Chương 47

Carpenter Ellen Ellen stared at her options, tapping the small knife on the badly-mangled attempt at a flute that she'd made. It had been done on a whim, after chatting with Healer about a possible Performer Class, and had been an abject failure. Even with the skill she'd gotten for woodworking, making a delicate instrument had been far different from carving supports and shutters. She was pretty sure she had the steadiness of hand to do it, but without the know-how of how a flute was made it had been… messy.

But the failure had given her a small amount of experience, and that had been enough for the Level to tick over to 12. She took a quick look at her Status before turning back to her options. ATTRIBUTES Strength: 8 Agility: 8 Endurance: 8 Willpower: 10 Affinity: 8 Perception: 9 SKILL ENHANCERS Carpentry 1 STAMINA: 83/86 (+8/minute) MANA: 94/94 CLASS: Woodwright 12 (PENDING) EXPERIENCE: 320005/640000 PERKS Efficiency Rangefinder Mana Manipulation ABILITIES She'd thought it was a sort of bad build, at first.

Putting another into Perception or maybe Strength would have been better, but the System had automatically placed points into Willpower for some strange reason. That had opened up the Woodwright Class and Mana Manipulation that she had eventually taken, but she wondered what would have been available if she'd had a higher Perception upon reaching Level 11. It didn't matter, now. She had the Class she had, and the options for her first Ability were definitely interesting.

"I know that look," Mason purred, pulling up a stool. She shook it and settled onto it carefully—one of the hastily-made stools Ellen had made for practice had a wobbly leg already. It was a miracle they'd trusted her to make the roof after that, but she had been much more careful doing that.

"Yeah, I got to 12," Ellen confirmed.

"The options it's giving me are weird, though. I mean, some of them. The first one is pretty normal, but the others are really… really tempting. Way more tempting than I'd thought they'd be. I know which one I should pick but…" Mason grinned, leaning in to take Ellen's arm. Abruptly, Healer and Apprentice were there, with the former dropping down onto the furs beside her, and the latter sprawling across Healer's lap.

"Don't leave us in suspense!" Healer demanded with a laugh.

"We'll probably cross over soon and I'm curious what our Classes will give. I don't think any of us have a normal one!" Ellen looked around the common room and frowned. Merchant would probably have opinions… but Ellen knew what they'd be. Hunter and Smith were absent, but they'd probably side with Merchant. It couldn't hurt to take their desires into account, but with four of the seven Ellens in Onroc Anroll here, it was enough if they wanted to vote.

Though she couldn't actually remember the last time they'd needed to vote on anything consequential. Not since the first split of Ellen One and Ellen Two.

"It's four choices, like normal. It's just the choices are strange… well, some of them." Ellen sighed and pulled up the list again, letting it fill her vision instead of hovering just to the side and out of the way as the lists usually did. Then she read what she saw of her choices. ABILITY: CARVE WOOD I Cost: 5 Stamina (+3/minute) Effect: While active, the user may cut and shape wood as if it were softer. This does not actually soften the wood, it only allows easier cuts and shaving to the subject.

This does not work on wood attached to a living plant. Further ranks decrease Stamina cost and increase the effect.

"So, typical Carpenter Ability, yeah,"Apprentice agreed. Her voice was muffled, but this time it wasn't from being facedown. She was trying to speak around one of the local cats, who had decided her face was the most appropriate place to sit down and relax for the night. It reminded Ellen to set aside some of the sawdust for the next time one of the cats decided that inside was still the same as outside when they got the urge to relieve themselves. You could be reading stolen content.

Head to the original site for the genuine story.

"Right," Ellen agreed.

"We've all heard of that one. I'm just glad it's offering some normal choices. But listen to this one." ABILITY: REPAIR WOOD I Cost: 12 Mana (Base, adjusted by local mana) Effect: Renews a wooden object suffering damage from splits, splinters, or cracks. Only works on shaped, dead wood. Object must be touched to repair. This cannot replace missing material beyond a very minor amount necessary for the repair.

This cannot reattach large pieces broken away from the main structure, but may allow reattachment of small chips or splinters that can be properly positioned before application of this Ability. Large objects or severe damage may require multiple applications of this Ability to fully repair the damage. Higher ranks of this Ability allow more severe damage to be repaired each use. Mason let out a low whistle, and Healer pursed her lips. Apprentice, still buried under a stubborn feline, just gave a thumbs up.

"Yeah," Ellen agreed.

"And the other two are equally good. That's really tempting, isn't it?"

"If I had the ability to repair stone like that…" Mason breathed.

"Maybe I should have taken one of the magical Classes after all." Ellen shrugged.

"We'll see what's available when you get yours. But listen to this one." ABILITY: ALTER WOOD I Cost: 57 Mana (Base, adjusted by local mana) Effect: Adjust the weight, hardness, strength, and flammability of a wooden object or creature. Object must be touched to apply alteration. Duration of alteration will be dependent upon local mana and the extent of changes done. Repeated applications before the duration has run out will have a multiplicative effect, with a small chance of making the alteration permanent.

Higher ranks of this Ability increases the amount of alteration possible and the total amount of wood that can be altered.

"That's… really good," Healer muttered. Apprentice had stopped goofing off and given the cat a firm shove, sitting up and nodding while puffing cat hair out of her face. The cat gave an indignant hiss and bounded off to curl by the fireplace.

"I notice it says object or creature," Apprentice added.

"You could strengthen or soften trees, which would make felling them much easier. Weaken them enough and they might just fall over by themselves. Then we just carve it up once that wears off." Mason shook her head and sighed.

"It's incredibly useful… but being able to repair weakened frames and beams is also really important. And this one is very expensive."

"It's probably the most powerful option, and I could use it when people go into the dungeon if it lasts long enough," Ellen agreed.

"If Hunter had a wooden buckler or something, and I hardened it long enough that it lasted a few hours, it would be like taking a metal shield in with the weight of a wooden one." Apprentice clapped her hands together.

"That sounds great! You should take that one!"

"What's the last one?" Healer asked, pulling Apprentice into a hug that just so happened to cover the other Ellen's mouth with one hand. Ellen nodded.

"It's really tempting to take either of those, but I think the last one is what we're going to need if we want to get anything done." She pulled up the description and read it aloud. ABILITY: CONDITION WOOD I Cost: 8 Mana (Base, adjusted by local mana) Cooldown: 10 minutes per object Effect: The user may increase or decrease the moisture content or water resistance of a wooden object. Only works on shaped, dead wood. Repeated applications may be necessary for larger objects.

Higher ranks allow for larger objects to be conditioned per use.

"That one." Apprentice and Healer chorused at the exact same time. That answer was what Ellen had expected from Merchant, not from the two fifth-generation siblings. Mason nodded along with them.

"I agree. It may not be as powerful as the Alter Wood I Ability, but it's much more usable and solves one of our most immediate problems. If we had a large stockpile maybe one of the other ones, but this just makes sense."

"I thought so, as well." Ellen crossed her arms and grumbled to herself.

"I really liked Alter Wood I, but I guess it will have to wait. These are all really good though! Much better than what I expected to get from Carpenter anyway…" Apprentice shook her head, prompting Healer to release the hand from her mouth and just hold around the waist instead.

"They aren't better at all." Apprentice frowned when the other Ellens looked at her… except Healer, who probably agreed but let Apprentice speak.

"They're just very specialized and new. You can do things that a Carpenter can't do, and probably wishes they could… but you won't get any of the really good Carpenter Perks or Abilities. I think it's a Hybrid Class with really strict requirements, so it's expecting you to already have a high Level in Carpenter when you take it, so you'd unlock your old Perks and Abilities as you climb the Levels." Ellen frowned back.

"Maybe. It's still the most useful one on the list for us, I think."

"We agree," Healer and Apprentice said in unison. Only Healer continued to speak.

"We don't need incredibly detailed and perfect cabinets, we need solid houses. We know you and Mason are covering one another's weak spots, so between the two of you, you have that covered. This is much more useful." The way Healer said that made Ellen pause. She hadn't missed that Healer had referred to herself and Apprentice as a 'we' instead of 'I' there. Healer also wasn't wrong that Mason had picked Perks and Skill Enhancers to cover what Ellen herself couldn't, like the Architecture I Skill Enhancer.

Most of the Perks and Abilities and Skill Enhancers came during these upcoming Levels, but this let her specialize. She'd just naturally done that with Mason. Is that what Apprentice and Healer were doing? The understanding dawned at last, and Ellen selected Condition Wood I as her Ability. It wasn't a real choice. If they wanted to get anything done, this is what it had to be. The (PENDING) vanished from her Class designation as she added the Ability to her list. The first Ellen to get an Ability.

"Hmm… I wonder if Village Ellen actually beat me to this? She tends to forget to tell us stuff," Ellen muttered.

"I bet you two are getting close, aren't you? I wonder about Merchant, though."

"Close."

"Yes." This time Apprentice and Healer didn't answer with the same word, and Ellen wasn't sure if she was relieved or worried about that. Just when she thought she was understanding the two girls, they threw off her ideas with some minor shift in behavior. Ellen made a little beckoning gesture at the smaller pieces of firewood near the hearth, and Mason wordlessly picked up on her request and passed her one of the dried sticks that had been sitting there a while.

Slim pieces of wood like this were ready for burning within only a week or two, when kept indoors like this. They made ideal tests. She focused her new Ability on the stick, and watched the dry and stiff length turn measurably brighter and more flexible. Her Mana went down by six points—less than the eight predicted by the Ability, but they were close to the dungeon so likely had more mana in the area. Ellen wiggled the stick, then tossed it into the low-burning fire.

The hiss and sizzling pops that followed were loud enough that not just one, but two cats bolted from the shadows around the fireplace, darting into parts unknown. Healer and Apprentice both jumped slightly, then giggled in unison at their own reactions.

"Guess it works," Ellen muttered. This changed things.