Chapter 13: Crafting
Arriving in front of a large tree, Shawn opened his system and found the melee tools section.
[Stone Axe: Quality 1]
Crafting Materials Required: Small Stone x2, Plant Fibers x2, Wood x2
Crafting Time: 00:01
Melee Damage: 6
Block Damage: 22
Durability: 250
Uses: Harvest resources, butcher corpses, repair blocks, upgrade blocks
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A [Stone Axe]. Although it was the most basic craftable item, it was the most frequently used melee tool in the world of '7 Days to Die'. With this axe, as long as he had enough resources, Shawn could build a steel fortress from scratch right where he stood. Of its four uses, aside from butchering corpses, every single one was extremely useful.
Now that the camp's location was temporarily settled, Shawn decided to craft the [Stone Axe].
After searching the nearby woods for three minutes, he found all the materials needed for a Quality 1 [Stone Axe].
"Two small stones, two handfuls of weeds, and two broken sticks. Who would have thought this junk could create a stone axe as useful as a divine weapon?" Shawn laughed, putting all the materials into his system inventory.
He thought the word: "Craft."
The sound of turning gears followed, but it stopped after just a moment. Then, in Shawn's hand, a rather crude-looking [Stone Axe] appeared.
He held it in his hands, examining it closely. The [Stone Axe] wasn't as shabby as it first appeared. The axe head was smooth and flat; no wonder one of its functions was butchering animal carcasses.
Musing to himself, Shawn gripped the handle with both hands, got into a proper stance, and swung using the power of his waist! The axe head embedded itself squarely in the 30-centimeter-diameter tree trunk. With just one swing, a sixth of the trunk was chipped away.
"The harvesting mechanic is the same as in the game!"
Shawn was delighted. He swung the axe five more times in quick succession, and with a rustling crash, the tree fell to the ground. At the same time, 35 block-shaped pieces of wood of the same size suddenly appeared in his system Inventory.
"Is the amount of wood determined by the size of the tree I cut down…?" Shawn mused, figuring things out.
As the tree was harvested, a '+35 XP' notification appeared in the bottom right of his vision. In the world of '7 Days to Die', it wasn't just killing walkers that gave experience points; some gathering actions did as well, though the amount of XP was far less than that from killing walkers.
Having roughly understood the mechanics, Shawn didn't linger and continued swinging his axe at the next tree. Although trees of different sizes yielded different amounts of wood and XP, a thicker tree would require more swings of the [Stone Axe] and thus more stamina. So, Shawn didn't discriminate and felled about ten nearby trees.
Wiping a thin layer of sweat from his forehead, Shawn looked at the 352 pieces of wood stacked in his system inventory. He opened the [Traps] tab and looked at the first one.
[Wood Spikes Trap]
Crafting Materials Required: 20 Wood
The Wood Spike Trap is your first and most essential line of defense. It can slow enemies and cause damage.
When damaged, it can be repaired with wood or forged iron.
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"350 pieces of wood can make 17 spike traps. That should be enough."
Shawn put the stone axe back in his inventory, raised his hand, and with a tap in the air, a pile of crisscrossing wooden barricades appeared in front of him with a crackle. The wood on the top and bottom was sharpened into spikes, enough to pierce flesh.
This kind of defense wasn't very useful against humans, but for stopping walkers, it was perfect. The spike traps would buy time for a sleeping Shawn and the others, at least preventing walkers from sneaking up on them silently.
After making the spike traps, Shawn checked the time.
"It's still early. If I go back with the traps now, it'll be hard to explain…"
Shawn decided to put the traps back in his inventory for now and wander through the woods for a while.
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A beam of sunlight pierced through the tall trees, shining on Shawn's sweaty face. The temperature had now risen, no longer as cool as it was in the morning, causing his clothes to be completely soaked with sweat. But there was no sign of fatigue on his face; instead, it was filled with satisfaction.
'Schlick—'
He lifted the horse bone club from the head of the walker at his feet. Brains and bloody skull fragments mixed together with a viscous, rustling sound.
In a field of view only he could see, a familiar golden light flashed from his body. A cheerful background music, filled with a sense of ease and joy, faintly played in his ears.
At this moment, Shawn's panel was as follows:
[Shawn]
Level: Lv. 6
Unused Skill Points: 2
Health: 106/106 (Base 100, +6 from levels)
Stamina: 30/106 (Slowly regenerating)
Food/Water: 48/106 (Continuously, slowly decreasing)
Feels Like: 85°F
Walkers Killed: 64
Status Effect: Hot, Fatigued (You need rest)
"Hah—" Shawn raised a hand to wipe away his sweat. "A full day's work, and a bountiful harvest."
This forest was a natural barrier, so finding and killing walkers wasn't as easy as in the city. But thanks to that, he had not been injured at all during his killing spree, and his health had remained full.
After a few deep breaths, Shawn's stamina slowly recovered from 30 to 60. Only then did he start heading back to the camp.
It was Shawn's first time deep in the forest, but he wasn't worried about getting lost at all. He just thought the word [Map], and an opaque map that only he could see unfolded before his eyes. The map's main color was green, representing the forest and grassland. A green icon made of joined squares represented the camp's location, which was currently about 1.2 kilometers away from him.
On the map, not too far to the north, the fog of war had been cleared, revealing the special terrain of a quarry and forest—the [Quarry Camp] he had just left. The map was clear from the [Quarry Camp] diagonally upwards, eventually connecting to Atlanta, the first place Shawn had been.
That was all the information on the [Map].
Putting the map away, Shawn shouldered his horse bone club and briskly headed back toward the camp.
By the time Shawn reached the Farm, the sky had already started to dim, and the woods were pitch black.
'Click—'
A sudden crisp sound made Daryl frown, his crossbow immediately aiming at the source of the noise. Without foolishly asking who it was, Daryl moved slowly, his center of gravity remaining constant. Shawn was certain that if he didn't speak up, Daryl would pull the trigger.
"It's me." His voice came first, and then Shawn walked out of the forest, his increasingly muscular torso illuminated by the lights from Hershel's house.
"You were gone when we woke up. You still weren't back when we returned from hunting. If you hadn't come out soon, we were about to go in and look for you," Daryl said, quietly lowering his crossbow. He tilted his head, carefully staring at the bloodstains on Shawn's shirt.
Following Daryl's gaze, Shawn patted his clothes. "It's nothing, just walker blood."
Then Shawn pointed to the forest behind him. "Give me a hand. I made some things in the woods. We can place them around the camp to prevent walkers from wandering in."
With the help of Daryl and Merle, the 17 'Wood Spike Traps' were placed around the tents, forming a rough triangle. The 'Wood Spike Traps' at the entrance were placed a little further out. Nearer to the camp, Shawn had fashioned a simple 'alarm' with his bare hands—several thin metal cans strung together. This way, even if a walker managed to get through their designated entrance, it would definitely make a sound and wake everyone up.