After burying the skeletons in the yard, we walked back into the house. It wasn't late, but we were tired. Specifically, we were mentally and emotionally drained. Fighting a monster that you weren't expecting was one thing. Another, a very different other, was to discover that this fight actually happened in the broken down home of people who failed to survive this world. That wasn't a good feeling, to say the least, but more than that, it was the knowledge that this wasn't anything special. That people suffered like this in all the time near the end of the old world. Was the knowledge this situation was nothing out of the norm.
That wasn't the only reason why we were staying. Even though it wasn't late, it was still the middle of the afternoon. This meant that anything we were going to do now amounted to only a few hours before it started to get dark. And while we didn't really have any problems fighting or traveling in the middle of the night, it was a better option to not do that if we had the opportunity. Not to mention that despite everything, it was still better to spend the night in an actual house instead of outside. There was a sense of security that came with it that really couldn't be matched anywhere else.
Another reason for our decision to stay were the supplies that we were still able to gather in the bunker. Even after all these years, there were still some water and various vegetables that we were able to get thanks to the Forgotten Garden. In addition, once we finished the graves, Astrid went back down there and realized that there were some blankets that were still usable.
Not as blankets, of course, since most of the fabric was covered in mold, but there were some pieces that could still be used as something else. Which was exactly what the Huskcarver was doing. She was grabbing all those blankets and pieces of cloth that she found and trying her best to salvage whatever was left in order to make something that I wasn't entirely sure what it was.
Everybody started doing their own thing. Michael scavenged the house for materials to make more arrows. Rex kept trying to recreate the mansion on a smaller scale, almost as if it was a model, using his {Stone Making} skill. Riley continued to study spell circles along with the plants that were downstairs. Figuring that everybody would need some time, I also went to help Astrid with her fabric recovery.
In the process, I found a couple of burners that could be used to make some food. They were small enough to be carried around. There was no actual fuel attached to them, meaning that if I wanted to actually heat up something, I would need to find some wood or something and then ignite it. But considering that I could already make fire whenever I wanted, this was very good. Especially considering the fact that there was an attachment that could be used as a pot.
As a matter of fact, I found two of those. One was closer to a cauldron as it was much bigger than the actual burner. Only when analyzing that new discovery I realized that the burner could be detached from itself and instead of just one it could become a set of three. This way, it would be much easier to heat up the cauldron.
Thinking about the types of food that we could make there, my stomach started to rumble. That was especially safe now since Rex was now able to somewhat protect us from being discovered by Eaters. And I decided to take all that and some of the vegetables that we found in the bunker back upstairs.
"Is everybody hungry, or is it just me?" I asked.
"I'm kind of hungry," Michael nodded as he was chiseling away a piece of wood, turning it into an arrow.
"Great. Rex, can you hide us from Eaters? I want to light a fire so we can have some home cooked meal."
Rex nodded and looked around. After a moment, he just activated a skill that started to cover the entire walls of the house. I looked around, and when the particles were in the right place, they seemingly vanished, blending with the walls. Turning to Rex, I was about to ask when he said with a smile, "All done. Can use fire now."
"Oh, okay." I smiled and grabbed some of the wood scraps that Michael left behind to serve as fuel. There wasn't much I could do here, especially since all we had were fruits and vegetables, but I decided to grill them all and make some lettuce wraps to make a very vegetarian burrito.
The smell was sweet, likely due to the carrots, but the mashed potatoes were turning nicely. The eggplant, and tomatoes on the other hand was hard to tell. I was halfway done with the first one when Michael gasped, "Oh crap, no yeah, this sounds amazing. I'm taking that one."
I turned towards him with a questioning look since we were the only ones who were close together. Rex was now outside trying to understand the architecture of the mansion a bit better. Astrid was on another one of her trips down the bunker to look for more fabrics. And Riley was nearby, trying to create a spell that would keep those skeletons undisturbed.
"What just happened?" I asked.
"Oh, sorry. I just got my subclass."
"Really?" I couldn't hide my annoyed tone. Michael had been the one person who took the longest to realize what to do, together with me. It felt a bit unfair that he was getting a subclass when I still didn't decide what I was going to try to do in order to get one.
"Yeah. I'm getting a few options. One basically means I can make a lot of arrows and very good ones, but I think I should go for weapon maker."
"Weapon maker?" I frowned. "Wouldn't that be a blacksmith?"
He shook his head. "Not really. According to the System, this lets me make weapons in general. I can make swords or something like that if I have the necessary tools, maybe even a staff, whatever I want. I'm not restricted to materials or anything, really. As long as it's a weapon, I can make it."
"How free are you to pick what you want? Because I mean, technically speaking, if I grab a chair and hit you with it..."
"Yeah, I don't think that one is going to work. As long as it's an actual weapon, I should be able to make it, or at least that's what the System is telling me."
"Well, I'm very happy for you. But you're only going to be able to make something tomorrow, right? The whole process of getting a new class takes a while"
"Not really," Michael shook his head. "Subclasses work differently. I can start working on stuff now. Another thing is that I can upgrade weapons, apparently."
"Come on," I groaned, but the Weapon Maker ignored and continued explaining.
"Although upgrading is not the right word. Modifying them, yeah, that sounds... yeah, according to the System, that's more close to what I'm going to be able to do."
"If you have any good ideas for my staff, it's all yours. But practice a bit beforehand. I don't want to end up with a bad weapon because it was a test run," the first veggie wrap was done, I placed everything together.
"Will do," he replied, but it was obvious he was already focused on something else.
I turned back and tasted my first vegetable burrito. The flavors were there, but they didn't fit very well together. Maybe I exaggerated the amount of veggies that I was placing all at once. It was a shame that I didn't have any actual spices. The only thing that was left downstairs was salt. But according to the Rodenti couple that gave me a few pointers on cooking, we could get more than just basic flavor even without any spices. All I needed to do was learn how to balance the flavors. But knowing that and actually being able to do it were two very different things.
I ate that first one since it wasn't something good enough to give my companions and started making the rest. This time being a bit less generous with the amount of vegetables I was putting inside each one of them. I made sure to only use two types of filling on each along with the lettuce that was functioning as the bread to keep it all together, but there wasn't enough to make all the same. Some would have to be with carrots, others with tomatoes, others with eggplant, and so on.
Once everybody arrived, we all started eating, although I made it clear to Michael that if he was hungry, he could start. But the archer decided against that, saying that it was better to wait for everybody. I wasn't going to argue about his decision.
We started eating, and I had to say, the food ended up being quite tasty. There was still something wrong with it. Although wrong wasn't the right word. Something off. Not in the sense that the food had gone bad, or it was trying to poison us. But the flavors didn't match very well. They seemed to be fighting in my mouth and left a strange aftertaste. It sucked that I wasn't able to make something really delicious, but it was still better than eating jerky for the nth time in a row. Everyone else also seemed to be enjoying it, so maybe this was all in my head.
Once we finished our meal, the sun was starting to set. Rex had finished whatever he was doing outside, and so did Riley. Astrid still went for a couple of trips to search for blankets below, and now she was sure there wasn't anything useful left there. At least not for her. Everyone sat in the living room, close to the kitchen. We had cleared the area out to use it as a bedroom for the night. There were still some small bones in a pile in the corner. All clearly from monsters or animals. Apparently, Rex, Michael and Riley were all considering using those for one thing or another.
Our little architect wanted to see if using them as a support could help somehow. The Weapon Maker had ideas for various bone weapons, and the Silken Witch wanted to craft some spells or potions using the bones as catalysts. Not a single one of them explained how they were going to accomplish what they said. They were a bit too involved in their own projects to properly explain what they were trying to do. And Astrid was now already in the process of making something with all the scraps of thread she found.
What? I didn't know.
Since everyone was doing their own thing yet again, I figured I should do something else too. It felt bad to be the only one not working on some random project. Walking back to the kitchen, I took a look at the scraps of vegetables that were left behind and started tasting each one. Not just on their own, but together.
The eggplant and the carrot worked out really well. They balanced each other nicely. At least when both were cooked. The lettuce worked nicely with anything that had some bite to it, but if it was too soft, it became strange. The potato and the eggplant when eaten raw together were absolutely awful. It was like eating sand.
All those details were being noted down by the System, which was also cross referencing the reasons why it was bad. That way, in the future when I tried something else, the System would let me know why something might not work. I knew that, in the end, cooking wasn't really a science. Well, it could be, but didn't have to be. And there were many details that made two very similar things feel very different. Like bread being good with butter. They were both soft, like the lettuce and some potato mash, but didn't work the same.
I was distracted by that, when something else surprised me.
A shout coming from the living room. But instead of angry yells, they seemed to be celebrating something. I quickly moved back there only to find everyone congratulating Astrid.
"What happened?" I asked, ready to jump to my staff, just in case.
"Got a subclass," Astrid said with a smile.
"Oh, c'mon," I rolled my eyes in a loud groan, before noticing how everyone was staring at me. "Sorry. I just want one too. It feels a bit frustrating. What did you get?"
"Tailor," Astrid stood up and showed me what she was working on.
It was a hat? A cap that would cover someone's head all the way to the neck. The front was open, but there was a lot of stuffing on the back and the sides.
"Pillow hat," the Huskcarver said with a smile.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Pillow Hat - Made by Astrid, the Huskcarver
A hat that helps those wearing it to rest properly during their sleep.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Ok, this is really good. Do you intend to make more?" I turned to Astrid. I wasn't really struggling to sleep lately, but there were some rough nights on the road.
The newly made tailor nodded. "One for each."
"You are awesome, did I ever say that?" I smiled.
Astrid smiled back and returned to her scraps. Everyone else was already back on their own projects. With a sigh, I turned back to the kitchen. If I wanted to get a subclass soon, I should really figure out something I enjoy doing.
#### Author's notes ####
What sub class do you think Cass wants?