kscans

Chapter 148 - Man of Bone and Shell 1. Assorted Bones

While butchering the Rigbear he had acquired from the automatic rifle's test firing, the sight of its bones brought to mind a conversation he had in End Village with Adon and the members of Lucky Footsteps. They had seemed quite taken with the bones of a Gambit Grizzly...

"Come to think of it... I've accumulated quite a lot of bones."

For Yuri, bones were nothing more than an ingredient for broth. The dregs he ground into bone meal and scattered in his fields, but that was about the extent of their use. He did not have many opportunities to make elaborate broth, so he had a considerable amount of unused bones piling up, or rather, accumulating. Since their quality did not degrade as long as they were in his Storage, he had been tossing them in without a second thought.

"After all, Magic Stone Tools were just superior. I tried using bone a little at the beginning, but after that, I didn't give it a second thought..."

However, if bone could be used as a material, he might need to change his perspective. For now, perhaps he should Appraise the bones and other things he had stored...

With that in mind, he checked the bones, claws, and other items in his Storage and found that he had an amount even greater than he had expected. ...So much so that he was slightly taken aback.

"...I really should have checked on this more often... What is this?"

He found something odd, took it out, and Appraised it.

«Scaleboar Hide: Its scales are transformed body hair and are used as a material for armor and other items.»

...Now that he thought about it, Yuri recalled the time he hunted it. A boar-like creature covered in scales had charged at him, so he had dealt with it using the now-standard combo for boars, a pitfall and drowning. The scales made it difficult to skin, and it did not seem usable as a pelt, so he had left it alone, but...

"Armor, huh... Should I try making some..."

He might be able to do some leatherworking if he relied on his Rural Life Guide master skill, but this material was clearly not ordinary hide. The barrier to entry was too high for a beginner, and he felt it would be better to leave it to an expert.

"...Oh well. I'll think about it later. What else..."

As he was appraising the bones one by one,

"Ah, this is a Tyrantbot's humerus. ...Huh?"

«Tyrantbot Bone: By decalcifying and processing it, a highly elastic material can be obtained. The properties of the material change depending on the degree of decalcification.»

He wondered what kind of highly elastic material it could be, which reminded him of an experiment where soaking a bone in vinegar removed the calcium, making it soft enough to bend and tie. At the same time, he recalled a story not about bone, but about making a mainspring from whale baleen. If the Tyrantbot bone had such properties, he might have a use for it in the future, if not now.

"...For now, I'll hold off on turning it into a base for broth..."

Next, Yuri took out the bones of the monstrous bird, the Lucca.

"...It's pretty light. Since it's a bird, I guess it's been lightened to be able to fly?"

According to Professor Appraisal, the Lucca's bones were light and strong, and also possessed a wind element, so they were used for various purposes. However, the current Yuri could not think of a use for a light, wind-element bone. He tilted his head in thought for a moment, but this too was destined for dead storage for the time being. If he asked Adon, he might be able to find someone to take it, but...

"It'd be a pain if they asked for the feathers."

The Lucca's feathers were the material for his down futon. Yuri had no intention of handing them over.

As he was about to gather the Lucca bones and put them away, Yuri noticed something.

"Huh? Is this a Lucca's foot? But this shape is just like..."

As he looked at the Lucca's foot, which had come out with its taloned toes spread wide, Yuri was reminded of a ninja's grappling hook or climbing claws. However, it was far too large to be used for a ninja's grappling hook, since it was the foot of a giant bird that could easily carry a human. But when he tried Appraising it, it seemed that it was, in fact, sometimes used for such purposes.

"...I'll keep this one separate for now. The rest..."