“Alright. I’ll come find you as soon as I’m done picking up that order.” I said to Alice and Lua as we went our separate ways from HomeBase. We all had our own jobs to do, so that is just how this is going to go.
Alice was heading back to Burch city so she could work on finding out anything about the slave marks, now that she has a system mission regarding those. And because the Blanken Trading Company is basically the only lead we have, and they are located in Burch city, Alice decided to return there and act as an adventurer. She was taking Agunan, Einar and Eline with her.
Lua and Ria were also heading to the same city, but their goal was different. They were going to go and meet up with someone who knows about the dhampir safe village and hopefully get us a visitation to that village. It shouldn’t be too difficult, as we did get that letter from Prince Elias.
Lastly, Wilma and I would first head to the Hill town of Yuva to hopefully pick up my metal order. It should be ready, but considering that they would usually inform us with a letter, which they admittedly might have sent to Sawyer city, I need to go there and see if they are. And if they aren’t, well, we will at least get an update on when it will be ready.
Now, as for what I did with HomeBase. It should be fine to just leave it and remote manage it with Dungeon Founder, but I didn’t want to risk it, so I installed Endymion, the Master Magician into the True core and summoned one of him as a dungeon monster. I then moved him up to the top of the Citadels highest tower, which housed the Citadel core and left him there to monitor mana levels and take care of stuff.
Spoiler
[collapse]
I think after I’m done with this dhampir village, I’ll take Agunan and visit the dragons. I could really use some of those dragon avatars, so I can look into avatar dolls, so I can have more monsters available for me, without having to install them into the True core.
“... Lord Brian… may I ask something about that ship?” Wilma asked, after we landed.
Unlike the other group, which had a total of 6 members, we were just the two of us, so we used a Gradius to move, while Alice piloted her brand new B.E.S. Covered Core to take the others to Burch city.
Spoiler
[collapse]
Oh, by the way. Speaking of my Gradius. After I learned what Gradius’ Option does to Gradius when installed into it, I did install Gradius’ Option into my own Gradius. So in total, my Gradius now has Machine Conversion Factory, a defensive 7 Completed, Cyclon Laser and Gradius’ Option installed in it.
Spoiler
[collapse]
“Sure. Ask away.” I gave permission.
“... what is it made of? It is some kind of a metal, but I cannot recognize it.”
“... a good question. I have no idea, actually. Probably some titanium alloy, I’d assume.” Well admittedly that was more like a guess.
I think airplanes are made from some aluminum alloy. Or did they move to some sort of composite material? I don’t know. Well, either way. I don’t think titanium is actually used on things like airline jets, but I do think it is used for military jets, so Gradius is probably titanium.
“Titanium? I think I’ve heard of it… but isn’t it just a legend?” Wilma asked.
“You might be thinking of star titanium. It is considered one of the greatest metals alongside things like orichalcum and adamantite. But I’m not sure if normal titanium counts.”
“... how do you know about that? Those metals… are basically legends.”
“Well, this is orichalcum, so when I looked a bit into it, I found out a few things.” I pointed out, as I reminded Wilma that I indeed do have an orichalcum bracer on my left arm.
“What kind of information network do you have?”
“... I’ll tell you about it some day.”
“I feel like you said that earlier.”
“You know what, I just might have.” I admitted. Not that I remember what I even said yesterday. My mind is too occupied remembering more important things.
Well, I do remember the important things, and that is all that really matters.
“Ah. Lord Wood. It is great to see you again. I have to say, you came quite quickly. We just sent out the letter two days ago.” The same worker who took my order came to talk to me quickly after I arrived at the Yuva family’s metal wholesale store.
“Well, I do tend to do that.” So they did have the time to send a letter. Maybe I should go visit the Sawyer manor so I can pick it up. I also have one item I want to give them. And I can check up on Paulina while at it. … maybe I should invite Paulina to work for me on HomeBase? I could use someone skilled in magic. Well, more like I just need more personnel as a whole. “So, is it all ready?”
“Naturally. We wouldn’t want you to make the trip for nothing. The steel is of exceptionally high quality this time, so we hope you will enjoy it.”
“Oh? Why thank you. That will be a great help.”
“May I ask what you plan to have made out of it?”
“Ask her. She is my new smith, so hopefully she'll make something interesting.”
After a bit more chatting, we moved to the storehouse where I saw all of my metal laid out for me.
In total, my order had 500 kilos of high quality steel, 200 kilos of copper, 200 kilos of bronze, 200 kilos of iron and 50 kilos of mithril. Quite the haul, if I do say so myself. And all for the low price of 152 gold and two large silvers. Actually, that is just half of the cost, as I paid the other half beforehand, so the actual cost was 304 gold and four large silvers. Though I did also give them a tip of another twenty large silvers, just because I felt like it. And because I was honestly surprised by the steel quality.
I was expecting to get some intermediate quality stuff, with maybe some being high quality, but all that I received was at least high+ quality, with about a third being excellent- and a sixth being just straight excellent.
After getting it all into Storage, I made sure to use Material Quality Increase on all of it. This caused everything to rise by two ranks, so the high+ quality steel turned into excellent, the excellent- turned into excellent+ and the excellent turned into flawless.
Not sure what the flawless steel will be used for, but considering that I only have about 80 kilos of it, I know I don’t want it to be wasted. The excellent quality steel, which I have 250 kilos of, can be used for most things and it will make for quality tools and weapons anyway.
Well, some of it will probably be converted into vampiric steel, but other than that.
Also, for those wondering what the metal quality actually affects. After being made into weapons, the original quality of the metal used affects things like how much durability the finished piece will have, how good of stats it can have, and how enchantable the item is.
And one more thing. I feel like I’ve mentioned this before, but I might not have so I’ll add it here. After steel is converted into vampiric steel, it is no longer the ‘same material’ in the eyes of Storage, so I can actually use Material Quality Increase on it again, effectively getting a double Material Quality Increase on the metal. I suppose if I went all the way from ore to vampiric steel, it would get like four or maybe even five boosts, but that might be just a bit too much work. Well, maybe eventually when HomeBase is running like a well oiled machine and everything is fine there I might look into it.
“So, Wilma. Want to come with me or should I take you back to HomeBase?” I asked my smith, as we were walking away from the hill town so I could summon Gradius and fly off.
“... I’ll come too, if that is fine. I’d like to get to know everyone just a bit better, so I can better understand how they fight. It will help when I make weapons or armor for them.” Wilma answered.
“Yeah, I guess that might help.”
“... I also would like to see that sword again. That … dragon slaying sword, was it?”
“You mean Red-Eyes Black Dragon Sword, right? Sure, I can show it off again. Is there something about it that really interests you?”
Spoiler
[collapse]
“Yes. … Do you know about weapon statistics?” Wilma asked.
“I do know a bit about them, yes.” I confirmed. “With my Dungeon Founder skill, I can analyze weapons and learn their statistics. But I’m by no means an expert.”
“So you know that your mithril sword doesn’t give its wielder any strength?”
“Yeah. I do know that.”
“But your … red dragon sword does.”
“Red-Eyes Black Dragon Sword.” I reminded Wilma. “And yes. It does. Quite a bit of strength, actually.”
“Exactly. But most weapons don’t do that. That is why I want to know more about that sword.”
“... most?” I asked to confirm. I’ll fully admit that I haven’t scouted the weapons sections of HomeBase’s catalog that much, so I don’t really know what weapons can and cannot do, but none that I’ve seen have given strength to the wielder.
“Yes. There are weapons that can give strength. They are considered legends and myths, but they are real. I was shown one as a part of my training. The indestructible sword of penance, Chandrahas.” Wilma told me.
“... wow. That sounds like… something.”
“It was. It was encased in a clear crystal, having been placed there after its previous wielder passed away. But despite that, I could feel a power emanating from the sword. And when I tried to appraise it… I passed out after seeing just two lines.” Wilma said, before telling me what she could see. “The sword, as its name would indicate, is indestructible and can never be broken. And it grants its wielder 2500 strength.”
“... wow. That is quite the sword.”
That is honest praise. Sure my Red-Eyes Black Dragon Sword can reach that level, so it isn’t something completely insane, but my cards are also completely imbalanced, so using them as a basis is just a bad comparison. The fact that a sword like that exists is not something I ever even considered. Well, I did, but I assumed that only something like the sword wielded by the Hero would be on that level.
I wonder if I could make one by installing multiple cards into a sword?
… yeah. No way that would work, actually. The sword would just break if I tried. There is a limit to the installs weapons can take. Maybe if I had an orichalcum sword or something to use as a base.
“Yes. Yes it is.” Wilma said, seemingly thinking back to the moment when she saw it. “... and I dream of the day I can make one.” She admitted.
“I’m sure you can, if you set your mind to it.” I told her. “And as long as you work for me, I’ll help in any way I can.”
“... then, the sword… could I take a look at it? And maybe even hold it?” Wilma requested.
“Sure. Let’s do that before our flight then. … or maybe we can fly in Big Core and I’ll hold a showcase of cool weapons mid-flight.”
“I am fine with either, my Lord.”
“Then mid-flight it is.” I decided, and summoned B.E.S. Big Core.
Spoiler
[collapse]
During our flight to Burch city, actually we are first going to stop by the Sawyer manor but still, I showed a multitude of weapons to Wilma.
Of course we started off with Red-Eyes Black Dragon Sword. Then I just activated different equip spells one after the other, just to show Wilma the variety of stuff my cards can summon.
Legendary Sword, Divine Sword - Phoenix Blade, Fusion Sword Murasame Blade, Lightning Blade, Sword of Dark Destruction, Sword of Deep-Seated, Sword of the Soul-Eater, Twin Swords of Flashing Light - Tryce, Salamandra and Wicked-Breaking Flamberge - Baou. And that was just the ones that are swords.
Spoiler
[collapse]
I also have Axe of Despair, though that one is a bit dangerous, Burning Spear, Electro-Whip, Power of Kaishin and Cestus of Dagla.
Spoiler
[collapse]
I also showed Wilma Raregold and Metalsilver Armor, just in case she might want to make something like that.
Spoiler
[collapse]
Now, as for something interesting. Unlike Ria, who couldn’t ‘equip’ Cestus of Dagla, Wilma could hold them just fine. So dhampirs cannot, but humans and dwarves are fine for Fairy-type equips. Let’s keep that in mind.
On the other hand, Power of Kaishin and Electro-Whip were both bad for Wilma, as they would either shock her or freeze her. I could wield either just fine though.
But the one thing that neither of us could use was the Sword of the Soul-Eater. It does need a low level normal monster, so I guess neither of us fill that condition.
Now I wonder, could Alice’s Erasure magic, which she doesn’t actually have yet, erase the ‘can only be equipped to xxx’ part of the effect? It probably could, I think.
Well, we can test that out when Alice gets that skill. For now, we shall look more closely at the weapons Wilma found the most interesting and see what she will want to do from there.
“Alright. I’ll come find you as soon as I’m done picking up that order.” I said to Alice and Lua as we went our separate ways from HomeBase. We all had our own jobs to do, so that is just how this is going to go.
Alice was heading back to Burch city so she could work on finding out anything about the slave marks, now that she has a system mission regarding those. And because the Blanken Trading Company is basically the only lead we have, and they are located in Burch city, Alice decided to return there and act as an adventurer. She was taking Agunan, Einar and Eline with her.
Lua and Ria were also heading to the same city, but their goal was different. They were going to go and meet up with someone who knows about the dhampir safe village and hopefully get us a visitation to that village. It shouldn’t be too difficult, as we did get that letter from Prince Elias.
Lastly, Wilma and I would first head to the Hill town of Yuva to hopefully pick up my metal order. It should be ready, but considering that they would usually inform us with a letter, which they admittedly might have sent to Sawyer city, I need to go there and see if they are. And if they aren’t, well, we will at least get an update on when it will be ready.
Now, as for what I did with HomeBase. It should be fine to just leave it and remote manage it with Dungeon Founder, but I didn’t want to risk it, so I installed Endymion, the Master Magician into the True core and summoned one of him as a dungeon monster. I then moved him up to the top of the Citadels highest tower, which housed the Citadel core and left him there to monitor mana levels and take care of stuff.
Spoiler
[collapse]
I think after I’m done with this dhampir village, I’ll take Agunan and visit the dragons. I could really use some of those dragon avatars, so I can look into avatar dolls, so I can have more monsters available for me, without having to install them into the True core.
“... Lord Brian… may I ask something about that ship?” Wilma asked, after we landed.
Unlike the other group, which had a total of 6 members, we were just the two of us, so we used a Gradius to move, while Alice piloted her brand new B.E.S. Covered Core to take the others to Burch city.
Spoiler
[collapse]
Oh, by the way. Speaking of my Gradius. After I learned what Gradius’ Option does to Gradius when installed into it, I did install Gradius’ Option into my own Gradius. So in total, my Gradius now has Machine Conversion Factory, a defensive 7 Completed, Cyclon Laser and Gradius’ Option installed in it.
Spoiler
[collapse]
“Sure. Ask away.” I gave permission.
“... what is it made of? It is some kind of a metal, but I cannot recognize it.”
“... a good question. I have no idea, actually. Probably some titanium alloy, I’d assume.” Well admittedly that was more like a guess.
I think airplanes are made from some aluminum alloy. Or did they move to some sort of composite material? I don’t know. Well, either way. I don’t think titanium is actually used on things like airline jets, but I do think it is used for military jets, so Gradius is probably titanium.
“Titanium? I think I’ve heard of it… but isn’t it just a legend?” Wilma asked.
“You might be thinking of star titanium. It is considered one of the greatest metals alongside things like orichalcum and adamantite. But I’m not sure if normal titanium counts.”
“... how do you know about that? Those metals… are basically legends.”
“Well, this is orichalcum, so when I looked a bit into it, I found out a few things.” I pointed out, as I reminded Wilma that I indeed do have an orichalcum bracer on my left arm.
“What kind of information network do you have?”
“... I’ll tell you about it some day.”
“I feel like you said that earlier.”
“You know what, I just might have.” I admitted. Not that I remember what I even said yesterday. My mind is too occupied remembering more important things.
Well, I do remember the important things, and that is all that really matters.
“Ah. Lord Wood. It is great to see you again. I have to say, you came quite quickly. We just sent out the letter two days ago.” The same worker who took my order came to talk to me quickly after I arrived at the Yuva family’s metal wholesale store.
“Well, I do tend to do that.” So they did have the time to send a letter. Maybe I should go visit the Sawyer manor so I can pick it up. I also have one item I want to give them. And I can check up on Paulina while at it. … maybe I should invite Paulina to work for me on HomeBase? I could use someone skilled in magic. Well, more like I just need more personnel as a whole. “So, is it all ready?”
“Naturally. We wouldn’t want you to make the trip for nothing. The steel is of exceptionally high quality this time, so we hope you will enjoy it.”
“Oh? Why thank you. That will be a great help.”
“May I ask what you plan to have made out of it?”
“Ask her. She is my new smith, so hopefully she'll make something interesting.”
After a bit more chatting, we moved to the storehouse where I saw all of my metal laid out for me.
In total, my order had 500 kilos of high quality steel, 200 kilos of copper, 200 kilos of bronze, 200 kilos of iron and 50 kilos of mithril. Quite the haul, if I do say so myself. And all for the low price of 152 gold and two large silvers. Actually, that is just half of the cost, as I paid the other half beforehand, so the actual cost was 304 gold and four large silvers. Though I did also give them a tip of another twenty large silvers, just because I felt like it. And because I was honestly surprised by the steel quality.
I was expecting to get some intermediate quality stuff, with maybe some being high quality, but all that I received was at least high+ quality, with about a third being excellent- and a sixth being just straight excellent.
After getting it all into Storage, I made sure to use Material Quality Increase on all of it. This caused everything to rise by two ranks, so the high+ quality steel turned into excellent, the excellent- turned into excellent+ and the excellent turned into flawless.
Not sure what the flawless steel will be used for, but considering that I only have about 80 kilos of it, I know I don’t want it to be wasted. The excellent quality steel, which I have 250 kilos of, can be used for most things and it will make for quality tools and weapons anyway.
Well, some of it will probably be converted into vampiric steel, but other than that.
Also, for those wondering what the metal quality actually affects. After being made into weapons, the original quality of the metal used affects things like how much durability the finished piece will have, how good of stats it can have, and how enchantable the item is.
And one more thing. I feel like I’ve mentioned this before, but I might not have so I’ll add it here. After steel is converted into vampiric steel, it is no longer the ‘same material’ in the eyes of Storage, so I can actually use Material Quality Increase on it again, effectively getting a double Material Quality Increase on the metal. I suppose if I went all the way from ore to vampiric steel, it would get like four or maybe even five boosts, but that might be just a bit too much work. Well, maybe eventually when HomeBase is running like a well oiled machine and everything is fine there I might look into it.
“So, Wilma. Want to come with me or should I take you back to HomeBase?” I asked my smith, as we were walking away from the hill town so I could summon Gradius and fly off.
“... I’ll come too, if that is fine. I’d like to get to know everyone just a bit better, so I can better understand how they fight. It will help when I make weapons or armor for them.” Wilma answered.
“Yeah, I guess that might help.”
“... I also would like to see that sword again. That … dragon slaying sword, was it?”
“You mean Red-Eyes Black Dragon Sword, right? Sure, I can show it off again. Is there something about it that really interests you?”
Spoiler
[collapse]
“Yes. … Do you know about weapon statistics?” Wilma asked.
“I do know a bit about them, yes.” I confirmed. “With my Dungeon Founder skill, I can analyze weapons and learn their statistics. But I’m by no means an expert.”
“So you know that your mithril sword doesn’t give its wielder any strength?”
“Yeah. I do know that.”
“But your … red dragon sword does.”
“Red-Eyes Black Dragon Sword.” I reminded Wilma. “And yes. It does. Quite a bit of strength, actually.”
“Exactly. But most weapons don’t do that. That is why I want to know more about that sword.”
“... most?” I asked to confirm. I’ll fully admit that I haven’t scouted the weapons sections of HomeBase’s catalog that much, so I don’t really know what weapons can and cannot do, but none that I’ve seen have given strength to the wielder.
“Yes. There are weapons that can give strength. They are considered legends and myths, but they are real. I was shown one as a part of my training. The indestructible sword of penance, Chandrahas.” Wilma told me.
“... wow. That sounds like… something.”
“It was. It was encased in a clear crystal, having been placed there after its previous wielder passed away. But despite that, I could feel a power emanating from the sword. And when I tried to appraise it… I passed out after seeing just two lines.” Wilma said, before telling me what she could see. “The sword, as its name would indicate, is indestructible and can never be broken. And it grants its wielder 2500 strength.”
“... wow. That is quite the sword.”
That is honest praise. Sure my Red-Eyes Black Dragon Sword can reach that level, so it isn’t something completely insane, but my cards are also completely imbalanced, so using them as a basis is just a bad comparison. The fact that a sword like that exists is not something I ever even considered. Well, I did, but I assumed that only something like the sword wielded by the Hero would be on that level.
I wonder if I could make one by installing multiple cards into a sword?
… yeah. No way that would work, actually. The sword would just break if I tried. There is a limit to the installs weapons can take. Maybe if I had an orichalcum sword or something to use as a base.
“Yes. Yes it is.” Wilma said, seemingly thinking back to the moment when she saw it. “... and I dream of the day I can make one.” She admitted.
“I’m sure you can, if you set your mind to it.” I told her. “And as long as you work for me, I’ll help in any way I can.”
“... then, the sword… could I take a look at it? And maybe even hold it?” Wilma requested.
“Sure. Let’s do that before our flight then. … or maybe we can fly in Big Core and I’ll hold a showcase of cool weapons mid-flight.”
“I am fine with either, my Lord.”
“Then mid-flight it is.” I decided, and summoned B.E.S. Big Core.
Spoiler
[collapse]
During our flight to Burch city, actually we are first going to stop by the Sawyer manor but still, I showed a multitude of weapons to Wilma.
Of course we started off with Red-Eyes Black Dragon Sword. Then I just activated different equip spells one after the other, just to show Wilma the variety of stuff my cards can summon.
Legendary Sword, Divine Sword - Phoenix Blade, Fusion Sword Murasame Blade, Lightning Blade, Sword of Dark Destruction, Sword of Deep-Seated, Sword of the Soul-Eater, Twin Swords of Flashing Light - Tryce, Salamandra and Wicked-Breaking Flamberge - Baou. And that was just the ones that are swords.
Spoiler
[collapse]
I also have Axe of Despair, though that one is a bit dangerous, Burning Spear, Electro-Whip, Power of Kaishin and Cestus of Dagla.
Spoiler
[collapse]
I also showed Wilma Raregold and Metalsilver Armor, just in case she might want to make something like that.
Spoiler
[collapse]
Now, as for something interesting. Unlike Ria, who couldn’t ‘equip’ Cestus of Dagla, Wilma could hold them just fine. So dhampirs cannot, but humans and dwarves are fine for Fairy-type equips. Let’s keep that in mind.
On the other hand, Power of Kaishin and Electro-Whip were both bad for Wilma, as they would either shock her or freeze her. I could wield either just fine though.
But the one thing that neither of us could use was the Sword of the Soul-Eater. It does need a low level normal monster, so I guess neither of us fill that condition.
Now I wonder, could Alice’s Erasure magic, which she doesn’t actually have yet, erase the ‘can only be equipped to xxx’ part of the effect? It probably could, I think.
Well, we can test that out when Alice gets that skill. For now, we shall look more closely at the weapons Wilma found the most interesting and see what she will want to do from there.
