To The Beat

"I want to make a drum for you," Shi Li said to Moddy as he now had a good idea on how Moddy's manipulation of world energy worked.

What Moddy would do every time it used a technique that needed world energy was that it would absorb a small amount of world energy around its surroundings and then condense it over one of its paws. Depending on the technique used, the color of the condensed world energy changes. In the end though, Moddy taps the energy covered paw on the ground and then the energy would travel at the direction of the enemy.

Now how does this work? Where does it travel? Contrary to what normally people could see, the energy whenever Moddy taps on the ground conducts through the air rather than the ground. This is because the energy disperses over a large area when on the ground rather than in air wherein Moddy could condense this energy to a small point where it's invisible.

Not only that, the sound created from tapping also helps out in the propagation of the energy as it is akin to the wave surfboards use to travel, the energy uses the sound wave to travel towards the enemy.

As to how Shi Li found it out, it was because he would stay by Moddy's side even when they were not fighting. Moddy thought it was Shi Li's way of bonding, so it didn't refuse at all. In the end, it's a positive misunderstanding.

"A drum?" Moddy tilted its head. "What's that nya?"

"Uh..." Shi Li didn't expect Moddy to ask a question that had an obvious answer, but then he remembered that Moddy was always inside the forest for all its life. Pondering for a bit, Shi Li replied, "It's a musical instrument that allows you to make loud sounds."

"Musical instrument..." Moddy closed its eyes as it could feel something in its heart coming out. It didn't hurt at all as the thing that came out started to circulate all over its body, making Moddy open its eyes that now exuded an understanding gaze.

"I see nya," Moddy nodded. "I want to see what this drum looks like."

Shi Li nodded and then gestured Moddy to follow him as he had to collect multiple items to create a drum using the materials found within the forest.

As he was walking to find items, he remembered in his previous life about a person who always took a video of themselves as they tried to make items using only things found in nature. At the moment, Shi Li felt like he was that person.

...

"What is the hardest wood within this forest?" As Shi Li and Moddy continued to walk, Shi Li asked this question.

"Nya..." Moddy pondered for a bit before replying, "That would be Ruin Forest Wood nya. But it's only found in the center of the forest where Spirit Beasts are aplenty nya."

Hearing the phrase 'Spirit Beast', Shi Li shivered a bit before continuing onwards, settling for a tree that was larger in width compared to others.

He gripped on Sundering Flame tightly and slashed twice on the tree, one at the middle if the trunk and one around half a meter below the first cut.

Of course, Shi Li utilized the Flame Slash technique in order to create a quick and smooth cut. He then went closer to the tree and punched the top part of the trunk which made it fall down, making a large sound that scared multiple beasts in the area.

He picked up the half meter piece of wood and continued onward, leaving the surprise Moddy got for later.

...

After obtaining the half meter piece of wood, he then searched for a tree that had a higher hardness than the half meter piece of wood he had so he could make wooden nails to affix the beast skin to the top part of the drum later.

"Aha!" After an hour or so, he finally found a tree that fit his qualifications as he knocked on the half meter piece of wood he had and then the trunk of the tree in front of him. Instead of cutting the trunk again like what Moddy expected, he instead grabbed a few decently sized branches from the tree before grabbing a somewhat flat rock not far away from the tree where he grabbed the branches.

Looking at the items he currently held, he nodded as he looked at Moddy.

"Let's go back to the clearing, I'm going to make the drum now."

...

Shi Li closed his eyes as he tried to remember the basic shape of the drum he would always see in his previous life. After a moment of recalling, he opened his eyes and headed towards the flat rock with Sundering Flame being gripped tightly by one hand.

"Hah!"

Using the Flame Slash technique, Shi Li cut the flat rock at an angle from the side, turning the flat rock into a stone chisel from one end. He then cut a handle on the other end of the rock, making it a somewhat usable stone chisel.

Afterwards, Shi Li went towards the half meter piece of wood he cut from a tree with the stone chisel on his right hand. Sundering Flame was already placed on his back.

Before he continued on working on the half meter piece of wood, he hastily ran towards the wooden house he made and retrieved the Wooden War Hammer. Since he had a hammer, although it's incredibly large, why not put it to good use?

Shi Li then went in front of the half meter piece of wood with the stone chisel on his right hand and the Wooden War Hammer on his left. He positioned the end of the stone chisel at an angle before using all of his strength to hammer at the other end of the stone chisel.

Bang!

Although a loud sound was heard after Shi Li hammered the stone chisel into the wood, only a small part of the stone chisel pierced into the wood. Shi Li pulled the stone chisel out of the wood and then aimed at another part of the wood. Lo and behold, after about an hour or so, a large pit was constructed inside the piece of wood, with the rim having a decent enough girth to hold the wooden nails from the branches he retrieved.

Shi Li then stood up and looked at the pile of Rank 2 Beast carcasses they had and chose a random one out of the pile. He then grabbed Sundering Flame and skinned the beast carcass, leaving a somewhat flexible piece of beast skin he could use as a replacement for the batter head.

He washed the beast skin multiple times with water from the nearby stream before placing the beast skin over the pit. Without any delay, he then used the wooden nails he made from branches to affix the beast skin over the pit.

A few minutes later, a somewhat crude drum appeared in front of both Shi Li and Moddy's eyes.

Bang! Bang!

Shi Li flicked his fingers on the batter head made out of beast skin and became satisfied with the results.

Moddy looked at the drum with excitement before hearing Shi Li say...

"Go ahead and try it."