Chapter 121: Excess Fibre
Chapter 121: Excess Fibre
Kalli was feeling confident about the situation around the town as she returned, looking for their weaver, so she could set up their final major shop.
If they had a weaving workshop, then even without her quest rewards, they could keep themselves properly clothed. Food, clothing, shelter. Those were the three essentials, and the System had to be impressed if they had arranged for all three by the end of the second Trial.
They even had the earth mages and the shell supply for concrete to keep repairing and improving their shelters, plus the plan to weave new ones out of fast-growing wood, which would help naturally regulate temperature.
The Trial was about the seasons, so housing that was better adapted to extreme weather should get them more credit.
[ Thinking tactically has to be the right way. ] The ease of the Trial was getting to Kalli, and that old familiar doubt, the feeling that things being too easy meant that you’d already screwed up, was coming back.
She just couldn’t see how they could be doing better. There were no people to rescue, they had all the basic things that they needed, except a regular supply of meat.
Perhaps they should arrange fishing teams?
Yes, they had a regular supply of plant life, but they weren’t actively harvesting meat of any sort, now that the armoured boars had been chased off by the volcanic activity.
{New Quest Issued} [A Varied Diet] catch 2 or more edible fish. Easy Difficulty.
She could hear the cheering from the people working outside as she issued the quest, and they began forming groups to go out.
The closest shore was a kilometre from them, and they would have to fight their way through the Magma Corrupted Monsters to get there. Not exactly an easy mission to start, but once they reached the water, they had some hope of finding fish.
The Academy even had professional grade equipment for them.
Before the disaster, the Marimgar Academy had a deepwater research vessel at the harbour. They used it for advanced scientific studies, but it was also equipped as a fishing vessel for population surveys.
The thought of sending out crab traps in these waters was laughable, since the new crabs were larger than the crab pots they had. But they had heavy-duty deepwater fishing lines, and surely not every fish in the sea could be a giant, right?
However, it was going to take a concerted effort by multiple groups just to get to the shore through the Magma Corrupted Monsters.
The morning light revealed that they had come back in greater numbers than they had been seen yesterday, and they would begin to swarm as the heroes were stopped to fight groups of them.
So, clearing the way to the shore, and then back, would need teams to protect the fishermen.
And they could only hope that not only could they catch something, but that it was edible.
Kalli returned to her office, in case there was someone who needed something, before they headed out. But the only ones who went through supplies quickly were the team leaders, who bought the bandages, and the riflemen, who needed ammunition.
That might also change soon, as they should have points for Laser Rifles in the near future. Then, the projectile-based rifles would be a backup, and they would save themselves a lot of points.
The Academy always felt empty after everyone headed out for the morning, but today the weaver came to see Kalli.
"Miss, I was told that you might have tools of the trade I can use to start making tuber hemp yarn and ropes?"
"Excellent timing. Yes, I do. We will set you up with a new workshop here in the grounds, as cloth, rope and other materials you make will be essential to the group. Canvas for clothing, knit sweaters for cold seasons, rope, fishing nets.
Your work is going to keep you very busy.
In fact, you’re likely going to want to take on at least an apprentice or two. But we can take care of that once we have you in a shop. Now, I know a good spot in the back, where you won’t have to take the scraps far to the compost heaps.
We’re composting the extra plant material as fertilizer, and to spread through the ash, to try to keep the dust down."
"I understand, Coordinator. I will take whatever space and tools you can spare me. Just having proper work will be more than enough for me, as I’ve only recently gotten the level zero status and begun training my body, as directed by the heroes."
"Then you’re well on your way to becoming a hero. You need a skill, which will likely be twenty points, and you need to get your physical stats to a certain level to qualify.
Then, you’ll become a level one hero of an appropriate class.
That’s how it worked for the special forces teams, and while it took them some time to get there, they all managed it, zero failures, just a routine to follow to get the status. You might even be lucky enough to get a crafting related hero class.
There were more of the heroes with crafting talents, but they were rounded up before the First Trial started, so we only have the two Tinkers here."
"Yeah, I heard all the rumours. It’s a shame that we didn’t get any back with the Navy group or the ones in the bunker. But they’re likely in some underground factory somewhere, doing the same thing that we are."
Kalli nodded, but internally, her thoughts were much different.
[ Like the Elites of the world were going to treat the craftsmen that well when they were trying to save their influence and control over society. More likely, they were being worked to the bone using their new skills to enrich a bunch of government bureaucrats.
And that was assuming that they managed to make it to level two on time, to keep their skills at the end of the first trial. ]
There was no telling how many heroes had been needlessly lost because the Trial’s demands conflicted with someone’s plans for society.