Tough choice

Lucas returned to the Shelter with the fibers in tow. He wasn't sure if it was enough but it didn't matter as getting more was very easy if what he was doing is correct.

John and the others tried to talk with him but he only shushed them with seriousness. Lucas did not want to waste even a single second.

Using the plant fiber, Lucas demonstrated the process of turning the raw material into usable threads. He showed them how to twist and weave the fibers together to create strong cords which only took about 3 minutes.

When the first one was done, it looked like the ropes used on ships that sail the seas only a little smaller than those ones. Lucas gave it some stretching and it didn't seem to break.

"Looking for something strong to start with was a good idea. Now comes the time of the judgment." Lucas left the group behind near the gate of the defenses and went inside the shelter.

In the corner, he clicked at the blue dot and was baffled by what he saw.

"Oh my god! It worked! Fuck yeah!"

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Shelter

Rare- Level 1

2nd Upgrade requirement- 500 planks, 80/80 kg stone, 2/10 Life cores- common quality, 1/90 Plant fiber rope

Defense Upgrade requirement- 100 planks, 2.5/30 kg stone, 1/5 life cores- common quality, 50 Plant fiber rope, 3 Poison Plant(common quality)- optional

Skills- Landlord (rare- level 1), military power (rare- level 1)

Members- 6/10

Description- A Small yet finely built shelter in the middle of a forest. Capable of protecting against blizzards, rainfall, and solar radiation.

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Lucas almost jumped with happiness, the others did not know why but one thing was clear, something good had happened.

Lucas beamed with excitement as he shared the good news with the rest of the group. They gathered around him, curious to know what had caused his sudden burst of joy. He recited them the updated information on the Shelter's status.

"The fiber rope is a success!" Lucas exclaimed, pointing to the description. "Now I just have to make 89 more of these."

The group erupted into cheers and applause, thrilled by the progress they were making. Sarah, wearing a wide smile, couldn't contain her curiosity and asked, "Woah! That is a good thing... What more do you need to upgrade the shelter?"

Lucas took a moment to read through the requirements once again before responding, "Stone is done, planks.... we got nothing, Wait... 2 Mana cores?" Lucas stopped at the mana cores that he hadn't noticed before.

The count of the mana cores was at two when he only had one inside the shelter. But realization stuck quickly when he jerked his face toward a certain dead body inside the shelter.

"Now what? Gosh, your reactions are too dramatic..." Sean said from the back but Lucas didn't care.

"Well, the corpse of the Kobold has a mana core somewhere inside it. Why don't you come to help me open it up?" Lucas said while giving the guy a sarcastic grin.

Sean's eyes twitched when he heard it and looked at the damn thing on the ground.

"W-Whatever, I gotta help Barney with his skill... I will be outside with him!" Sean went out where his Brother was with quick steps which got a shook of a head from his mother.

"Sorry about him Lucas, tell me how I can assist you," John said while scratching the back of his head.

The more Lucas remained with John, the more he came to like the guy, he was very helpful and was the most sensible person aside from his parents.

"Yeah, I will help too," Sarah said.

"Yeah, I will stay here too, and if you want to butcher this thing, it will not be right if you make a mess here where we sleep," Ella said from the side.

"Oh! Good point." Lucas took ahold of the Kobold's hand and dragged it outside the shelter.

Lucas was going to stop at the entrance but John took the Kobold's legs and told him to go out the defenses which Lucas didn't deny.

The four of them went outside quickly and finally stopped near a small clearing just a few steps further.

"If we are doing this, we might as well take everything that is valuable for us," John said and crouched down, he had his spear in his shirt's back with the spearhead high above his head.

"Valuable?" Ella asked with confusion, whenever she saw the Kobold, she could only think that the thing was an abomination and had to be burned so that they could not see it again.

"Yeah, Lucas talked about getting this thing's nails and teeth or something."

Ella and Sarah looked at him with a frown but it changed after a second. Lucas could still feel their judging looks but he did not care about it.

"The mana core can be anywhere, I found the first one inside the mouth of the Rapacious plant, it was glowing." Lucas took the axe head out of his pocket and tried to figure out the first place to mangle.

"How about starting with the heart and head?"

"Yeah but is the heart at the same place as us humans?"

"... We can only try," John said and took the axe head from his pocket too. He continued, "Okay, I will check the head and you check the heart."

Lucas nodded and took a deep breath. He looked at John's eyes but surprisingly, they were only serious with no wavering emotions.

Before anyone could react, John used all his force and bashed the sharp end of the spearhead at the Kobold's forehead.

BANG!

The axe head went inside the skull breaking in only one strike, blood started oozing out of the skull, and some whitish lumps which were obviously the brain matter.

Sarah kept a hand on her mouth which was bloated, she was going to vomit but suppressed it. Even Barney and Sean who were looking couldn't help but avert their gazes.

Lucas noticed everyone's faces after looking at the brain matter oozing out rapidly after John took the axe head out which was inches deep inside the skull.

While Sarah, Sean, and Barney were disgusted while John had a serious face. Ella kept looking at Lucas and John and then the Kobold with a concerned face.

'Why do I feel normal?' Lucas asked in his mind that he wanted to say out loud desperately but felt that they all would look at him as a dangerous individual with no emotions, a freak so he didn't bother. At the end, he decided to make a fake frown.

"Well, do not bother with getting the heart, the work's done I think."

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Thank you for reading the chapter!

120 Power stones= 3 Bonus chapters!---61/120