Chương 18: Think of the Turtles!

A level in the hand is worth ten turtles in the river. No, that's not right… I'm sorry, I have no idea how to make this look good on you. —The Artificer's Interview with a Maniac"You WHAT!?" I looked at her, incredulously.

"Wait! SHH!" She frantically tried to shush me.

"You know how many times I've pulled over my car for those guys!? You're…you're a murderer!"

"NO! It's not my fault! They're HUGE. And mean, like, crazy aggressive." She said, trying to defend her reprehensible actions. Of course, I knew of the giant monster turtles. Gene had mentioned them and warned the other fishermen to stay away from the area, but I couldn't help myself in torturing her just a bit more.

"How many…" My voice quivered in an attempt to appear horrified.

"Well… the first one was an accident, but then I leveled up. And you know…" She trailed off, looking at the ground and avoiding my gaze.

"It kind of got out of hand after that." She mumbled.

"Oh god, how many, Emmie? How many!?"

"Well, after the first ten or so, I—Oh, you ass!" She finally caught me grinning and let go of her crutch long enough to slug me right in the shoulder.

"AUGH!" I cried out, feeling like a train had just glanced against my arm. It went numb immediately, and I knew I'd have a bruise if there wasn't one already.

"Shit! Now I know how those poor turtles felt." I said, rubbing my arm. Failing to wiggle my fingers, I massaged feeling back into my deadened limb.

"They were hardly even turtles, more like monsters. And you deserved it." She huffed and picked up her crutch that had fallen in her attempt to maim me.

"I'm updating your name into a knife and turtle emoji on my phone."

"You're impossible. As if you had a phone."

"Well, I'll make one then. I'm sure they have magic phones here, Horizon Wireless or something." Our banter was cut off when we came around a small bend in the road and our destination came into view. To the side of a winding stream was a large, mostly flat section of land that was interrupted only by massive, ancient trees. Like a step made for giants, the flat area led to slopes that rose into another layer overlooking the first.

The area reminded me of illustrated children's tales of fairytale lands with its fields of soft grass and wildflowers waving lazily in the wind.

"WOOHOOOO!" Darby let out a cheer, championing the resounding celebration from the rest of us. He unceremoniously dumped the anvil he'd been hauling onto the ground with a flat thud.

"We made it!"

"It's gorgeous!"

"Oh, Ernie, you picked a wonderful place!" The joyous shouts intermingled in a pleasing, cheery noise that brought comfort straight to my soul. If there was a time I'd heard so much happiness and relief, I don't think that even [Recall] could remember it. We took our time with our well-earned celebration, allowing ourselves the time to recover, even if the day's travel was but a few hours. After a short rest, Danny got up to investigate an open section of the grassy area away from the creek.

He was antsy to get started and wanted to get to work right away, and Ernie was right beside him. The anglers in our little group went about getting their gear set up to fish something up for lunch. I chose to follow Danny up the hillside. If you stumble upon this tale on Amazon, it's taken without the author's consent. Report it. The slope was steep, though my dexterity pulled its weight and I easily kept my balance. If we were to build up here, we would certainly need to cut some stairs into the hillside.

The short hike up proved worth it, though. Even with only a slight increase in elevation, it gave a sense of the scale of our surroundings and the vast expanse of the river valley. The trees no longer blocked our line of sight, and we had the perfect view of the mountainside across from us. I marked the several small lakes that dotted the nearby land as potential fishing sources if the creek failed to deliver.

"I want to get started right after we get settled in." Danny's voice came over the rustling grass.

"We do need to get some sort of shelter up. I can't believe we've been this lucky with weather." Ernie said. Danny nodded in agreement.

"I have a couple of ideas. We need to outline our building areas; that comes first. Once we get an idea where things are going to go, we can decide what to build first." He waved in my direction.

"I'm thinking we get the forge up and running so we can get better equipment made."

"No, we need housing first. I can't see it going over well if a forge is being made and no one has a roof over their head." Ernie said, quick to disagree.

"That's your job to worry about. You can explain how a forge won't take long with stone so readily available from the creek."

"We don't want to use river rocks for the forge." I stepped in before someone made a terrible mistake.

"Those are gonna blow up from the heat, way too saturated. I'll see if we can get some clay nearby, and that will make a good base."

"Well… I suppose you could take Darby and get that going while I set about placing the markers…"

"If it's possible, I think I'd like my forge and building set up right here, on the edge of the hill." I didn't want to start calling dibs on land plots, but I couldn't imagine setting up below while knowing a view like this was right above me.

"You're gonna be fightin' that hill, you sure about that?" Danny looked at me skeptically.

"Definitely. This is the spot, right here." I pointed at the slope below.

"We could build stairs up here, and that would make it more accessible for others."

"We can certainly do that, but… It's your hill to die on." He chuckled.

"I'd planned on a bridge over the creek so we could utilize both sides more easily. I was more focused on that flat land, but this would also make a good spot for a lookout."

"It's settled then." Ernie clapped his hands excitedly.

"Logan, you will work with Darby on getting that forge made, and Danny, you'll get to work on marking out the… err… whatever it is. I'll let the good people know that they'll have a roof to sleep under as soon as possible!" Ernie always jumped at any opportunity to deliver good news, and I was beginning to wonder if he was getting more than just satisfaction. I had no idea what a Coordinator class did to level up. Coordinate things, I guess?

I broke off from the pair and made my way down the slope to the creek by the fishermen. Perry was casting a line, and indicated it was about three feet deep. Coming off the mountain, it was icy cold and refreshing. I tried not to think of fish poop when I took a drink. Digging into the side of the bank showed promise; grey and red banding indicated the presence of clay. I scooped a handful and worked it, rolling it into a clay snake that I wound into a coil. The sides cracked and crumbled.

> Clay > Material > Quality: Common > Grade: Poor Too much silt. That's too bad. Couldn't have been that easy, could it? I wonder… Working my way down to the bend in the creek, I jumped over at a narrower point and tried again, this time at the bend where smaller sediment would get caught and left in the slower flow. I dug down into the bank with my hands, doing my best to ignore the cold as it numbed my fingers. Again, I formed the coil, and again, it cracked.

It was closer to what I needed, but it wasn't pure enough. If I used this for the furnace, it would crack when it shrank and crumble away after just a few firings. I really don't want to have to go that far, but… That lake would be perfect, I bet. Looking back at the hill, I gauged my current location and cast [Recall]. I was standing back on the hill, looking down at myself in my current location. Slightly north and further west lay a sapphire lake, glittering in the sunlight.

My mana was rapidly dropping, and I let go of the vision. It had been a while since I'd leveled, and I must have been close, judging from my notification after a brief use of the skill. > Recall Leveled Up! I really should be using that more. As expensive as it was to use, and as helpful as it'd been, I should be keeping myself perpetually near zero mana. With my destination firmly in mind, I made my way northwest. The land was open and clear, leaving me unworried for my safety.

I was close to camp and wouldn't stray more than a mile. Just as I'd expected, the lake came into view. A family of tantar was drinking from the opposite bank and kept its eye on me when I approached. One of the adults was bulkier, the other more lithe. The adolescent tantar—tantae? —pulled back from the water's edge and hid behind their parents. I did my best to remain as unassuming and non-threatening as I could. Even if we might be eating you later, you're kinda cute! Ugh. We really need to get a farm going.

Free-range chicken sounds a lot better. I took off my footwear and rolled up my pants. Carefully walking down the bank, I entered the water. The water level had dropped without recent rains. Testing each step before putting my weight down, I moved a few feet into the water and dug down, collecting a handful of the soil. I failed to even get to the snake stage, as it was far too waterlogged. I swirled my hands in the water, washing off the muck, and placed them on my hips with a sigh, then turned back to the bank.

Red bands striated the bank, more easily visible from my lower angle. Hurrying out of the frigid waters, I dug at the ground, eager to be done with my quest for clay. It was much drier out of the water, to no one's surprise, and I had to add a few drops to work it properly. It squelched between my fingers, and I slowly worked it into a coil. Firm, yet pliable, it acquiesced to my demands, forming a spiral that was perfectly smooth. > Clay > Material > Quality: Common > Grade: Medium Quest complete!

Too bad there's no clay gathering skill. I deserve a level. Speaking of... Ohhh Darrrby... After cleaning off my feet and putting my socks and shoes back on, I made my way back to our camp—no, to Mossbrook. To home.