274 Increased Weapon Production

The more than seven thousand survivors residing in towns managed by Black Haven finally had their fixed roles. They have their own roles that help support Black Haven. Even if one was on an opposing faction, just using and buying anything will cause the cycle of commerce to further solidify the community's foundation.

One would do their job, get rewarded, then buy what they need. Afterward, the cycle would be repeated and the economy would flourish.

After several community trades and accepts each other, society would be born.

Community has its own physical existence but society exists only in the minds of individuals who constitute it. 

Farmers till the land, while fishermen catch fish. Fighters hunt enemies to keep everyone safe. Those who know no livelihood skill studies to learn them, so as to not get left behind.

Everyone had their own roles and it makes living every day meaningful.

On the third floor of the Guild Hall, the apprentice blacksmiths were mechanically moving as one. From the initial six apprentices, they have more than quadrupled and now totaled twenty-five.

Old John had to accept more apprentices due to the number of weapons Jun requested. Thankfully, most of the survivors from the Scavenger unit had basic energy control, and teaching them basic bone carving became easier.

Ten survivors were drafted from the Scavenger unit, while an additional nine came from the outside factions.

The Frontier and the National Police both sent three people while the Alliance, an organization formed by small factions that grouped together to oppose the three powers, was also allowed three apprentice slots, but had to quarrel who to send.

The six initial apprentices have now become craftsmen. All six of them were able to learn all the basics of crafting and only needs to develop their blacksmithing skills to become a full-fledged blacksmith.

The six craftsmen would watch Old John process metals every day and would put into heart what they witnessed. On their training time, they would craft basic weapons, but most of them were still a bit inferior from the items personally made by Old John.

Blacksmithing wasn't all about shoving items to the smelter, shaping them on a mold, then cooling them to get the final product. One still needs to learn of handling techniques and vast experience regarding timing and instinctive productions. 

Jun and Evo emphasized the need for weapons in the coming days.

Also, carriers aren't the only enemies in the world. There are malicious people who tried to intentionally destroy tamed portals to make everyone suffer. These people were caught and were never seen again.

Wild mutated animals roaming around also became a problem. They would cause trouble when they get hungry and has enough strength to fight a small armed group, depending on the situation.

Highly corrupted animals become stronger the more corrupted they get. However, there are instances that wild mutated animals could lose sanity and attack anyone on sight due to corruption.

Mutated animals were corrupted by an unknown infection. It could also be said that carriers were corrupted by the same disease. The "corrupted" information came from Jennie, and was submitted for reward money and to help the R\u0026D Department of Black Haven.

The R\u0026D Department of Black Haven solely consists of Evo. He gets all the information through the feedbacks and missions he set up, to gain information and experiment.

The First Army and every portal volunteer would be given free weapons and armors to guard the respective wild portals. Even the tamed portals need to be guarded since a group of random people were trying to destroy the tamed portals in Binangonan and Morong.

Currently, the new apprentices had an average crafting time of ten minutes per bone swords and bone spears. They might improve over time, but they were forced to craft stably at the moment. Any sudden loss in focus while carving and shaving bone materials might destroy the weapon, so rushing isn't tolerated and might cause revocation of apprenticeship.

At this rate, twenty-five people crafting basic bone weapons can produce one hundred fifty items per hour. Unfortunately, there are tool and weapon varieties, so they have to focus on one type; weapons. 

Four apprentices who had the highest energy control was chosen to craft bone swords together with the six official craftsmen.

Bone swords require precise energy control since they need to carve sharp edges while making sure that the sword isn't to thin. The handguard and handles weren't that important and as long as one could design a proper handle, it should be fine.

Ten people who had above-average energy control were chosen to craft throwable spears. Even though it requires less discipline and focus, the apprentice still needs to focus on carving the spearhead, making sure the bone spears tips weren't too dull or too thin.

Accidents can happen to both two groups of apprentices and that's why the remaining five people were assigned to restorative duty.

The third group only had basic energy control and could barely produce the sharp laser energy required for shaping bone materials.

As apprentices on restorative duty, their jobs were to make items depending on the shape and size of the defective bone materials. Anything above six inches would be made into daggers, a blade with a handle, while six inches and below would be carved into throwing knives.

This way, everyone would become useful and they would learn energy control while raising their proficiency if they ever decided to learn the skill.

Though mishaps couldn't be avoided, everyone is working hard to prevent as many as possible. In the next few days, these groups of hardworking people would be able to arm half of the fighting classes in the Black Haven territory.

———

Jun closed the chat hologram after reading all the updates from Evo. "That's interesting."

"What's interesting?" Adrian who was struggling to eat his burnt fried egg as dinner asked in confusion. The fried egg appeared like charcoal and was personally made by Sheila.

Sheila likes baking. While making dinner, she decided to show her feminine side tp Adrian and baked him some cookies. Unfortunately, she forgot about the fried egg and resulted in the current situation. 

Sheila seated on the other side of the table gazed lovingly at Adrian. The baked cookies appear pleasing and thanks to that he was able to force a smile on his face. 

Jun ignored the scenario on the dining table and drank a glass of water. They just returned back at the Taytay Outpost and were having dinner.

Jun answered Adrian's question. "Apparently, two samurais appeared at Cardona. Unfortunately, we can't speak to them unless we find someone who can speak Japanese. Ughh~I'm so tired!" he stretched his arms and yawned, before remembering something and looking to Adrian. "You have stealth, right? Why don't you go to them and ask for ninja training?"

"Didn't you just say they were samurais?" Sheila replied in confusion. "How would they even know about ninja-things..."

"Well... Nevermind then. I still think it's better to learn a few things from trained individuals. If they were samurais, then they must have trained for a long time." Jun said casually without thinking.

Adrian pondered over the idea. He's already proficient with firearms and swords and daggers were something he's taken a liking for. 

"I guess there's no harm in learning new things. It would be a hassle asking them to teach us, but let's hope they understand gestures."

After seeing Adrian making a decision on his own, Sheila turned to Jun and eyed him with dissatisfaction. She felt like her cute little puppy was growing up and becoming a dog.

Even before the apocalypse, women tend to desire more time from their partners. They want to be their man's focal point. 

Their universe.

She got up and retrieve the cookies from Adrian's side and run away.

"Why are you taking them? Give them back." Adrian called. "Where are you going?"

"To the pool! Let's relax for a bit. Everyone's been too tense these past few days."

"Haa... sometimes, I don't understand what's running through her mind."

"Not used to that yet? Time will come and you'll stop trying my friend. It'll come to a point that you'll just stop thinking and accept it as it is."

Adrian listened to Jun's advice, then looked down at the unfinished charcoal egg. He stabbed it with a fork then swallowed it whole; chewed a few times, then summoned a water bottle as if grasping for life.

He forcefully gulped the dry and rough food then started drinking water. 

There was too much salt!