Before Tabitha could really make a decision on what to do with that horn, despite having several ideas for it already, she needed to investigate it a bit more. What she really wanted to know about was just how malleable it was, so she pulled it out of her pocket to check it out some more.

The tip of the horn was sharp enough that, when she pressed her finger against it, it cut her skin with only a bit of pressure. Then, when she tried pressing the tip into the trunk of the tree she killed the slime against, she noticed that the tip retained its sharpness no matter how much pressure she applied. Everything behind the tip was much less solid. While it wasn’t anywhere near as runny as the regular slime, she could still slide her fingers into the viscous material. If she tried to pinch some of it to pull it away from the rest, though, it would only stretch a little bit before slipping out from her fingers and bouncing back to its original shape.

So, the tip was sharp and basically solid. It had to be durable, too, or else it would have dulled at least a little against the tree. The rest of the slime making up the horn was squishy like dough that could be condensed, stretched, and pushed through, but it always remained together and returned to its original shape whenever nothing was acting on it.

“Huh. Alright,” Tabitha said. “This might be tricky. I won’t be able to just slap ya onto the end of a stick. Not actually sure I can do anythin’ with ya right now. Even if I cut some of my hair to use for string to tie ya to the end of a stick… you’d probably slip right out.”

Whether Tabitha was living a normal life, dreaming, potentially locked up in a mental asylum, or in any other situation that could explain everything that was going on, she was always going to keep her habit of talking to herself. Her neighbors in the apartments around hers were more than familiar with her habit. An indoor voice was not something she ever considered working on.

“What if I…”

Time to experiment. Tabitha squeezed her entire hand into the horn and swung her hand around to see just how well it would stick to her. Unfortunately, the slime went flying off her hand with only the second swing.

As much as Tabitha loved games, she was never a fan of puzzle games, and trying to find out what to do with the horn was starting to feel more and more like a puzzle.

So, before she could get too frustrated over her failed ideas, she said, “Oi, Menu. I got some new points, right?”

System Menu

You currently have five Attribute Points to spend.

…

Would you like to put them all into Dexterity?

“I feel like you’re gettin’ sassy with me. But no. Much as I’d like to, I feel that just ain’t a smart choice right now. Will Vitality boost my health up?”

System Menu

Vitality is also used in determining one’s Health Points.

“Yeah, figured as much. Ya coulda said somethin’ about that when I asked for descriptions earlier. Go ahead and put all five of them into Vitality for now.”

System Menu

All Attribute Points have been spent.

“Thanks. Now show me my status.”

Status Card

Name

Tabitha

Achievements

7

Race

Human

Skills

1

Path

Apprentice

Paths

1

Level

1 (3/25)

Total Level

1

Stats

Attributes

HP

35/35

STR

1

INT

1

SP

10/10

VIT

6

MND

1

AP

10/10

END

1

WIL

1

EP

150/150

DEX

29

CHA

1

LP

60/60

AGI

1

LCK

11

“Just those five took me up to thirty-five health? Well, I ain’t gonna complain about that. Shouldn’t die to somethin’ stupid like a slime now. Oi, Menu. Speakin’ of death, what happens if I die?”

System Menu

You will die.

“Gee, thanks. Do I get to respawn or anythin’?”

System Menu

No.

“Alright. I get it. Ya know, while I have you here, let me ask you somethin’. Where the heck am I?”

System Menu

You are within the Kingdom of Edoria’s territory.

“Well… that definitely ain’t anywhere on Earth. What happened to Earth?”

System Menu

Question not understood.

“My home. Earth.”

No response.

“Alright. What about… how’d I get to this world?”

System Menu

Question not understood.

Tabitha sighed and shrugged. “Ya know what, I’m goin’ back to craftin’. I’m goin’ to do somethin’ with this horn whether it likes it or not.”

And so came the pacing. Another signature trait of Tabitha was how she would pace around whenever she was stuck on something, often while talking to herself.

“I need somethin’ to hold it. That’s the only problem I’ve got right now. But what’s the point if it’s stuck in a container? It won’t be able to do anythin’ that way. Or maybe… what if it’s a soft container? Like a bag. Stick it in a bag, poke the tip through it, and then stick the rest of the horn surrounded by a bag in a stick and tie it up? That could work. That might actually just work. Only problem is that I need a bag and some string.”

Tabitha looked down at her pants.

Thankfully, she had a couple of custom, built-in bags already.

“It’s all comin’ together. Now, for string… I’ve been meanin’ to cut my hair. Time to find another rock.”

It took around fifteen minutes between sawing at her hair with a sharp rock and tearing the left pocket out from her pants, but she had everything that she needed and a new, short haircut. A pretty messy haircut that left her orange hair shorter than it was in years.

For the sake of curiosity, she tried to examine the pocket and hair to see if anything popped up. Nothing popped up when she examined her pocket, but her Analysis skill did get something for her hair.

Item Information

Name

Human Hair

Hair from a Human’s head.

Rarity

D

Quality

22

Element

None

She also got a new stick. The other one already had its good end carved to be sharp and tapered, but she needed a new stick with an end that she could easily split open without ruining it.

Item Information

Name

Stick

A stick from a tree or bush.

Rarity

E

Quality

25

Element

Nature

Unfortunately, neither had bonus tags, and Tabitha wasn’t willing to spend the time looking around for the perfect items when she could be jumped at any moment. She was fine settling for good enough as a beginner.

Next came the crafting.

She brought the rock she used to cut her hair to the end of the stick… and then stopped to check it out.

Item Information

Name

Rock

It’s a rock.

Rarity

E

Quality

31

Element

Nature

“Yeah, ya better not be another broken one,” Tabitha said before actually getting to work.

Once again, as soon as she started, her hands began moving in a way that felt like she didn’t even have control over them. It was a strange feeling. She both knew exactly what she was doing but didn’t know how at the same time. Before long, she managed to cut a few inches into the end of the stick which would be enough for her to fit the horn into.

Next came her pocket and the horn itself. First, she used the horn’s tip to create two pairs of holes near the top of the pocket on the sides. She then pushed the horn all the way into the pocket, poking a hole through the very bottom of it with its tip. The hole was only large enough for the tip to fit through and nothing else, so she didn’t have to worry about the rest of the horn getting squeezed through there in a desperate escape attempt. Once that was done, she squeezed two sides of the horn together to try and flatten it as much as she could before sliding it with the pocket down between the split wood.

Finally, it was time to tie it all together. She used all of the hair she cut off, which was probably overkill but she wanted to make sure it worked, to tie around the end of the stick holding the horn-filled pocket. She looped the hair through the two holes near the top of the pocket as well as an extra security measure to keep the pocket and horn from slipping out of the wood.

Even Tabitha had to admit that it didn’t exactly look pretty… but it was done, and it was made by her hand.

Item Created

Name

Makeshift Jelly Horn Spear

A wooden spear with a Jelly Horn used as its tip, held together by Human Hair and other materials.

Rarity

C

Quality

36

Element

Water

Damage

5 – 9

Bonus Tag

[Deadly Edge]

“Deadly Edge? What’s that—wait! That err… the Rare tag! It said it could upgrade another tag to its rare variant, right? That means—”

System Menu

Congratulations, you have acquired a new Achievement!

Rare Upgrade

Awarded for a Bonus Tag being successfully upgraded to its rare version by the [Rare] Tag.

Reward: Tag Crystal (Empty)

Tabitha was curious about the new tag, but a dull crystal appeared in the air before her, floating until she reached out to grab it. “Huh… is this that crystal reward? I guess ya can do somethin’ other than give me points for rewards after all.”

Surely enough, after examining it for a few moments, a description window popped up.

Item Information

Name

Tag Crystal (Empty)

An empty Tag Crystal that can be used to remove and store the Bonus Tag from any item. Can only be used once and will be destroyed upon transferring the Bonus Tag away from the crystal.

Rarity

S

Quality

100

Element

Soul

“Somethin’ like this must be pretty valuable then. Huh… well,” she shoved the crystal into her only remaining pocket that was full of slime, “movin’ on! Oi, Menu! Tell me about that new tag I got!”

System Menu

Deadly Edge

Deals 3x Damage when used for piercing or slashing attacks.

“Nice. So it’s twice as powerful as the Sharp II trait it got upgraded from. I like it. That means… since the spear does five to nine damage… it should actually be doin’ fifteen to twenty-seven damage as long as I don’t try smackin’ anybody with it. Who needs somethin’ like the Strength stat when they can just—hold on. That’s it. There I was thinkin’ I was a fool for puttin’ all my points into one stat… but maybe that’s the way. I can just supplement my lack of other stats with items! Don’t need Vitality if I can make armor that never gets broken through! Don’t need Strength if I can make weapons that slice through boulders like they’re butter! Ya hear that, Menu? We’re back to min-maxin’ for craftin’! Screw balance!”

The menu popped up in front of her to say something, but Tabitha didn’t see what it said since she was too busy looking up at the sky, laughing, with her hands proudly resting on her hips.

Tabitha looked like she was ready to take on the world with her near spear barely held together by a makeshift pocket and hair.