Anika had to log out before heading off towards Windfall City. When she was back in the real world, she checked her emails and realised that her boss was getting worried about her. She had forgotten to update anyone at work about what she was doing or where she was. She let her boss know she had come down with a terrible bug, but she hoped she would be better soon and would stay in touch. This was a lie, she had a feeling it would take quite a while for her to find her son. It was dawning on her that she would have to invest the same amount of hours her son had done to reach maximum level before she would find him.

Like she was getting used to doing every night, she studied forums and video guides before going to bed. That evening she was looking for ways to level up quickly. The most common ways to level up for lower level players was to fight your way through dungeons with groups of other players. It was possible to do a range of other things like exploring the world, completing the storyline quests and even just killing creatures and mobs throughout the world. The most efficient way to level up, however, was to kill the largest enemies possible. They were located in the dungeons and would require a coordinated effort with a team of players to take down. This was also the best way to acquire the gear and weapons that everyone was so hungry for.

Anika would have preferred to run through some of the storyline quests by herself, she also wouldn't have minded finding creatures in the game to kill for experience points, but she felt she didn't have the luxury of time. Going to Windfall City was definitely the best thing to do. Since it was a capital city, it would be easy to pick up the right quests, directions and find other players to team up with for running the dungeons.

She logged back into Everscape and was keen to leave Oakridge as soon as possible. The only thing she wanted to get done before setting off was to see if she could get money for the leather scraps she had picked up along the way. She asked a couple of players in the tavern about what to do with them, and they told her they were not much use for anyone in that state. They pointed her in the right direction of a Leatherworker who could teach her how to make something useful out of them that would be worth selling.

The journey to find the Leatherworker was a slight detour away from her trip to Windfall City, this was an issue because time was of the essence. She had read the previous evening that most players picked up at least one trade skill to focus on so they could make armour or weapons or items that other players might need. This was the primary way to make money in the game although some money could also be earned by doing quests and killing mobs. She planned to meet the Leatherworker and see if he could teach her anything useful.

When she arrived at the Leatherworker's house, there was nobody to be seen anywhere around. She was definitely in the right place. It was similar to Ralph's hunting cabin; it had furs and skins hanging on the walls and various hunting gear and weapons. She saw a table with some immaculate items of clothing on them. Something that would take a long time to make and would require a lot of skill. She picked up what looked like a set of shoulder pads, made from a beautiful dark red animal skin. They would have been too big for her, so she didn't try them on, but she picked them up and admired them. The stitching was immaculate, and the pads themselves were made from two thin layers of leather, perfectly stitched together with neat straps and buckles made of brass.

"Admiring my handiwork?"

She turned around and saw a tall man dressed in a very nice leather outfit. He looked friendly and walked straight up to her before he dumped his goods underneath the table where she was standing.

"Yes, I was. These things are beautiful. I'm here to see if you could teach me a thing or two. I've got my own skins, I just don't know what to do with them."

"Perhaps. I take on students now and then. Let's see what you've got."

Anika pulled out the leather scraps from her bag. They smelled, and she became embarrassed, they were not high quality at all.

"Is there anything I can do with these?"

He spread them out on this table and turned them over a couple of times before speaking. "I don't mean to be rude, but I suppose nobody has taught you how to skin an animal before. Correct?"

"That's true. I got myself a skinning knife from a hunter called Ralph, he needed skins and just told me to do my best. I kind of figured it out by myself. I can see what you mean though, they're not very neat, and they should have been treated with something."

"You are absolutely right. Skinning itself is something that can take many years to master. If these scraps are from your first attempt, then I would say you haven't done too bad at all. Like you said, they also need to be treated as soon as possible. There are many ways to cure a hide, it all depends on what they need to be used for and how much time and effort you are willing to invest."

He threw the skins in a barrel of liquid, presumably to soak them for a while. The liquid had a milky colour to it, like soap, but there were no bubbles. She could see from looking around the place he had skins and animal parts of all sorts available, he also had a variety of jars and bottles and dried herbs which that were used in his craft.

"Ralph, did you say? Not the old Hunter from the edge of the Wandering Forest, down south of Gnome Hills? "

"Yes, that's him. Do you know him?"

"Yes, I know him. If he wasn't so lazy, he could make a killing selling his goods. I've told him I won't travel, he's the seller, and I'm the buyer so he should come here. My thinking is that he enjoys sitting around in the sun with his dogs a little too much to make himself rich."

"I enjoyed my time with him. He taught me a lot about how to survive in the woods and how to protect myself with the bow and arrow."

"And I can see he taught you how to tame a wild beast like that." He pointed at Beth who had been standing close behind Anika. Beth looked as if she was following the conversation, listening to everything they said.

Anika remembered what she was there for, and where she was going next. The Leatherworker had made her feel so comfortable she could have stayed and chatted for longer, but then she remembered that he was just an NPC.

"I'm Anika by the way. So how about teaching me a couple of things? If I can learn just the basics of how to make something like those shoulder pads, I'd be really grateful."

He thought for a few moments before answering.

"I'm Peter, pleased to meet you."

Peter then pulled the leather straps out of the barrel and spread them out on the canvas on the floor.

"A skilled Leatherworker doesn't just skin a beast, dry the hides out and then stitch something together. Everything takes time and lots of patience. Getting the perfect cut requires skill and patience. Curing the leather requires attention to detail and patience. Finally, stitching the leather into a perfect piece of clothing, or a useful item takes a steady hand and lots and lots of practice and patience. Do you think you have that in you?"

Anika didn't answer immediately. Normally she would have said yes, she had patience and persistence in the real world. But she didn't have time for any of this immersive stuff. At the same time, she didn't want to leave there empty-handed.

"What you are saying makes sense, and I would usually say I'm a patient person. The thing is, I'm on my way to Windfall City, and I am against the clock. I need to find someone urgently.

"I'll teach you the absolute basics of working a piece of leather as fast as I can, then you can be on your way. How does that sound?"

That was music to her ears. She was determined to listen and to pick up everything she could for the rest of the day, then she could set off in the morning and bring the items Peter wanted her to deliver with her.

At first, Peter took her into the woods behind his cabin. He brought his own bow and arrows and commended her for not using a gun. He told her that guns would just ruin the skin by puncturing massive holes in it, a thin arrow would only leave a tiny hole in the precious leather.

They started with the basics. Where to aim so as not to ruin the skin of the animal. He then taught her what the lines to cut looked like and how to make a judgement on the strongest parts of an animal skin.

After killing a couple of rabbits and foxes, they were ready to head home. Beth had found it difficult that she wasn't allowed to join in the fight, but she had been rewarded for her patience with some delicious meat. Peter kept a few cuts of meat for himself and started a cooking fire as soon as they got back. Anika's Skinning had increased to 46/50 by the time they were done.

"You did well today, I can see that Ralph taught you more than just the basics about hunting your prey. He is very talented, and that's why I told you he could do an excellent business by selling his goods. The few times when he had something for sale, they were always of the finest quality. Never a rip or a tear to ruin the skins. You'd almost think he wrestled the creatures to death without using weapons, they were of such good quality."

Peter put their fresh skins in the same barrel as before, he then took two colourful tinctures off his shelf and told her to sit down so they could talk. He explained to her how the curing process worked, about different herbs and liquids that could be used to either soften or toughen up the leather. It would take at least three or four days for the leather to be cured before you could work on it.

Once all the theory had been explained, he let her have a go with a needle and thread on some leather scraps he had already prepared. Anika found that she enjoyed the process. At first, he gave her a very simple schematic. Two layers of fine leather to be sewn together with a brass buckle attached. He then taught her a couple of variations and explained that with the skills she had learnt she could repair her own clothes in case they got ripped or cut apart. He didn't have time to teach anything else, the light was already fading, and their supper was ready. He encouraged her to experiment though. He told her she could get inspiration from having a keen eye for what other people were wearing and he told her to inspect things like bags and riding saddles in case she wanted to see how they were stitched together. It was also possible to buy schematics in Windfall City which would give her simple instructions if there was a particular item she was looking to make.

Leatherworking 16/50

The final part of advice he gave her before he turned in for the night was to think about imbuing her leather with the essence of creatures in the wild. If she could stay with him for a couple of days, he would be happy to teach her everything about how this worked, but as she didn't intend to stay, he told her to have a go and to experiment. He gave her a few examples of how each creature in the wild had certain qualities. If she could distil the essence of an animal or the qualities from a herb, she could create more than just basic leather items, she would, with enough practice, be able to create things that had almost magical qualities.

When Anika logged in the next morning, she thanked Peter for his hospitality and promised him she would make his delivery to Windfall her first priority. She also couldn't thank him enough for everything he had taught her so far, and she promised him to make good use of what she had learned. Before letting her go, he gave her a quick overview of how to make sturdy bags and told her to make sure she always carried a large bag with her if she was planning to travel far distances.