Mike retrieved both of his axes and headed back towards his workshop, that is how he had started to think of the area with his kiln and furnace. He had planned to spend the day making enough ore to last him a while, but now that he had enough steel for one or two axes, he was eager to start casting. Before he could do that though, he needed to create a larger clay pot so he could smelt more metal in one go… and that likely required a new kiln since the old one seemed to rarely give out good results. On top of that, he needed to figure out how to use the spatial storage bag, read the book he took from Igor, replant some of the trees he had cut down (deforestation is always a bad thing), build some ramparts to the entrance of the valley, find a sustainable food source (for his Foraging skill and also for survival), and there was always the task of training Hardened Skin.

…………………………………………………………………………………………

At the end of the day, Mike looked over the results of his labor. His new kiln was closer to 5 feet high and had fewer cracks throughout the structure. He had taken an hour and found a termite nest as the base clay this time around, hoping that it would be a purer clay mixture and lead to a stronger structure. He hadn’t been disappointed:

Clay Kiln

Quality: Apprentice

Durability: Medium

Rarity: Uncommon

Attributes: Earth Attunement (Middle)-medium chance to grant items fired in this kiln an earth affinity, higher chance at high luck.

He was pleased to see that not only had he made his highest quality piece thus far, but the new kiln had a higher chance to grant an Earth Attunement, and no longer had the Uneven Heating status. The kiln glowed merrily as the temperature slowly dropped, his latest attempt at a gallon sized jug inside.

He had also managed to make two new blast furnaces and placed both close to the small river. That is all he had gotten done that day, but he figured since he had progressed via combat and instruction in the morning, it was a good day to spend working on his home.

As the light slowly faded and he waited for his small pot of rabbit stew to cook, he picked up the spatial storage bag and the small book, and identified each in turn.

Tiny Spatial Storage Bag

Quality: Apprentice

Durability: Medium

Rarity: Rare

Description: This small bag allows the bearer to store up to 1 cubic yard of items, which the user can pull out at any time.

Elemental Bolt Book

Quality: Shoddy

Durability: Medium

Rarity: Common

Description: This book teaches the basics of shooting elemental bolts and is considered a beginning manual for all new magi.

Mike couldn’t wait to try out both, but settled on testing out the bag first. Unsure how to proceed, he grabbed the book and began shoving the corner in. In yet another physics-defying feat, somehow the System made the book slide into the bag that was much smaller than the book.

“Ok, but how do I take it out?” he wondered aloud as he stared into the tiny bag that seemed empty as far as he could tell.

Frustration turned to panic, as, over the next few minutes, Mike tried fitting his hand inside the bag to find the book with no success. Finally, on accident, he set his hand over the bag and willed it to come out, whereupon he felt the corner of the book in his hand and was able to pull it all the way out. Realizing he should have started by using his will, as he did when activating Skill Abilities, he began testing the bag in earnest. It truly was remarkable and convenient.

Turning his attention to the book, he opened the first page and began reading, or he tried to at least. The lettering seemed to shift and change as he looked at it and he soon developed a headache. Maybe he needed to build some reading glasses? He had needed them before the integration but they had disappeared with most of his other belongings.

Putting the book back into the bag, he turned his attention to the rabbit stew, which was now tender and cooked to perfection. It really was a very simple and delicious recipe, but it could definitely use some potatoes and carrots. Oh, and garlic. The prospect of storming the town to get some garlic was becoming more and more attractive.

…………………………………………………………………………………………

Mike had spent the morning casting his steel axes, which he had left cooling in the mold before he set off to forage for food. The constant expenditure of energy required to ensure his survival meant that he needed more food than he had ever eaten before in his life–and that included when he and the rest of his seal team used to go eat 2 Whoppers and 2 Fries every Saturday afternoon back in the seventies. Eating had never been a problem for him, but rabbit, onions, berries, and stinging nettle were getting old, and some diversity would go a long way in his diet. Since he had gradually been exploring more and more of his valley over the last week, finding new food necessitated going outside of the valley.

Now, in the early evening, he had found the jackpot, sweet potatoes. The delicious and flavorful tubor wasn’t native to Montanna, but it was an ideal plant for the climate, being able to survive the cold winters with little problem. He was unsure how his spatial storage bag would handle the storage of living plants, so he put some into the bag and hooked the rest around his waist. As soon as he stood up he was greeted with skill level:

[Congratulations! You have leveled up the skill Foraging]

It was still a little irksome that the skill didn’t offer any attribute bonuses, but a lot more would need to happen to dampen his spirits after finding potatoes.

The afternoon sun shone brightly as he made his back to the valley. His increased Dexterity and endurance meant that he had gone pretty far afield in his search for sustenance, and the rolling foothills provided beautiful views.

About an hour's distance from his valley, he noticed a line of dust moving through the trees directly towards him. It almost looked like footage he had seen of stampedes, but this wasn’t Africa so that only left a large herd of bison. Deciding he didn’t want to test his sturdiness against potentially System reinforced livestock, he climbed a nearby tree and waited in concealment for the commotion to pass.

The dust cloud approached his position, and rather than the expected noise of thundering footfalls, it was rather a pitter patter of many small feet. As it got closer, small chirrups and squeals were distinguishable, which could be clearly identified as distressed keening. Suddenly the forest beneath him was teeming with hundreds of tiny green humanoids. The pitiful creatures were only around 2 feet tall and made even Mike’s cross-eyed nephew look coordinated. So speedy was their flight and so overpowering their terror, that they tripped and trampled one another with reckless abandon. Focusing in on one critter in particular, the System provided him the following info:

Name: Creealkdh

Monster Type: Hobgoblin

Level: 1

Strength: 2

Dexterity: 1

Intelligence: 2

Charisma: 1

Toughness: 1

Luck: 6

Abilities: none

Mike was flabbergasted at the abysmal stats of the poor creature, and soon found that its stats aligned with those of its brethren. Of the five he checked, none had an Attribute above 3, other than luck, which once again confirmed just how bad his own luck was.

The stampede continued to pass beneath him, and before too long, he began to distinguish the crude laughter of humans spattered between the frightful chirping. He easily recognized the sounds of human savagery. Ten men ran behind the hobgoblins, all decked out in raw hides, voraciously laying waste to them as they fled. The small squeaks and shrills of pain made his blood boil and he went on the offensive without a care for his own life.

Dropping out of the tree, he landed lightly on the balls of his feet, his axes materializing from his spatial storage bag into his hands. Exploding forward, the first two victims couldn't process what was happening as they looked down at their gaping wounds as the lifeforce slowly faded away and they went to respawn.

The next three men saw him coming, but they were only level 3 and stood no chance. He hit the sword of the nearest man aside with the ax in his left hand, then quickly ducked as he sensed the next man swing at him from behind. Pushing off his right foot, he spun and kicked the legs out of the assailant behind him, or at least he tried to, he had misjudged his new strength and heard bones crunch in what would usually have just been a leg sweep. He used his momentum to continue rotating until the ax in his right hand could hack into the calf of the other man. Now crouched between the two fallen men, his arms moved in tandem to send both of them to respawn at once. The remaining man in the group of three saw his chance and charged forward. Mike’s arm blurred as he sent Ax #1 straight into the man’s chest. Ducking the rebounding ax, Mike turned to face the remaining five men, ignoring the Level Up notification that appeared in the corner of his vision.

The five men approached him, forming a small semicircle, their confidence swelling as they took in the solitary old man with a single tomahawk facing them down.

Their confidence quickly vanished as this spector of righteous vengeance danced between them, hacking off limbs with little effort and delivering debilitating punches with his other hand. In under 2 seconds, three more of their number had been killed. The remaining two turned in unison and began to make a break for it.

Lining up the moving diagonal, Mike threw his remaining ax at the target furthest out then watched impassively as it rebounded into the remaining man, killing both of them with a single throw.

The carnage now concluded, Mike stood with heaving chest as he slowly surveyed the battle scene. The bloody rage that had enthralled him faded as took in the numerous small bodies littered the ground, a testament to the hobgoblins weakness and the pitiless men the System was creating. He had only ever fought in self defense, but these men killed for pleasure, and the System rewarded them for it. How could he ever love anything that promoted this kind of violence.

With a heavy heart, he collected his axes and looted the bodies. There wasn’t much, but he was able to add 10 swords to his spatial storage bag. At the very least, they would become extra iron for some throwing knives or arrow heads.

As he turned to make his way home he discovered that a hundred small faces stared at him with undeviating focus. One hobgoblin, standing taller than his brethren at around 30 inches, stepped out from the midst of them.

Name: Creeanth

Monster Type: Hobgoblin Tribe Leader

Level: 2

Strength: 3

Dexterity: 2

Intelligence: 3

Charisma: 1

Toughness: 2

Luck: 6

Abilities: Trilling Enthrallment–buffs allies in a 10 foot radius and causes them to converge on a single target.

The small leader made his way before Mike, while the rest of the assembly watched on in silence. Unsure at the intelligence of these small creatures, and worried they might turn hostile despite him saving them, he prepared for the worst. Creeanth now stood directly in front of him, but rather than any kind of aggression, he dropped neatly into a knightly bow.

“Big Bossy Boss,” the high pitched voice squeaked out in solemn rapture.

As one, the other hobgoblins fell to their knees. “Big Bossy Boss,” they intoned in unison.