The three of them walked out of the woodshop in single file. The sun was shining, and a cool breeze brushed against their faces. Minccino bounced excitedly on William's shoulder, while Turtwig yawned lazily.
On the way, Oaknut began explaining as they walked. "The first lesson in becoming a carpenter is learning to maintain your own handsaw." He pulled a gleaming handsaw from the tool cart; its teeth glinted coldly in the sunlight. He suddenly handed the saw to William. "Here, this one's for you. Get a feel for it first."
William took the saw. The moment his hand touched the handle, a strange feeling rose within him, as if he were already accustomed to using such tools. It seemed this was another effect of his golden finger.
"Not bad."
William examined the saw from all angles. Suddenly, a prompt appeared before his eyes.
[Maple Handsaw: Equipped]
[Achievement Unlocked: Carpentry Apprentice]
A panel visible only to William popped up. No one else noticed anything. Oaknut continued his explanation. "When holding the saw, your index finger should run along the spine..."
William wasn't really listening anymore. His attention was completely focused on the information panel. This was his golden finger, which was supposed to display information about materials he gathered and items he processed himself. Now it had taken on a new form.
"Achievements... I see. I needed to 'apprentice' and then equip a beginner's tool to officially 'enter' the profession. Why didn't I realize it before? It's exactly like in the game!"
The information panel showed William's current profession, level, status, and experience bar.
[Carpenter: Level 3]
[Status: None]
[EXP: 50/630]
[Class Skill: Craftsmanship]
"The level didn't start at 1? Did I gain EXP from repairing the fence yesterday? That means I've probably gained levels in other professions too. Cooking should correspond to Culinarian, and that level is probably quite high already. It seems I need to find a way to get masters for all the professions to unlock them properly."
Learning more secrets of his golden finger filled William with excitement. He couldn't wait to get home and experiment. However, he needed to stay with Oaknut for now. The main purpose of this trip couldn't be forgotten—he still needed their help repairing the ranch's fences and Pokémon shed.
"Based on my experience from the game, the level cap should be 100. And this 'Craftsmanship' skill is the default starting skill in the game."
In that MMO, all crafting professions shared the same processing system. Essentially, the rules were similar to combat professions fighting monsters; it was about competing with numbers. As a crafter, the player had two important stats: Crafting Power and Control. By using various crafting abilities before the durability bar ran out, you had to maximize both the progress and the quality of the recipe to successfully complete the craft. William had personally leveled all crafting and gathering jobs to max in the game and understood these mechanics thoroughly.
However, in this Pokémon world, crafting things didn't seem that easy. You still had to use various techniques and make the items by hand, just like in reality, completely different from the point-and-click experience of the game. Of course, it might also be because William hadn't unlocked the profession before, so he was crafting in a skill-less state.
In any case, he definitely needed to try it out properly later.
Just as William was immersed in the excitement brought by his golden finger, he heard Oaknut raise his voice. "So? Did you remember everything I just said?"
William snapped back to reality and quickly nodded. "I remember. You hold it like this, right?" He instinctively adjusted his grip on the saw. It was like muscle memory; he didn't need to think, his hand moved on its own.
"Right, right, right! Woody, look closely! Why does he pick it up so quickly?"
Woody pursed his lips and muttered discontentedly, "He must have practiced secretly before..."
Oaknut gave Woody a light thump on the head. "Don't blame the path for being uneven when you can't walk straight."
As they talked, they arrived near the Miltank Ranch. Unlike Macaw Ranch, which was a general-purpose ranch, this Miltank Ranch lived up to its name, raising only Miltank. Calling it a ranch was a bit generous; it wasn't very large—just a three-story wooden house, a barn, a few Pokémon sheds, and a fenced-in area of land. The Miltank lived on a grassy field about the size of a sports field.
Mr. Bull had been waiting by his door for a long time. Seeing Oaknut and the others was like seeing saviors. "You're finally here!" He looked like he was about to cry, his tall, thin body resembling a tree about to snap in the wind. "My wife went out to deliver milk early this morning and still isn't back! You have to help me! Two more Miltank just got out through the broken part of the fence!"
Mr. Bull was famously afraid of Pokémon, terrified of even touching them. Oaknut quickly comforted him. The group pushed the tool cart around to the damaged section at the back of the ranch.
Wow! This couldn't just be called 'damaged'. A full meter-long section of the wooden fence had vanished! Judging from the broken ends, it seemed something had smashed through it from the inside out. The missing section was probably carried away by the force.
"This..." Oaknut observed for a moment and concluded, "Must have been smashed by a Miltank. Just how much resentment did it have to shatter the fence like this..." The distress was evident in Oaknut's eyes. After all, he was the one who had built this ranch's fence! Every post was his carefully crafted work!
"Anyway, could you please help me find the Miltank first! If my wife finds out, I'll..." Mr. Bull's face was full of terror. His voice grew softer and softer until it was as faint as a mosquito's whine. "Eek! Just... you have to save me!"
Oaknut reassured Mr. Bull, then instructed Woody and William to search the nearby area for the escaped Miltank while he stayed behind to start patching the fence.
"Okay." William and Woody looked at each other and spoke in unison.
Three Miltank had escaped. The two split up to search the village. William, along with Turtwig and Minccino, followed the village road, asking everyone they met. They soon found a trail: a path of flattened grass from rolling, with a few tufts of pink fur left behind—undoubtedly from Miltank.
Following the trail, William arrived at the small stream at the edge of the village. The water gurgled along. Two Miltank were soaking comfortably in the water, looking very content.
"Found them!" William breathed a sigh of relief and started to approach when he noticed a familiar figure crouched by the stream.
It was Woody!
He was sneakily throwing something into the water. The Miltank seemed attracted and were swimming slowly towards him.
"Woody?" William called out.
Woody jerked around in surprise. His hand trembled, and the whole packet fell into the stream. The next moment, the Miltank suddenly let out excited cries, diving into the water and splashing wildly.
"Oh no!" Woody's face fell. "That's concentrated Sweet Honey powder... putting too much in at once will..."
Before he could finish, one of the Miltank's eyes suddenly turned red, and it began to Roll frantically . Its high-speed spinning body churned the water, creating a small whirlpool that caught the other Miltank. Before the two boys could react, the two rolling Miltank had shot out of the stream, tumbling off in different directions.
William quickly sent his two Pokémon to chase them separately while he went down to the bank to pull Woody up.
Woody scrambled ashore in a sorry state, his face crestfallen. "I... I almost had it..."
"Sorry about that..." William said apologetically. "I didn't mean to..."
Woody shook his wet hair and kicked a pebble in frustration. "Forget it. No use talking about that now. We have to catch them quickly! Otherwise, someone might get hurt!"
The two hurriedly followed the markers left by Turtwig and Minccino. Soon, they heard a commotion ahead. Minccino was nimbly jumping around one of the Miltank, trying to calm it with a Charm-like move. But the Miltank was clearly still agitated, occasionally swishing its tail and slapping the ground loud