It was an accident. Nobody expected Rino to slip on clay and fall against a sharp rock. However, that accident brought great findings.

For the longest time, Rino wondered where he would find bones to craft his side quest’s bone needle. Now, he had an answer.

Ace was impressed by Rino’s resourcefulness once more. However, he was also becoming increasingly worried about the lich’s mental health. This kind of torture was considered inhuman even during wars. It was less thinkable that anyone would willingly volunteer for this sort of experiment.

When Rino fell and hit himself on a sharp rock, his last finger came flying off, and a ghostly fire enveloped his entire hand. The pain lasted only for a while, but very soon, Rino had a new bony pinky. The high-speed regeneration worked very well, and Rino could not tell that his finger broke just moments ago. If it wasn’t for the calcium composite lying on the clay beside the sharp rock, Rino would have written it off as a hallucination.

Picking his broken pinky up, Rino played with it a little, curious about the movements of the joint parts. This bone was a little too unsuitable for filing into a bone needle. For that, he required something longer and straighter without moving joints.

Rino looked at his body, and the Gods suddenly had a terrible feeling as Rino ran his fingers over his exposed ribcage, listening to the sounds it made upon contact.

Heaving a sigh of relief in unison when Rino moved on from the rib cage, the Gods wondered what the lich would do now that he discovered a renewable resource. According to Phil and the system’s tutorial, bone needles were normally made from animal horns or teeth. However, the more they listened to the lich’s thoughts, the more terrified they became.

Even Ace could not believe such a person existed. While he was lazy, he was lazy within reason. Appreciating efficiency was an art. However, there was a fine line between art and insanity. Rino was very close to crossing that line now with his thoughts.

“No, not the forearm bone, although it looks very useful for some other things. The rib cage also looks very cool because of its curved shape. Maybe I can find a purpose for them in future. My spine looks flexible, but I don’t know if ripping it out whole will make me regenerate in two pieces or one. I might have to rip it out slowly to minimise the risks. Let’s see… what other bone can I use that’s the right size to file down into a needle.”

As his eyes moved lower, Rino discovered many tiny bones in his body that he wasn’t aware of when he was still alive. The human body was extremely self-sufficient, and Rino found just what he needed on his foot.

When he was still alive, Rino hated the feeling of stubbing his last toe on the side of his bedpost. That kind of pain was almost as bad as getting kicked in the groin. Thankfully, Rino had one less thing to worry about now that his pelvic area came without a package. It was a complicated feeling to have, but Rino decided that appearing gender-neutral wasn’t necessarily a bad thing. The most important thing is his charismatic voice. At least he still sounded intimidating enough to haggle, although much of that intimidation factor came from his baldness.

Up above, Ace was speechless. Was this lich going to go with it? Rino was studying his feet and deciding the best toe to remove for his bone needles. Even with his disturbing thoughts, the shadow tendrils never stopped moving.

Ping!

The timely update distracted Rino from his contemplation.

===

Daily Quest #4

Objective: Build a Farmhouse [Chain Quest]

1. Build 8,000 bricks (done)

2. Make Cement (done)

3. Lay bricks according to the schematic

Time Limit: 58 Hours

Tutorial here.

Reward: Sleep Reward Wallet.

===

Even Ark was surprised by the system’s update. Did Rino really finish making 8,000 bricks? The kiln was only halfway done.

Phil studied the kiln. Now that the main body was created, Rino would have a little trouble with the kiln’s roof. The curved design in the tutorial was tricky to replicate, and it required a huge amount of skill. The elderly God wondered if Rino had a different idea for the roof when Rino did something that surprised everyone.

Instead of crafting the next bricks using the same mould, Rino crafted the next batch of bricks using a larger mould. The brick size was longer in breadth and resembled a square instead of a rectangle now.

The Gods held their breath once Rino decided on the bone he wanted to use for his needle. The third join of his last toe was selected, and Rino decided to sacrifice his left foot.

The water slicer magic cut the bone Rino needed cleanly at the ankle joint, and the lich cussed in multiple languages as his foot was enveloped in purple soul fire as his immortal body worked hard to regrow his severed toe.

The severed bone landed on the clay ground and Rino groaned. The pain lasted for hardly a minute, but Rino was starting to think if it was wise to use his body as a bone harvesting ground. The finger did not hurt as much. Why did his last toe hurt more than breaking a finger? It was so strange.

Not even the Gods could understand that strange pain tolerance. They were not responsible for Rino’s decision. The high-speed regeneration ability was not given for this kind of abuse. It was meant as insurance.

With the precious piece of bone, Rino continued to make odd-shaped bricks and cement as he pierced the bone with a very thin water jetstream at high speed. The eye of the needle was created. All Rino had to do now was cut the bone into a thin cylinder and file it carefully. He did not want to screw this up now that he understood how much pain it would cost him for a subsequent attempt.

Phil and Ark watched how Rino focussed on filing the bone very carefully. The shadow tendrils continued to work but at a slower pace now that Rino focussed most of his concentration on the bone needle.