Chapter 84: Artisan

The Notification was bright, wide and at the same time a source of small joy and victory for Kael. Because it wasn’t only proof of what he has done, but testamant to his effort in creating something for the first time in this tower.

[You are the first to create an item of [Rare] rarity in the first floor of the tower!]

[Congratulations! You have created [Journeyman’s Leather Jacket- Incomplete]]

[You have obtained the title [Artisan]]

+5 Dex

[Your title Tinkerer had upgraded to [Craftsman]]

+2 Dex +2 STR

The sudden change of his body made him almost drop the hammer.

It wasn’t as violent as the first time he’d been force-fed stats, no bone-rearranging hell like the rabbit’s “gift”, but it still hit like a wave. Muscles tightened. Joints felt momentarily too small for the strength that filled them. His fingers twitched around the handle of the hammer as if they had to relearn their grip.

He steadied himself with a slow inhale, then exhaled through his nose.

The rewards were good.

He could feel why the hammer was legendary. Brokk’s hammer was interesting in that way. It didn’t just help you create, it corrected your roughness, upgraded your intent, turned a crude attempt into something closer to what it could have been if you weren’t learning this on a broken desk in an underground ruin.

Though you still had to put in the work.

Kael smiled as he was satisfied with the finished product. But the [Incomplete] part on it was a bit distracting, like a small insult slapped onto his success.

So he inspected the jacket.

[Journeyman’s Leather Jacket]

+10% resistance to Cold.

+10% resistance to pierce damage.

A leather jacket made from superior materials, which were meant to create [Basilisk Leather Armor]. Though the original work was crude, it was very innovative and a different approach to the normal methods of creating items in the tower. Only after several attempts at enhancing it did it come out far better than it was ever meant to be. However, it is lacking something to make it complete.

***

“I see…” Kael thought, and his eyes flicked back to the material pile as the answer formed in his head with annoying clarity.

The part where it says heat-resistant… that was missing.

And he realized a bit too late how to fix it.

“I forgot about the scales…” Kael muttered, rubbing his forehead with the heel of his palm. “The leather itself is good and all, but it’s not enough to give it its protective ability.”

He picked up one of the obsidian scales. It was cool to the touch, unnaturally so, like it held onto the memory of darkness even down here. He had a good amount from the Black Basilisk, but sixty-eight scales were not nearly enough for the whole jacket. They were finger-sized, and coating a jacket, front, back, sleeves, would require far more. A proper scale armor needed overlap, coverage, and density.

Which brought him to another issue.

“How the hell am I going to stick these on leather now…”

He sighed, rolling the scale between his fingers. It felt like glassy stone, yet tougher. Sharp at the edges. He imagined it embedded into the jacket, making it heavier, more protective, but also stiffer. He didn’t have proper adhesive. No resin, no glue, no rivets.

He placed one on the back of the jacket and stared at it for a moment.

“Maybe…” he thought, and it wasn’t optimism so much as stubborn experimentation. “That’ll work.”

He picked up Brokk’s hammer and, as light as possible, tapped on the scale, fearing it might break like the claw from before.

The hammer struck.

And the scale dug in, fixedly and firmly into the leather.

Not tearing it. Not cracking. Just embedding, like the leather softened for the scale and then hardened around it. Kael blinked hard, then tried to remove it with his fingernail. His nail chipped at the side instead, a tiny flake coming off the scale, but the scale itself stayed locked in place.

A wide smile spread across his face, slow and genuine. “I guess I can manage then.”

He began affixing the scales neatly, slowly, paying attention to overlap and placement. He worked from the center outward, like laying tiles. Each tap seated a scale. Each tap made the jacket look less like leather and more like something made to resist teeth and flame.

Time went by in quiet labor, the hum of the boxes and the faint buzz of old electricity keeping him company like a broken lullaby.

Sadly, however, he was barely done with the backside when he realized he was at the last scale left.

His hand hovered over the jacket, scale pinched between fingers, and the disappointment hit like a dull thud.

It was unfortunate that he only had enough for one side. Both arms and the front chest were still void of scales, and that compromised the protectiveness of the jacket. A hit to the front would still pierce leather. A fire blast would still cook him through the gaps.

Kael stared at the remaining materials, then at the hatchling scales.

Turning to inferior material was the obvious move. The hatchling scales were of similar size, but softer and more malleable. He could use them to supplement the front side.

But it would look awkward.

The hatchling scales were a dark shade of green, while the adult’s were pitch obsidian. It would be obvious at a glance, like wearing mismatched armor. Worse, it might mean mismatched properties. If the hatchling scales weren’t properly fire-resistant, then all he’d be doing was adding weight and false confidence.

“How can I use these now?” he thought, jaw tightening. “Are they even resistant to fire in this form?”

Then his eyes narrowed, and the answer came with a grim little spark.

Suddenly, he realized.

’I have a way to test that, don’t I?’

His mind went to the Fire Rune, which sat calmly inside his inventory.

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