Master Of None

”Midnight, If you use your claws to cut so close to the beck you will get the feathers covered in blood. That will make them heavier or lighter. I would prefer not to have to wash them. Cut about an inch lower. That will be perfect to help pull the feathers and skin off in one motion later.” Gil had been teaching Midnight how to best defeather and deskin the tearing hawks.

After using his knives, he had found that they were tougher than he had realized. Gil had received new daggers, upgraded his armor, and even his bow at one point. But he had neglected his skinning knife set that he used while hunting, it made him feel foolish since it was one of his main tool sets as an archer.

”I will be back in a few minutes. I want to take a walk to the armory or maybe even the blacksmiths that came with us on the ship. I need sharper skinning knives.” Midnight just growled slightly in acceptance. She didn’t have to communicate any real words, it was the same when someone nodded or grunted acknowledgment to another’s words.

Moving through the ship was much easier than Gil had imagined. When he had received the tour he had thought it would be a complicated mess of dwarven creations. This was mainly because he had seen how complicated the blueprints were for the dwarven golems, some of which were impossible for him to understand in the first place.

Yet now, he was easily moving through the well labeled paths toward the armory that was housed in the center of the ship. This was also right next to the small forge that had been created to make parts if the ship broke in any way. That was the main focus of the forge.

While in the ocean, there were many things that could go wrong. Many sailors had created a list of the biggest issues they had faced or heard of. Some even described events of having to create makeshift parts to ensure that they were able to get back to their homes. This was the disadvantage of easily broken wooden ships. Yes, they were faster because they were lighter, but they could break.

The ship that had been created out of feather steel and other unique materials had taken some time to build. If it wasn’t for the dwarves it would have been over a year to create one. But the skilled building from the dwarves more than sped the building up to only weeks. It truly showcased their collective focus as a race.

Even more so, it showed their adaptability to new ideas and blueprints. The dwarves had created a ship that covered the flaws of previous wooden ships while also taking in to account the issues a metal ship would have. But Gil could only praise them in his mind so much before he found himself in the larger main hallway that connected the forge and the armory.

”Come for a new weapon already? Or having a repair? It’s too soon to have damaged something but monsters are monsters.” The dwarf that came to meet Gil was clearly one that was in charge of the area. He had an aura of confidence that made it seem he knew where every nail and screw was on the entire ship.

”Actually, I released a flaw I had. I have an old tool set for skinning. I was going to make some arrows in my downtime. But…”

”They can’t cut through the monsters you are hunting. I see the issue. I can provide a new set easily. It’s something a lot of people forget about. By choice or by accident. Sentimentality and all that about their old tools.” This seemed to be a common thing for any forge employee to run in to with clients.

”Exactly, I thought they would just be fine but it’s not something I thought would be an issue when I left home. I might have been forcing them to work for a while now.” The looks of the blades had become dull and chipped in a few places. Anyone could see that Gil has used them diligently.

”Come and get a new set.” The forge that he was brought through showed Gil another level of genius. There were many tools that were set up on the walls to preserve space. They were locked in place as well with metal clasps. The forge itself was part of the wall to keep it from moving under any weather or attack. Same with the anvils. They had been built right in to the floor making them immovable under any circumstance. It would prevent any shifting which in turn would cause injuries.

From there, the large armory was all too impressive. Metal racks were anchored to the floor holding many basic weapons. Swords, shields, small spears, and even assorted bows. There were even some more advanced unique weapons that were definitely made for some of the more specialized soldiers.

”Here is the knife kit you need. I will take the old one for repurposing unless you need it?” Gil hesitated before shaking his head.

”No, I will keep it. This is the one that my father gave me. If I can have it refurbished so I can keep it in the family, that would be great.” The dwarf smiled and grabbed the kit. He waved for another to take it and gave the orders.

”If you need anything else feel free to ask. We have some arrow making materials here as well.” The dwarf left Gil to collect the odds and ends materials that he might need. It was the least he could do for someone that would be providing arrows to the archers. The dwarves were not as good at making arrows as the elves and there were only so many elven arrow makers on the skip.

”Midnight! You did great!” by the time that Gil returned to Midnight, he found that he had more than put in the work. She had managed to cut every place that Gil had shown her. This was the best way for him to speed up his arrow making process.

”Now watch me work.” The slight nod from Midnight was all Gil needed to show off. He knew she had worked hard and had to show off his skills.

Gil’s hands moved in a somewhat elegant fashion. He was precisely pulling feathers and fully removing the skin from the tearing falcons. Their meat was exposed and cut off in a single motion. It was something that only a trained hunter could do.

The two were so absorbed by the work that they didn’t even realize an hour had passed them by. But what was left was a perfect breakdown of the tearing falcons. Bones were lined up to be used in making arrows while the other bones set aside to be sent to the blacksmiths the feathers had been sorted by their colors. The beaks were going to be used to make unique weapons for the tamers since some had monsters that incorporated other monsters body parts in to their physiology as armor. It was all going to have a use.

”Now the real question is, what can I do with these poison affected feathers? The purple will have some decent damaging potential if the arrow can pierce through an enemy. But they definitely can soak in poison and drip it down the arrow shaft.” This was a harder technique to use but Gil was willing to try it.

”Poison?” Midnight’s question was what Gil was waiting for.

”You know how we have so many of the purple bank frogs? Well, their poison should work in tandem with the purple feathers. If I make it correctly with Remey’s help we can use it to deter or scare off monsters in our path. It will be better than fighting some. We just need to find a poison that works with the yellow feathers.” Gil had returned to wonder what the yellow feathers could be signaling. The curiosity of what monster had caused the tearing falcons to grow yellow feathers rose yet again.

”We’ll go meet brother!” This was all Midnight seemed to gather from what Gil had said. But she wasn’t wrong. Gil needed to see Remey and Walker to keep moving forward after had created the arrows properly. They would still be usable and decent arrows but without the poison of the monsters that matched them, they would be less effective. Gil could only hope that he would be able to find all the necessary materials.

”Alright, let’s go and see how they are doing.” The pair cleaned up their mess and made way for the alchemy lab. Gil was also curious about how the antidotes were going.

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