The Concept of Crafting

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Inquisitor’s Stride

With every step, you seek the truth.

This is a growth-type item.

[Stage One]: Searching Step - Imbue a stomp with mana to release a pulse through your surroundings, revealing anything hidden within the area.

Soulbound: Lycara Mallin

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I grin in triumph, laying down and removing my temporary prosthetic. I wince as the wood scraped along my skin, since the scarred stump of my leg had no fur. Grabbing the Stride and slipping it onto my leg, I gasp as the metal contracts to hold on tight to my stump, and I move it a bit, flexing the joints I made as though they were my own flesh and blood. I can't keep the joy from my face as I stand up, much steadier than the old wooden one ever was. Checking my status shows that I got an entire level from this one item, and checking my core shows that I'm pretty much out of mana.

Damn, I guess growth items are much more expensive to make.

I also notice that [Strip Concept] jumped by an entire twenty percent, bringing it up to 84%, just a bit shy of an evolution. I nod to myself, satisfied with my upgrades for today. Checking the time, I immediately grab my things and hurry back toward the common room. Turns out I was crafting for much longer than I thought, and I'm now almost an hour late to meet up with the others. I make back only to find all of them sitting at a table waiting for me, with Allysa and Draven looking amused while Pala just seems bored out of her mind. I chuckle awkwardly as I approach, waving to the trio.

“Sorry about that, decided I needed a bit of an upgrade if I was going dungeon diving.” I explain, lifting up the Stride to show them. I do keep the exact details secret for now, however. Allysa immediately begins taking notes, pencil blurring across the page as she writes down every detail of the Inquisitor’s Stride, including what little information her [Inspect] gives her. Draven nods approvingly, rising along with the others.

“Probably for the best, the wooden one wouldn't have held up to the travel and combat very well. Alright then, are we all ready? Allysa has the rations packed away, and I believe we all have our gear.”

When everyone nods, he stands with the rest following suit.

“Well, let's get going. No reason to delay here, we want to get at least to the next town before full dark otherwise we'll have to camp outside the city.”

We follow him out of the guild and onto the cobbled streets of the main square, where a cart is waiting for us nearby. I pause at this, before slowly turning a baleful glare at Draven. There's no horse, and the harness is one I recognize all too well. An aurisal harness, which we use with our own carts due to the issues of driving the horses when walking next to them since they see us as predators. Draven smiles sheepishly while the others look between us in confusion.

“So Draven, why don't you go ahead and tell them why I'm so unhappy right now?” I say in a faux sweet tone, a hint of a growl edging my voice. He coughs awkwardly and looks away from me, to the others.

“Well…. horses won't be able to travel where we're going… so I thought… um… maybe… you could pull the cart?”

The moment the words left his mouth, a loud crack rang out and he was on the ground, Allysa fuming behind him. She had smacked him in the back of the head, and now just stood there with an expression of rage on her face, hand slowly lowering to her side. Draven groans and sits up, staring at her in shock.

“Why did you hit me? It's a fairly reasonable request, I mean the aurisal already pull their own carts!” He whines, oblivious to the other reasons. His words only serve to make her more irate, her hands now shaking as she balls them at her sides.

“Draven, I am going to say this ONCE. You were in the room when she first woke up, you heard what they made her do. And what do you think when she's only just managed to get over the trauma? YOU TRY TO HOOK HER TO A FUCKING CART AGAIN!”

Allysa screams these last words, people who had gathered around the spectacle begin dispersing at her anger, not wanting to be the next person she turns on. Draven, for his part, visibly pales as what he did sinks in, and he immediately begins apologizing profusely to me, still sitting on the ground. I sigh and tell him it's fine.

“It makes perfect sense, in all honesty. Horses don't like being near aurisals, so we pull our own carts. If we get a horse to pull the cart, I can't be anywhere near it otherwise it'll startle. Next time, though, ask you moron.”

Draven nods eagerly, agreeing before everyone hops up into the cart as I put on the harness. It's surprisingly comfortable, which makes sense as it's made of soft leather and fitted roughly to my shape. I glance over my shoulder to double check that they're all in the cart, and seeing that they are I get moving.

Draven gives me directions throughout the winding streets, though weaving through the crowds while towing the cart isn't easy. Eventually, however, we make it to the city gate where a guard stops us. After checking the cart, he waves us through, and we're out of the city moments later. Stretching out before us, grassy plains with a wide dirt road cutting across it and bordered by a massive forest. Now beyond the crowds of the city which I'm only just realizing I don't know the name of.

Ah well, let's get going!