23: Making Gear
The news of suddenly going to a dangerous dungeon brought Aidan to realize a crucial fact. He actually had no experience fighting against monsters.
The only real experience he had was against the Horned Wolves on that very first day, buck naked with only two spells on hand. Now that he had more spells and a bit more experience, he realized that no amount of spells could protect him if any of the monsters were to come at him in close combat.
He was basically a glass-cannon damage dealer. In another way, he was just a crafter who could make decent items. But that would be the end of it.
This wasn’t like a video game. Being a Mage doesn’t mean he was stuck to always being a defenseless, range-only caster. His magic allowed him to go far beyond what was normal, and his talent was capable of reaching farther than other mages at his level.
That much was proof thanks to him dealing with higher level ruffians harassing his shop, unable to do anything against his special magic that they had no defense over. However, the fact was that the principles of reality still applied. One sharp knife into the neck and it’s game over. A sword to the brain, or an attack straight to the heart is enough to drain all of his health points to zero.
He needed to defend himself, so the first thing on his mind was making equipment for himself to wear. When Nina returned a day later, she supplied Aidan and Haley not just with supplies for dungeon diving, but also materials for Aidan to work with. She barely said anything other than to just use his abilities like he’d always done, and prove to her that he could handle it before leaving once again to God knows where.
The supplies reminded Aidan how serious a dungeon dive can be. She gave him the classic rope, torches, waterskins, and several types of rations to eat while going through the venture. She even gave him some tools like a crowbar and some chalk, the first to pry open anything sturdy and the second to mark anything to avoid getting lost.
Not that Aidan needed that kind of thing thanks to his ability, but he figured Nina didn’t know about that particular ability. She could only see the spells’ names on his status board, but apparently not their descriptions.
She brought a lot more materials than before, figuring that if there was anything she missed, Aidan could just craft the items they needed in the dungeon, which she wasn’t wrong for thinking like that. He was more glad for the materials as she brought in a lot more metal and gemstones for him to enchant the items with, providing a good enough base.
Standing within the crafting room of the store, Aidan thought hard on what he needed. He knew he wasn’t a fighter, but that didn’t mean he couldn’t make some decent armor for himself. The thing was, he never actually made gear before. He made clothes once, but they never provided any form of defense.
Still, he decided it was best to just try for now. He had the materials, and plenty of time to spare. The store was being handled by Haley at the front, and she had enough experience to handle the customers and, should the Red Riot come around, she could just shout at him to deal with them. Though he really hoped they wouldn’t come to annoy them again.
“Alright, stop stalling and get to work.”
He made the orb of his Craft spell come into existence, and pulled the items near his side and placed a metal ingot into the orb. He placed some more in there, around three in total, before beginning the process for the crafting.
First he needed to make actual wearable armor, and his imagination took over from there as the first batch of his creations was made within the orb. When he pulled the armor in question out, he grimaced at the sight of it.
It was barely big enough to fit his torso, more like a clump with an empty space in between like a messed up cylinder. He let his imagination take too much control, ignoring the details. He placed the messed up ‘armor’ back into the orb, this time adding in some more ingots.
He figured he didn’t have enough, but it was possible that he only focused on one particular area of the armor instead of the whole. He needed to flatten out the metal enough to cover a wide area, and of course make it actually wearable on his person. The more he focused on it, the more his Sense Vibrations took over rather than his imagination.
He slowly started to feel out the vibrations each metal ingot carried, altering them to fit his needs. After a bit more work, his forehead damp with sweat, he stopped crafting and pulled the item out for inspection.
This time it was a rousing success. What came out was a metal cuirass with three holes for his head and arms. When he decided to wear it over his body, it felt tight but comfortable enough to be used. He even did some light stretches, ensuring the quality as it held up. He worried whether he messed up somewhere and it would start to crack in places, but it looked like his Craft spell really did work as far as his imagination can carry.
This spell is really overpowered if I put some more effort into it. Aidan scanned the item in question, seeing the notification.
Iron Breastplate (Common)
A decently made breastplate made of simple iron. Capable of withstanding heavy attacks based on the torso, but completely leaves the abdomen free. While simple, it provides decent defense against piercing and striking attacks.
Requirements:
Must have 5+ Might
Must have 5+ Toughness
He knew if he focused more on the crafting process, he could increase the rarity of the items he made, but right now, he didn’t plan on spending so much materials to improve his craft. He needed armor now for the basic defense. He kept moving his hands, putting effort into creating different parts of set to protect his body as well as Haley’s.
Considering that she had no practical experience in combat at all, he needed to make decent armor so at least she can move around without fearing for her life. The human body is way too fragile against the monsters of this world, and he could guess she didn’t focus enough on her Toughness stat to withstand incoming attacks.
It felt like hours passed as he focused on his Craft spell, ironing out the kinks of his creations while improving their defense little by little. He stood by his claim of not focusing on improving his crafts, but there was no reason not to try while he was still creating them in the first place. The more he kept focusing on improving the defense, either by thinning out the metal and then condensing it in certain parts of the armor, it gradually became easier for him to make as he made more parts.
It eventually ended with him creating a solid set of armor, consisting of a cuirass, fauld and tassets and even a gambeson. He also made some pauldrons, vambraces and gauntlets to protect the arms, and finally some greaves and sabatons.
He even made some padding underneath each of the metal parts of the plating so that they would be more comfortable by using some fur and wool of the monster materials he had on hand. Thankfully he remembered to add it in because he had to consider wearing the heavy thing the entire time while in the dungeon.
But after finally making the armor set, their descriptions matching the first one he received and each one being only at Common rarity, he started having second thoughts.
While it looked defensible enough to protect him and Haley, did he really need that much protection? He also had to consider how heavy the armor would be, and his own Endurance stat was pretty low to handle long forays into dungeons. He didn’t have a lick of experience inside dungeons, but even he knew that stamina is important to upkeep throughout it all.
“Damn it, am I missing something?”
He wore some pieces of the set for himself to experiment with. As he expected, while it was hard enough to protect his vitals, the longer he wore them, the more cumbersome they became. They weren’t failures, but his physical stats weren’t enough to make good use of them for an entire dungeon run.
He needed lighter armor. Deciding it was best, he took in some leather straps that were included in the materials Nina supplied him with, and started to work from there.
Thankfully it was a lot easier to mold and shift into armor compared to the iron materials he was working with. There was just probably less resistance to deal with as he easily crafted leather armor that matched well with the iron armor he had on the side.
When he finished making them, he scanned the items in question, and was surprised by the result.
Leather Armor Set (Uncommon)
A finely crafted set of leather armor created with the purpose of easier movement and convenient handling. Despite this, the leather padding provides enough resistance to survive against slashing and piercing strikes. The material woven into the leather was made with comfort in mind, perfect for long travels into dangerous areas.
Requirements:
Must have 5+ Might
Must have 7+ Toughness
Must have 3+ Dexterity
The description was longer and provided more intel, and it even said the things Aidan was focused on when he crafted them. He wondered if perhaps his Craft needed more personal information outside of just adding in what he thought was needed for an armor set.
The door to the crafting room opened up, revealing a tired Haley who let out a sigh.
“Finally, it’s over… hey, are you finished making equipment?”
Haley came in, studying the two sets of armor with a long stare, her mouth hanging open in awe.
“Wow… they look just like what the blacksmith usually sells. Did you really make these yourself? And in just a day?”
“It took a lot of mana, but yeah,” Aidan said, not really caring whether Haley knew about his crafting limits or not. As long as she didn’t know all the details, it was fine.
“Are you gonna use the iron armor?”
“I tried them, but they didn’t fit me well. I don’t have the stats for it.”
“Then, can I use them?”
“You?” Aidan asked in surprise. “I mean, you could, but can you? I didn’t take into consideration how heavy they would be.”
“It’s fine! I got a lot of Strength and Endurance stats to wear them. Plus, I’m the only one that can’t fight, so I need lots more protection than you!”
Haley said without wasting time as she picked up the pieces of the iron set with glee. She marveled at them, then tested out the metal platings with a knock or two. She let out ‘oohs’ and ‘aahs’ every so often, actually looking giddy.
“My brother would be so jealous if he found out I got a full set of iron armor before him,” Haley said before putting on the armor itself. “Can you help put them on me? I never wore armor before.”
“Sure, hold on.”
He did so, and he was surprised to see her actually moving with ease, moving her arms and legs to stretch out the armor for herself, only to find herself getting more giddy as time moved on. It turned out to be true that she had more physical stats put in compared to himself.
“Okay, I know this is bad, but I gotta know–just how high is your Strength attribute?”
For a moment, Aidan feared that Haley would react badly to his question regarding her stats. This time he stared at the soul, only to find out that the music it was playing sounded… skittish, to say the least. Like an upbeat song that lowered its tempo before returning to its usual state.
“It’s… 10,” Haley eventually said, surprising Aidan. “I know you never mean anything bad by it, but it’s just embarrassing to admit it. Girls don’t usually have pretty high Strength attributes…”
“What? Really? You were just embarrassed?” Aidan asked. “What’s there to be embarrassed about? Isn’t it more important to get strong to survive?”
“Well, yeah, but my brother wants me to settle down and just stay there in a low profile,” Haley admitted. “With my talent, I didn’t want to make any trouble, and besides, I didn’t want to have lots of muscles on me. I only put some points in because some of the herbs can be a pain in the neck to pull out. And it takes forever to travel from place to place without lots of Endurance and Toughness to handle it.”
“Huh… I figured you to have more Agility,” Aidan took the chance to ask. “Does having Agility and Strength work well together? Like, if you focus only on Agility, would it make you fast but unbalanced or something?”
“W-Well, yeah. How else can your muscles keep up if you leave them weak?” Haley said, confused as she stared at Aidan.
“T-That’s true,” Aidan conceded. “But I’m mostly talking about if the system gives you a penalty or something for messing up your stats or if you specialize in a single stat so much.”
“The system doesn’t give any penalty. It all just depends on what you’re doing with your life,” Haley said. “As for what you said, some folks focus on both Agility and Strength, but some prefer more speed than power for making speedy deliveries and the like. Besides, if you keep leveling up, your Class will make you increase one stat over the others all the time. So you can’t always tune your stats to be equal all the time. In the end, it’s what makes your life and whatever you’re doing better to handle.”
“Ah,” Aidan nodded, understanding it fully. This was the sort of thing that was personal to just about everyone in this world. Though he could easily imagine someone making some life course where people pay to figure out where to optimize their stats for a better life, something that Aidan always hated to see in the real world for this similar crap.
“You know,” Haley said, already finished wearing her iron set of armor. It actually looked good on her, as though she was a warrior ready to face battle. “Sometimes, I think you just come from an entirely different world. It’s like you don’t know anything about this kind of stuff.”
Haley had no idea exactly how close she was to the truth on that. Aidan didn’t plan on divulging his entire backstory to her, so he quickly made up something on the spot.
“I, uhh… didn’t have parents growing up. Some guy took me in when I was little but he didn’t bother teaching me stuff. Had to learn everything from scratch. Before I knew it, I was out on my own with my weird talent, but I made do.”
“Oh… sorry about that,” Haley quickly apologized. “Didn’t mean to bring up uncomfortable memories.”
“Oh, it’s fine. Sorry for barraging you with weird questions,” Aidan said, raising his hands in a casual manner.
“It’s fine,” Haley shook her head. “Sure, they’re weird, but it makes sense now. Just so you know, asking for other people’s stats is considered pretty rude. I know now that you’re not a bad guy, but please don’t ask anyone else. Like I said, it’s pretty embarrassing.”
“I still think there’s nothing to be embarrassed about having a high Strength stat. In fact, wouldn’t that make you kick other people’s asses pretty easily?”
“Not really,” Haley giggled. “I guess you don’t know that just increasing Might isn’t enough to actually make you stronger. You’re gonna need to actually practice with your muscles, and my muscles are only good for pulling tough herbs and plants.”
“Huh… but it’s important to keep your stats balanced though, right?”
“To a point,” Haley nodded. “I don’t have any spells or magic or anything like that, but I still like to put points into Intelligence for all three of its stats to keep a good head on my shoulders. Vitality is actually my lowest stat, but I never really considered increasing it since I never bother going into fights in the first place… though now with the dungeon, I’m starting to regret a little bit on my choices…”
“Well, that’s what the iron armor’s for,” Aidan smiled. “You can keep it too.”
“Really?!” Haley asked, her eyes widened in surprise. “You’re not joking, right? You’re not just gonna slap me with a bill that’ll put me in your debt forever, right?”
“You’re already in a bad spot,” Aidan shook his head. “Besides, I can always make some more for myself. And probably to sell too. I’m thinking about making some weapons too, so if you have any advice, I’d like to get some.”
“Seriously, just what are you?” Haley said, letting out a breath. “You’re like a constant money-making machine. Do you know how many people would kill for a set of armor as fine as this?”
“Well, don’t tell them where you got them,” Aidan said. “You can promise me that, right?”
“Y-Yeah, of course!” Haley nodded enthusiastically. “Alright. Weapons, right? Did you make any before?”
Figuring there was no point in keeping it a secret, Aidan went to one side of the room and pulled out the weapon he kept hidden away. Pulling out the Harmonious Shortsword, he showed it off to Haley who looked at it as though it was shimmering brightly under the sunlight.
“Wow… it’s beautiful,” Haley said, her voice hushed with wonder. “Did you really make this?”
“Yep,” Aidan said. “Do you want anything for yourself?”
“P-Probably the same thing as this one,” Haley pointed, hope in her eyes. “If that’s alright…”
“Sure,” Aidan chuckled.
He was starting to have a little bit of fun acquiescing to Haley’s demands, putting in the effort to create another sword. This time, he used Infuse, the spell he created to make his connection to his first Shortsword.
But instead of handing over a part of his own soul, he only injected mana into the sword instead as he crafted it. It felt like he just put a drain pipe into his body as it sucked out mana like a sieve. He used the maximum amount of mana he could pour into the sword to see what it would make.
When the creation process was finished, he pulled out the sword to the real world and scanned the item in question.
Mana-Infused Shortsword (Uncommon)
A shortsword created with an intense shot of mana into its center. When swinging the sword, it creates an arc of pure affinity mana that cuts into its targets as though it was slashed by a sword. It requires mana to activate. Durable and sharp enough to be used as an actual weapon alongside its enchantment.
Mana Slash–Mana cost: 10
Requirements:
Level 5+ in any Class.
“Whoa…! You really made an enchanted sword right in front of me?”
When Aidan handed the sword over to Haley, she held it as though it was a great treasure handed down by a royal king. Her hands trembled at the sight of the simple shortsword, its guard a round shape with the blade having a curved edge on one side, completely flat on the other.
“Is it really okay to give this to me?”
“You need more protection, right?” Aidan said. “You aren’t a fighter, so you’re gonna need more equipment than me. I’m probably gonna need some help when it comes to fighting off enemies close to me, so that’s where you might need to pull your weight. I promise you that you won’t have to fight too much.”
“I-I’ll be honest, I don’t think I’m confident enough to do as you said, but I’ll at least try,” Haley admitted, her fingers trembling against the blade as his words sunk in.
“That’s all I can ask for. For now, get some practice in. We’ll probably start heading into the dungeon in two days, when it’s close to the work week for the town.”
“Alright.”
Aidan felt satisfied for now, though his aching head from all the spell casting did force him to leave out hunting for the night. Before he left the crafting room, Haley was already doing some practice swings in the crafting room, getting used to the heft and weight of the blade.
When she made a mistake and accidentally hit a nearby shelf, it fell over and created a big mess in the crafting room, all the contents from that shelf spilled over. Aidan only chuckled as he left the grumbling Haley to clean up her mess.