"Catch another one?" Ethan asked, confused.
Only then did man and cat notice what the Minotaur held in his other hand — already set down beside the campfire.
A massive leaf, and wrapped inside it, a chunk of fresh meat still dripping with blood.
"What kind of meat is this?"
"I smell Horned Rabbit, meow! It’s edible, meow!"
"Oh... so this is a Horned Rabbit."
So this one was just a deposit. The Minotaur had promised to catch him another as a reward once the repairs were done.
"This shouldn’t be too hard, right?" Ethan turned the broken axe over in his hands.
"Beastmen generally aren’t good at manual labor, meow, so they often look for other races to repair things for them, meow," Pearl explained.
Repairing an axe handle truly wasn’t difficult for him. Better yet, only the handle was broken — the axe head itself was completely intact.
All he needed was to craft and fit a new wooden shaft.
Ethan carefully inspected the Minotaur’s stone axe, then picked up his own and stood.
"Moo-roar-roar-roar!"
"He says eat first — it won’t be too late to fix it after, meow! It won’t taste good cold, meow!" Pearl translated.
Right on cue, the mouth-watering aroma of grilled fish drifted over from the heated stone slab. Breakfast was ready.
Ethan nodded to the Minotaur, then brought out the fruits he had gathered and handed them over. The Minotaur took them and happily joined the meal.
"Alright. Let’s get to work."
After breakfast, Ethan took Pearl into the forest again. He needed the right wood for a new handle.
"Use this one, meow! This is White Ironwood — it’s extremely hard, meow!" Pearl pointed at a large tree ahead, its trunk about as thick as Ethan’s arm.
Half in doubt, Ethan swung his stone axe at it.
Clack!
The axe bounced straight back, leaving only a shallow white mark on the bark. Pearl was right — this wood was absurdly tough.
It took a tremendous effort just to chop down a few thick branches. He dragged them back to the riverbank and began shaping them.
"Moo-moo, moo-moo-moo!"
"He says be careful, meow."
It took every last ounce of Ethan’s strength to whittle the stubborn White Ironwood down to size. He removed the broken handle from the stone axe and fitted the new wood securely into place.
[Combat Stone Axe]
[An axe made from stone, wood, and leather cords. In combat, it can deal massive damage to enemies.]
[Crafting Difficulty: ★★]
"Hmm..."
"What’s wrong, meow?"
"It still feels like it’s missing something," Ethan muttered, examining the heavy weapon.
Since he was doing the job, he might as well do it right. He looked the axe over carefully — and his eyes lit up. The blade was far too dull. A stone axe was a blunt-force weapon by nature, but a sharper edge would still mean more lethality.
He immediately began searching along the riverbank.
"This will do." Ethan picked up a flat, rough stone with a satisfied smile.
"Meow, this one is good too, meow. And that piece over there, meow." Pearl helped him dig up a few more suitable whetstones.
Ethan carried them back to the shelter and patiently began grinding the axe’s edge.
[Well-crafted Combat Stone Axe]
[An axe made from stone, wood, and leather cords. In combat, it can deal massive damage to enemies. The blade has been meticulously polished, making it far sharper than an average stone axe.]
[Well-crafted: Attack power increased.]
[Well-crafted: Durability increased.]
[Crafting Difficulty: ★★]
’Now it’s perfect.’
Ethan nodded and handed the weapon back. The Minotaur took it, eyes lighting up brilliantly, and said in an excited voice, "Thank you!"
"You can speak my language?" Ethan asked in shock.
"You helped him fulfill his wish, so now he can understand what you’re saying, meow!" Pearl explained.
That made a strange kind of sense. Ethan smiled at him. "Hello. My name is Ethan."
"I am Draugor! Pleased to meet you!" Draugor grasped Ethan’s hand in his own massive one.
"There are a lot of other things in our village that need repairing. Can you help me fix them? I will pay you handsomely!"
"Pay?"
"As much hay as you want!"
"...Is there anything besides hay?"
"How about items that humans can use? They’re a bit old, but still perfectly usable!"
"Items humans can use?" Now that piqued Ethan’s interest. He currently owned nothing in this world. Proper human tools would be an absolute godsend.
"Alright!"
"It’s a deal!"
It didn’t take long for Draugor to return from his village.
"...When you said a lot, I didn’t expect you meant this much." Ethan sighed at the veritable mountain of broken tools piled in front of him.
Seven broken stone axes. Six shattered stone hammers. A pair of leather pants with a massive hole in them. Several torn leather bags.
"I certainly wouldn’t make you work for nothing. Look at this!" Draugor set a heavy wooden chest down in front of him.
Ethan and Pearl popped the lid and peered inside. A heavy bag of iron nails, a sturdy iron crowbar, a large iron cauldron, and—
An iron hammer sized for human hands!
[Legendary Grade — Hammer of Gaia]
[A divine hammer imbued with the will of Gaia, Goddess of the Earth. Gaia injected her own will into this tool, bestowing a powerful blessing upon the crafter who wields it.]
[Performance of crafted items increased.]
[Crafting efficiency increased.]
[Crafted and produced items have a chance to gain extra effects.]
"Meow! We definitely didn’t lose out on this trade, meow!" Pearl yelled excitedly.
A Legendary-grade crafting artifact.
’You call this not losing out?!’
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