CH6: Wood Dungeon 2

Shout out to my new Patrons: 

Tippers 

Balthius

Multiversal 

Darkane Hattori

People looked at him strangely. A few pointed and raised fans to their faces to hide their laughs. The lack of smell impacted Red more than the embarrassment or feelings of isolation from being ridiculed on sight. For some reason, he expected a medieval city to smell like horse feces and rot. There was a trace of horse feces in the air, but it was faint. No, most of the city, or at least the area surrounding his shop, smelled fragrant, like roses and spices. He noticed a few lamps burning a sweet-smelling mixture and somewhat understood.

Red spotted a man with a mask on with a long nose, almost like a raven's beak. The man wore black and light blue with scraps of armor and some chainmail that peeked out from a poorly tied sash. People shied away from the man as he passed, heading toward his purpose.

He looked up at the sky and found a smoke stack, reasoning that this was the location of both the bakery ovens and smithies. It made some sense to centralize so much heat in a singular location that people could keep an eye on.

Red, the humblest and poorest shopkeeper, followed the street, noticing a small minimap in his mind's eye. People didn't pay him much attention as the sun hung lazily overhead. Red was after a tailor or armorer who could fit him with a gambeson coat.

Gambeson was a thick-coat man who wore under armor to prevent pinching. Even if Red planned to make chainmail and armor out of wood, which would be a nightmare, he could already tell. Gambeson was the logical first step if he didn't want to take a different approach.

He wouldn't even think of another approach unless this one failed outright.

When Red stepped into a smithy, it was more like the waiting room of a warehouse than a shed behind someone's house, as Red had pictured a smithy before. Sometimes, he thought about them more as shops in a rugged man's driveway.

Knowledge of his skill made the sound of ringing steel feel somewhat familiar, and his shoulders ached from the need to try it out. He wanted to make the new knowledge his own, and the only way to do that was to work with it, make mistakes, and learn along the way. Pleasure would have to wait.

A young girl, maybe eleven, was missing a few baby teeth. Oh, she was an adorable little brunette with a black bow in her tied-up hair.

"Are you here to pick up an order?"

Red smiled. "Does this smithy do gambeson?"

"No, but we do chainmail from cast iron to rare Sol steel. Can you supply that last material? We can even smelt it if you have some Sol ore."

"I would be willing to pay a few silver if you could point me in the right direction. I'm still saving my coin for chainmail." Red said.

She spat on the ground. "You would be better off getting both. If not, you'll spend more on thinning your gambeson to fit the mail or add extra links to your chainmail, making it heavier and costing even more coins. Sir," the young girl said.

Red smiled. "I didn't think about that. You have a good head on your shoulders. Still, I want to go and at least get my measurements. Is there a shop that works with your smithy?" The girl smirked as she had just robbed him blind.

Was it more likely that he could pay for all the additions to the fitting or save up and hold off buying his gambeson to purchase both? Most likely, the tailor who sold the gambeson also had a deal with the smithy to recommend them.

"You want Chester Needle on the patchwork road. They do good work and can measure you, so your gambeson is made to work with our armor." She gave him more instructions, and he left for the patchwork road.

The road in question was a mix of cracked concrete and cobblestone. Buggies passing through the middle bounced the whole way. It seemed using metal for shock absorption wasn't a thing. Or at least a hydraulic suspension hadn't been invented yet.

He found an old wooden building that had been renovated over the years. Two floors were obviously added decades apart. At least there wasn't a line. The tailor looked like it was going to be expensive. Maybe he should look into hiring his own.

New Quest 

Hire A weaver, tailor, or tanner for your shop. 

Rewards

Skill: Tailoring (Trash) 

20,000SP 

Feature Unlocked: Employee Management

For some reason, when he thought of a weaver instead of an old woman, he pictured some giant spider with dripping venomous fangs and a fine work ethic.

He didn't want it to come from his current world. Red didn't have a name for the world, but with the overabundance of vampires, he was ready to call it Nocturne and leave it at that.

Red hadn't been in a good mood since he was kicked in the chest. The old man took his measurements as he stood still inside the shop. It was a slow day, so Chester Needle saw him immediately.

Mannequins with feathered caps and rugged gambeson jackets of multiple colors stood as stalwart guardians of the tailor's shop. The coat of arms of men of power stood out as a warning to anyone wanting to cause trouble. Noctvalin's feathered bat stood out alongside the patch with an owl on a silver field. They were silent statements and soft power that Red wished he had.

He closed his eyes, thinking about purchasing security. The shopkeeper knew he had to protect his shop, or else his problems would only get worse.

"If I may ask, what do you do for a living." The man with salt and pepper hair asked.

Red felt a needle jab him, and his HP took the hit. Despite how little harm the needle did, he still lost a single point of HP. That was something he also needed more of. Another sharp point stole a single point, and he realized the old man wanted him to answer.

"I sell weapons at the moment, such as crossbows."

He disliked volunteering information, but it would eventually get out.

"I see you recognize our city lord's coat of arms. My family has been serving the Noctvalin family for generations. We are quite protective of them." Strangely, the needles stopped jabbing him in the side.

"They seem to be a good family and fair rulers," Red said.

This guy felt like a spy. A needle didn't jab him, so he must have said the right thing.

Red had picked out a grey coat—nothing fancy or enchanted. He paid 80 silver coins for it, or 800SP, nothing in the grand scheme of things. The tailoring cost him another 30 Silver coins, so he wasn't hurting financially after making a good decision and buying a jacket for armor.

"I thank you for your patronage." The old man said.

Red rubbed the spots he had been stuck. Maybe he should build a needle of his own. There was that anime he saw with a needle weapon, and it should be easy in theory. He would need first to see what the next instant dungeon looked like.

He returned and went to work. Red figured he had a week or more before he was called to the city lord's mansion to prove his worth. That was a lot of time. He could use it to make something awesome.

…

He purchased a mannequin that duplicated his body's dimensions. Red got the idea from the tailor shop. After dressing the mannequin in his workshop, he got to work making enchanted wood links for chainmail. Red quickly realized that while he could do it, the work was inefficient. He needed a way forward, but Woodcraft wasn't offering it.

At 1SP, a 72-oz steak appeared medium rare, just the way he liked it. He had long horn steak house rolls, a side of broccoli, and a tub of KFC mashed potatoes. Red ate well because he was going to work every bit of it off. Yes, the rings were hard to make, and he had to etch runes into the log before starting, knowing full well that the log could only be used as rings because of it.

The log made a great canvas for etching runes. Although he could only fit three, he still made the log into rings.

Lesser Resist Projectile 

Lesser Resist Projectile 

Lesser Resist Projectile

Red was working on the hypothesis that the seed projectiles weren't a one-off. If that was the case, he wanted to be able to step into an instant dungeon and ignore fast-moving objects. At the same time, he wanted to dominate, so he used a crossbow that used explosive bolts.

Speaking of bolts,, it took him a few hours, more like 8, but he turned the last of his Verdant Logs (Trash) into explosive and normal bolts. He had enough, so he completed the order and sent 20 magazines full of cross bolts.

The idea was to completely dominate the next instant dungeon and collect all the materials he could.

"Shop; how much does it cost to connect my bag to the storage chests in the storage room?"

100SP 

The storage room automatically allowed him to exchange anything in the chests with the other storage chests while in the room. However, further customization would require further upgrades to the chests and the room itself.

Wood Craft (Common) lvl2 

New knowledge and better ways to make wooden rings and something bordering on magic. Red touched the log he had been working on, and it shifted and creaked. He wasn't trying to crush it or anything. When he pushed his will against it, the wood moved.

Some of the other skills were leveling, but he knew what they were. His other crafting skills were pieces of greater skills. As they leveled, eventually, they would merge into a more robust common skill.

For woodcraft to become uncommon, he would need other crafts and wood-related skills at the standard tier to combine into a new uncommon skill.

Red finished the Wooden Chainmail and draped it over the mannequin's Gambeson jacket. He then purchased an upgrade to his appraisal, which allowed him to see the tier of enchantments.

Verdant Chainmail (Trash+++) 

Durability A

Enchantments 

Anti Arrow (Common) 

Resist Slash (Trash++)

Resist Pierce (Trash+++)

On the bright side, once his enchantment skill reached the common tier, he could apply Anti Arrow (Common) to anything. Of course, he wouldn't make a common item before going into the next instant dungeon. That would have been too good to be true. On the bright side, the chainmail was lighter than steel and fell to his ankles. With a few belts to adjust the fit, he was able to make it look a little better. The wooden rings glowed a slight green thanks to the enchantments.

Red dressed himself and was fully kitted out, with the magazines in his belt and his crossbow strapped to his shoulder. He kept a wooden knife on his hip with trash sharpness and anti-dulling enchantments.

He placed a key in the door to the outside, turned the key, and chose wood.

A winter wonderland appeared before his eyes with massive trees walking on multiple spindly roots like octopi, catching small animals and bringing them to the center of their trunks. He felt his eyes bulge nearly out of their sockets when a casual whip from one of the trees split a flying blue wasp in two. He realized then that he was in for a hard time.

…

He stood in front of the glass door, crossbow in hand, while giant trees flicked their roots and turned giant insects into bloody paste. Red stared at the snow—deep, hard-to-walk-in snow—and how the big trees raced across the ground. The cold air, fast-moving monsters, and terrifying atmosphere really killed his desire to step outside the safe shop.

Red decided then was the right time to look into security.

"What is the cost of a security system to protect from theft?"

Would you like to purchase a Metal Slime Shop Guardian for 200,000SP? 

The shopkeeper could afford it but decided to wait until the instant dungeon was done.

He could sell a few more crossbows and pay for it. But it was a distraction. Nothing was on his shelves to steal, and he locked the rooms. His shop was made of epic-grade material, at least. There wasn't much that could damage his shop. Red quickly discovered he had no excuses to stop himself from entering the winter hellscape.

Past the initial snow, he could see a carpet of green and pale pink flowers.

Red went to his workshop and made some snow shoes using the remaining rings. Then he paid 35,000SP to expand his storage twice. His bag of holding could fit a brick the size of two football fields stacked beside each other. The chests in his storage held even more space.

He had enough room to make a trip back to store everything. With that out of the way, Red needed information.

"Shop how much for a summary about this instant dungeon?"

500SP

With his current wallet, what was 500SP?

Glacial Glade of Seasons 

From ravenous insectoids to cunning organ-thieving fairies, this dungeon has everything. Mind the trees. They attack anything with a pulse. Make your way through the four seasonal zones to the court of Winter and battle the Winter queen for a chance at one of this dungeon's three premier skills. Glacial Fortress, Thornfield Awakening, and Winter Sprite bond all are rare tiers with numerous uses. 

Right, he needed some firepower, and after each level-up, he gained a perk roll without tier limits, from what he could tell. Only he couldn't see what the possible rolls were.

Red made the roll. What else would he do while he snapped his snow shoes on?

Perk Roll 11 

Eagle Eyes: Telescopic vision allows users to zoom in on targets, particularly from high vantage points. 

Red felt his eyes itch, then burn, followed by an uncomfortable squeezing sensation. Sure, if it just changed how he saw the world, that would be great. When the pain and discomfort faded, he was fine.

Red opened the door and left the warmth and safety of his shop. When the door shut, he felt completely separated from any defenses. It was the worst feeling he's ever had. Even being beaten in his shop couldn't compare to being out in the cold away from cover.

The nearest of the octopi trees was a few hundred yards away, but he could tell the thing had changed direction. It lumbered through the snow, but it was positioning itself. Red could tell it would position itself at just the right angle before charging like a 200-foot-tall octopus made of wood with a bad attitude.

He focused on it and held up his weapon as his eyes zoomed in and out on the target. Red could see weird squirrel-like creatures made of moss with tiny bony protrusions.

Spring Brownies (Trash): Fairies of the absent spring court who wait on the predatory trees of their court to scavenge the scraps left behind. 

Spring Cherry Blossom (Common): Its pink petals sway beautifully in the chilly winds, and its flowers give off a sweet scent that attracts prey. Don't be fooled by its attempts to appear immobile; it can move suddenly and strike like a viper. The pink coloring lasts all year round, thanks to the incredible amounts of live prey this monster consumes. 

When Red raised his weapon, he had no idea how far it fired. That was a factor he hadn't considered. The cordage was strong, and his weapon fired true. He used unenchanted bolts to test accuracy, but that only mattered at close range.

He sucked in a breath and let it out. What was he doing outside his shop? He was a shopkeeper. That thought entered his head while his finger pulled the trigger. He immediately pumped the weapon, felt the new bolt slam into place and pulled again. The bolts he chose to use weren't explosive.

While they weighed the same, Red wasn't ready to use them. Explosive bolts required extra steps to manufacture, and he wouldn't waste them when he could make so many more normal wooden bolts.

His first bolt flew wide, and the animals on the body of the tree chittered and chirped. The tree altered its position faster as Red adjusted the sights on his crossbow. With his improved eyes, it wasn't hard to see where the bolts flew. His eyes could see a mouse running around from across a few football fields. Seeing the flight path of his bolt wasn't hard.

Red watched his bolt thunk into the side of the trunk. The tree hardly hurried its advance; in fact, it took its time, as if assessing that he wasn't a threat after all. He pumped another bolt into place and fired as the wind blew, adjusting his aim until it hit dead center in the tree. Then he aimed and fired again.

One of the spring brownies took a bolt in the eye. The bolt pinned its head to the bark, and the other brownies struck, tearing it apart and devouring it.

The shopkeeper didn't pump another arrow. He instead hit a button that let the magazine slide free. He shoved a fireball mag inside and aimed. The tree had already adjusted its stance and shot after Red over the snow at a blistering speed.

He wanted to turn around and run for the shop. Instead, he pictured Darien and pulled the trigger. His bolt impacted the monster and exploded. An explosion of flames showered the creature as Red shot again and again. Bark exploded and burned vines lashed out and were blasted away from the tree.

Red felt his heart hammer in his chest as he backed away closer to the door of his shop and shot again. The monster had stopped its flailing when its trunk split apart on his second shot. He counted ten magazines with a fireball, meaning he had 350 shots, and used five from his 11th mag. 380 shots and he would turn around. That's what he promised himself. This wasn't about the rare skills or pretending to be a hero. It wasn't even about revenge this was a venture to collect resources. He promised that to himself.

As Spring Logs (Common) entered his bag of holding, he kept his racing heart. With his eyes, he saw 11 different trees. At 2 bolts a tree, his gains could be monumental. All he had to do was not overreach. He stepped forward, and a vine lashed out. From the ground, a sapling shook the snow off its body and lumbered 20 feet in the air.

If you can't wait for the next chapter then I have good news for you. Its on my patreon for only 1$ this will also allow you to view chapter 7 before anyone else when chapter 5 drops. It would really help me out. Search for Ultimatedaywriter on patreon.