HC: Pacifist | Ch. 209 - Gecko Feet

Roth pushed the pedal up and down with his foot, making the wheel turn quickly, creating a smooth, relaxing turning sound. He gently teased the strands of alpaca wool he had just carded, ensuring they were evenly aligned and free from any tangles.

The wheel drew the fibers into its spokes and twisted them into a fine thread. Roth's foot moved rhythmically, controlling the speed and tension of the process, while the bobbin wound the thread into a skein of yarn.

The difference in speed between using a spindle and a spinning wheel was significant. On top of that, with this skein of yarn, he was fortunate enough to trigger the [Plenty of Fiber] skill.

Plenty of Fiber (Common)

Skill description: You’re in such a hurry to get crafting that you put in the extra effort to get the fibers ready for tailoring.

Skill effects: There’s a 5% chance of completing a process twice as fast when preparing fibers for crafting.

Restrictions: Tailors, Lvl. 10.

The bar rose and filled up, fast as a rocket, and Roth finally finished processing all the raw alpaca wool he had purchased from Juliette.

Carding: 20%...56%...

Carding complete!

+100 ecotailor XP.

[Carded Wool] has become [Alpaca Wool Yarn].

It turned out that working with superior materials was already proving its worth even before he got crafting with it. The abundant exp gained by processing these higher-level fibers was absolutely worth it. In this case, he gained ten times more XP from spinning alpaca wool than he would have gained from basic sheep wool.

Processing all this wool had taken much less time than he thought because the washing and drying processes had been surprisingly quick. He had found a nice hotspot inside this building, which had become even hotter for some reason after he had started hanging the wool out to dry as if the universe was taking the initiative to help him.

Roth had already gained another level in this profession and unlocked a new skill.

[Wool's Will] had been upgraded to [Linen’s Will].

Skill description: As you become better acquainted with materials in nature, you realize their potential.

Skill effects:

Passive. Whenever you're wearing wool or linen equipment, +2 intelligence per piece;

If you're only wearing wool or linen, +5 dexterity.

Restrictions: Lvl. 12.

Roth loved the upgrade. First of all, he had gained a bunch of stats from this alone. [Wool's Will] had granted one intelligence for a piece of clothing and a bonus of 2 dexterity if he was only wearing wool. The bonus had doubled! Secondly, although he loved his current outfit, always limiting his choices to just wool could quickly become troublesome. His class already limited quite a lot of the equipment he could use, but at least now, the material pool he could choose from had expanded somewhat.

He started dismantling the alpaca wool processing line, putting away the spinning wheel, the carding pads, and the buckets. Now, he could start crafting with it and experiment with all the different stitches he had been practicing.

Roth only wanted to focus on trying one new thing at a time, so he stuck to crafting trousers for now. This time, he would attempt to incorporate all the different skills he knew into this one piece of fabric. First, he started working on the waistband to shape the center of the pants.

The rib stitch offered some elasticity, so he incorporated this technique into the waistband for a more comfortable fit. He worked his way down toward the legs, using the stockinette stitch to enhance the fabric’s strength. When he got to the ankles, he returned to the rib stitch to avoid making them too baggy or loose.

Even though his transitions were far from perfect, they were smoother now, and the result reflected that.

Congratulations! You've successfully crafted [Wool Pants].

+750 ecotailor XP.

Wool Pants (Common)

Crafting Grade: B.

Bottom

Item description: A pair of slacks that will comfortably fit any adventurer.

Item effects:

+80 hp;

+7 wisdom;

+5 intelligence;

+5% damage reduction.

Compared to the pairs of trousers he’d crafted before, he gained 50% more XP from crafting, and the pants even came with an added stat! Using different techniques on this one piece of clothing was proving its worth.

He studied the pants more closely and noted that some stitches were still too tight or uneven. Were it not for his collection of titles and unique profession, he was pretty sure he would have gotten a C at best.

He still had plenty of alpaca wool to go through, and he decided to knit wool pants until he could get an A. He kept focused on the needles and just the needles alone, ignoring all the messages and sounds of battle around him.

*

Four hours into this battle, ColdHand judged their situation dire but not hopeless. Of the 98 players that had come to fight Loki, only 25 remained. He had managed to keep their most important pieces alive, but some useful ones, such as Mel, who had a very high DPS, and Cyclops, a powerful part of their frontline, had already perished under the vicious strikes of the Hive King.

Now that there were fewer players, keeping track of the hundreds of cooldowns was easier. After such a long, drawn battle, he was fairly confident that no one was holding back. Top players from opposing guilds, who typically kept powerful skills or trump cards close to their chest, had been expending them all, willing to let go of an advantage in future battles with the other guilds to pull Loki down from his pedestal.

Even though they had lost many players, the truth was that their DPS stayed the same.

Triple Slash!

130

112

136

Ogre's passive skills meant that the longer he spent battling and the more overall health he lost, the more powerful he became. For four hours, his health bar had been fluctuating madly. He must have lost and recovered hundreds of thousands of hp. At the start of the battle, he barely broke double digits, but now he was comfortably into the triple digits. As long as Ogre was kept alive, this could work.

ColdHand was now contemplating whether he should call four of the five rogue players hiding to maintain the barrier up to help a little with the DPS. The quicker he could end this battle, the better. And there was some serious firepower in his trump card if he played it carefully.

"Sir," came the message from one of the Krakens' rogues, who was sending him this information privately.

"What is it, DryGrass?"

"I found their guild's coffer."

ColdHand furrowed his brow ever so slightly. Most guilds kept their coffers in the capital, but now that he thought about it since Loki had essentially been banished from every human city after betraying the human race, he had been forced to bring some of the guild's most important infrastructure here.

"Does it already have the [Safe Lock] upgrade?" Coldhand asked, knowing full well what the answer was going to be.

"Yes, sir, there's no way we can break into it."

ColdHand wasn’t too disappointed. It was expected. Even though beginner guilds couldn't afford the hefty upgrade to prevent others from breaking into the safe, a guild such as Pegasus had more than enough resources to make the coffer inviolable and impossible to break into.

"Never mind, just leave it. Even the best rogue in the game can't break into that thing. Stay put and be prepared to join the battle at a moment's notice. I might need more DPS if things come down to it."

"Very well, sir."

ColdHand glanced at Ticket Boy and saw how he had again sat down, peacefully working on his clothes. He had to admit that seeing a craftsman so focused on their work was rare. Most craftsmen in his guild would have already logged out to have a cup of tea or coffee, as the crafting process could often become repetitive and mind-numbing.

Roth Taylor, however, had a look of excitement on his face and crafted and knitted as if his life depended on it. Maybe this crazy single-mindedness and out-of-the-box thinking enabled him to unlock the quest that brought them all here.

He glanced at Loki's health bar. They had already brought it to red once, but Loki triggered a life-saving skill that replenished his hp back to full. Such a skill probably couldn't be used more than once a day. They had to work their way back to the red zone before he could call Cerberus to use his execution skill and finish this.

"Okay, everyone, stay sharp, and remember, whatever happens, Ogre stays alive."

*

Zin had taken some time to get used to his boots' passive skill.

Gecko Feet (Rare)

Description: Laced with state-of-the-art technology, these shoes will take you places.

Effects: You can walk on walls and ceilings.

After using it extensively in stakeouts and spying missions, he had gotten used to making sense of things while upside down.

Shoes glued to the observatory’s ceiling and hiding in shadows, Zin watched the battle unfold. His boss was doing a wonderful job of whittling the invaders' forces down and making them pay the price for coming here—a good thing, too. There were several people down there with whom he had to settle a score.

Very few times had he come close to dying in the game, and several of the culprits for his near demise were right under his nose. Manny from Cerberus was here. When Zin stole the kill for the Turtle Giant from their guild, the biomonk had nearly killed him. ColdHand was also problematic, as well as BlueFire, more because of their cunning strategic thinking than their battling skills. MountainTop he had tried to kill eight times but only succeeded in killing once, when he was lucky enough to catch him with all his skills on cooldown. Ogre had technically killed him, but a treasured consumable that prevented his death once had saved his life. Finally, there was his old master, Jaw-Long.

When he had tried to assassinate his former general, the old man had toyed with him and given him a good beating. He was terrifying in the real world, but here, where his age didn’t impede his motions, he became a beast. How foolish of him to think he had become stronger than his master. He just needed time, though. Time and the opportunity before his very eyes.

Had Zin joined the battle and aided his current employer, he was sure they would all have died already; however, Loki would have survived. The best possible outcome for him would be for everyone to die. Everyone but him.

He clutched his hand on his legendary dagger, finding comfort in its lethality. Timing. That was what there was to it. He had to get the last hit on Loki. With that and what was in the guild’s vault, he could finally ditch him and carry out his plan.

The biggest uncertainty was Jaw-Long. The old man could intercept him if he wasn't fast enough. Everyone else, he was sure he could evade, although he had a feeling he couldn't ignore.

He studied the sight of Roth crafting peacefully in the corner. He had seen all sorts of broken souls. He had broken his fair share of them. It wasn’t sympathy he felt for the young man. That word wasn’t in a killer’s dictionary. He did feel some admiration toward Roth Taylor. Rarely had he seen people change in his life, much less someone as violent as him. From a raging bull, he had become a meek sheep. The change was so dramatic that his boss couldn’t even comprehend it. All the while, Roth was right under Loki's nose, but he couldn’t find him because the Slayer he was looking for had already died. Well, that and Zin’s interference, too.

Logic told Zin that Roth's level was too low, and he couldn't interfere with his designs. His gut, however, told him otherwise. There was something about the looney craftsman that bothered Zin. There was an uncertainty about him, an unpredictability. Zin’s instincts had saved him countless times. Should he ignore them this time? He took a deep breath. This opportunity was too good to ignore. He would go for it. Even if he didn’t get the last hit, he could get to the guild’s vault if the boss was dead and remove all its treasures.

For now, he just had to wait.

Ch. 208 - Assembly Line

INDEX

Ch. 210 - Lin’s Adventure