Chapter 215: Tools Of The Trade

The silk-leaf tree filtered the afternoon light into soft, shifting patterns that danced across the fur mat Tera had spread beneath it.

She had chosen this spot carefully. It was far enough from the settlement that the noise of cubs and beasts faded to a comfortable murmur, but close enough that she could still hear if something went wrong.

The canopy above was beautiful, and the large silk leaves caught the sunlight in a way that made them glow with a translucent warmth that Tera had fallen in love with ever since she first discovered these trees.

She had become slightly obsessed with sitting underneath them.

A small spread of fruits and roast tubers was arranged on a broad leaf beside her. Nothing elaborate, but she had picked each piece herself, and the tubers had been roasted exactly the way Xavi liked them, slightly blackened on the outside and soft in the centre.

This was a surprise for him.

Tera had spent some time with Ermin a few days ago, and he had talked more easily than before. He was opening up to the other clan members now too, and the change visibly made him happy.

And today, Tera had pulled Ermin aside to bring Xavi here later in the afternoon.

She would head to the wolf pack to sort out a few things and see Calis, but she wanted to spend some alone time with her mates before leaving.

She had done so with Ermin.

Now that Tera was waiting, her mind did what it always did when she had a quiet moment.

’I want to see those stats again.’

[※Host Stats※]

[Beast Essence Meter: ACTIVE — 2%]

- [Personal Stat] -

[Charm: 99/100]

- [Construction Stats] -

[Construction: 26/500]

[Influence: 22/500]

- [Disciple Stats] -

[Disciples: 31]

[Feron: Builder]

[Dow Clan: Builder]

?[Mate Stats]?

[Registered Mates: Xavi (100%). Ermin (100%)]

[Potential Mate: Calis]

[Favourability: 80/100%]

° [Legacy Stats] °

[Legacy Points: 16,700]

[Legacy Boosts Unlocked: 0/60]

° [System Shop] °

[Tiers Unlocked: 3/21]

[Currency: 633 nipples]

[Upgrade Tips:0]

Tera’s eyes lingered on the beast essence meter.

It had only been active for a short while, so it would take a while for her to calculate how the meter increased. The system had told her not to trouble herself about that since it wasn’t a set metric, but Tera felt a bit strange that she was actually going to have a beast form someday.

It still felt surreal, but she would get to that later.

Right now, she had something far more exciting to attend to.

’I want to see the new shop tier.’

["( – ? – )]

[Host has opened this shop seventeen times already]

’Oh, my God! Just do it!’

[(•?へ •? ╮ )]

The screen expanded, and the catalogue unfolded before her like the most beautiful thing she had ever seen in a long time.

Tera had recently gotten the rewards for completing the farming and animal pen task, and the third tier had surprised her, to say the least.

She had expected to be disappointed, but she had been so shocked to see a total of 100 items, and a shit ton of them were useful.

Most importantly, she finally saw a lot of construction items.

The previous tiers had been so sparse.

But this...

Tera’s fingers still trembled with excitement as she scrolled. The same way her excitement had been there each time she opened the shop.

A lot of items there were expensive, sure, but with her current nipple balance, she could buy a lot of them.

The only issue for now was that she would need to only purchase items needed for the bamboo construction.

She had already envisioned what sort of shelters she would build for both the wolves and her clan, and a lot of it would need scaffolding.

Tera scrolled, surveying the items.

The system had a splitting wedge for splitting wood into smaller parts, but it could also be used for stone and even bamboo. There were shovels now! Different types of saws she could finally use to make precise, measured cuts that would result in joints that actually fitted together instead of being jammed and lashed and prayed over.

Draw knife, drilling awl, bamboo connectors, and so many other tools she hadn’t used in years back on Earth, but they would be absolutely handy here!

She was so happy.

Tera hadn’t expected to get power tools immediately. There were barely any here, but these ones were so freaking useful!

Sadly, no matter how hard she looked, Tera could not find cords and ropes sturdier than the ones from Tier 1. Treated cord would have been a nice addition to the bamboo construction.

’I love this tier so much.’

[This system is pleased by Host’s enthusiasm]

[(..???..)]

There was a hand plane for smoothing surfaces, a small adze for notching and shaping joints, a plumb line for checking if walls were vertical, iron stakes for anchoring structures into the ground, a whetstone for keeping every blade sharp, and many other good tools.

Tera had been constructing with the equivalent of her bare hands and good intentions. Now she had a proper toolkit.

To her surprise, there was a cooking section. There were multiple pot sizes, serving bowls, and a proper ladle, but to her frustration, they were even more expensive than the construction tools, and they weren’t something she would be able to buy anytime soon.

However, there was also a fire-starting flint set that looked far more reliable than the stones her clan had been using.

Tera had also been surprised to see a medical section. It contained a mortar and pestle for grinding herbs and other things, bandage wraps, a surgical blade, tweezers, and...

Tera’s eyes widened.

This was strange. She had never seen this before.

"Is this a soap-making kit?"

[Soap-Making Kit — Contains: Ash collection vessel, fat rendering pot, mixing paddle, curing moulds (set of 6), lye straining cloth, instruction manual. 200 nipples total]

’Holy shit...’

[Yes, Host]

[(?—?—)]

Tera’s hands were shaking.

She would be able to make soap!

Note:

I want to clarify something. This arc is still largely focused on Calis, but with my plan to flesh out characters. I intend for Tera to still be close with her existing mates. I don’t want this to be a story where she encounters another love interest and neglects her existing ones. So, there will be a few bonding moments with her registered mates while she is developing her relationship with a new one.