He'd tiptoed around it for far too long, so TJ finally decided to use his most valuable materials. That this would also be the second to last possible opportunity for him to use them before the final battle wasn't lost on him. The timer showed a bit over 58 hours remaining in the Tutorial, two days and ten hours. He'd never felt like that was much time at all, but now, especially, TJ felt the hastening, looming ticking of the clock. With steady steps, TJ left behind the things behind him and walked into the shed that'd been left behind for all the crafters and other Occupations to work inside of.
Once inside, he was reminded that there wasn't enough time to try to figure out what to do with the materials he'd been granted, to experiment and hope and poke and prod. He needed results. Maybe he could put off processing the most valuable materials immediately, but he needed to make sure he and those people around him were prepared, so he'd have only a couple of hours before he was working on the final products. There were plenty of javelina hides that'd been turned over to the other crafters in the town, and TJ supported the thought. Even so, he had four complete and fully tanned hides waiting for his attention, to say nothing of the two Tezcatlipoca-blessed mountain lion hides he'd already promised himself to work with tonight.
While he looked at the materials before him, a pile of something dirty caught his eye. Then, as soon as TJ realized just what was on his bench, he didn't quite know how to react. The raven mocker's body had been recovered by someone, and then they also decided that he was the best option available to process it. With the guidance of his Skills and Occupation, he quickly realized that the most valuable parts of the raven were, in ascending order, the feathers, the middle claws, the eyes, and the tongue. As soon as he realized those things, he also realized that, as a rotting creature, its nature would continue to shift the longer it was left alone.
Before he could lose himself in thinking about what ifs and so on, TJ decided to jump right in. Every feather was plucked, and seeing that they continued to steadily crumble into nothing, he realized that he didn't know how to keep a mostly ethereal item solid when its very state of being wished to dissolve. He'd need to think about that as he continued to work, because the rest of the raven's body was obviously similarly decaying. With a grunt, TJ went to the feet, where he quickly learned why it was that the middle claw was the only valuable one. It swirled with distinctly foul magic. He couldn't say why exactly the magic was foul. Was it the sulfurous stench? The putrescent green light? Perhaps it was because a single touch had resulted in Charlie's death. Whatever the case was, TJ cut both flanges free with his Wendigo Blade and placed them to the side. The claws' magic aura swirled continuously around them, even after removal, and TJ moved on to the raven's head.
With the feathers all plucked, it looked like a diseased chicken corpse. Its skin was distinctly greenish, and even though it was long dead, the muscles under the skin continued to write, not in death throes, but as if there were something living within the corpse. TJ wondered if the thing would animate and come after him if left alone for long enough, but its eyes' constant flickering motion was more than enough to put him off. The eyes were, after the removal of the feathers, remarkably large, about the size of TJ's fist. How they had changed so much since when he'd seen the creature was even more off-putting, as, in life, the creature's eyes hung out of its skull.
Now, though, the eyes seemed to have somehow receded into their sockets, and though they were more than a little gross, they also seemed to radiate a certain magic. That its tongue was the most valuable part of the creature was particularly interesting. Since he didn't know how to process either, he made the decision to cut the head off entirely and see if he gained any further enlightenment after that. With sure strokes, TJ cut through the spine at the back, and then carved the throat out until it joined with the torso. The raven didn't bleed when shot or butchered, and now that he was tearing it apart, didn't seem to have blood at all. The corpse seemed to be worthless now, and TJ tossed it aside, to see if he couldn't do something to preserve the magic of the items before him. Every minute that passed, they lost potency, so he needed to figure it out now.
Those immediately changing the most were the feathers, as TJ suspected he'd already lost up to 25% of the total number of feathers. Those in the center of the pile seemed to not be losing any of their mass, TJ made a snap decision. Looking around the space, there was what he was looking for, though it was full of screws and random odds and ends. He stepped to a corner, dumped the mason jar out on the ground in the corner, and summarily stuffed every feather he could manage into the jar. Once he couldn't manage to get any more in without allowing more and more of the valuable items to dissipate, he pulled the top out and screwed it on tight.
Decision made and acted on, TJ still couldn't bring himself to move on to his next project. Instead, he watched through the clear glass, hoping to see confirmation of his success or condemnation of his failure. Smoke filtered off the feathers, darkening the jar, but it seemed to reach a saturation point, and the feathers stopped disappearing. Instead, a faint smoke filled the jar, but the feathers themselves remained physical. What TJ would be able to do with them, he couldn't say, but they were preserved for future use.
Next, the claws. TJ realized that everything he'd tried to build before had been clothing or weapons, but he'd neglected so many other things. There were physical structures, like he'd made with Peter today, but there were also tools, ornaments, food, and more. With these items, given the nature of the raven, TJ wondered if he could finally cross the invisible border of items and equipment that granted additional attributes. These claws would serve as his first step. He wasn't thinking about the other items right now, and instead threw himself into development for whatever these claws could be.
He considered their nature, as the thing that the raven used to kill Charlie. He stuffed down the pain from that final result, but it was its claw that was so deadly. The arcane, deathly aspects to the toe unsettled him, and they could function as a focus through which to channel magic. That was, after all, what the raven had done. That TJ only barely understood the meanings of the concepts that he was claiming that he was going to use the toes for was beside the point. Wendigo claws too worked to channel magic through, but that was more just them using their magic wherever they touched someone than using the claws as a focus.
Instead, TJ thought of a shape that he would want to use to channel Wind Manipulation or something like it through. Sorry, British witches and wizards, but a wand wasn't it. If he was locked in a fight with another one of these monsters, he didn't want a delicate stick that'd break so easily. If it was possible, then, maybe knuckle dusters or a knife, but TJ didn't have any post-Integration materials that'd incorporate into a long-lasting tool worthy of an Elite's materials. Maybe he'd need to learn how to find, process and prepare steel, and then–
TJ pulled himself out of his distraction. For now, he needed only to do something that'd make an accessible item that could focus his magic. His Wendigo Blade already did that, but TJ could feel that this toe would work much better for him, if it were to be properly treated. It wouldn't work as a melee weapon, or even a good tool, so he'd better make it discrete. But how? It was at least as long as one of his fingers, so how could he keep it on hand?
Thinking the words "on hand" and the epiphany that came afterwards made TJ groan. The stupid dangly hand chain glove things he'd seen and had no idea what their name was came to mind. Was TJ willing to create such a strange, ugly thing for himself, in the off-chance that it'd create something to strengthen his magic?
Yes. Without a doubt. TJ sighed and set to cutting out parts of the nearby javelina hide to the shape of a glove. It didn't need to be fancy, and, as a matter of fact, TJ quickly realized that delicate work on a glove might be worse for it in the long run, since it needed to last. As such, instead of a full glove, he created a fingerless bracer that had a loop for the thumb to go into and secure it. The dark brown leather was sewn together roughly, though functionally, and TJ quickly had a foot-long bracer with a designated space along the top where he could secure the raven's toe. He walked outside and found a pine tree's stump with dozens of droplets of frozen sap bubbling its top. With his blade and then some boiling water, TJ had a generous dollop of sap to slather on the bracer, to then hold the toe steady as he sewed it onto the new item.
His fingers moved supernaturally quickly as he created this item, though he cursed himself for sewing the bracer together before he'd sewn the raven mocker's toe in place. Even so, it wasn't too long before the item was complete. Even so, TJ could feel that there was something missing, and that if he left the item as it was, it would merely work as a slight improvement to regular spells or Skills' casting. While he tried to figure out what was missing, he cut out a scale pattern of excess javelina hide and then sewed it over the toe, leaving just the tip of the claw exposed. He had confidence in the basic integrity of his sewing job, but he didn't want to put it to the test. Also, the appendage would break with very little rough treatment. Thus, a bracer that could actually serve as a bracer was created, but that was only a delaying tactic.
The scales of leather covered all but the tip of the claw, and TJ was in the process of closing the end when he had an epiphany. Looking at the raven's skull, TJ didn't allow himself to second guess. He pulled the Wendigo Blade out and carefully split the skull down the center and exposed the bone behind the eyeball. There, he just pushed forward with his thumb, and there was a cracking sound before the eyeball was free. The optic nerve remained attached to the back, and as he held it, TJ was struck by just how hard the eye was, more like a marble than an organ from a creature.
Without further thought, TJ twisted the nerve onto the bone exposed at the back of the talon. The skin had sloughed off and disintegrated, leaving the bone swirling with a sickly green hue, and as soon as the nerve touched the bone, they merged together as if they'd always been one thing. Then, before TJ could react, the eye shrunk and sealed itself to the base of the bone. Though confused, TJ took the brief moment to seal the end of the leather scaling on the bracer, and internally designated the item as complete.
That was all it took, and then TJ Appraised the item he'd created.