Chapter 296 - Chapter 262 What Makes a Goddess?
In the end, it wasn't finished after school and carried over into the night. After sending a report to Argenta about the goddess statue's sanctuary, I continued for about 30 minutes, but…
"Hmm."
I looked at the wooden [Jade Goddess Statue] in my hands from various angles. Honestly, it was a pretty good job, and it was undeniably obvious that I had made it with Mion in mind.
Well, I had her permission for that, so it was fine…
Is it finished?
"No, just a little more…"
I felt like something was missing. Was this what they called 'lacking the final touch'?
"~~~?"
Sweee noticed I'd stopped working and peeked at the wooden statue. Her gesture of putting a hand to her chin made her look like a proper critic, but…
"What do you think, Sweee?"
"~~~!"
She thrust both hands forward, but with only her right thumb folded, that meant…
"Nine out of ten points?"
Sweee crossed her arms and nodded in agreement. Her feeling matched my 'something is missing.'
How about taking a break to clear your head?
"Ah, yeah, let's do that. Lupi, let's go for a walk. Leda and Roy too."
"Woof!"
""Bow!""
Lupi and the others, who had been napping around me, perked up. Today was Tuesday. I had originally planned to circle the southern side, but I prioritized the statue making.
"""~~~♪"""
"Yeah, let's all go."
The Fairies also came along, so we all headed south, chatting excitedly. There was no need to rush.
………
……
…
"Fire, please."
At my words, tiny sparks flew, and the collected dry branches caught fire. I also needed to make a [Mithril] holder for the [Fire Spirit Stone].
It had been a while since I'd visited the river next to the goblin cave, but some of the basket traps I'd set were broken, definitely needing to be rebuilt. Remembering why I'd forgotten to check them last week, I recalled it was because Argenta and the [White Dragon Princess] had visited.
"Should I use thicker bamboo for the basket traps, or just make them out of metal? Iron would rust, so maybe copper or aluminum?"
Ah, the ore should be ready by now, right?
"Yeah. I'll check on the way back, but I'll do the [Mining] after school tomorrow."
Okay.
I gutted the [Flower Trout], skewered them, and put them over the fire. It was good that I'd caught enough for the four of us: Lupi, Leda, Roy, and myself. I wanted to feed some to True and the Selkies eventually. Selkies eat freshwater fish, don't they?
"~~~!"
"Yes, yes. This is for Your Majesty and the Fairies."
I'd gathered a lot of [Papu Fruit], so I quickly made [Torotoro Dried Papu Fruit] with [Drying Magic] and distributed them. Speaking of which, Argenta said she'd prepare a [Magic Storage Box] for exchanging sweets; I wonder if she'll contact me when it's ready.
"Woof."
"Ah, yeah. I think it's ready."
I removed the skewers from Lupi's portion of the grilled [Flower Trout] and handed it to them.
"Alright, let's eat."
"Woof."
""Bow!""
The grilled [Flower Trout] with salt, after so long, tasted delicious. The river flowed gently, its rustling sound comforting.
"This really is a calm and nice place when it's not raining."
Did you clear your head?
"Yeah."
I took out the wooden statue from my inventory and looked at it. I thought it wasn't bad, but I felt like I finally understood what was missing. I took out the smallest [Carving Knife] and made tiny adjustments to the eyes and mouth. The expression had been a bit stiff, so I made it more gentle and soft, and somehow, it felt subtly more impactful… Yes, that's good.
"Finished!"
[Woodcraft skill level increased!]
[Woodcraft skill's base value has reached its cap. No SP will be refunded.]
[Crafting skill level increased!]
Ah…
Congratulations! You can break the [Woodcraft] cap now, right?
"That's what I assume. Well, no use worrying about it now. There's no reason not to do it."
I put away the [Carving Knife] and picked up a [Chisel].
[World's First Skill Level Cap Breakthrough (Woodcraft): Acquired 3 SP!]
[Crafting (Woodcraft) skill is now acquirable!]
"Alright! So the advanced skill is [Crafting], huh? It sounds cool, so I guess it's like specialized woodworking [Crafting]?"
Will you acquire it? If you get the Pioneer Reward, it'll be a bonus.
"Ugh, let me check the required SP…"
Um, search skill list for 'Crafting'… Only [Crafting (Woodcraft)] came up, but I have a feeling there might be [Stonemasonry] or [Crafting] versions too. Does that mean advanced skills are hidden unless you've broken the cap?
And it requires 4 SP, so it's an Uncommon skill. For something called 'craftsmanship,' I guess that makes sense.
"Since it's Uncommon, there might not be a Pioneer Reward? I think the only Pioneer Rewards so far were for [Taming] and [Stealth], both of which were Rare skills."
Ah…
Using 4 SP for an Uncommon skill and getting 9 SP back as a Pioneer Reward would be insane. Well, maybe the Pioneer Reward SP differs by rarity.
"Yeah, I'll take it. I feel like the goddess statue for the church will be even better if I have it."
Okay.
So, I tapped to acquire [Crafting (Woodcraft)]. The Pioneer Reward only appears when you actually do something, so I'd head back and try making another one.
Shou-kun, could you appraise your tools?
"Huh? Oh, right. You mean to see if it also applies to [Crafting] skills, right?"
Yes.
I appraised the [Chisel] I had picked up for the cap breakthrough.
[Highest Quality Chisel (Medium)]
A medium-sized chisel used for woodworking. Made of [Mithril] and of the highest quality.
Woodcraft +1, Crafting (Woodcraft) +1, Carpentry +1
"Oh, the [Crafting] part is added!"
That's good.
It seemed that other tools that had a bonus to [Woodcraft] also gained a bonus to [Crafting (Woodcraft)] skill.
"Even if it's called [Crafting], is it basically just an extension of [Woodcraft], not much different?"
If it was just a name change and leveling up the skill again, I felt like there might have been no point in acquiring it…
Maybe you'll be able to make things even faster?
"I see. It's already fast enough, but even faster would be great. Alright! Let's go back and try something. We still have time, right?"
Yes. It's 10:30 now.
"Thanks. Alright, everyone, let's head back~."
The best thing would be to quickly make another wooden [Jade Goddess Statue] before logging out. It would be great if I could make a life-sized one during tomorrow's live stream…