Chapter 24: Stone Spheres
Understanding the risk he could cause by acting impulsively, and because of his actions, even though it didn't go further because Akane stopped him, he indeed made Kushina sad by giving her hope to do something she thought was cool.
'I need to make it up to her,' he thought.
Kushina was a cute and lively little girl with a free spirit. Although shy with strangers, she could be quite brave.
Thinking about what could make her happy, he recalled a specific scene of a little girl who was very happy to receive a pair of roller shoes.
Of course, he understood that the use of sneakers was not common in this ninja world.
The more common footwear resembled ninja sandals, called "tabi."
As Akane suggested, before starting to try to make this, he thought about the impact it could cause. Could the creation of sneakers bring any problems?
It didn't take long for him to consider the impact and he didn't see any real negative points, although the introduction of sneakers could be seen as a disrespect to ninja traditions and existing culture.
However, it wasn't that serious and the chances of that happening were minimal. At first, there might be some strangeness, but he saw a positive possibility. Although there might be initial resistance from more traditional ninjas or villages that value ancestral practices, he wasn't commercializing this as a product.
Moreover, the advantages were greater, such as: well-designed sneakers would provide greater comfort and support for children's developing feet, helping them move more easily and safely. They would offer better protection against uneven terrain and sharp objects, important for children's safety. They would be more durable, reducing the frequency of shoe replacements.
There was also the chance that if the sneakers he made for Kushina became popular, they could influence other children to want to wear them, creating a new trend.
After thinking this way, he first wanted to level up the skill, 'Fabrication.' To do this, he was in the room Akane had created for him. Full of seals and a well-crafted formation so that when he entered the dungeons it wouldn't raise suspicion, he didn't open the dungeon itself, but used this room to build ammunition.
In his inventory, there were fifteen slots occupied with 99 stones of similar sizes.
Taking out the first 99, which created a small pile of stones in front of him, Tanaka picked one up and, closing his eyes, he used 'Fabrication' with the intention of reducing its size.
"Tuh, Tuhh!"
Gradually, the stone began to compress, taking on a spherical shape.
It took only 3 seconds for him to succeed, as it was not an elaborate creation.
Holding the sphere, which was approximately the size of a ping pong ball, Tanaka saw the specifications.
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[Stone Sphere - Rank D.]
[Created by Tanaka Uzumaki, The Gamer.]
[A sphere made from common stone.]
Damage: 50
Durability: 50/50
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Previously, the stone had a damage of 10, but now, it increased to 50. Whether the usage was better or even the damage increased.
Smiling, Tanaka had an idea. Grabbing some wood, he used Fabrication to construct a large wooden bucket and placed the first stone inside the wooden bucket.
74 minutes and 15 seconds later...
There were three large wooden buckets, two with 500 stone spheres each and another with 485.
Placing the two buckets with 500 units each into two inventory slots, the rest occupied 5 more slots.
This way, it was more practical to retrieve from the inventory later.
Opening the skill page, he saw the result of the constant creation of stone spheres.
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[[Manufacturing] (Active) LV9 EXP: 73.33% / 9MP]
[Effect: 90% success rate in creating something useful]
Additional effects: Significant reduction in manufacturing time.
Additional effects: Increased quality of created items.
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Tanaka thought: 'This is the first skill that, instead of decreasing MP usage, increased MP consumption.' (He did not notice the difference in MP expenditure simply because his MP recharge was greater than the amount he used, making no difference if it was 1MP before and now 9MP)
Of course, this also means that each level increases the quality of items by using more MP in the creation and decreases the manufacturing time. These two additional effects speak for themselves...
No wonder the latest stone spheres he created had some special effects. For example, the last one he created:
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[Stone Sphere - Rank D+.]
[Created by Tanaka Uzumaki, The Gamer.]
[A sphere made from common stone.]
Damage: 150
Special Effect: 10% chance to stun the enemy for 2 seconds on hit.
Durability: 100/100
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'Honestly, for a simple stone to change so much and become something like this...' His lips curved into a smile: 'It's beyond what I imagined creating, and it's a result of the Fabrication skill being at level 9...'
So far, he hadn't seen a limit for a skill that could level up. Only those that he gained already at the maximum level.
If the limit is 50 or even 100... How incredible could a skill become?
His thoughts were interrupted when he saw someone open the door.
"Akane-san?" Tanaka seemed confused by her arrival.
"I knocked on the door, but you didn't answer." She entered and closed the door before continuing: "I thought you had gone to the other dimension again."
Her subtle way of saying this only when even the house walls couldn't hear made Tanaka happy.
Now, the irritating feeling he had from telling her, even just a little, was gone.
"Ohh, I was thinking about something and didn't notice..." He replied.
"I figured." She smiled: "Are you free? I can teach you a bit until 7 PM."
"Of course, I'd be happy to accept." Tanaka stood up.
Then, Akane approached him with a simple jump.
Tanaka had to close his eyes when he saw the enormous pair of mounds that were undeniable even with her winter clothes covering her entire body.
The fact that Akane thought he was a bit cute for acting like this was a secret.
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January 14th, Sunday. Heavy snow.
When he woke up to the constant notifications from the clones who trained all night, Tanaka, who was already used to it, especially with the negative effects fading as he woke up, stretched as he sat up in bed and soon got up.
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[You gained 4 VIT for continuously doing sit-ups]
[You gained 5 DEX for continuously doing squats]
[You gained 4 INT for continuously reading a book]
[You gained 4 VIT for continuously running]
[You gained 5 STR for continuously doing push-ups]
[You gained 1 WIS for continuously having wise ideas]
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Closing all the improvement lines that appeared on his retina, Tanaka went to the bathroom.
It was only 5 AM, and Akane and Kushina were still asleep.
After taking care of his morning needs, he left the bathroom and went to the training room.
In the room, Tanaka extended his hand into the air and murmured softly: 'Create Dungeon.'
After selecting the first option, the dungeon domain expanded.