Bending to loot the corpse, he received twenty klax – about average for monsters of that level.  Though the world’s trading currencies remained as they had been pre-assimilation, rewards for kills and completed quests, as well as payments for items sold on the open market, were paid in klax.

The creature also yielded four pieces of octopoid hide, ten barbed hooks, and two octopoid eyes.  The hide could be used for crafting armor or weapons, or so the description said.  So far Allistor had not met anyone who had learned much about crafting.  The hooks would make good fish hooks.  And he had no idea what to do with the eyes.  But he dutifully put all the items in his pack, his gaming experience telling him that as long as he had room for it, he should take it all.  Even if the eyes were useless for crafting, they might make a tasty cooking ingredient or good bait for fishing.

Lifting his makeshift spear, he Examined it.  Examine was a skill he’d learned on day one of the stabilization.  He’d been staring at one of the creatures that roamed the street outside when suddenly an information block appeared on his interface, along with a notification that he’d learned Examination, Level 1.

Makeshift Iron Rebar Spear

Quality:  Common

Durability:  230/300

Damage:  300 piercing/100 blunt

Bonus damage:  100 tearing

The spear was heavy, and not an ideal weapon.  Even with his improved strength, he’d not be able to throw it far.  But it was a good heavy bludgeoning weapon.  Though the threads had roughed up his hands a bit as he’d pressed it into the ground.  An idea struck him.  Pulling one of the pieces of hide from his bag, he used his teeth to tear off a long strip.  He wrapped the hide tightly around the rebar near the butt end, where he’d held it.  Just as he was finishing the wrap and searching for something to tie it off with, the hide seemed to seal itself to the metal, and another notification popped up.

You have learned the crafting skill:  Weaponsmithing!

With this skill, you will be able to combine materials to create viable weapons.  Existing weapon schematics can be purchased on the open market, or from smiths at Journeyman level or higher.  You have earned additional skill points for creating a viable weapon from scratch using makeshift components you found lying around and a little creative thinking.

Allistor blinked a few times as he read the prompt, then he stared at the spear in his hand.  The description hadn’t changed, but now with the new skill, he could conceive of ways that the weapon might be improved by further sharpening the point, tempering the metal, sharpening the threads to increase tearing damage, and adding a weighted butt cap for smash damage.

“Holy shit!”  He did a little dance as he held the spear at arm’s length.  “I can make weapons!”

*****