[NR] Finding Their Place - Chapter 538

Over the next two days, the group wandered back and forth through an area that was just about the center mid and right paths. Not that it took them that long to find a clearing. Rather, they found too many clearings. Despite how shallow this place was, it was still the Deep Wilds and thus the terrain could shift at the drop of a hat.

The group could have settled down early on the first day, but they wanted to find a suitable spot. Not perfect, as in a place like this they could spend years, finding new places, and yet never leaving the area. However, they did want certain things close at hand.

Stuff like a place with clean water and a few resources, including food. Jason was planning on setting up an actual farm, but having a backup food source nearby was for the best. Even if the settlement was only a day, maybe a day and a half, walk away, you never know what might happen.

Plus, he didn’t exactly have a stockpile of seeds for normal food crops. Over Jason’s time, taking care of his small garden of herbs in the portable planter, he had gathered a small collection of those seeds. However, at this point, he realized he had been quite a dunce. They had traveled through so many places, and he should have been collecting seeds and samples along the way.

Though there was one upside to collecting local seeds. Instead of trying to force wheat to grow where it shouldn’t, the nearby stuff would at least fit the area and seasons, if likely a bit lower producing than not. At least he had a couple potatoes on him as part of his rations. They could be used to grow some more.

Besides, even if the local stuff doesn’t produce quite as much as more traditional crops, that’s what skills are for. All the better if the local resources count as herbs. Plus, if the plants are precious at all, he can grow a plot of them, then trade them back at the settlement for crop seeds. The road to the place certainly had enough fields on it already and those plants didn’t look quite like any other crop he is familiar with, if a bit grain-ish in appearance.

Whatever the case may be, by the end of the second day, they found a clearing that was good enough. There was a stream nearby at the moment and it should stick around long enough for Jason to dig a proper well, which was the biggest concern. On top of that, there was a nice field of wild leeks, some berry bushes, and a nice selection of herbs they could eat

About all it was missing was some kind of nearby source of protein. Except, being the Deep Wilds, hunting was never a problem even if there wasn’t a local herd of deer to cull occasionally. Though Jason adds to his list the purchase of beans. An easy crop to grow that is an excellent source of protein.

Oh, and there was a small outcropping of rock and the trees nearby tended towards being hardwoods. Though the rocks weren’t close enough that they trusted them to stick around. In fact, Jason was planning on mining out a good quantity of the stuff before doing anything else.

About the only thing missing was ore of some sort and it wasn’t like any of them planned to pick up blacksmithing. Sure, a few metal bits and bobs would be nice, but none of them depend on metal weapons or armor. Like, if one of them was going around in plate mail, it would be a different story. Even some of the more serious weapon users prefer to forge their own weapons so they can get them exactly right. Except they all wear leather armor, Jason doesn’t use weapons, Courtney prefers more disposable weapons, and Rosha uses a strange hybrid weapon.

Sure, there is some argument for Courtney and Rosha to want to craft their own stuff. After all, semi-disposable weapons like throwing knives don’t need to be perfect and making your own can reduce the price. And a strange hybrid weapon? Good luck finding someone specialized in crafting a bow spear daggers staff thing, so being able to do it yourself can only help. Of the trio, despite Jason only being able to improve his “weapon” through System rewards, Rosha needs them even more.

Except, of course, for the fact that most of the weapon is made of wood. Sure, there are the two blade attachments that can be used as a pair of daggers. However, the fact she can use them as a dagger means Rosha can just get the metal bits crafted by someone else. The actual blades aren’t all that special. Rather, what is important is the handle part where it connects to the rest of the weapon.

Jason sighed as he puts the lack of ore out of his mind. This was the Deep Wilds and it might be fixed if given enough time. For now, they needed to lay claim to the clearing. That meant building stuff and fighting monsters.

Well, he was going to be building things. It was up to Rosha and Courtney to handle the fights. They had a longer road to walk to the next bottleneck. On the other hand, Jason was particularly suited to making a base.

Whether it was Mana or Qi, they both had solutions for crafting. The most popular in magic was, of course stone manipulation. After all, what was cooler than making a stone house literally rise out of the ground? Never mind the fact that you need supernaturally good skills to make anything besides the most basic of shapes and rooms.

Then there was Qi, which was popular with the more traditional crafters. Qi basically made the classic methods of crafting better or simpler. Carving wood? Qi reinforces the body such that they can carve through hard wood like it was butter. Detail work? Channel the Qi into your eyes and you can see details that would have required special magnifying glasses. Even better? You just see at that level of detail and your eyes do all the focusing work.

Energy did a little of both and then some.