Morning light broke over the village, the hum of carts and voices carrying across the square. JP had barely slept—his mind buzzed with ideas after seeing his Improvised Engineering skill appear on the Status Board.
Sitting on a crate, he flicked Appraisal over some odds and ends he'd bought yesterday:
Iron Nail – Durability 80%. Can be reforged.Leather Scraps – Low quality. Could be repurposed.Glass Shard – Fragile. Could be used in alchemy.
Improvised Engineering, huh? Let's see what you can really do, JP thought, rubbing his chin.
With a bit of resin and two nails, he fashioned a crude clamp. Adding a strip of leather made it flexible, and with Appraisal he refined the fit. The end result:
Crude Strap Clamp – Improvised Tool. Can secure bags, straps, or minor loads. Durability 45%.
A grin spread across his face. I just made a poor man's carabiner.
He tried another—tying glass shards into a thin pouch, mixing with resin. The product was rough, but Appraisal approved:
Sun-Spark Pouch – Improvised Alchemy. Absorbs sunlight to faintly glow at night. Duration: 3 hours.
JP chuckled. "Basically a reusable glowstick."
He imagined villagers carrying these instead of torches. Safer, cheaper… and profitable.
But his thoughts were interrupted by a grumble in his stomach. He sighed. "First things first—food."
With his silver from the wolf quest, JP bought bread and dried meat, keeping careful count of coins. Survival came first, inventions second. Still, his mind raced. If I can build small comforts, I can get people on my side before the whispers turn ugly.