BXBX NOVEL Chapter 86: Preparations (1)
[You have received An Artisan Subclass(Epic), Aaron Timberart's An Art Of Design Skill(Epic).]
[Your friendship with Aaron Timberart has increased.]
Jake had completed the quest on his first try.
He'd received guidance and various tools from Master Aaron. His leather cutter and knives were so sharp that the whole process of following his guidance was smooth and simple.
Jake also had an experience of listening to Richard and Viktor's pointers.
Although the imperial archer had spent a little time with him, Viktor was straightforward, meaning Jake was prepared and ready for Aaron's teachings, as Viktor took after him.
Aaron, however, was a few steps ahead of Viktor.
He had abundant experience in teaching and explaining things to others.
With his imagination of The Joker Mask stirred by Jake's smile, Aaron effortlessly crafted a perfect design path for Jake and helped him craft the first Joker Mask to his collection.
The Joker Mask stuck tightly to Jake's skin.
It matched his size and facial features so well that the item only underlined Jake's unique smile. It could be said that this item was his second skill. It had cuts at the edges of the lips and stuck so tight that Jake's white skin couldn't be seen at all, even around his eyes.
If Jake were to smile, the cut edges would expand, highlighting a condescending smile.
Aaron fell into thought, 'He surprised me so much that I missed the resemblance to Grin Grid.'
Recalling the appearance of the female archer that had shut down him and Viktor with her presence, Aaron unconsciously closed his eyes. He couldn't bear remembering himself and Viktor kneeling before her.
That was when he saw the 'Grin' from Grin Grid's nickname.
An image of her curved lips prompted his eyes to wide open.
'She also wears a mask that suits her style,' Aaron inwardly sighed. He'd missed the resemblance to her because of Jake's diligence, calmness, and confidence. The young man wasn't as talented in craft as he was in archery(if Viktor's words were correct), but he was still efficient at it.
His calmness and dedication to the craft made up for the lack of immense talent, allowing him to complete Aaron's guidance and get his hands on the desired design.
Perhaps if Jake sacrificed more time to his craft, he'd awaken a slumbering talent for artisan class.
Aaron didn't think too much about it.
Talent aside, Jake was a perfect person to pass his teachings to.
"Yer done it not bad," Aaron said, hiding his true feelings. "Kill monsters now to—"
Jake raised his hand.
Aaron narrowed his eyes, "What is it?"
"I was on a casual quest with my sister and her boyfriend. We hunted down and skinned a few Leavie Bears. We also put them in tanning solutions, right, Wukong? We even have a few poisoned hides.
If Master Aaron allows me, I'd like to learn a simple mask creation on those hides, then redesign them into Joker Masks to collect more experience," Jake said before deeply smiling, "I'm itching for more craft."
"…sure," Aaron nodded. "Show me what you've got."
Since there were many workbenches, Jake casually took out all his resources. He had leveled up a little and didn't have that many items, so he kept all his gains to himself.
Of course, that soon would be difficult as Jake increased his knowledge of arrows and equipment.
"Yer have done a good job preserving the hide," Aaron nodded at the resources sprawled on the workbenches, "This must be a recent haul. The method is simple and old, but it does not work well for a long time. You players can spend even weeks in the dungeons, so if you want to preserve hides, you need to learn a new tanning solution."
Jake nodded.
Aaron continued his speech, "This leather needs tempering before it can be turned into a mask. Leave it to me."
He proudly stroked his silver beard.
"Got it!" Jake brightly smiled.
And so did Wukong.
These two spent an entire day in Aaron's workplace.
-
"Haa… haa… haa…" Jake was panting heavily on the ground.
On his four, he was clutching the dirt as sweat trickled down his face. His stamina was so low that he couldn't move or even fall to the side.
Anyone in his presence would think that he was utterly defeated.
It was the truth.
Ingrid held Odin in her cradle and petted him while hovering her blue eyes on Jake.
She said, "You're getting better at it… but still can't match my serious pace."
These two had practiced together again after the last time. Jake's training was the same as before—he had to match Ingrid's axes' impact and strike targets at the same time.
Jake showed much better results today as he compelled Ingrid to increase the velocity of her axes.
When she got so serious, it seemed like Jake could only bite his lips and accept the defeat.
He, however, was such a stubborn fellow that instead of accepting the loss, he forcefully increased the speed of his arrows while chewing on his lips.
He bet on luck and suffered an even worse defeat.
'Richard was right… luck is a mere byproduct…' Jake sighed.
These two were at Viktor's workplace.
The owner of this house was immersed in his work, ignoring all foreign sounds. He seemed even more keen on ignoring everything in Ingrid's presence.
Ingrid was in charge of the entire house now.
She asked, "What's your archery proficiency?"
"It's… Advanced… I…" Jake replied. "I got it yesterday on the effigy…"
Had he not been fighting for breath, Jake would have shared that news with a wide smile.
It had been a few days since his time with Aaron. Jake made a new schedule and studied as much as he could, both in real and game worlds.
Because in-game archery was such a different experience and Ingrid could enable him more here, Jake asked for a change to their schedule.
From now on, he would spend two hours with her on Wednesday in The Legend Enigma Online.
Friday, Jake would touch the grass and go to her club for real-life practice.
Ingrid didn't like it, but that was rather inevitable, so she folded without much difficulty.
"Congratulations," Ingrid said. "Will you still grind?"
Jake shook his head.