Two of those that Laura had sent to learn from TJ quickly proved themselves wholly incapable of working with organic materials. Surprisingly, one of them was Jeff's buddy Ricky. It was almost comical how the heavyset man with a thick beard swayed and went green as TJ explained how to tan the hides in the only way he knew how, nearly falling face first into the table. Before long, he gave up and, stuffing his hands into his oil stained coveralls, walked out, where he audibly took long deep breaths for a couple minutes until his stomach settled enough to leave. Almost as if Ricky's escape had given her permission, another woman walked out afterwards and didn't look back.
With four students willing to sit through the deliberately excessive and detailed explanation of preparing the hides and treating them with the brains of whatever they came from, TJ finally transitioned to explaining how to work with the materials he had prepared. Still, he didn't hesitate to explain exactly what each of the materials they were working with were.
"So, for me, today I'm making myself new shoes. My Occupation gives me bonuses for not wearing equipment from before the Integration. I don't know why only shoes count as equipment to the System, but here we are. I'm going to give a general walkthrough of how I'm going to make this, and that'll be what you two who don't have Occupations will focus on once I dismiss you. For you two, however," TJ turned to Jeff and Michelle, the other "student" who already had an Occupation, "we'll get into the real value that I'm hoping to bring here and now. Thank you for your patience."
Jeff rolled his eyes while Michelle also didn't look too happy either. Even so, they sat through the painstaking instructions that he gave for Molly and Tessie, another teenager, though their "look"s couldn't be more different. While Molly was almost a stereotypical nerdy goth girl, Tessie looked like the truest rendition of a sporty girl, her eyes a startling blue and framed with dirty blonde hair which was pulled back into a tight ponytail. Were she here, Mari would have been between them right now, TJ knew. She'd been a high school math teacher, though she only really did that because that let her be the volleyball coach as well.
A slight smile quirked at TJ's lips as he internally saw Mari fussing over some of her girls, if they'd been in this same situation. He let the pang of longing settle into him for a brief moment before gently pushing the memory of his late wife fade. The teens were working together, Molly giving advice on particular ways to thread the gut through the holes in the hides. She was, self-reportedly, "A pretty good seamstress."
While they were settled and working on their own, TJ finally turned himself to Michelle and Jeff. Jeff's brown hair was streaked with gray, his goatee slowly growing past its well-kept previous state. His arms showed that he was no stranger to exercise, broad and strong, and he remained generally handsome, disregarding the stormy look on his face. He and Ricky made for quite the pair, large white men with facial hair and stormy looks in their eyes.
Michelle, on the other hand, didn't look like she worked out, but instead like she worked outside. She wore a waffle-print long sleeved shirt with the sleeves pulled up to her elbows, thick khaki cargo work pants, and suspenders. Her shoulders were broader than TJ's, the muscles underneath taut against the shirt. The shiny scarred skin remnants of burns covered her hands, the shine of the sunlight through the windows making her mahogany hands almost seem like they contained a light within them. Her dark curly hair was cut short, too short for a ponytail, and her eyes did literally glow as she looked at TJ.
"Alright, just for my benefit, what are your Occupations, their levels, and your Bloodlines?"
"Tinker, 5." Jeff grunted. "And I don't see any reason to give you my Bloodline."
TJ fought to keep himself from rolling his eyes. Before he responded, Michelle spoke. "Blacksmith at 4. Bloodline is Ogun. You know who that is?"
"Can't say I've ever heard of… him?"
"Him." Michelle confirmed. "Yoruba god of warriors, iron, fire, and so on."
"Ok. Thanks. The reason I ask, Jeff, is because it seems to me that, regardless of any other choices you make, your Bloodline will affect how you do whatever it is you do. Maybe even how much you can do. Keep it secret if you care, Jeff. I was just curious.
"Now," TJ spoke, making sure they stayed focused. "We've killed some wendigos, and I've made some things with their materials. When I did, I was level 6. After using part of three horns and the entirety of the fourth, I hit level 10. If you've gotten past level 5, you know how much harder each level gets after getting a new Skill." Both nodded as TJ continued.
"The materials we got from them also gave me new Skills, once I hit 10. There's definitely more to it than this, but the Skill I chose is Copper quality, so a tier higher than I am now, and I know that working on these higher quality materials helped me with that. As an example of what I made–actually, I'm not going to show you." TJ remembered what Stanton had just said to him and decided to follow suit.
Jeff shook his head, as if he'd expected to be disappointed, but Michelle nodded her head in agreement. "You don't want to influence what we do with these materials. If we just do what you did, we probably won't get the same experience that you did. We don't have the same Occupations anyways, so it's better we do what we want."
"Pretty much." TJ agreed, and Jeff at least had the decency to stop acting like TJ was being an asshole to him.
"I'll let you know that the claws are considered to be the most valuable part of the wendigo's bodies that I've dealt with in particular. Now, we have three more horns about a foot long as well as eleven claws in good condition. I might recommend using the five partially damaged ones first, because if you fail, it won't be as disappointing, but that's entirely up to you. Any questions?"
"Is it fine with you if I take some materials to the forge? It's not great, but I can't really do what I want to without it."
"Sure. Take one horn and three claws with you, one of them damaged. That good with you?"
Michelle nodded, pulling a Gerber knife from her pocket. TJ pointed her to which hand she should cut the fingers from, and though she didn't hesitate, her lip curled in distaste as she tried to cut, and then was forced to crack the fingers off with a grunt and twist of the pliers in the tool.Then, she put all three fingers in one of the massive pockets in her pants while holding the horn in her hands.
"You know anything about heating these? Do they anneal with fire, or melt or burn?"
TJ shrugged. "All I know is that the wendigos come with frost as something that's a part of them. I don't know how putting their materials in a forge will work, but when I was careful, I created something that had some of the wendigo's frost powers."
She nodded while a pensive frown creased her face. TJ only noticed then that at the corner of her mouth, marring the edge of her full lips, was another burn scar. Before he thought about whether it was wise to do so, he asked, "Why do you have so many scars?"
Michelle looked him straight in the eye. "You're asking a blacksmith why they have burn scars? I got burned."
After looking at her in confusion for a second, TJ realized what she was saying. "You were a blacksmith even before the Integration? Cool."
"I just transitioned to full-time after officially becoming a journeyman in the ABS. Had a good following and everything, and then this shit rips my dream coming true from me."
"That sucks, I'm sorry." TJ wasn't sure what else he could say, not the least of which because he had no idea what she was saying.
"Yeah. Here's to hoping we don't get eaten in the next week." Michelle turned and walked out, her thumb running over the horn as she muttered ideas to herself. TJ turned back to Jeff, who looked down at the materials spread in front of him and sighed.
"I don't know what to do with this. Honestly, I wouldn't have come if Laura hadn't told me to."
"Yeah, I get it, you don't like me. I don't care. You've disliked me since I showed up, and I didn't care then and don't now. There's a point to being here, so do you want some of these materials to see if that helps you grow stronger or are you just going to keep being a moron instead? I don't care a whole lot either way, but make the damn decision."
Jeff started to look offended, then took a calming breath before looking in TJ's eyes. "I guess that's fair. Yeah, I'll try something, but I'll only take one of the damaged fingers for now. I don't think my Occupation is as well-suited to this as Laura thought, but I'll give it a try."
True to his word, Jeff took a single finger from the damaged hand after a minute of sawing at it with another hand's claws. Without another word, he took it in his hand and walked out of the house, leaving TJ with Tessie and Molly. The teens watched him go, only barely able to keep themselves from gossipping long enough for him to leave the house. Once that door closed behind him, they burst into whispers.
"Why do you think he's so mad? I've seen him around, and he never looks happy, but like, he's super pissy now."
"I think I know what it is. He's always talking about Laura this and Laura that. I like to sit by her at meals, and he's always trying to be around. I bet he says it's cause he's her bodyguard, but, like, he just wants to guard her body, you know? I'm sure he has a crush on her, and thinks that TJ will get in the way of him making her fall in love with him. So, because he's an adult, he, like, doesn't want to fight or anything, but he's still like, all douchey."
"That's enough of that." TJ cut in with a chuckle. "I don't really care what you two talk about, but let's focus on getting you two an Occupation as fast as possible."
"Fiiiiine." Molly answered, while Tessie blushed and averted her gaze. "So, how do we get this Occupation?"
"No idea." TJ answered, and while their faces fell, he let their confusion and disappointment grow for about ten seconds. "But I do know some things. Occupations are usually offered after doing something. I can't say what else you've done in these days so far, but I'm willing to bet that you'll get something offered to you if you create something on the level of rudimentary equipment."
With TJ's continued guidance, the two girls eventually finished their individual pairs of moccasins. Molly, as eager and quick to action as ever, pulled her boots off and slipped the slippers on. Her excited face quickly morphed to disappointment and she pulled her foot back out.
"Did you not think about how the thick, hard fur from the javelinas was going to stay thick and hard?" TJ asked while fighting to keep the giggles down.
"Well, I guess. I made these shoes, and they're not only ugly, they're also super uncomfortable. So what's the point–"
Before TJ could answer about how it could save her life, Tessie gasped. Mollie followed suit, and the two girls obviously received the System notification they'd all been hoping for. TJ could feel, somehow, the moment when they accepted their new Occupations. The feeling they gave off, something he couldn't quantify, changed.
"I'm a Crafter now." Molly said, excited. "I gained two whole levels, and with some Free Points, that'll really help me a lot!"
"I got Crafter too." Tessie added. She smiled and bobbed her head to TJ in thanks. "I really appreciate it."
"No problem. Girls, make sure you keep getting levels whenever you can. Tonight, I'll provide some materials and see if we can't get you all the way to level 5 before too long."
"Why can't we do it right now?" Molly whined. "I've got time!"
"I don't." TJ replied. "I promised Laura I'd show the monsters some hell. It's time."