Chapter 4: Questing Time (pt.2)

Jogging around the Streets of Fontaine, Carman did not see any places he could do pullups without being interrupted by other people. There were places, such as the sites of recently abandoned development projects, however the Guardimeks patrolling the area to discourage squaters were a major problem. Eventually Carman decided to try to macgyver one. He looked around the city and eventually found a rusted metal pipe laying by several empty wooden crates which were waiting to be taken away.

Carman lined up two of the boxes and started slamming the metal pipe into the soft wood. Due to his childish strength, he didn't influct any significant damage to the crate but his strikes left dents on the edge of the wood that formed into grooves where the pipe could rest without rolling out.

Carman then, using substantial effort, stacked crates underneath the ones he would place the pipe on. Due to the size of the crates relative to him, he had to jump in order to reach the pipe.

Expecting to be able to do this exercise with no problem, Carman was shocked as his back mustles started straining and aching after the first pull up. Why is this so bloody difficult?

Carman had to push himself, falling from the pipe often from his grip failing. Eventually after taking a few breaks in between pullups, Carman made it to 5 pullups. "I guess that's why the required amount was much smaller than the push ups and other exercises." Carman said as he fell on his butt, exhausted and his back mustles screaming in pain.

-Ding-

[Quest complete: Complete a Workout Routine]

[Quest rewards are available, Generate? (Rewards can be postponed and received later in the [Quests] tab.)]

[Yes/No]

Carman clicked yes with no hesitation

[Generating rewards]

[Congratulations to host for receiveing 5 free stat points, 25 exp, 200 system points, selecting random E rank blueprint...

Host has received E rank Blueprint [Eight Inner Gates, Beginner Body Weights] check [Item Storage] for details.]

WTF !?! Thought Carman, seeing the blueprint he had drawn, the Eight Inner Gates was a powerful technique in the story of Naruto, with the last "gate" giving the user enough power to surpass most mortal restrictions on strength, however each gate came at different costs with the final one killing the user after use.

But there is no Chakra in this world, what the heck am I supposed to do with these? Carman thought remembering the scene.in Naruto where Rock Lee dropped his weights and caused major damage to a stadium from how heavy they were.

Opening his item storage, he pulled up information on the new blueprint.

[Item:

Type: Blueprint

Design: Eight Inner Gates, Beginner Body Weights

Description: a booklet containing notes on the production on wearable weights used by martial artists in the Elemental Nations to constantly train their muscles throughout the day. These notes contain instruction on how to create weights weighing 5 to 25 pounds.]

"Ok... That is surprisingly reasonable, I guess even Guy didn't start Lee with hundreds of pounds of weights at the start." Carman said after reading the description.

"Now I just need to create something to sell..." Carman came to a stop as he turned a corner and caught the view of a medium sized building. It was made of the same marble brick and brass trim as the other buildings on the front there was a sign saying "Leschots's clockwork workshop."

"Why is that here? And why is the workshop so small? When the traveler visits Fontaine the workshop is in a large building out on the main street." Carman stood looking at the workshop for a bit before an idea came to his head.

"Maybe that will work." Carman mutters to himself as he walked over to the workshop.

Entering the shop, Carman couldn't help but notice all of the toys on the shelves, some obvious repaired models from other shops, and a few which were wholly unique to the shop.

It's amazing being able to visit the insides of many of these buildings we see in the game. It's so surreal and trippy sometimes. Thought Carman as he passed by the shelves and went to the counter.

There was nobody behind the counter and apart from a few handwritten item lists a quill or two and a small brass bell the desk was otherwise bare.

I guess before the business boomed and was selling their own clockwork toys during the events of the game, they used to mostly do repairs and resell junked toys. Thought Carman as he pondered his next move

There are a few machines that I think could be made with the clockwork engineering here in Fontaine, several steam age machines come to mind. However I am more familiar with electric age tech, so I'll need someone to teach me the basics of gear based kinetic transmission.

Carman finalized the plan in his mind as he stood on his toes to reach the bell on the counter.

-ding a ling-

After Carman rang the bell, a young man dressed in a mixture of a merchant and workman's clothes came into view, his hair was slightly messy, he had small bags under his eyes and a fresh streak of oil along his jawline.

"Welcome to Leschots's Clockwork Workshop, my name is Livre, how can I help you today young man?"

Damn he looks really different from how he does in game too. If he hadn't said his name I wouldn't have recognized him. Thought Carman as he took in Livre's appearance.

Pretending to be a somewhat shy child, Carman carefully looked up at Livre.

"He-hello Monsieur Livre, my name is Ca-Carman"

After his initial introduction, Carman pretended to be a regular poor orphaned child living off of the streets. He mentioned that his birthday was around this time of year, and how he had wanted to get a toy for his birthday like other children did, but the amount of Mora he was able to gather wasn't enough to get anything from the other stores.

Livre, being a young man and toymaker who enjoyed seeing the smiles of the childen entertained by the toys he repaired or felt a pull on his heartstrings as he listened to Carman's tale. Carman offered to help Livre around the shop saying that before he was on the streets he was good at cleaning and organizing things, which was technically true as in his previous life he perfered to have things organized to the degree people often thought he had OCD. At first, Livre was hesitant about letting Carman help around the shop, not knowing the kid's origins and why he want in an orphanage raising some flags for him, but seeing Carman's pleading expression, he was willing to give him a chance.

-to be continued.