A Shield For Her to Wield

The next few weeks were spent primarily in preparation for the upcoming battle. For Hina, Cielle, and basically everyone else, that meant 2 weeks worth of nonstop training and stat enhancements. Even the non combatants were subjected to this training. After all, though they were not planning on fighting the Dungeon Boss, it did not hurt for them to get even just a little bit stronger.

For me though, that time was spent somewhat differently. Being the only one capable of crafting, it was only natural that I’d be put in charge of the armor and weaponry. Aside from the various other matters I dealt with during this time frame, I mainly spent my time inside the workshop, doing the monotonous task of creating equipment.

Today was one of those days.

It had been a 4 days since we arrived at the East building, and right now I was glaring harshly at a piece of Gila exoskeleton that laid strewn across my cluttered work table. Truth be told, the Gila Corpses were ideal for weapon production. This especially holds true for their night-clad exoskeleton.

A Gila carapace had texture and properties reminiscent of actual metal, so I was able to treat it in a fairly similar way as to how a seasoned blacksmith treated a raw piece of iron ore. It also had other advantages, like its general light weightedness - which made it an ideal material for armor - as well as its acid resistance. Considering the fact that Gilas in general were the type of monster to create their own biological acid, I did not find this surprising. What came as a pleasant shock though was the discovery that the Gila exoskeleton could resist Cielle’s newly acquired [Acid Clad].

Of course, the resistance was not absolute. Over exposure to [Acid Clad] led to eventual degradation, but all the same, the Gila exoskeleton had worth as a crafting material.

Due to the Gila’s original humanoid shape, a large majority of the exoskeleton was already fitted for human use. This meant my primary job was adjustment and modification in order to turn the already human shaped exoskeleton into something actual humans could use.

Mainly, I had to do something about the size difference - since the average Gila, while rather lithe and skinny, was still much larger than a regular sized human.

Now, Gila exoskeleton was sturdy, which made it perfect for crafting. But it was because of this sturdiness that I could not use my usual method of crafting. The exoskeletons blade resistance made it almost impossible to utilize my [Dissection] skill properly. I could not shave off the excess and shape the exoskeleton like I did with the Cyclops clubs. In the first place, the exoskeleton was practically a metal, so using a dagger to mold it wasn’t all that efficient.

In the end, in order to properly shape and mold the exoskeleton into armor I had to rely on Hina’s assistance. Her magic, especially her control over fire was ideal for crafting, so much so that it would have been impossible otherwise for me to create the exoskeleton armor without her help.

I had Hina use her pyrokinesis to directly heat up the exoskeleton. While the carapace had a naturally high resistance to fire, all the same, like almost all metals, once it was heated to a sufficient temperature, the material became malleable and easier to shape. Reaching this temperature was no easy work. At first, just covering the material in flames wasn’t enough, and even then, this method consumed Hina’s mana at an incredible rate.

It was after several sessions of trial and error before Hina managed to learn a new sub skill of [Full Element] called [Heat Projection]. Like the name implies, [Heat Projection] was an ability that generated heat. Unlike [Pyrokinesis] which controlled fire, this new skill only dealt with the heat portion. In a sense, it was similar to the difference between a microwave and an open flame.

While there was no direct combat usage for [Heat Projection], in terms of crafting and armor creation, it was much more cost effective than when she used [Pyrokinesis]. This allowed her to finally reach high enough temperatures to the point where the exoskeleton’s night clad surface glowed in a fiery red tinge and became malleable enough to manipulate.

With the carapace heated and softened, all that was left to do was to properly mold it. This was a considerably simple task. Using the various tools lying around in the workshop - such as the hammer and chisel, I “sculpted” the carapace into proper armor - or at least something that vaguely resembled armor.

After some modification and a bit of elbow grease, I managed to make the main torso piece out of the original chest section of the exoskeleton. Now, since the original chest section was so much more larger than what I actually needed, I had to cut and separate the material into parts. Afterwards, for the sections around the abdomen, I reattached some of the material by drilling a hole through them using my [Dissect] skill’s [Pierce]. The only reason why I was able to successfully create a hole through the exoskeleton was due to its malleability from the heat.

I then reconnected the separate pieces and held them in place with some steel bolts I found lying around the workshop. This created a sort of hinge that allowed the wearer to actually move and twist their torso along with the armor.

As opposed to just one rigid piece of metal that, while covering the whole body of the person, limited their movement at the same time, crafting the armor this way allowed for more mobility while still maintaining its original defensive capabilities.

I used the leftover parts from the chest piece to create shoulder guards. Meanwhile, I separately crafted the back portion of the armor using other pieces of carapace before later connecting it to the front piece using leather straps I scavenged off  various furniture, and jackets lying around the east building.

I created arm guards and elbow pads using the same method I used to create the torso armor. I could not due the same with the leg guards though, mostly because they limited the wearer’s mobility to the point where running and other movements were next to impossible to pull off. Considering the fact that almost everyone relied on rapid movement in battle, this was a fatal flaw in design, and at my current level, I had no means of overcoming it. In the end, I had to limit myself to creating knee braces for the lower half of the body.

After the completion of my first set of armor, I gained the sub skill, [Armor Crafting].

Armor Crafting - Allows for the crafting of armor with innate attributes (i.e. stats, damage, durability, etc.)

On the other hand, the finished set of armor turned out pretty good.

Gila Armor

An armor set crafted out of the exoskeleton from a Black Plated Gila. The crafter’s inexperience has weakened some of the piece’s original potential.

Set Bonus: +16

+ 25 (50)(16) Defense

+ 5 (50) Physical Resistance

+12 (50) Magic Resistance

Durability: 60/60

[Equip] Skill Bonus

+5 Strength

+10 Agility

Familiarity: 50+

Level Requirement: 20 [Crafter Exempted]

The set bonus was a new feature that I had not encountered up until now, although honestly speaking, that wasn’t all that surprising, considering I’ve never truly made anything nor had I encountered anything that truly classified as a “set”. Going by what I could infer, the Set bonus increased the Armor’s main stat, which, in this case, just so happened to be [Defense].

In addition, thanks to this new piece of equipment, I now had access to the stats, [Physical Resistance], and [Magic Resistance], which would undoubtedly increase my battle potential in the near future.

While the armor itself did indeed turn out well, due to its level requirements, not everyone could properly benefit from it. After securing the East Building, everyone’s level had grown, but not everyone had made it past level 20.

After using [Identify] on everyone after the battle, this was what their current levels looked like:

Hina: Level 33

Cielle: Level 32

Cher: Level 21

The President: Level 28

Kido: Level 26

Emiko: Level 21

The Teacher: Level 18

The surviving twin: Level 17

Kido’s Childhood Friend: Level 15

The Transfer student: Level 15

Wizard Hat: Level 13

The rest of the noncombatants ranged from level 1 to level 4.

The one who experienced the most growth would undoubtedly be Kido, who once again, jumped a total of 9 levels. Everyone else experienced various levels of growth based on how many kills they acquired during battle. Unfortunately, Cher was still stuck at level 21, mostly because she was unconscious throughout the whole time everyone else cleared out the East Building.

Now, out of everyone present, 5 people, two from the president’s group, and 3 from Kido’s group, could not benefit from the effects of the new armor set. For those level 16 and above, I could always give them the [Cyclops Replica Torso Armor], which I had crafted earlier, but that still left 3 others who were too underleveled to benefit from the armor.

Thinking about it, the Wizard Hat girl and the Surviving Twin were both inherently ranged fighters, thus defense wasn’t really their main priority. Despite that though, that still left two people with insufficient equipment.

“....”

In order to overcome this, I decided to create makeshift spears out of the remaining Gila exoskeletons. Spears were an ideal weapon for people with almost no combat experience. Hopefully, the versatility and convenience of the spear can overcome whatever shortages those two from Kido’s group have.

Now, I had something special in mind for the spears I was going to make.

First off, I needed to make something I’ve been itching to make ever since I read up on it back in the library. In fact, I’ve been reading up a lot about crafting ever since I first got access to the books at the library. The things I’ve learned so far, such as the malleability of metal, or the basic structure of a slingshot, were all things I’ve either recently learned at the library or from my prior knowledge before the apocalypse.

One of the things that really caught my interest was a foundry. Foundry’s were things that produced metal castings. They did this by melting the metal, and then either pouring the liquid metal into a mold or casting the metal after it has solidified.

Dealing with metal was an inevitability for someone like me, whose path has been basically laid out due to the sometimes inconvenient [Equip] skill of mine. Sooner or later, I was bound to construct objects with metal as my base. In fact, I’ve done something similar with the metal-like exoskeleton of the Gila.

The plan was to make a makeshift foundry using the materials around the East building, and Hina’s convenient skill set.

To start off, I needed a metal container as the base of my foundry. I found a few empty oil barrels by the generator in  the bomb shelter, which was perfect for the things I had in mind. Not only was the barrell made out of metal, it was also large enough to where even individual pieces of the bulky Gila carapace could fit comfortably inside.

After procuring the metal container, I had Hina help with creating the inner lining of the foundry. An inner lining was necessary so that the heat generated within the foundry could properly circulate and reach high enough levels to melt metal. To do this, I needed the inner lining to be something similar to cement.

Now at first, I hoped that there would be some leftover cement near the unfinished classrooms down below, but as luck would have it, there were none. Only a couple of paint buckets, a tool box, and some spare bolts and pieces.

To improvise, I used the soil from the passageway in the Bomb shelter and some destroyed cement and rubble from the explosion site as my base. Hina was the one responsible for mixing and melding the materials together into something that hopefully had similar consistency to cement.

At first, Hina had a difficult time with the whole process. The earth element was her weakest speciality, and as if to raise the hurdle even higher, the substance we were aiming to create wasn’t just simple earth and soil, but rather cement (or at least something similar).

Seeing Hina’s troubled expression and obvious frustration, I proposed that we abandon our current method, and instead switch to making use of Hina’s [Hydrokinesis] and [Pyrokinesis] in order to create a wet mixture of dirt, rubble, and water as our pseudo-cement. The plan was to accelerate the natural drying process using [Pyrokinesis] while making sure the substance did not dry out too fast with [Hydrokinesis].

Doing it this way would create a weaker and more vulnerable inner lining, but seeing the wall we had come across, I was prepared to make some sacrifices.

“No, that won’t do. We shouldn’t give up so easily.”

In the end though, Hina herself was adamant at sticking to her earth spells. Her enthusiasm and unexpected determination caught me off guard at first. I mean, I had no idea she was so determined and so equally obstinate about the foundry…

It was only later that I finally figured out that Hina didn’t really care about my foundry. Rather, it was her weakness that she hated. After Cher had awakened, Hina became much more determined in strengthening and increasing both her skill levels and stats. If I were to make a comparison, then Hina was probably only second to Kido in terms of determination and growth.

To her, the creation of the foundry- no, even helping me out in general with my crafting was just another part of her training. And the wall that was called earth creation was just another trial in Hina’s training.

After some intensive practicing within the Passageway (the only real place with actual ground and soil, within the whole school), Hina finally managed to learn [Lesser Terrakinesis], which finally completed the quadrumvirate of elements that composed of Hina’s [Full Element]. After acquiring [Lesser Terrakinesis], Hina’s [Full Element] skill also jumped by leaps and bounds, increasing her skill level to beginner level 9, one level away from intermediate.

Now, as for the cement… in the end, we fused both methods together in order to create the inner lining of the barrel. First, Hina acted as a cement mixer, and mixed a combination of water, soil, and rubble in order to make our cement. Her [Terrakinesis] allowed her to purge out and separate the impurities from the mixture, while effectively mixing the components until there was no longer a clear distinction between the original ingredients.

Next, we packed the bottom and the inner walls of the empty oil barrel with cement. Again, Hina’s [Terrakinesis] was used in conjunction with her [Pyrokinesis] and [Hydrokinesis] to compress and pack the walls more tightly than ever, while at the same time accelerating the drying process. By repeatedly wetting with [Hydrokinesis], then compacting with [Terrakinesis], and finally drying with [Pyrokinesis], we were able to create a sturdy inner lining that was almost indistinguishable from the school’s regular concrete walls.

Afterwards, I created a little hole near the bottom of the barrel. This would act as the air supply tube of the foundry. As the name implies, an air supply tube was meant to deliver air inside the barrel, with the purpose of increasing circulation and subsequently increasing the temperature of the foundry.

As for the crucible or container that holds the liquified metal while inside the foundry, I decided to use a twelve and a half quart stainless steel bucket that I had found inside the workshop. For the lid of the foundry, I had Hina create a simple cement lid made with the same mixture as the inner lining of the barrel, before I drilled a 3 inch diameter hole through its center. The lid helps to retain the heat of the foundry, while the hole was designed to prevent the pressure inside from building up.

After assembling everything together, we finally managed to make a make shift foundry, one that I was rather satisfied with.

All that was left was the coal needed in order to sustain the fire inside the foundry. Unfortunately, there was nothing similar inside the Bomb shelter. Fortunately though, compared to creating the foundry, making coal was a lot easier.

I took another empty oil barrel, filled the container with as much scavenged wood as I could find, before I set it aflame and left it overnight. The next day, the “coal” was ready for use.

*****

Starting up the foundry, I placed a few pieces of coal inside the barrel, just enough to fill one layer full of coal. Next, I placed the crucible (the steel bucket) inside the barrel, before I filled the rest of the foundry with coal, and placed the lid on top. I then started the fire, while Hina acted as the air supply and funnelled air into the barrel through the tube.

Sweat dripped down Hina’s brow as the wind around us fluctuated and flowed directly into the tube. At the same time, the temperatures grew higher and higher within the container. It did not take 15 minutes before the foundry had blazed in a orange hue, while a slight tinge of red coated the stainless steel bucket inside.

As the heat intensified, Hina’s face contorted in consternation. Fueling the air into the bucket was taking quite a toll on her and slowly but surely her mana was steadily decreasing. She shot me a determined glance before silently nodding in approval.

While wearing welding gloves, I opened the lid, and began placing pieces of Gila exoskeleton inside the steel bucket. Obviously, due to size constraints, I could not place any of the larger pieces of carapace, like the chest or back pieces because they simply would not fit inside the bucket. But luckily, the carapace covered the entirety of a Gila, so there were smaller, more size suitable pieces to choose from, like the leg guard, or an elbow piece.

The bucket filled to the brim with assorted pieces before I once again closed the lid. Hina and I then waited for the foundry to do its work and turn the exoskeleton into liquified metal.

“Will you be okay?” I asked Hina as she continually funneled air into the foundry.

Going by her current facial expression, one marred in sweat and contorted in fatigue, I could easily tell that continually using her magic was taking a toll on her mind.

“I’m… hah… I’m fine.” In response, she nodded bitterly. “At first, it was hard- maintaining the air like this, but over time…  hah…  it’s getting easier.”

She explained that helping me out was actually good training for her. Like with her [Pyrokinesis] and earth control, which had grown while we were building the foundry, her [Aerokinesis] and control over air had increased as she continually supplied wind into the foundry. Primarily, this was apparently a good method of increasing not only Hina’s control over air, but also increasing her [Magic Endurance] stat.

“Also, I discovered that, while simply funneling air into the barrel took up a considerable amount of my mana, revolving the air currently inside the container was much more effective.” She additionally explained. “Not only did it cause the temperature inside to rise at a faster pace, it also improved my control by leaps and bounds while cutting my mana consumption into almost two thirds of what it was originally…

...And this actually gave me an idea for a new method of attack… so I’m more than satisfied.”

Hina smiled knowingly as she turned back to stare at the foundry with somewhat tired, yet satisfied eyes.

I did not say anything further afterwards, and simply waited for the exoskeleton to melt. And melt it did.

As time passed by, the exoskeleton melted like liquified aluminum and filled the bottom of the steel container with boiling hot, yet somewhat glossy liquid. And as the carapace melted, I continually added more and more new pieces, slowly increasing the amount of liquid metal in the bucket until it was filled almost four fifths of the way to the top.

Now, in order to make a mold for the spears I was making, I was planning on using steel pipes that were originally used as part of the school’s water system. The pipes I was planning on using were 3 inches in diameter and were 72 inches in height. Obviously, using something this large as a mold would result in a gigantic weapon, a spear that would rival the height and thickness of the pole arm that dropped from the Ipotani Elite, but in a way, this also had its advantages.

After the carapace fully melted, I poured the metal liquid into the galvanized steel pipe. I made sure to cover the end of the pipe so that the liquid would not flow out of the pipe. Doing so allowed the metal liquid to fill the pipe and mold to its shape.

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We waited for about 30 minutes for the liquid inside the pipe to harden. Afterwards, I sliced open the pipe using [Dissection], revealing the metal pole that had taken its shape.

This was the foundation of spear. For now, it was a pole that was slightly smaller than its original mold. Measuring around 2.5 inches in diameter, and about 69 inches in height, its measurements already towered over its intended owner. What was surprising though was that, despite its overwhelming size, the pole was rather light, measuring only a little bit more than my Customized Cyclops club.

Right now, the pole could hardly be called a spear. It was more like a staff, or a pole arm. In order for it to be called a proper spear, it needed a sharpened edge. In order to achieve this, I welded the tip of a Gila tail to one end of the pole.

With the parts connected, the spear was coming along really well, but I was concerned that due to the original nature of the  exoskeleton and its weakness to blunt impact, the resulting weapon would be weak against tanking hits. In order to enforce the pole, I welded a few more additional pieces of carapace onto the pole, and told Hina to use [Heat Projection] onto the pole before I compressed the new pieces down by hammering the new additions firmly into place.

The end result was a spear that strangely resembled a rigid Gila tail.

Gila Spear

A spear smelted and crafted out of the exoskeleton from a Black Plated Gila. The crafter’s inexperience has weakened some of the piece’s original potential.

Damage: 60- 75

+ 20 (50) Attack

+ 5 (50) Vitality

Durability: 45/45

[Equip] Skill Bonus

+25 Strength

+ 5 Defense

Familiarity: 50+

Level Requirement: 15 [Crafter Exempted]

Luckily, the end result was a good weapon that was barely within the level requirements for the two people who needed this weapon.

As I wiped away a frantic cold sweat, I also noticed that much like my time crafting the armor, I also gained another sub-skill to my [All Purpose Crafting].

Blacksmithing - The beginning foundations to mastering the forge.

With a satisfied smile, I gently placed the newly crafted spear on my work table, along side the finished pieces of armor I had previously created.

****

A few more days had passed, and it was already the 5th day before the Dungeon Boss fight. Throughout this whole time, I continued to create more armor and spears . Hina worked along side with me throughout all the whole process, all the while training her skills and steadily increasing her stats.

In the end, I ended up making seven sets of armor and three spears. Obviously, the armor went to those who could actually equip it, while the ones who couldn’t were given the old Cyclops replica torso armor to use. In addition, the spears went to Kido’s childhood friend, the transfer student, and the teacher from the President’s group, whom I noticed a while ago was pretty bad at handling the sword.

Now, while I finally managed to successfully create new armor and weapons for the others, there was still something I needed to do.

As Hina walked into the workshop early in the morning the next day, she quickly noticed that I was already preparing the foundry for use.

“Weren’t we already done?” Hina asked curiously. She had been with me throughout the whole process, and knew full well that in terms of armor and weapons, I had no further plans of creating anymore anytime soon.

“Not yet,” I shook my head as I filled the bottom layer of the barrel with fresh coal. “This time… I’m planning on creating a shield.”

Upon hearing this, Hina’s eyes momentarily widened in a daze before realization dawned upon her. This new shield was obviously meant for Cher. Due to the battle with Satou, both of Cher’s shields were badly damaged beyond repair. Up until now, she never had a proper replacement, and had been using an impromptu shield that had been hastily created with the surface of an old desk as her replacement while she practiced and trained with everybody else.

While this makeshift shield of hers was good for practice, and perfect for getting her used to her missing arm, in a real battle, it would be useless. Much less the Dungeon Boss, it wouldn’t even last a fraction of a second against a regular Minotaur.

Cher needed a new shield, and she needed one soon.

Realizing this, a sort of bitter micro expression contorted Hina’s face for a fraction of a second before it instantly shifted, replaced by a resolute glare. With eyes blazing with determination, Hina unexpectedly grasped my hands, causing me to jump in surprise, before she stated with as much conviction as she could muster.

“Let me help- No, please let me help you.”

I was caught off guard by her sudden change in attitude, and for a moment I did not know how to respond. Looking into her eyes, I knew full well what had been bothering her throughout all this time, but at this moment, it was only now that I realized exactly how deep she had drowned herself in self loathing. I knew for a fact that Cher had not blamed Hina for what had happened back then, but I never truly realized just how much Hina had blamed herself.

I response to her determination, I slowly nodded, and gestured towards the foundry, before stating, “... then, if I can get your help….”

****

The first thing we needed was a mold.

For the mold, I used the bottom six inches of another empty oil barrel. It was an ideal mold, mostly because the barrel itself had a wide enough diameter for a proper shield, and that its circular shape was also perfect for Cher’s current fighting style.

After acquiring the mold, I kept myself busy by digging out a shallow pit inside the workshop. I lined the pit up with some coal before I set it ablaze and placed a metal lid over the pit.

While I was busy creating the pit, the foundry was working at full capacity thanks to Hina’s efforts, and soon, the carapace had melted into liquid metal.

With quick, yet careful movements, I poured the metal directly into the mold, and watched as it slowly took on its circular shape, and solidified into place. This was to be the base of Cher’s new shield, and after the slab of metal had completely cooled, I quickly removed it from the mold, and placed it into the ensuing flames and chaotic embers of the pit.

With Hina’s help, the fire within the pit intensified, and the circular base of Cher’s new shield glowed with a tinge of menacing red.

Once the metal had heated up to a point where it glowed bright red, I quickly took the slab out with a pair of industrial tongs and placed it onto the concrete floor below.

With no time to waste, I took a hammer, and began hammering down on the piece of metal beneath me. Sparks flew, and my face was assaulted with heated air that had enough power to completely evaporate the sweat on my brow even before they had the chance to form.  

I hammered away onto the piece of metal, ignoring the numbing sensation that was quickly overtaking my arm. I did this to get rid of the impurities within the shield, as well as to compress it down and make it thinner than it already was.

I continued to hammer away until the metal had began to cool. By this point, the base was less than a fourth of an inch thick, and it was considerably wider than it had been before. Before the metal could completely cool, I placed it back into the pit, while I added new pieces of exoskeleton into the foundry.

Hina operated the foundry at the same time she operated the pit. This took a considerable toll on her, but even when I insisted that she rest, she was adamant, and kept working, all the while the resolute expression on her face persisted.

Her determined voice that constantly repeated, “I’m fine, I’m fine,” and “I can still keep going” were both unconvincing yet trustworthy.

After the metal slab inside the pit was once again burning with a bright red glow, I took it out and hammered it down once more. This time, I folded the metal, before hammering it, and shaping it into what it had originally looked like.

After this was done, instead of putting it back into the pit, I dropped the slab into a liquid solution so that it could cool.

Meanwhile, a fresh batch of carapace had successfully turned into liquid metal. I placed the cooled original slab of metal - the base of the shield - back into the mold, before I poured in the fresh batch of liquid metal over it.

When it finished cooling, the new batch and the original base had melded together to form one sole slab of black circular metal. I removed this piece of metal before placing it into the pit.

And once again, I repeated the process of waiting for it to heat up before removing it and hammering it down into shape. Unlike before though, I did not fold the metal, but rather, chose to compress it down as much as I could without increasing the diameter of the metal.

Afterwards I cooled it once more, as another batch of carapace melted inside the foundry.

Before pouring the new batch of liquid metal into the mold, I placed the original slab of metal back inside, this time with the newly added layer on the bottom of the mold.

Again, I repeated the process of pouring, cooling, heating, and hammering.

I continually repeated this set of actions for a total of 20 times. That meant that the original base- the foundation of the shield was surrounded by 10 layers of new metal on both sides. Throughout the whole process I probably burned through 2 and a half worth of exoskeletons.

This was probably the most work intensive crafting I’ve ever committed myself to. Not only was I constantly moving around, from pit to foundry, then back again, but also the hammering itself, which only continually and progressively increased in difficulty as more and more new layers were stacked on top of the original, was quite stamina draining. I ended up devouring 2 stamina potions in order to maintain my uninterrupted work. By the end of it all, both my arms were numb and red with exhaustion. My mouth was dry, and so was my skin, and my mind was covered in a thick haze of exhaustion.

Despite that though, Hina was probably working the hardest out of both of us. Even while she continually funneled air into the foundry, at the same time, she went out of her way to increase the flames within the pit. Although her face cramped and her back was drenched in sweat, she did not complain even once.

Even when she reached her limit, and almost ran out of mana halfway through the whole process, Hina still continued and instead used a bellows - one that we had found earlier inside the supply closet of the workshop - to continually keep the foundry at a steady temperature. After she recovered her enough mana, she once again used magic with no hesitation whatsoever.

Throughout all this, the determined expression on Hina’s face did not falter. Rather, that same expression only envigored as the shield drew closer and closer to its completion.

Due to the excessive hammering, the shield did not end up being excessively bulky, rather, it was less than an inch in thickness, but it did become way heavier than expected. This was probably due to all the numerous layers that were stacked onto the small surface area available. Because of all these layers, the exoskeletons weakness to blunt impact was negated. While this was indeed a good thing, as expected, the shield had an immense superiority against bladed weaponry.

With the shield nearing its completion, Hina, who had accomplished 150% of what her body could handle, collapsed onto the workshop floor. Her hair was matted to her face, and her chest continually heaved heavily, up and down, greedily sucking in the heated air around her.

Even while being fully aware of the consequences, Hina had knowingly pushed herself beyond her limits, before finally succumbing to all three, [Physical Exhaustion], [Mana Exhaustion], and [Mental Strain].  

Her eyes were barely open, and her skin was red and dry. Despite all this, Hina had on a satisfied smile the whole time. In a raspy, weakened voice, yet somehow enthusiastic voice, she said, “I’ll leave the rest to you Hide…”

“...” Instead of complaining or asking for help, in her current situation, Hina had instead given me words of encouragement. No, they weren’t words of encouragement, but rather words that continually urged me towards the completion of the shield. They were selfish, unassuming words that cared not for my own physical well being.

I could not help but smile at this realization. “Good job today, Hina.” I responded, not caring that Hina had just passed out a few seconds ago and probably couldn’t hear me, “You can rest easy now, I’ll be sure to handle the rest.”

****

After the completion of the main body of the shield, the next step was to attach a handle.  Compared to the almost 10 hour straight hammering session from earlier, this wasn’t that particularly hard of a task to accomplish.

I welded a metal arm brace and a metal handle on one side of the shield. Afterwards, I lined up the insides of the brace and handle with some leather. This was to prevent any chaffing when Cher used the shield, as well as to provide some form of resistance in case the shield got struck by fire or something similar.

With the shield handle created, and with its surface smoothed down and sanded, I took a step back to admire it. Unfortunately, the more I looked, the more and more dissatisfied I became. Something was missing.

The shield itself was wide, almost 3 and a half feet in diameter. It was indeed a perfect tool for defending, but in the end that was all it was good for. With its circular shape, it had no means of attack.

Back when Cher had both her arms, she had dual wielded two shields, one which focused on defense, and one which focused on attack. Taking all this into consideration, for her new shield, I needed to fuse both these interconnecting elements of offense and defense into one single shield.

With that idea in mind, I thought about it, and ultimately decided to add a protrusion to the shield.

I took one of the black long swords that the others had acquired and removed the hilt and handle, exposing the sword in all its metal glory, before placing it into the pit to heat up. Due to the constant use it recently went through, the pit was still hot enough to operate, even without Hina’s cooperation.

Afterwards, I removed the arm brace and handle from earlier, and smelted a thin layer of leftover liquid metal onto the inside of the shield. This time, rather than pouring it directly onto the shield, I placed the heated long sword in between the shield and the new layer of liquid metal. This way, once the metal fully cooled, the sword would remain held in place.

I positioned the sword in such a way so that a good foot and a half of it stuck out from the shield’s main body.

When the new layer of metal finally cooled, I further welded the edges of the shield where it connected with the edges of the protruding sword together.  This was to further make sure that the sword and the shield would not separate, but instead fuse into one sole object. Afterwards, I reattached the arm brace and handle over the new layer of metal.

The end result was my most well crafted item to date.

After its completion, unlike my previously crafted items, when I used [Identify] on it, a new window panel suddenly blinked into life in front of me.

ding!

Please name your newly crafted weapon.

“...” I thought for a moment. While this was certainly new, I took it as a sort of evaluation by the system. This meant that the shield I created was at a level where even the system was forced to admit to the beauty of its design.

While this realization did somewhat stroke my ego, currently, that did not matter. I was faced with a new challenge of naming my new creation. I agonized over it for a few minutes before I ultimately came to the realization that I was really bad at naming things. In the end, I went with something rather simple and easy to remember….

After naming it, a new panel popped up in front of me.

ding!

Cher’s Shield

A well crafted shield made with carapace of a Black Plated Gila. It is an unusual shield in that it both emphasizes defense and attack. It can be classified as both a shield with a sword attached, and as a sword with a shield attached.

Damage: 50 - 85

+ 45 (50) Defense

+ 35 (50) Strength

+15 (50) Agility

+ 10 (50) Physical Resistance

+ 15 (50) Magic Resistance

+5 (50) Vitality

+5 (50) Endurance

Durability: 120/120

[Equip] Skill Bonus

+30 Strength

+ 15 Defense

(???)

Familiarity: 50+

Level Requirement: 45 [Crafter Exempted]

The name aside, without a doubt, this truly was my most well crafted item to date, and as if to prove my point, its level requirement was insanely high.

Unlike my previous shields, [Cher’s Shield] had a damage count, similar to how weapons had a damage count. Additionally, its boosts were insane, not only on a numerical value, but also by the sheer amount of stats it augmented. For me, who had an immediate 50 points added to whatever stats the shield augmented due to familiarity, this was probably the best weapon possible. And if that wasn’t enough, it also gave me access to the new stat, [Endurance].

While this shield was indeed amazing, its level requirement was extremely harsh. A level requirement of 45… Without the crafter exemption, even I wouldn’t be able to equip this beast of a shield.

At Cher’s current level, there’s no way she was capable of equipping this. Well, normally that is…

After Cher’s experience with Satou, and after she woke up, Cher learned the new skill I gave her, [Fever Burst]. At the time, after she successfully learned the skill, she checked her status window, only to find out that she had gained a new title.

And as luck would have it, it wasn’t just any title, but rather a class title. The same type as Hina’s [Grand Magus], or Cielle’s [Healer]. Cher’s new title was named [Guardian].

According to her, [Guardian] gave a 50% boost to defense, halved any physical and magical damage she received, doubled her stamina, and gave a 45% decrease in level requirement towards any shield or defensive equipment. The title itself and its effects aside, the 45% decrease in level requirement meant that to wield this weapon, Cher needed to be at least level 25.

With Cher’s current level of 21, she could not properly benefit from the new weapon, and needed four additional levels.

“If that’s the case, then there’s only one thing to do…” I mumbled silently to myself as the fatigue from the day overtook me. While thoughts and ideas of the day to come filled my head, I slumped down next to Hina before closing my eyes and falling asleep, embracing the mental and physical exhaustion that had long since overtaken my body.

*****

Author's Note: This was a bit taxing to write, primarily because of all the things I had to look up for the crafting part. If there are readers with experience towards the things I've mentioned in the chapter (like with the foundry and stuff), please don't hesitate to point out any mistakes I might have made. While I did try my hand at research, it's still probable that I might have made a mistake.

Anyways, like usual, if you liked this chapter, or like this story in general, please rate and review. I'm not going to lie, CNW is about to hit 400 votes/total ratings and I'm sort of excited for that. >_<