Zenith’s Tower - Chapter 5

When Ellis got back to the main chamber, he laid everything he had scavenged out on the ground in front of him and inspected it all. All in all, he had gathered a pile small teeth and claws, a large bone spike, two big chunks of leather, three medium chunks, nine small chunks, five large bones, three big hunks of meat, two blue gems, and the broken pieces of wood from his shield.

Using the wood from his shield, Ellis put together a small pile of wood in a teepee shape and made some small wooden skewers. Ellis held his palm to the teepee of wood and used a minuscule amount of anima to shoot lightning into the center of the woodpile. After a few seconds, the wood burst into flames. Ellis then picked up the slabs of meat he got from the imps and speared them on to the skewers before he leaned them over the fire to roast the meat.

He then directed his attention to the leather and bones. There were bits of loose flesh still covering the inside of the hides and bones. Ellis picked up his knife and dragged it all over the hides and bones, scrapping all the leftover flesh off and tossing it into the fire. After cleaning the bones Ellis set them aside to dry near the fire. Occasionally, he would throw a new piece of wood into the fire as he scraped the different pieces of leather and bone clean before stretching the leather out in front of the fire to dry.

When he was done stretching all the hides out to dry, Ellis picked up the big tail spike from the imp. It was long and had a boney lump at the bottom as well as one in the center that formed a perfect handhold. Ellis picked up his knife and attempted to start whittling the bone into shape, but his knife could barely scratch the surface of the hard bone. Determined Ellis began grinding the curved bone on the stone ground and gradually the spike began to take shape.

Every once in while Ellis would stoke the fire and check on his meat, turning it around for an even roast. After working at the knife for a while, the smell of roasted meat filled Ellis’s nostrils causing him to drool slightly. Luckily, his new knife was finally completed, and it held an impressive edge, it was at least ten times better than the knife he had been using before. He set the bone knife aside and snatched a juicy, hot chunk of meat from the fire. He blew on the meat to cool it down before taking a massive bite. The meat was pretty tough, but it didn’t taste bad. It kind of tasted like roast duck, but with no seasoning at all which was to say it was pretty bland. Ellis continued to eat the meat like a starved animal, but he wished he had some salt or something to season the meat with.

After eating two of the slabs of meat, Ellis took out his waterskin to drink some water and noticed that the waterskin didn’t seem to be getting any emptier than when he had first drunk from it. Curious if it was some sort of magic waterskin, Ellis guzzled down half the bag before feeling the weight of the bag. It was still completely full.

I guess this waterskin refills itself somehow. At least the Tower was nice enough to make sure I didn’t die of dehydration. That’s one less thing I have to worry about now.

Ellis didn’t have to worry about water and now he had a full belly, so he felt good. He stomped the fire out and set the left-over meat to the side.

I don’t think this meat will last very long. I’ll have to eat it quickly, so it doesn’t spoil.

Ellis then grabbed a piece of the hide on the ground and felt it. It was pretty dry and hard but still had a little give so Ellis could shape it the way he wanted. Using his new knife Ellis sliced some of the weird shaped smaller chunks of leather up into strips to use as lace. He then used the bone knife to cut the two largest pieces of imp leather into chest sized shapes and then cut the medium sized chunks of leather into two shoulder pads to hold up the chest and back pieces of armor. With his bone dagger, Ellis poked holes evenly across the top right and top left of the large pieces of armor before doing the same for the shoulder pieces. Ellis used the leather lace and tied all the armor together leaving him with a decent looking ash red colored leather cuirass held up by shoulder pads. Ellis looked at the rest of the leather and sees that he doesn’t have enough to cover his entire body, so he decides to make some simple bracers and greaves next. He cut the imp leather into the right shapes and again poked holes in it with his knife using the leather strips to tie the opposite sides together.

Ellis picked up the dried bones from the imp and fashioned them to his chest piece with the leather lace to make an extra layer of protection.

He then looks at the pile of small claws and teeth and decides to incorporate them into his armor to further protect him as a sort of spikey defense so if anything got on top of him, the spikes would pierce into them. He used a random hard stone from the ground and carved notches into all the teeth and claws at the base and then he poked small holes in his armor where spikes could help him. After poking holes in his shoulder pads, arm bracers, and greaves, he pushed the various claws and teeth through the holes up to the notch which held them in place.

Ellis lays out all the armor he’s made on the ground, admiring his work.

It looks barbaric, but it’ll get the job done!

DING!

Ellis’s chest glowed faintly for a second. Ellis opened his TowerCard and browed it to see what had changed.

Name: Ellis Ryne

Level: 4

Age: 17

Race: Human

HP:40/40

AP:44/44

(9) unused ability points!

VIT:6 END:8

AGI:8 STR:7

DEX:7 INT:5

WIS:2 RES:5

DEF:6 LUC:7

Active Skills:

Spark LV. 2

Electric Flash LV. 2

Passive Skills:

Language Comprehension LV. 2

Identify LV. 1

Crafting LV. 1

Under skills a new skill had appeared called Crafting.

Nice! With this skill I should be able to craft even better stuff as I get more materials. It will definitely be an invaluable skill if I want to survive this place.

Ellis looked down at the rest of his materials on the ground. There was still some leather, leather strips, and quite a few claws and teeth left.

I have enough materials to make boots to protect my feet. Let’s put this crafting skill to the test and see how these boots turn out!

Using the fur hide from the rodent, Ellis began cutting up the leather into shapes that he could tie together to make boots. Everything came more naturally to him and it made the process ten times easier then when he had made the armor. After making the boots he adorned them with the extra claws and teeth he had, so if he needed to, he could kick monsters to at least cause a little damage.

Wow! I can definitely tell the difference between the quality of these boots and the rest of the armor. These boots are a lot higher quality. Now to try everything on together and make sure it all works.

Ellis put on his newly made armor. It was pretty comfortable and felt sturdy, but Ellis wanted to make sure that it would stay on when he needed it to. To test his armor, he jogged around the room turning abruptly and threw himself to the ground, but his armor didn’t budge.

Perfect!

After appreciating his craftmanship for a little bit Ellis looked toward the doorways and his face turned to a frown.

If I get lost out there it’ll all be over. I managed to find my way back here before because I only stuck to the left for every turn but if I want to get out of here I’m going to have to map this place out so I can figure out where the exit is without getting lost.

Ellis picked up one of the extra pieces of leather that was around the size of both his hands put together.

I can use this to draw a map on it to figure out where I’ve already been before. But I need something to draw with.

Ellis looked around and his eyes landed on the remnants of the fire he had made earlier. Wuxiaworld for visiting.

Charcoal! I can use a piece of charcoal to write on the hide with!

Ellis went through the ashes of the fire and pulled out a few lumps of charcoal that were about the right size for writing. At the bottom of his new map, he put a small square to represent the room he was currently in and then rolled the map up and put it in his satchel along with the charcoal.

Alright, lets start mapping this labyrinth out.

Ellis clenched his new bone dagger in his hand and stepped through the middle doorway once more.