Chapter 7: Equipment Creation
DM fiddled with the console, probing into the new Equipment Creation ability he’d been meaning to test out. Up until now, his choices for how to load out treasure chests had been so lame that he didn’t pay much attention to them at all. Also, the drops adventurers received from defeating dungeon monsters seemed preordained and out of DM’s control. Setting aside his responsibilities as a dungeon master, he’d at least like the ability to create weapons and armor suited to the needs of his friends and charges. For example, Shiba was still using a fairly basic staff. She could certainly use something better for times when it wasn’t appropriate to summon her dragon skeleton.
The ability to place custom enchantments on equipment would be even more beneficial, but DM couldn’t do that yet. He suspected he would need the monster cores to place each enchantment. Fortunately, he’d been quietly gathering a bunch of them ever since his first day in control of the Lower Gordu Dungeon. He also received quite a windfall of the human variety cores thanks to the Union’s reckless invasion not too long back. Once DM unlocked the feature, he’d be able to accomplish a lot, he reckoned.
He finally stumbled upon the relevant menu. Indeed, it allowed him to create weapons of various types. DM suspected Lupy would benefit most from being handed various weapons and being offered the opportunity to try fighting with them. She’d recently demonstrated an overall aptitude for melee weapons, and there were quite a few designs to choose from. It even looked like there was a way for DM to design the weapons from scratch, although he decided that was a bit too involved for now.
Shields were an option, too. DM would need to keep this fact a secret from Rufus or he’d probably drive DM crazy with requests or even demands. Vulp was the only person DM watched over who ever used a shield, but she’d likely benefit from the vast customization options at his disposal.
The choices for armor were particularly vast. He knew from his prior knowledge that there were a slew of armor types recorded throughout Earth history, and it seemed like most or all of those options were available to him here. Various materials could be used, including ones that probably were uncommon out in the Holy State.
The current problem was that the dungeon did not have unlimited material resources to dedicate to this purpose. The energy and crafting methods were practically free, as was leather, bone, and other material that was likely synthesized when spawning monsters. Metal, on the other hand, was scarce. Whatever the dungeon had previously extracted from the ore in the ground near its tunnels was still available, suggesting no previous dungeon master had made use of it all. Also, the dungeon would store materials from outside weapons and armor that broke down after being dropped within the dungeon.
Fortunately, the dungeon’s systems seemed to benefit from advanced materials science knowledge when compared to the crafters of the current era. The local steel was rudimentary compared to anything available in 21st century Earth, but the raw ingredients of steel were similar regardless of the quality. Since carbon was readily available and steel was mostly composed of iron, the dungeon could produce large amounts of steel with better material properties than anything available for sale in the Twin Cities as long as DM kept providing the iron. The mythical materials were a separate matter.
Still, high-quality steel was all Lupy and the others would need in order to go toe-to-toe with any conceivable enemies. On the other hand, if DM pumped out weapons made of perfectly-tempered martensite, it could draw way too much attention from around the world. Also, if all of DM’s closest allies received legendary-quality items from him, it would easily expose their close-knit relationships. He’d need to proceed cautiously.
DM also found it interesting that the Equipment Creation choices were not limited to weapons and armor. He could create tools as well. Once again, his knowledge of futuristic tools could be a huge boon for the surrounding civilization, but such major impacts were likely imprudent for DM to consider. Actually, couldn’t DM send some high-quality but mundane tools to the capital as a gift and thank you for the invitation to the royal palace? The carriage had already left, but DM could certainly spare a wyvern to carry a few items and drop them off near the city.
DM just needed to decide what type of tool would be worthy of presenting to the king. He knew that farming was an important part of the kingdom’s economy, and any enhancements to farming tools would be highly appreciated. Further, most farming tool improvements would not significantly improve the kingdom’s ability to wage war, which was something DM cared about. As he recalled, the plow was the most fundamental of all farming equipment.
Could he make a one-piece quality steel plow? That would surely exceed the specifications of anything currently in use on the continent. He’d seen oxen and horses being used to pull plows as he monitored the countryside with infected monsters and people, so he didn’t think introducing a new type that could be pulled by the same animals would be too revolutionary. The problem was, he didn’t have much time to figure out plow-design by trial and error if he wanted to present the item to the king in the coming days.
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DM tried searching for plows and was pleasantly surprised to see a large selection of designs already available for production. DM wasn’t quite sure why a dungeon system would allow him to make plows in particular, but he was glad to have that ability. He figured plows were a sort of equipment, if one wanted to be pedantic. Producing the plow as one piece and using good metal would likely extend the range of regions where farmers could prepare the land for crops.
While the kingdom would likely be interested in acquiring more than just one or two of these high-capability wheeled plows, it wouldn’t help the farmers much if they found themselves assigned to start farms in places with limited surface water. DM had seen first-hand that water well technology was quite limited in the Holy State and likely in all the surrounding nations as well. Growing up, a friend of his had an electric well pump providing water to the house, but electricity was obviously not an option here.
What about a windmill? DM hadn’t seen many windmills yet, but he figured they were about due for spreading around the region as a tool for processing grain. He knew they could also be used to pump water, either from wells or even from place to place. If the kingdom sought to use improved plow designs to expand their farming regions, they would benefit greatly from designing and constructing windmills for pumping water. Unfortunately, the dungeon console did not have any designs for windmills, likely because they were too big.
DM perused the mechanical pump designs he could find. They didn’t seem particularly advanced to DM’s eye, but as long as the pumps got the job done, the kingdom could always improve on the designs later. He decided to write up a two-page abstract with suggestions on how to transition to windmill-based pumping if expanding farming regions using higher-capability plows. From there, it would be up to the kingdom’s experts to decide how to proceed. Even if DM was being overly optimistic here, the plows would still be useful even at the existing farms, most likely.
Given the size and weight of a single plow, DM decided to produce just one for the time being. A drake could carry it using an improvised sling. If the king or his retainers were interested in more, DM would most likely agree provided the kingdom took care of transportation and also provided the raw iron. In fact, DM would figure out the efficiency of the process and then request a quantity of iron for each item that slightly exceeded the amount he actually needed. Then he could use the excess to make cool weapons for Lupy or something like that. Actually, he could probably design special weapons that matched up well with his tentacles so that he could fight to full effectiveness.
DM toyed with the idea of creating indestructible metal furniture for the king to use in the room behind the throne, but he ultimately decided not to tug on the tiger’s tail.
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DM used the remaining time before his morphling arrived at the capital to monitor Aditya’s journey as well as Kat’s party’s return to the Twin Cities. The Guild was quite eager to question the girls about their quest ever since they had been assigned to answer the dragon’s summons. Of course, Kat gave a simplified version of events, with a few assists by Vulp.
In particular, Kat left out that Bandit had single-handedly sabotaged a fleet of ships, that Lupy had grown back her arm after defeating an Imperial knight in a duel, that Shiba had resurrected a dragon and made it into her summonable dragon skeleton, and that DM had most likely received a second dragon within his dungeon empire. Thaw would likely report on the fight between Dracokonovich and the nameless dragon, so they decided not to leave that part out, but they feigned ignorance and claimed they had almost no idea what the deal with that whole situation was. Daphne would probably say more or less the same thing. Other than all that, the girls simply investigated the Empire, stayed out of the way for the final conflict between the central nobles and the capital, reported back to the dragon in the Upper Gordu Dungeon, and were sent home. They didn’t even receive any reward.
“Actually, Lord Davidson asked me to give you this when you returned.” The Guild Master presented a Tier-3 scrying orb. “I heard it was awarded by the king around the same time as when Vulp experienced the knighting custom, but Lord Davidson doesn’t have much use for it. He asked me to use it to reward whoever placated the dragon.”
Kat graciously accepted the orb. “We’ll take good care of it,” she lied.
The Guild Master accepted the rest of their report and dismissed them. When they returned to their hotel, Kat placed the orb down on the table and unwrapped it.
“Do you think he’s watching?” Vulp asked in a low voice.
“We’ll just leave it out for now,” Kat answered.
But just then, a tentacle spawned next to the table and wrapped around the orb, absorbing it for its T3 sense ability.
“Oh, there he is,” Shiba said in a monotone. “Well, I guess this means we get T2 now?” She stuck her arm out expectantly.
A moment later, a new tentacle spawned next to Shiba, replacing the old one which disappeared. It wrapped around her wrist, imparting the T2 sense ability. In turn, each girl received the same upgrade.
“It’s kinda unfair that he gets the tier-3 ability but we only get tier-2…” said Lupy.
The four other girls all gaped at her.