Chapter 22: Chapter 22: Hunter Uniform
Siderius had constructed a few drying racks before to hang the owl and rabbit meat. He had chosen an area with cool shade with foliage all around to avoid direct sunlight.
This part was where a lot of beginners may make a mistake. Some thought meat was the same as plant-based foods and dried them under direct sunlight.
Sunlight was good for drying plants as it maximized the heat and helped with the evaporation. They also didn’t have fat and flesh that were a perfect place for bacteria to develop.
In contrast, heat was detrimental to meat and sunlight would make the meat spoil quickly.
Siderius treated the new buffalo meats and hide with salt then hung them on the drying racks. The salt would create an environment that blocked off bacteria and made sure everything stayed fresh.
He also kept the bones and made sure it was stashed secretly in a crevice of the rocky hill. These bones would be very important to create a cure for Carsten later.
After finishing everything, Siderius laid down in his shelter to sleep. Dawn almost passed and the daylight made his eyes sting, he needed to sleep to avoid the discomfort.
[PSYCHOSIS -1]
[PSYCHOSIS LEVEL: 59/125]
A good sleep ensured the peace of your mind. It wasn’t comparable to meditation of course, but it was very reliable.
When Siderius woke up again, it was already nighttime. The perfect time for his dark eyes to operate.
As usual, Siderius started his wake-up meditation.
"By touch and taste, by scent and sound.
No chaos placed, on hallowed ground."
Siderius recited the verse and sat in front of the campfire.
[PSYCHOSIS -1]
[PSYCHOSIS LEVEL: 58/125]
The meditation had settled on a conversion rate of one point every two hours. Siderius stopped the meditation after two hours as he still had things to do.
After the meditation, he checked the meat and hide. The salt had done a great job absorbing the moisture and keeping them fresh. The meat now could be preserved for a long period of time. Siderius wouldn’t need to worry about food for a while.
The hide could be used to make leather armor or clothes. After salting, it was in perfect condition for further process.
Buffalo’s skin was tough and could be a very good material for defensive clothing.
He would need to waste some Mercury to transform the hide into a usable witch hunter uniform. He was considering whether wasting Mercury was a good choice or should he save the Mercury for later.
[MERCURY EXTRACT: 53/150]
Siderius wasn’t going to use Mercury for anything soon. His first mutation wasn’t even stable yet and there were still more than fifty psychosis points.
Grafting another mutation would be no different than suicide and he needed to be extra careful as Fluff was no normal beast.
He had made his decision.
[MERCURY -30]
The uniform was one essential aspect of a witch hunter. It wasn’t just the clothes but also the layers, paddings, utility belts and armor.
Contrary to normal knights in shining armor, a witch hunter prioritized their movement before actual defensive capabilities. This wasn’t because a witch hunter did not care about their safety but simply because armor was not suitable to deal with cunning witches and their magic.
The first layer was the clothes. Witch hunter clothes must be thin, flexible to move in, and easy to layer more padding on top. It also needed to be somewhat resilient to not be a complete joke in front of a blade.
Hard leather was its most suitable material. It was more resilient than ordinary cloth and wool. However, leather was too good at preserving heat.
Leather clothes for a witch hunter while delving in the wilderness would be nothing less of a torture. The heat and sweat it preserved were a nightmare for survivability and comfort.
To combat this, the Alchemy Guild had invented a special design that circulated the air inside the clothes, that also adjusted the fabric structure to be stretchy for complex movement.
With the mercury store in the system, Siderius drew three Alchemical Seals that were entangled with one another.
A seal that contained the buffalo hide.
A second seal with the guard uniform.
And a third seal that stayed in the middle of the two circles.
After preparing everything, Siderius moved his hands and started the transformation process.
With mercury, needle and thread were unnecessary as the hide would turn into the new form naturally. The old guard uniform would act as the inner layer and paddings for the new hunter uniform.
Mercury climbed up and swallowed the hide and the guard clothes. Then it slowly crawled toward the middle circle, creating the new outfit for Siderius.
As outfits were different from one another, their length, style and design were never the same, a single Alchemical Sign couldn’t be designed to fit all of the transformation process.
Instead, Signs for the transformation process, or more precisely, clothing transformation, were a collection of thousands of signs. These signs would adjust the clothes depending on the user’s needs and an alchemist had to use the correct signs to create the desired product.
Siderius knew every sign by heart so this was not difficult for him. He spent a great amount of time doing signs to make sure the new uniform would be perfect.
This cost Siderius all night.
He put on his new witch hunter uniform.
It was all black. The material outside glistened under the moonlight. It was made from the buffalo hide while the inside was a layer of soft fabric. The soft inner layer rubbed onto Siderius’ skin, preventing any friction directly to the leather.
The shirt was bigger than they needed to be, making Siderius look boxy and square.
The pants were similar, made a few sizes bigger than the current Siderius.
He deliberately made the uniform oversized to account for his muscle growth in the future. It might not be fitting now but it would be soon.
Siderius tried to run around to test its flexibility. Its movement was good, no friction on his skin.
Then he squatted down, stretched his legs, and reached out his arm. The clothes deformed according to his movement, making sure no pressure was put on his body.
The clothes were also a great heat preservation. With his former clothes, Siderius could never get away from the fire for too long. If he did, the cold would have invaded his body, causing an imbalance to his natural elements.
But now he felt perfectly warm under the cold air and wind of the night. This uniform wouldn’t be able to stop a winter cold however. But it wouldn’t have any problem protecting Siderius in all other seasons.
On the waistband of the uniform was a special slot for his utility belt. Siderius didn’t have a belt yet but he would soon acquire one.
On the back of the waist was a special compartment to store knives. Siderius easily slid the hunter knife inside and it was very hard to notice its presence.
There were also several hidden pockets in the front of the shirt, suitable to store coins or materials. The back of the shirt had unique slots that Siderius could add a sword strap on if he wanted. Those backslots would be great to carry a sword in case he needed to move quickly.
Critical points on the uniform were made with previous paddings of the guard uniform and multiple layers of the buffalo hide. These points were the neck, the shoulders, the chest, the stomach, the back, the elbows, the knees and the groin.
The collar was made high and thick so if a blade went through Siderius’ defence, the uniform could block the strike partially. Due to its thickness, the collar stood up naturally and wouldn’t bend down.
The shoulder pads were thinner than actual leather armor. Because this was a uniform, making it too thick would make Siderius rigid and hard to move his arms.
The chest had the thickest layer as it would be the main point of vulnerability in any situation. It had the largest mass and contained most of the organs. The back had the same amount of defence. However, to ensure the shirt flexibility, compromise had to take place.
The armpits were thin and were no different than normal clothes.
The elbows and the knees were the most vulnerable joints so naturally they needed to have protection. However, similar to the armpits, the inside of the knees and elbows were their weak points and very thin.
The groin had the second thickest layer of all the areas. The reason was obvious. Siderius knew he wouldn’t play fair. So he expected his enemies to be the same.
Siderius was satisfied with his creation. The Mercury Extract was worth it.