Later that day, JP walked the village square again—not as a buyer this time, but as an observer.
He lingered at the blacksmith's stall, watching a farmer haggle for nails. At another booth, a mother bought candles with a tired look in her eyes. JP's eyes narrowed, his brain buzzing.
Candles burn out. My glow-pouch doesn't. Farmers need tools for hauling, and I can make clamps. If I position this right, I'm not competing—I'm filling gaps.
Returning to his tent at the edge of the fields, JP tinkered more. With a few more scraps, he refined his clamp into a sturdier model, then made two glow-pouches.
That evening, he wandered the tavern, approaching a pair of farmers he'd seen earlier.
"Excuse me," JP said, awkwardly scratching his neck. "Mind trying something?"
The older farmer frowned, but curiosity won. JP handed him the clamp, demonstrating how it secured a bundle of rope instantly.
The man blinked. "Well, I'll be damned. That's… useful."
"And this one?" JP lit the glow-pouch by holding it in the lantern-light. It gave off a steady amber glow.
The farmer's wife gasped. "No flame? Safer around the kids…"
JP smiled nervously. "I can make a few more. Cheap, too."
He sold the first prototypes for a handful of copper. Not much, but enough to test the waters.
As he returned to his tent, the silvers in his pouch clinking, he pulled up his Status Board again.
[Status Board Update]Skill: Improvised Engineering – Lv. 1 → Lv. 2Effect Expanded: Allows refinement of designs into sturdier and more efficient models.
JP's grin stretched ear to ear. People liked them. And the skill is leveling.
The fire crackled outside his tent. From the shadows beyond, unseen to him, Lyra leaned against a tree. She'd followed him all day, watching his little inventions change hands.
Her eyes were sharp, calculating. "So that's his game," she murmured. "He's not just fighting… he's planting roots."