Admiral-ble Goblin

Build

Chapter 1

Barnacle-eyes

“No, no, no,” I told Hawkin. “I’ll do it myself!”

Hawkin left me alone at the docks after wishing me good luck. He told me to come find him if I was having trouble, but I wanted to put my sloop together by myself. Thrush wanted to help, but I told him the same thing. Except instead of leaving, he was napping, belly up on the water.

My Boat Builder skill was only at level 1, but level 1 still had all the information I needed to build my sloop. Organization was key, so I laid out all the planks in a broken resemblance of what the sloop would look like once finished. The planks were together. The butt blocks were in a pile.

Organizing alone was hard work, so I took a break to munch on raw onions as I walked along the dock. Thrush was still asleep at sea. His body moved up and down with the waves. I could hear him snoring. He was a little further out than he had been a couple of hours ago.

I shouted at him. Wanted to share my lunch with him, but he was a goner. Fast asleep.

I had a clove of garlic for dessert which left my hands a little sticky. Nothing a splash in the sea wouldn’t fix. Thank you, Hawkin.

I began building my boat from the stern. I put two planks together to form a butt joint, and activated my Boat Builder skill. The planks stuck tightly together. Then I threw on a butt block, and activated it once more. The block stuck tightly over the joint.

After just two joints, I felt lightheaded. Weak. Suddenly exhausted. My system informed me that my mana had fallen to zero.

After just two uses of my skill?

Even another onion couldn't replenish my energy. But I knew what would. Mana beers!

I forced my body up the trail, all the way to Hawkin’s cabin. I found him in the garden with Abigail. She was teaching him how to care for the tomatoes.

“Barnacle-eyes,” she said with a bright smile.

“How’s the sloop coming along?” Hawkin said.

“Hello, hello,” I said. “Not good. I used my Boat Builder skill two times and I’m out of mana. I was wondering if I could have some?”

“Absolutely,” Hawkin said. “How much do you need?”

“At least a few barrels,” I said. “My sloop’s going to need a lot of mana to build. If I’m asking too much, I can pay you. I have lots of silver now.”

“Nonsense,” Hawin said. I’ll bring down a few barrels for you.”

“I’ll brew some Drunk Defiance attribute beers for you,” Abigail said.

“If you need quartz for those, the blue besties are excellent miners,” Hawkin told her.

While Hawkin went to his personal cellar to fetch a couple barrels of mana beers, Abigail put on a delightful show brewing Drunk Defiance attribute beers. Each of her beers were white and she put them in mini steel barrels. She tapped them and showed me that I should turn the spigot to pour myself some beer. I stored both in my inventory.

Hawkin returned a moment later and we all walked together down to the sloop. The barrels of mana beers were similarly tapped with Abigail’s tools, and stacked upon some flat rocks for easy pouring.

I thanked both of them with my whole heart, gave them each a hug, and shooed them away so I could get back to work.

I ran up the dock to check on Thrush and it took a moment for me to spot him. His body floated like a corpse near the Mist Hidden wall

After another couple cloves of garlic and some fantastic burps, I guzzled down some Drunk Defiance beer, and enough mana beer to replenish my mana.

Properly equipped for construction, I repeated the process of making a butt joint with planks, and securing them with butt blocks. Bending the planks to shape off the hull took a tremendous amount of mana, and steam rose from the wood as I made each bend.

I worked tirelessly throughout the day, repeating the same process until the basic shape was finished.Then I began to work on the inside of the boat starting on the lower deck.

Hawkin and Abigail visited me once more and we stopped to eat together. Hawkin had been thoughtful and made me some onion soup. I tried sharing with Abigail but she wrinkled her nose.

“That’s for you only,” Hawkin told me. “I make your onion soups a bit different than what I would make for Abigail. Your soups are extra onion-y and garlic-y. I also add a little splash of goblin spit beer.”

“That’s why it’s so good,” I said.

After our lunch, I thanked the two humans. Told them I’d check up on Thrush before returning to working on my sloop.

“Where is he?” Hawkin said.

“He’s sleeping on the sea,” I said. “Last I checked, he was at the Mist wall.”

“I’m still shocked,” Abigail said. “I still don’t understand how Thrush is able to simply walk through the Mist Hidden wall. It’s mind boggling.”

Hawkin shrugged, and since I was too excited to get back to work, I shooed them away once more. Then ran up the dock to check on Thrush. He was still dead-looking and very near to the Mist Hidden wall, but I could still see him bobbing. Probably snoring.

I returned to my sloop and worked hard until late afternoon. As my sloop came together, I couldn't imagine having to do this without my Boat Builder skill. Which was leveling up nearly every half hour. It was already at level 16! I was able to join 4 planks with the butt blocks before running out of mana. Although leveling up did hurt my head a bit.

But a headache never stopped me, so I kept at it. Held my focus. Drank my beers. Shaped the planks. Butted the joints and secured them well. I worked well into the night until I was too exhausted to work any longer. I slept in the sand, and the sun woke me.

I groggily walked up the dock and sat at the end of it. I swung my legs and munched on a juicy ripe onion while I searched for Thrush. I spotted him when I was nearly through with my breakfast. His body floated out of the mist. Then floated back through it and he disappeared. After a moment, the waves brought him back again.

I laughed for a good bit about it before returning to work on my sloop.