Ash spent a good portion of the afternoon working on the two inscriptions on her hammer. Scholar seemed more interested in this part of the process and came over to ask her about it, listening as she instructed him through each rune she was carving and what they did together.

  Carving into the dense root wood was definitely more difficult, especially as she was having to be more careful with how compact she was carving in this set. She was grateful for the extra point in woodwork Jori’s supervision had helped her earn today but still spent a long few hours labouring to get it just right. Ash was left feeling drained by the end of the second set, the long day of hard woodwork sapping her endurance. She did place in the capacity rune, but didn’t try to stretch it’s limits just yet, she needed to do some more testing first.

  She took a quick break for a drink and to use the latrines, then moved to working on adding a secondary inscription to a few more of the tools in the shop. The bonus 50 and 25% Runic inscription progression from her Lore and Inscription specialties really showed itself, allowing her to gain a whole three levels before she was done with every tool in the shop. What was more notable was the final point of woodwork she earned, pushing her to finally level in the skill.

  You have reached Woodworking level 10, as an apprentice you will have greater understanding of wooden materials and how best to shape them.

  You have unlocked the skill: Teaching. Your ability to impart knowledge of your skills to others has improved. You are now Teaching Level 1

  That was great and made finishing off the last couple of tools so much easier. Chiselling in the final section with a flourish, she slumped, leaning back in her chair and stretching.

  “You are finished?” Scholar asked

  “Yes, finally!” She sighed, turning to eye the scaled humanoid.

  “So, I have been thinking. These… Runes you carve. Some are familiar to me, similar to some characters in our language, yet some are not.” He pointed to her hammer, specifically the first rune in both. “This rune is similar to one in our language that means to… better… No… Maybe I do not know the word.” He hissed something that Ash didn’t understand in his language “Anyway, this rune is exactly the same as our symbol for ‘toughness’ too. This matches the better dura-bility” He paused after repeating the tough word “better durability you say this inscription gives.” He handed Ash her new weapon and turned to her chisel. “And this one on the tools, it looks to me like it could parallel our symbol for travel maybe. You say this makes it easier to move, yes?”

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  “Ah, I perhaps should have mentioned this.” Ash said, remembering something that she had lost in the mess after killing the ant Queen “When I first learned your language, I was notified It was similar to my rune lore skill, so I would have enhanced progression as a specialist. I think you are right about the similarities.”

  Scholar cocked his head. “Very interesting. I too have this skill now. Rune lore…” He hissed in what Ash interpreted was a contemplative manner. “I shall wish to study more of this. Is there any further tablets or carvings of this knowledge?”

  “Ah, not exactly. Hestia learned this in her academy back in one of the Empire’s cities. But I will take you to the ruined temple later, if you would like. There are many unknown carvings there. Perhaps you can help me make sense of them.”

  “The ruined… Temple?” Scholar asked

  “Ah, yes… the large old buildings in the jungle.” She led him out and pointed to the one on the edge of the village, then to hers, the top of which could just be made out over the trees. “That is the one I’ve been exploring and have found carvings like my inscriptions inside.”

  “Oh. The-” He hissed something incomprehensible. “You went inside?”

  “Yeah. I lived in the edge of it for about a week actually, before I was accepted by the village.”

  “You… lived… Why?”

  Ash took a moment to explain to scholar that she was actually an outsider here, giving him a brief summary of her struggles up to this point.

  “I see. Very interesting. So, we are not the first outsiders to be welcomed here. This is good. These ‘temples’ though… They are known to us. It is… bad luck to approach them. Perhaps it is this that is giving you trouble with that other tribe. To hear that you lived inside… It is… unexpected.” She paused staring over at the ruins with his head cocked.

  “You say there are many carvings inside…” He turned to her, deliberately nodding his head “Yes, I think I do wish to explore these with you.”

  Ash nodded, considering when would be best to take the lizard into the ruin. “Well, I suppose once I’ve finished this weapon.” She gestured to the freshly carved Great-hammer loosely held in her left hand “Depending on how long that takes, we could go as early as tomorrow af-”

  Ash was cut off as she suddenly became aware of something rushing at her from behind.