What Lurks Below

"What? Monsters from the underworld? No one said anything about this…" Baby started to panic. Markus wasn't too surprised since the previous message gave enough of an ominous feeling. Looking at his improvised team, Markus's brain started to create battle plans automatically. Lloyd was a guardian, Punch a caster, and the remaining two were fighters. The composition was good, if only there was a ranged, it would be perfect.

Markus lamented about his lack of range weapon. Part of his desire to get a crafting skill was to make himself a bow at the very least. Although he had never used a bow before, with his hack of a talent, he would quickly learn. Markus leaned backward up against the tree and relaxed.

"For now, lets save our energy. You guys have been active since the server started right? If you don't rest now, you might get [Overworked] in the middle of a fight."

"Ah, the expert has a point. We've been grinding skills since we logged in. Alright, everyone, take a break, this is an order!" Lloyd clasped her hands together and declared.

"Aye aye capitaine!" Punch stood at attention and saluted toward Lloyd. Markus unconsciously smiled slightly before turning his attention away. He noticed that Baby kept some materials in the leather bag and was curious about them.

"Baby, mind showing me how you made that bag? I've got plenty of hides to practice with. I want to try as well." Markus leaned forward and took out the piles of damaged hides. The party looked at him with envy. They had managed quite a few hides themselves, but Markus was solo!

"Sure. Take this first. This is a bone needle I made. It should be enough to sew with. As for the string, take your blade and cut down the side of another hide to create leather strips. Then, tie the end of the strip to the needle and pull it through the holes. Oh, you'll need to make small holes first with your blade or the needle might break."

Markus put in a half-assed effort and loosely followed the directions. He then made a took his damaged pauldrons and attempted to attach a large section of hide to the front portion to act as a torso. Baby watched this and couldn't help but grimace. Being a highly skilled costume designer in real life, Markus's clumsy ability made him cringe. However, if he discovered that this half-hearted effort gave Markus exactly what Baby had been trying to get for hours, he would explode.

[New skill Leatherworking learned.]

[Leatherworking Level 1

Rank: Mortal

Effect: Items and equipment made from leather are 15% better quality.

Message: Leather jacket, leather pants, leather shirt, leather boots, leather undergarments…]

Information flowed into his head and his eyes dilated from the stimulation. Piece by piece he became someone with the ability to create things out of leather. Although it seemed to take a long time, only a few breaths of time passed. He looked at his work and realized his mistakes. He quickly unraveled it and pondered the design.

"Excuse me, but how about you let me…" Baby was worried that Markus would use up all that was left of the good leather in his 'practice.' However, he was forced to shut his mouth when Markus started working again. His skills suddenly went from zero to passable. The chance was so abrupt it made Baby thing he was just messing around the first time.

Everyone suddenly became enthralled by watching him work. So far, he had only showed them a lazy, carefree attitude. However, in this moment, his eyes were extremely focused, and his hands were very precise. Using the shoulder piece as a base, Markus slowly put together a solid piece of torso armor. It wasn't beautiful by any standard, but it would cover his torso, upper arms and part of his groin. After completing it, he inspected his work and was proud to see the system recognize it.

[Crude Leather Armor

Rank: Mortal

Effect: blocks 5-10 damage.

Message: Not so easy without a crafting grid, is it?]

Markus was satisfied with the armor. The value had a large range because of the inconsistency of the material. There were many spots that needed extra leather strings to pull together. This meant that he had to be very conscious of where he got attacked. However, after doing it once, he was confident about making better armor next time.

"Expert… no Gaming God. You are my new role model!" Baby looked at him with shock and aye. He knew how to make armor in theory but using poor material and doing it by hand was something different. Seeing how Markus did it, he learned a lot just by watching. He even opened his notepad to jot down some tricks he never thought of before.

"It's just some crude armor, but it'll be enough for tonight."

After putting it on over his chiton-style tunic, he looked down and felt proud of himself. Although his progress was a scam, it was progress, nonetheless. Markus was certain that if there was someone out there that already had a craftsman skill, it would be their only one or among very few others. Meanwhile, he had 11 already.

Seeing that he didn't level, Markus wasn't surprised. He did put in a lot of mental energy into preparing the leather armor. He decided to relax. He was even more calm about the night than before. Seeing how nonchalant he was about the whole thing; the others didn't think about it anymore. Markus was already a tall figure in their hearts, so raising higher wouldn't change much.

Tenthousandfists: "Ah, something is coming!"

Markus noticed the sudden silence and checked the group chat. It seemed that Fists had some sort of detection ability or talent. Everyone prepared themselves for a fight, moving from their previous relaxed state to a battle-ready state. Markus realized the value of a detection ability at that moment. He usually relied on the game notifications or his [Danger Sense].

Tenthousandfists: "It's just outside of camp, it didn't notice us."

FinkLloyd: "I'll charge at it and get its attention, then I want Fists and Baby to get behind it. Punch, support me at the side."

Onefingerdeathpunch: "Got it."

BabyDeathMetal: "Okay."

Seeing them move out, he had no intention of interfering. Although he wanted the experience and loot, he felt that it would be more advantageous to get to a relaxed state again. Markus didn't know exactly how long it would take, but he would delay as long as possible before making a move if necessary. This would increase his chances of leveling or getting a new skill.

Squee!

Hearing the sound, Markus could tell it was a boar. However, when he peeked past the opening, the boar seemed twice as big as what he encountered. The group of four was working hard to pin it down and stab at it slowly. Lloyd normally kept her gear in her inventory, so he didn't know what guardian's started with. Seeing the spear and full-length wooden shield, he suddenly felt disappointed in his sword and buckler.

Upon closer inspection, it seemed the spear was actually just a sharpened and hardened stick. It dawned on him that perhaps the guardian only started with a shield. The weapon must have been created by hand. What really impressed him was Punch's role in the fight. Whenever Lloyd got hit with an attack, a thin light membrane would pop. Then, she would immediately wave her wooden staff, and another membrane would appear.

Although their occupations weren't gamers, they definitely had very good team coordination and gaming sense. The boar wanted to turn to attack the two fighters, but Lloyd kept it at bay with her large shield and taunting words. Whenever it seemed that it would turn away, she stabbed it with the spear. However, Markus saw Fists pause and the group chat had a new popup.

Tenthousandfists: "Not good, something else is coming, and really quickly too!"

Markus: "Which direction?"

Tenthousandfists: "From behind Punch!"

Seeing this, Markus stood up and walked out of the campsite in an unhurried pace. He walked past the group and casually stood at the side, between the oncoming threat and the group. Punch looked over and thought that Markus looked really cool standing there without a care in the world. However, when she saw the ground burst open and a decrepit arm shoot out, she shouted in surprise.

"Look out!"

However, her words were slower than Markus's reaction. His [Danger Sense] kicked in and he pivoted on his right foot, effortlessly dodging the grabbing motion of the long arm sticking out of the ground. After missing, the creature pulled itself out from underground and revealed its disgusting form.

[Forsaken (hero) level 1

Message: The lowliest creature of the underworld. Gnawing and clawing its way to the surface in order to torment mortals like it has been tormented in Tartarus.]

This was the first time Markus saw a message on an enemy. Additionally, it was even narrated in his head by a feminine voice. He swallowed his saliva and realized this would not be an easy battle.