(Walson)

“Master, I have been wondering, are you perhaps a [Magi-chemist]? I saw you create a wall.”

“No, no. I am just a [Villager].”

“Just a [Villager]? I find that hard to believe.”

“I will take that as a compliment.”

“Huh? No, I didn’t mean to doubt you… Master is really strong to be able to fend off that golden wolf. I was just curious.”

“… I didn’t fend him off, not really.” But we came to an awkward agreement, true.

“So, what is Master doing right now?”

Melon was standing right beside me, brimming with curiosity.

We are standing in a dark room, she must be wondering what I am trying to do here.

I just finished making a wooden training dummy, and proceeded to take it out from my [Inventory].

“You’ll be training yourself with this dummy that is specifically designed for combat training.” I patted the dummy.

Then I pulled a lever on the wall, and all the Redstone lamps in the room were powered on, showering the entire room with light.

The wooden training dummy is one hundred and eighty centimeters tall, structurally divided into five parts with wooden protrusion all placed in different angles.

If you push one part, all of the other four parts will shift in different directions according to the cogs deep inside the entire contraption, making the wooden protrusions swipe around dangerously.

But… neither Melon and I are anywhere near one hundred and eighty centimeters tall. Melon wouldn’t be able to utilize it completely yet, but I am certain she will grow taller in the future.

“Combat training?”

“Indeed! You have the necessary talent to become a [Fighter]. It would be a waste if you don’t do anything with it.”

“You really want me to train with this? You made it with me in mind?” Melon gave me a confused look.

“Yeah! Here, I will demonstrate” I pushed one of the wooden protrusions sticking out.

I had to quickly duck when one other wooden protrusion flew towards my head, then had to block another which aimed for my waist.

With a grunt, I gave it another shove, and the wooden protrusions quickly swirled in the opposite direction, and another assault accompanied the spin.

I decided to make a training dummy that was suited for bare handed combat and martial arts. It’s always a good idea to be able to fight without weapons, because once you lose the weapon you depend on, your life will be forfeit.

Plus, using your entire body would increase general fitness. I thought it would be great for the malnourished Melon to start with.

Martial arts is always best practiced with another person who also knows martial arts though. The second best thing is to have a wooden dummy that can spin like this one, specifically used to sharpen your stance and forms.

I took inspiration from a Chinese Kung-Fu movie for the dummy. But unlike the clumsy contraption in the movie, mine is far more superior.

I named it [Spinning Iron Dummy]!

… I am not even going to dignify all your pitying glances at my naming sense with a response.

Don’t judge me!

There is a definite learning curve as long as the strength behind the blows are reasonable, and won’t destroy the dummy in one hit. And since it spins and can build momentum, the harder you hit, the faster the dummy will spin.

Each of the wooden protrusions are positioned differently, with varying lengths. So the retaliations from the dummy will have a wide variety, hopefully enough to make it so whoever trains with it won’t get too used to the patterns too quickly.

… Speaking of which, I quickly got overwhelmed and took several hits to the face. I cradled my swollen cheeks as I backed away from the dummy.

I lasted less than fifteen seconds. I didn’t think I would do THAT badly…

“That’s the gist of it. So, do your best alright? Making this wasn’t easy.” Argh, it really hurts. I should probably get some ice later.

“…Thank you Master, I will keep that in mind.” Melon was eyeing the wooden dummy excitedly, already raring to go, as if she just met a new best friend.

“If you’re hungry, you can leaf through the food storage and take as much as you please, same with all the other things. Just make sure you don’t make too much of a mess.”

I had showcased most of the unique tools and  furniture in the secret base to Melon.

Out of everything, she was most impressed by the hot-spring and the [Redstone Lamps].

The world we are living in right now heavily relies on magic, so I doubt they have seriously considered the value and validity of science, which explains the extremely slow advance – and lack of technology.

By the way, [Redstone Lamps] are pretty much just like the electric lamps back on Earth.

Except it didn’t run on electricity, but ran on the power in redstone circuits.

Redstones back in  Minecraft had powers inside it, when mining Redstone ore, it would light up when being struck by a pickaxe.

Redstone is a power source all on its own, and placing a trail of redstone dust on something will act like a circuit for the power to travel.

Redstone torches are one of the main power sources, and much like a normal torch, will emit light. But this one will be alight forever, while emitting a lot less light.

In any case, Redstone torches are essentially an inexhaustible power source. It’s ridiculous.

Having an infinite power source… this really feels like cheating.

However, I have realized that since redstone circuits are essentially a trail of powdered red dust, they can be easily displaced by extreme weather conditions such as rain or strong winds.

So I had to use waxed paper to make a protective layer for them, essentially creating a very primitive electric circuit that instead of using plastic, uses paper.

My secret base is extremely advanced in terms of technology right now. If I were to make a guess, it would be somewhere close to the stuff people had on Earth in the 1950s, definitely superior to anything this world has to offer.

I had to resist the urge to puff my chest out in pride.

Ah, the sun is almost completely gone. I have to hurry back to the Orphanage.

I have a sandwich in my [Inventory] that I wanted to give to Grace. White Bread, fried eggs, and my special cured meat.

The white bread is made from the wheat I grew in the secret base, the eggs are Cockatrice eggs, and I fried them with deer oil.

I also painstakingly gathered rare herbs and spices deep in the mountains to compliment everything.

Naturally, I took the seeds of the herbs and spices and hope to grow them inside the secret base in the future.

“Don’t stay up too late, alright?” I spoke to Melon for the last time that night, and departed, going back to the Orphanage.