So, I realized a few things: one, my bolts completely disappear when I use Hole Puncher at maximum power, so I'll need more of them; and two, it takes about an hour for Hole puncher to cool down completely after an attack at maximum power.

I also decided to do some experimentation as soon as I had Hole Puncher restrung.

Apparently, being extremely powerful isn't actually Hole Puncher's true ability, merely a manifestation of it.

You see, Hole Puncher can change the properties of a fired bolt... usually you'd choose either: powerful, fast, or accurate, the higher the total of those three, the more recoil.

She just took "Let's see what you can do." as "I want you to do the absolute maximum in every way."

I suppose I'll have to be more specific from now on.

The wall was finally completed, and the guard towers weren't far behind.

I had the villagers take a short break as I figured out the 'honey' and 'wax'.

Speaking of that, my results were in!

The first experiment, otherwise known as the control: just leaving it out.

The 'wax' doesn't change.

The 'honey' becomes really hard to unstick from whatever it was on, unless that thing was the 'wax'.

The second experiment: submersion.

The 'wax' turned into the consistency of clay and lost its ability to burn, once it dries out it returns to its original state.

The 'honey' turns into a gross gel, not unlike ballistic gel. It also stops smelling bad, but the taste does not improve.

The third experiment: boiling.

The 'wax' instead turned into the consistency of silt, only to regain its original properties after it dried. I thought this one was fascinating.

The 'honey' produced a very flammable gas that had a tendency to make me lightheaded and knock out Fifskae as soon as they smelled it.

The fourth experiment: submersion in metalcorn blood.

The 'wax' does the same thing as in water, but doesn't dry.

The 'honey' ceases to be sticky, it instead becomes a non-Newtonian fluid.

The fifth experiment: crushing up the 'wax' and mixing it with the 'honey'.

By itself: this stuff burns hot and long... however it produces fumes not unlike teargas and it becomes extremely difficult to remove from whatever surface it was burned on. We literally had to throw out the testing platform after this one.

After being submerged in water: it becomes a sludge. Boiling it makes it become spherical, however once it cools down, it deflates.

After being submerged in metalcorn blood: it takes a really disgusting texture, luckily it wasn't sticky so washing it off wasn't a problem. It didn't really seem to have any uses besides making me upset every time I touched it.

The narrative has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.

I also tried to boil the metalcorn blood, but then I remembered that it's essentially coolant after about twenty minutes of trying that.

I was sitting around, trying to think of all the applications these things could have when Sydui walked up to me.

"How'd it go?"

"We got a bunch of useful results, I'm really excited to start putting them into use."

"Anything that you think should come first?"

"Well, we finally have something that can probably melt metalcorn metal, it seems to have similar properties to steel as far as heat resistance is concerned... if only we had stoneworking tools..."

"Why don't use just use your serrated blade?"

I immediately kissed Sydui straight in the mouth.

After a moment I pulled away and looked into her very surprised eyes. "This is why I love you."

I then ran off to find a big rock.

After a bit, I had found my rock, hewn out a furnace and a crucible, and brought them back with the help of my lumber cart and some extra manpower I realized I needed about halfway through the process.

What came next was a lot of busywork for everybody.

I was mostly busy making molds for casting metals, we only had so much fuel, so I needed to make sure we had everything we needed before starting.

It came up that nobody had tanned hides in their lives, using fabrication units to produce whatever they needed, even if they usually were just about junk when they got to their hands, so a couple people were busy trying to figure out how to do that.

There was also a bunch of people making different parts and pieces for some crossbows, both designed to be exactly like mine, which we planned to mount on the guard towers, as well as made smaller so that they could use them easily by themselves.

I looked down at my last stone molds.

A chestplate with a gem-sized hole and a pair of sabatons.

I thought about what I was going to name them once they were ready, and thought it would be funny if the sabatons were sisters or something.

I giggled to myself at that.

----------------------------------------

Yuluulth

I was deep in thought after hearing the latest news.

Apparently, The Unorthodox made his projectile thrower many magnitudes more powerful.

I have to say, nothing that he does surprises me anymore.

I wonder if this is how Lviyr thinks about it...

Well, at least from Vindicosts complaining, I could tell that my champion would still be able to take the shots, which meant that my plan could still work, and that's all that I cared about.

Everything was falling into place, all that was left was to go into the late-game.

I looked at the time and stood up. "I'm going to get something to drink, does anyone want anything?" I called out.

"Meat smoothie!" Jyn called out without looking.

"Cream soda!" Vindicost added. "Actually, make it a double if you could!"

"Anyone else?" I asked.

Lviyr stood as well. "I think I'll just come with you, it'll be nice to stretch out."

I looked over across the way to a particular individual. "Seliel, you up for something?"

She looked up at me in surprise. "I don't have any money and I didn't bring anything."

I dismissed her worries. "Don't worry about that, I'll get it for you."

She eyed me suspiciously, sizing me up.

I growled in frustration. "Please just let me buy you a drink."

Seliel thought for a moment. "A gargola please then." She answered, smirking at me.

That was an incredibly expensive drink.

I winced and considered my options. "Fine! But only this once!"

Jyn looked up with an evil smile. "Can I change my drink?"

I pointed a claw at Jyn. "No you can't, you couldn't even drink it anyway."

"Oh, don't be a sourpuss mister moneybanks."

"Chafe your meat Jyn."

"You first Yuluulth."

After that, Lviyr and I made our way to the kitchen.

It was on the floor above us, so it was going to take some doing to get there.

On our way there, Lviyr decided to strike up a conversation.

"So, what do you think of the game so far?"

"I think it's gone completely off the rails."

Lviyr expressed agreement. "Definitely, but it's also a fun type of chaos."

I pressed the button on the first elevator. "Yeah for sure. It's almost like a puzzle trying to figure out what will happen next."

"You can certainly say that again. It's been hard to figure out what I can even do to support my champion at times... he simply doesn't need nearly as much attention as usual."

We got off the elevator and did our best to squeeze past the block above our [Worldbinder]'s.

A familiar face called out to us. "Hey you guys! How's the game so far?!"

I gave him a bow, which is a polite greeting in his culture. "It's chaotic, you'll have to watch the recordings afterward!"

"Can't wait! See you two later!" He called as we passed by him.

I turned back to Lviyr. "As I was about to say: I can imagine that it would be weird to have The Unorthodox as a champion."

"Oh you have no idea." Lviyr replied, opening the kitchen door for me. "Supporting him is like trying to feed a seven-headed snake while it's constantly spinning,"

I punched the code for Jyn's usual into the drink fabber. Jyn's drink was as disgusting as always, but at least I was used to it now.

"That's certainly a vivid descriptor... I can't even imagine what that would be like."

Lviyr punched in the code for that weird fruit drink he always gets. "I would have agreed with you up until choosing him."

I punched in my own code for a resparte, a wonderful blend of all the best flavors in the perfect amounts.

Everyone else says it's too bitter, I simply don't get their tastes.

"That I can believe." I replied with a chuckle. I took a sip and then jumped a little. "Ow, I forgot to lower the temperature setting!"

Lviyr laughed at me, and then I followed suit.

The late-game was going to start soon, so I just chose to enjoy the moment.

It was going to get even more chaotic very soon after all.