Frank finally understood why the book he had on [Artificer] was written by a [Mana Crafter]. He could imagine the author choosing [Artificer] as his first class and being incredibly peeved that he could do nothing with his meager understanding of science.
He then probably got carried to level 10 where he changed to what he thought was a better class. Well, Frank knew better and wouldn't be swapping anytime soon. He also didn't know how adding another class would work so he decided on continuing with his current class.
By selecting the option, the window just disappeared. With finally having chosen everything save for his new skills and spells, Frank elected to get started with gathering the loot. First, he made the trek back to the mule and untied it.
Once he brought the cart over to the camp he began looting by picking up everything around the camp and outside the tents. It took him an hour to comb the outside but he managed to find a few useful things: seven barrels of rations, two sets of shredded leather armor, and two short swords.
The armor had been ruined by his bolts and Frank assumed that much of the other armors he found would also be in need of repair. Taking everything he wanted from around the camp, Frank moved on to looting the bodies inside the tents.
It was revolting and even more time-consuming. Frank had only finally exited the last tent by the time the sun was rising. He walked back to the cart with his rewards and took inventory. In total, it amounted to 24 sets of leather armor, 10 sets of chainmail, 19 short swords, one axe, four bows, five longswords, four daggers, and five maces.
Searching what he believed to be the bandit captain's quarters also netted Frank a chest of gold and silver, something he would have to count out later. He stuck it in his backpack for safekeeping and strapped down the barrels of rations with some rope he had cut from the tents.
Frank was satisfied with his work and climbed atop the cart to direct the mule back to town. The trip took him another four hours due to his foraging. By the time he made it back to town, the sun had risen entirely and the town was alive with activity.
The first stop was at the blacksmith's. Arriving and not wanting to leave his haul to fend for itself, Frank called out hoping to get the boy who worked there's attention. Thankfully, it worked and he came running out to see what the commotion was.
"Is there a need for all that yelling?" The boy asked.
Frank smiled and hopped down from the cart. "I have come to sell some equipment I have liberated from bandits. It's quite beat up, I'm not gonna lie, but I'm sure you can salvage the materials at the very least."
The boy looked at the packed cart and rubbed his chin. "Alright lay everything out in piles and I'll see what we can do.
Complying with the request, Frank eagerly separated everything into piles for the blacksmith's son to inspect. "I'm also willing to trade some or most of it for other equipment," Frank informed the kid who only nodded in response.
Finished with his checking, the boy gave Frank an offer. "We can give you four gold each for the leather armors, 27 for the chainmail, five for the short swords, seven for the axe, 12 for the bows, seven for the longswords, one for the daggers, and two for the maces."
He took out a bit of parchment and started counting trying to figure out the total when Frank spat out the answer. "Total is 565 gold. You can keep counting but that's what it is."
[[Mathematics] has become lvl.2]
The boy nodded but kept counting, probably trying to acquire the skill himself if Frank had to hazard a guess. "Do you mind if I browse your stock while you count?" The boy waved him off and Frank shrugged, entering the smithy.
He walked straight to the area with armor and instantly the full set of plate caught his eye. He checked the tag on it and almost screamed out loud. "What the hell? 1,500 gold? That's a lot." Frank grumbled about the price and moved over to the next suit of armor. It was a fine set of splint.
It looked every bit as sturdy as plate but would only cost him 200 gold if he bought it. Frank made a mental note of it and continued to look around. He saw some parts for hand crossbows and some already complete ones, making him think.
"Could I attach a hand crossbow to a gauntlet?" Frank was starting to like the idea and continued to look around. He didn't find much more that interested him and walked back outside.
The boy looked finished and waved Frank over. "Okay, I got the same answer as you. Find anything inside you would like?"
Frank bobbed his head up and down. "Yeah. I was wondering if I could get that splint armor and a few hand crossbow kits."
Hearing Frank mention the crossbows, the boy looked at the one strapped to Frank's back. He studied it for a moment before speaking. "If you give me that crossbow on your back, we can give you the splint for free. Along with 550 gold and four hand crossbow kits."
Hearing his unique crossbow being mentioned as part of the deal, Frank shook his head. "Sorry, can't sell this. But I can draw you some blueprints for it."
Frank was given a smile and the boy stuck out his hand to shake. "Sounds like a deal. Oh, and I'm James. I have a feeling we'll be seeing each other a lot."
Clasping each other's wrists, Frank and James grinned at each other. "I'm Frank, [Artificer]."
James raised a bow at that but didn't comment on it. "Well if you could help me take everything inside, I would appreciate it."
They broke contact and both got to work hauling everything into the back. Once they finished, James paid Frank and gave him the splint and kits. He stored them in his bag and gave James a mock salute as he left the smithy.
He got on his rented cart and moved towards the tavern. It was time for him to finally move. Inside, Frank briefly greeted Madison and headed straight for his room. Everything was shoved into his bag and after a bit of cleaning up, he was out the door.
Frank then returned the cart and mule, telling the stable hand to keep the change. With everything he currently needed taken care of, Frank headed deep into the forest. He traveled farther than he usually did as he was eyeing the mountains.
They were on the opposite side of the town from where he usually was in the forest. The trip had taken him two hours on foot, which Frank didn't mind as he spent most of it gathering more and more mushrooms.
He chuckled to himself as he picked his last mushroom before he entered the mountain range. "If someone saw me, they'd think I was in love with mushrooms." Frank popped one of the edible ones into his mouth and looked around for where he would create his cave.
"I'm going to live in a cave and build weapons. It reminds me of a certain someone with a glowing chest." As Frank thought about one of his favorite fictional billionaires, he finally found a suitable spot.
It was covered pretty well since one would have to enter a small ravine and it wasn't too hard to traverse for Frank. Satisfied with the spot, he got to work carving out an entrance that could be covered up and his entryway.
Because this was such a big project, Frank was able to turn off his brain. By the time he had run out of mana, he had already cleared out the entrance and what he would use as his living room-cum-kitchen.
After a short wait, Frank got back to work. He planned to create a semi-permanent home with two bedrooms, a bathroom, workshop, living room, and kitchen. The plumbing would be nonfunctional until he could find some way to make water and a place for it to deposit, but he would add it in preparation.
Frank was also tempted to buy furniture but decided it would be worthwhile to learn how to make some himself. The excavation of the cave home took the rest of the day, with the trickiest part being the plumping.
Luckily, Frank found some sort of pit that he couldn't see the bottom of so he had everything empty into it. For safety reasons, he used a good portion of the excavated stone to cover the hole.
The cave looked great, besides the lack of lighting, furniture, and a massive pile of stone outside his door. All in all, Frank was very happy with his work. His [Shape Earth] spell had even grown to level six!
It seemed to Frank that leveling up [Shape Earth] allowed him not only to have more precise control over his terraforming, but he could also shape more substances that could classify as 'Earth.'
Whereas at first he could only shape dirt and lose stone, he could now control dense stones with the same finesse. Frank estimated with a high enough level he could shape metals.
Frank walked to the entrance and sealed it up. Once he knew he was relatively safe, he checked the vents he made in the ceiling to make sure he was getting lots of air and moved to his workshop once he felt air coming from each one.
Inside the area he designated as his workshop, Frank opened up his available skills since he remembered one pertaining to workspaces.
[Settling Down: Allows the user to designate a workshop as their favored spot, granting a 15% increase in efficiency while using it. This space can be changed once a month.]
[Tinkering: Imbues knowledge on the creation of small-scale mechanical devices.]
[Runic Smithing: Combine the might of smithing with the ancient runes of the giants to produce wondrous items.]
[Create Golem: Gives the user the ability and knowledge to make golems.]
Frank was able to select two options this time, possibly a reward for hitting level 10. He chose [Settling Down] and reopened the window hoping for a new option to appear. Sadly another did not so Frank chose [Create Golem].
From most works he read, Golems could be incredibly useful and they could also double as a guard—it was perfect for him. Frank took a moment to take in the knowledge the skill had gifted him. After it was completely assimilated, Frank designated the area he was in as his workshop with the skill.
What surprised Frank the most was that [Settling Down] was the only skill he had obtained thus far that had no level. It was fine with him, but it made him think about what kind of skills he could also obtain that had no levels.
In the area now marked, Frank reached into his bag and pulled out his penicillin experiments, his Chemist's Jug, the splint, and the hand crossbow parts. He would have to venture into town tomorrow for more supplies and another quest from Captain Whitmore. Hence, he worked on what he could.
Checking on the penicillin molds, Frank noted that five already had a bit of mold on them while what he assumed to be the control ones still had no sign of going bad. This pleased Frank and he added more mana to all of the dishes now that his hypothesis was more or less confirmed.
He set them down on a stone table and moved back to the splint armor. Frank doffed his leather armor and removed the enchantment. He folded the armor up as nicely as he could and put it in his bag.
Frank then applied the enchantment to the splint and watched in wonder as the armor became rigid and filled out as if he was wearing it. He stood it up and noticed it had become one piece. "How do I get into this?"
On cue, the back of the armor opened up. Frank shrugged and walked into it. Once he did, it closed around him and resized itself to perfectly fit him. Much like the leather, it felt weightless. It wasn't something Frank was expecting, but it was a welcome surprise.
He was worried he wouldn't be able to wear it properly but all his worries went out the door as he noticed the effect of silencing and increased movement speed stayed. "Now I need a cool helmet."
Frank grinned and decided he would buy a helmet once he was in town. He then tested the gauntlets and nodded in approval as the fingers felt as flexible with the armor on as they did with them off.
"The quest I get tomorrow should be a piece of cake now."