Chapter 63 - Chapter 57 The "Two-for-One" Method
Mion went to check the official forum again, so while waiting for her, I dismantled the Ranziboa, but first, I used [Appraisal] on it.
[Ranziboa]
A boar monster that charges and attacks other animals. It runs at a furious speed over short distances, making it difficult to escape. Cooking: The meat is delicious once its unique gamey odor is removed. The internal organs can also be eaten if thoroughly washed and cooked. Material Processing: Bones, tendons, and hide can be used as various materials.
Oh, this sounds delicious! I quickly dismantled it… and it seems I got all the usable parts: meat, intestines, horn, fangs, bones, and hide.
[Dismantling skill level increased!]
Oh, nice. And my character level increased too. I guess I can assign my BP when I get back.
“Understood. It seems Thunder Empress Leona-san discovered a dungeon northwest of the Kingdom.”
“Heh, it feels like once the new restrictions were lifted, our range of activities expanded all at once.”
“Is it because the number of players increased?”
“I think so. Even if the monsters increase, so do the players dealing with them, so you don’t get overwhelmed or surrounded by sheer numbers.”
“I see.”
Usually, it's a cycle where players increase too much, and then there aren't enough monsters, but I wonder how IRO will handle that.
“Well, it’s good that it happened today.”
“Why is that?”
“Because Bell-buchou and the Game Dolls members are both live-streaming their ancient ruins exploration.”
“Oh, Leona-san apparently went straight into the ruins. She’s still live-streaming now, it seems.”
“What?! Seriously…?”
As expected of a hardcore VTuber. She doesn’t seem to have any concept of stopping at a good point. Well, I’ll set the traps I made from rope, and then I’ll head back today.
“Alright, let’s go home, Lupi.”
“Woof.”
Now I might be able to catch a Greydeer, which I saw before, but what about a Ranziboa? If it keeps charging and breaking the rope, that would be an issue. In that case, I’ll have to think of something else…
“Also, Bell-buchou and Seth-chan seem to be doing well.”
“That’s good. Shall we watch the archive during club time tomorrow?”
“Yes!”
*
After returning to the plaza in front of the cave, I finally relaxed. Lupi, seemingly satisfied with her walk, was in nap mode by the cave entrance.
“Now, what should I do? Was there anything else we talked about earlier that I haven’t done yet?”
I’d harvested Lexon. And I got other vegetables and mushrooms too. The rope trap, which could catch a Greydeer, was set. There’s nothing I can do about the river until the water recedes, so what’s left is… blacksmithing, after all?
“Can’t you fix the bow you talked about at school?”
“Ah!”
I had two bows I got from the Goblin Archers. They were still left in the cave, so I’d go get them.
“Alright…”
When I examined the bows with repair in mind, the places that needed fixing became visible with skill assist. Is this thanks to my Woodcraft and Bow skills?
“How is it?”
“Uh, this one’s body is almost broken, and the other one seems to have a damaged bowstring.”
“You’ll need to gather materials. But what exactly is a bowstring made of, aside from the main body?”
“Ah, for now, I thought I could just take the usable parts from both and restore one.”
“I see.”
I remember my grandpa talking about a “two-for-one” method. It’s called that because you make one out of two, right? Well, I’ll have to prepare bowstrings eventually. I think they’re consumables. I think it was animal tendons, like the sinews in meat? I'm sure my [Material Processing] skill will tell me. Oh, but I didn’t get any tendons from the Ranziboa just now. Maybe you have to peel it off the meat.
“For now, I’ll try disassembling it.”
I relied on my skill assist and tried to disassemble the one with the good bowstring but a bad body…
CRACK!
“…”
The bow’s body split cleanly in two. Was that last sound the death cry of the bow…?
“It… it was already at its limit!”
“I’ll try to believe that…”
Perhaps the bowstring was undamaged because the body was already warped. And this other one, with a sturdy body, has a stretched bowstring… I cut the stretched bowstring cleanly with my dagger, and the ends of the M-shaped body snapped back into their original shape.
“I’ll need quite a bit of strength to string a bowstring.”
“Do you need Strength as well?”
“I think so. Oh, speaking of which, my level went up, so I should put some points into my stats again.”
If I’m going to do blacksmithing later, higher STR would be good. DEX would probably lead to better quality items. And VIT, too, I guess? It’s better not to get tired easily. I put 4 points into STR and 3 each into DEX and VIT, completing my BP expenditure. Then, being careful not to break it, I gently warped the main body… and carefully strung the bowstring.
“Phew…”
“Did it work?”
“I think so. I should check with Appraisal.”
[Short Bow]
A short, curved bow, primarily used for hunting. Attack +15. Bow: Two-handed weapon. Consumes arrows. Woodcraft: Can be crafted and repaired.
“Alright, alright!”
“Next are arrows, right?”
“Arrows, huh. I guess picking up fallen trees in the West Forest is the best option. But in the end, processing tools with just a dagger might be tough…”
“Isn’t bamboo okay?”
“Oh, that’s right. I might be able to do something with Hermit Bamboo, and since it’s naturally straight, it might be good.”
“Also… what about the fletching on arrows?”
“Ah…”
Now that I think about it, even the dilapidated arrows I got as loot had fletching. They were in poor condition, though.
“Bird feathers, right? There’s no way there’d be synthetic resin.”
“Come to think of it, I don’t think I’ve seen any birds on this island yet.”
“That’s true. I’m not sure if I’ve heard their calls or not.”
I hadn't paid attention at all, to begin with. “Next time, I’ll try to seriously look for fallen feathers.”
“Yes. And I think birds would be delicious.”
“That’s it! And eggs… I’d feel bad taking them from a nest, though. I wish there were something like chickens. If I could domesticate them, I could raise them.”
“If you gather bird feathers, how about a comforter?”
“That too, huh. Oh, I forgot I even got the Sewing skill…”
I wish IRO had a task list in the menu. A notepad would be fine too.
“I guess I’ll try making something with Sewing for the rest of the time.”
I currently have two types of processed leather: soft Bicobit leather and rubbery Saloon Lizard leather.
“How about a pouch?”
“Good idea. If I can hang it on my waist, I could easily get potions out.”
The softer one is small, so I’ll make it into leather straps. For the rubbery one, a simple pouch, essentially a drawstring bag, should work.
“But for needles and scissors, would you still need to make them?”
“Ah, no, that’s fine. People in ancient times apparently made needles from bone or horn. So, I’ll try making them from Bicobit bones or horns.”
“That’s amazing!”
“Ah, but I’m starting to think I’ll need some skill to make things like that from bone…”
Since there’s Woodcraft and Stonemasonry, would it be Bonecraft? No, that doesn’t sound right.
Material Processing doesn’t seem to be for making finished products either…
“Perhaps Crafting (Fine Craftsmanship)?”
“I see. If I get Crafting, I could combine it with woodcraft and also make fishing hooks in combination with Fishing.”
Alright, [Crafting: Lv1] only costs 1 SP, so I’ll quickly acquire it. First, I’ll make a needle and an awl…