For the second week in a row, we ignored the fact that Sundays, the day after a portal, are meant to be days of rest where we don't get any work done, recovering from whatever exertions we went through the day before. And unlike last time, it wasn't because we came back ten hours before the portal closed.
No, we were just too excited, like a group of children on Christmas morning. We had all this shiny new stuff, and none of us could wait to put it to use.
We broke into several groups after breakfast. Levy, Chiho, Bisky, and I started working on what everyone was the most excited for- the solar panels. Electricity was the path to so many little things that would improve our life that I had no qualms about the fact that the vast majority of the money we spent yesterday was just on these dozen or so panels.
They were really nice too. Each one was a thick slab roughly the size of a food tray. On the top were, of course, the panels. The part that faced the sun and turned that light into energy. The underside was a large battery that would store that power, with various ports for plugs.
The best part? The panels were modular, meant to work in concert with each other in a flexible way that could be deployed onto any kind of roof or space, or so the salesman said. Their main strength was that they could be plugged into each other and they'd distribute their charge, meaning if we started pulling from one battery, the others would move their power to that one.
So we did that, nailing them into the roof. We were meant to use screws I think, but we only had nails, so we made do. Then we connected them all to each other, cut holes in the roof that Kusano patched later, and fed the output power cords down those holes so we could actually use the power inside.
We took those dangling cords, which were all right next to the walls, and then plugged power strips into them, mounting those power strips to the walls at about waist level. When we were done, each room had at least one power strip, with the dining room and common area having several. And each power strip also had one lantern plugged into it that we hung high up on the wall, but still within reach.
The batteries on the solar panels won't last forever, and they'll need to be replaced in five to ten years. But we won't need them for that long. Hell, if things go well, I'm hoping to replace them in a matter of months. It might seem silly that I just worked all day to install something that would only last me months, but those will be months of lights at night and anything else that needs electricity.
I kept up my Nen training while doing that, stepping away for a couple minutes every now and then to exhaust myself using Ren only to get back to work while maintaining Zetsu. It was exhausting, and by the end of it I was a sweaty and tired mess, but continuing to make progress was important. At the rate I'm going, I'll be able to hold Ren for 10 minutes sometime on Thursday, at which point Bisky will let me do the Water Divination test to find out what kind of Nen user I am.
Thinking about that was what I spent most of my time doing while using Ren, but I'm still no closer to guessing what type of Nen user I am. The Water Divination test is the only certain method of determining that. Hisoka, a Nen user in the world of Hunter x Hunter, had a theory about personalities correlating to certain types, but I couldn't remember it and it wasn't by any means a conclusive test.
No techniques came to mind either, no original ones at least. Every time I tried to think up a Hatsu that would fit me, my mind drifted towards one I saw in the anime or a similar power from another setting that I could try to recreate in some fashion.
I'm hoping that knowing what my type is will help narrow things down for me because right now it feels like there are too many options available to me.
But back to power. We put the gas-powered generator in the workshop. It wouldn't be used most of the time, but it was a good backup. At least, it will be when Levy figures out how to make gasoline. She knows how to make oil, so it's definitely theoretically possible, she just needs to study some with the Wikipedia download.
While we got the power set up, the others were hard at work too. Uzume put some of the cloth we bought to use and started making proper futons. Or, well, futon-like bedding. I don't actually know how a futon is constructed, after all. But what Uzume made was basically a giant pillow, using cotton that we had been using for our makeshift beds as filling.
Kusano also grew and picked a bunch more for use in other stuff, but it took Uzume all day just to make the beds, even with the help of the old sewing machine we found in an antique shop that used some kind of foot carriage that swung back and forth to power it. Just because we had more electricity doesn't mean we shouldn't try to save power where we could. Uzume didn't seem to mind either, as she was humming and smiling as she worked whenever I saw her.
Matsu alternated between helping other people with their stuff and frowning at the Jinki. She actually did make some progress. She can consistently do something that makes it glow briefly, but it doesn't seem to have any effect. Matsu thinks she found the first step to activating some sequence or ability, but she still hasn't figured out where to go from there, and it fades away without the next step.
Tinks, however, had asked Levy, through noises and body language that Communication Talent helped us decipher, for a bunch of materials a bit after we had started on the solar panels. So while we worked on the power, Tinks was hard at work near the kiln.
We checked on her progress after we finished setting up the solar panels, and I was shocked at what I saw.
"You did all this, Tinks?" I asked as I looked at the new miniature smithy she had set up.
Next to the casting forge was a new forge, much smaller and open to the air. It was a large rectangle, with a through in the middle, made of clay. The trough was filled with what looked like coal and the entire thing was held up on stacked bricks a few inches off the ground. A pipe made of kludged-together metal, Tinks' signature design, ran out from under and led to the bellows a foot away from the forge.
Right next to that was the anvil we had purchased. Anvils came in a lot smaller size than I thought they did, being only about eight inches tall and a couple feet long. It certainly made it easier to move, and it was enough for Tinks to use with the layer of bricks she had laid down next to it to act as a stool.
And completing it was a clay pot filled with water, presumably to do the quenching thing. Probably. I don't know, I'm pretty sure Tinks knows more about blacksmithing than me through natural instinct alone.
Tinks let out a happy but tired warble as she nodded. She picked up a pair of tongs, different from the ones used for the crucible forge but made in much the same manner, and mimed picking something up with them. Then she raked that invisible object over the unlit coals before swinging the tongs to the anvil, where she 'hit it', by smacking the anvil with her personal hammer a few times. Then she put both of those down and worked the bellows, sending puffs of coal-laden air upwards from the trough, before turning around with raised hands and looking at us expectantly.
We all clapped, suitably impressed, and a big smile broke out on her face. "This is really impressive, Tinks," I praised her. "Do you want to start making stuff?"
Tinks nodded, letting out another cry. She turned and picked up her hammer, holding it in the air, and made another noise.
"You want to make a new hammer first?" I asked, unsure if I was interpreting her correctly. She nodded. "I think that sounds like a great idea. But why don't you rest for now? You looked pretty tired."
She hesitated for a moment before nodding and then reaching up to me. I indulged her by picking her up and holding her like she was a baby. She curled up in my arms and almost instantly fell asleep clinging to her hammer.
"She must have exhausted herself doing this," Levy commented.
"Matsu helped fire the forge tray since she couldn't reach the top of the kiln," Matsu said. "But she did the rest herself."
"I wonder why she so suddenly wanted to do this," I pondered quietly. "I mean, we've been slowly working our way towards this for the past week, so why only now?"
"Maybe because you got the bellows?" Levy guessed. "And with all the pieces available to her, instinct kicked in and she assembled a forge? Or maybe she just didn't like not being able to help in the past couple of portal trips."
I hummed to acknowledge her words, pondering that. I looked around for the other Pokemon that had been cooped up in their ball the past two portal trips, VV.
VV had spent most of the day either lounging as usual or practicing his moves with minimal oversight from Levy. And as I spotted him near the pond, looking out over the edge of the Skyblock, I realized that I hadn't talked to or interacted with him much since we visited Sekirei.
"Here, can you put her in bed? We'll wake up for dinner," I said as I handed Tinks off to Levy. "I want to talk to VV."
Levy gave me a smile. "I think that's a good idea." She took Tinks from me, careful not to wake her up, and I made my way over to where VV was.
He didn't react as I sat down next to him beyond one of his ears flicking. However, he did react when I started petting him, my fingertips digging into the thick coat of fur on his neck. He let out a pleased mewl and leaned into it.
"Hey buddy," I said with a smile. "You doing okay over here?"
He yipped and nodded, still staring out over the horizon into the empty sky starting to slowly turn orange as the sun started to set. I felt the gentle vibrations of him purring as I pet him.
"I just wanted to make sure," I continued. "I know we haven't really talked much this past week, and I was wondering if you were okay with your current circumstances. I know you just kind of joined us and we didn't promise anything, but I feel bad about how you and Tinks have had to stay in your Pokeballs the past two portal trips. But that's because you're just too popular for your own good."
VV turned to look at me with a tilted head, so I continued. "We've explained the multiverse stuff to you, right? How some worlds have knowledge of other worlds?" VV nodded. "Well, your world is a pretty well-known one, so even in worlds where Pokemon don't actually exist, there are tons of people who know what Pokemon are and can recognize them. And Eevees like yourself are particularly popular. You're probably the second most recognizable Pokemon of all time."
His tail started wagging and he looked at me in delighted surprise. I laughed. "You may be excited to be so famous, but that's why we can't bring you out. There'd be a huge uproar if someone spotted a real Eevee in the past two worlds we've gone to." I shook my head. "But that won't always be the case. As the worlds get more dangerous they'll also trend towards the kind of worlds that won't know you, so we won't have to worry about that."
VV's ears dropped a little bit at that, causing me to laugh. "What, disappointed that you won't get all the attention you want? Don't worry, you're still cute, so even if they don't recognize what you are they'll recognize that much and want to pet you and adore you."
He perked back up at that, causing me to laugh again. But the smile faded to my face as another aspect of more dangerous worlds dawned on me. "How do you feel about your training?" I asked. "Is it going well?"
He let out a quiet bark that sounded non-committal to my ears. "Hmm. Is drilling moves boring or not working or something?" VV shook his head and barked again, insisting that they were working. I thought for another moment. "Is it… because you don't have a partner to train against?"
VV nodded, and I fell into thought. Tinks… wasn't much of a fighter. Today, seeing her work on her forge, was the most animated and happiest that I've seen her. She didn't really like sparring with VV so she hadn't done it since the time when she prepared for the gym fight.
"Well, it'll probably be a while before we can get any more Pokemon to join us," I started. Levy and I realized that if we went back to Pokemon and then the portal closed, all the people we stamped last time would be pulled into our Skyblock. We only got Credits for six of them, but Levy stamped more than twice that number in trainers while I was searching for my own Pokemon. It would reduce our next portal time to just a few hours, and we'd suddenly have way more people on the Skyblock than we could handle, most of them pubescent teens. Not a situation I wanted.
"So do you think you can battle against us?" I suggested. VV looked at me in surprise. "Probably only Bisky right now, I need a bit more training before I'm ready for something like that. But most of the worlds we'll go to won't have Pokemon, and only some will have things similar to Pokemon. People will be the most common threat we face, and you need to be ready to fight them if you want to come with us in these worlds."
VV looked back to the horizon and remained quiet for a moment before letting out a soft noise halfway between a whine and a growl.
I scratched him between his ears. "Take some time to think about it. You don't have to do anything you don't want to."
VV barked again and nodded, and we fell into a comfortable silence. One that was broken a few moments later by someone calling my name. "Roland! VV!" Levy called from the entrance to the common area of the house. "Dinner is ready!"
VV perked up and immediately took off, springing into a sprint towards Levy. I laughed and got up to follow him at a more sedate pace.
I'm still not sure how VV feels entirely, but it was good to see that he was in good spirits, for the most part. I'll have to make sure to talk to him every few days, Tinks as well. Just because I'm not having sex with them doesn't mean they aren't important parts of my family.
I don't have much to say about dinner. Kusano and Bisky are continuing to do a good job by providing us some basic meals with the ingredients we have, and it was good, but other than the new lamps providing some after the sun had set, it was business as usual.
Still, we got a lot done today, and we have a lot more planned. Tomorrow will probably be just as busy as today, and I can't wait.
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AN: Pretty short chapter this time, mostly just showing them putting their new purchases to use and a moment with VV that makes up for how little attention he's gotten lately. Most of the chapters for this week until the portal opens will probably be like this, the ones that get written anyway. Just a quick summation of what they did and a character moment or two that is important to the plot.