermediate spear proficiency| lv: 1]
[When using a spear damage is increased by 22% crit chance by 12% and crit damage by 12%]
[Intermediate sword proficiency| lv: 1 → lv: 3]
[When using a sword damage is increased by 39% crit damage by 6% and crit chance by 13%]
This will cut down on the monstrous length and should also be easier to type out for you? The numerical increase with each level has a pretty clear pattern of an additional 1 or 2% per level, so knowing each and every one isn't necessary for the reader IMO. Or even bolding some of the text, such as the skill name, just to help break up the repetition of the text could help make it more readable.
This is all just opinion, you don't need to take it under advisement. I'll continue reading anyway! Thank you for sharing this story, it's been fun so far. :)
Thank you sincerely for your comprehensive review and high praise. I will endeavor to continue to deserve it in the future.
I am aware that an editor would be of great benefit to the overall quality of the story, but I am neither popular enough for any to volunteer nor financially capable enough to hire one. However, I do plan on eventually rewriting the beginning. But for now I just try to keep my quality decent, though I try to keep my focus on getting the story I envision out.
And though I am sorry the writing of each individual skill level is an intentional artistic choice made to be an inversion of how most isekai’s show less menu boxes as time goes on. It will eventually get better as all the common skills become maxed out. While I will not give any spoilers, the reason why the number of skill upgrades are increasing is because I am trying to get Yellow to a certain point. Once that point is reached things should slow down a bit.
Thank you for your review.