The tour around The Forge took three hours as Sar Forglyn showed Duke around the numerous crafting areas including alchemy and enchanting among others and ending the tour with two very specific areas. The first was what he called “The Armory.”
“This is where we will make your armor, Emperor. As we already have your measurements, what do you require of the armor?”
Duke thought for a long moment before responding, “The armor needs to be flexible enough that I have full range of motion. And that means full range of motion for me, not a ‘standard’ person. I am more flexible than most and need to be able to move to those limits. Weight is not a significant concern as I can handle a lot of extra weight. Durability is the number one thing I am thinking of. I’m going up against powerhouse after powerhouse here. I need something that is going to withstand at least the first few blows without being damaged.”
“Flexible and durable. I see. Any desired enchantments?”
“Nothing specific, in fact, leaving enchantments off is probably a good idea. I don’t want to absorb my armor in the middle of a fight.”
“Very well. Final question on the armor. When do you need it?”
“You have one year to perfect it.”
“A year? Surely you need it sooner.”
“No, one year is long enough to make sure you truly have perfected the armor. Now on to the last area you wanted to show me.”
“Yes, the final area,” Sar Forglyn spoke as he led Duke to the largest of the crafting areas. This one reached all the way to the ceiling of the area and was closed-in by its own set of floor-to-ceiling doors. The doors opened for the two of them and Duke was able to see what had been hidden. He had designed the overall structure and the absolute focus on crafting and creativity when he had pushed the dungeon core all the way up to Tier Eight, but he had not consciously designed the individual sections, allowing the Core to manifest them.
The doors opened to reveal several sets of scaffolding and gantries dominating the walls of the room. Below them all were several large tables that minotaur crafters huddled over working on something that Duke could not clearly make out at this angle. He stepped in to take a closer look and found his steps quickening as he realized what the area was for.
“This is a mech-crafting area, isn’t it?” Duke took a few steps through the door, gazing at the catwalks and the gantries where one day mechs would stand.
“Yes, Emperor. We will design and build mechs for you here. Do you have any preferences for your first prototype?”
Duke stared at them, blinking slowly as he processed the possibilities. He had hoped to be able to do something like this in the future when he better understood runescript, but here it was right in front of him. He stumbled as he came to a stop against one of the oversized tables.
“Initially, I want something that is full-on intimidation. I want it to be the black of the void with crimson highlights. I want it to look like it has been bathed in blood so many times that its spikes and blades have become stained by the blood. I want to be able to channel and amplify my Abilities through it. Give it a sword that can cut through anything. How does that sound?”
“That is ambitious, but we might be able to make something like that. How large do you want it to be?”
“I want to be able to fit it easily inside my INVENTORY and it needs to be under the gold-value limit.”
“That, my Emperor, is where I feel we will have the most difficulty. The value of a mech is probably in the hundreds of millions of gold. I don’t see how we could get it under fifty million.”
“Could you make it a modular design so I could take it out in pieces and reassemble it outside?”
“That would take longer to design and would likely not be as durable with the additional joins. I suppose it would be possible though.”
“Then do that. If it gets damaged enough, I should be able to repair it. Take your time with it. If you need a year to design and build it, then do it. Even if it’s going to take two, make it work. In the meantime, create whatever arsenal you can plus all the items we discussed along the way. I will return in a year to check in on your progress.”
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“A year, Emperor? That seems like a long time.”
“I assure you; it is not for me. Good luck with all the projects.”
Duke took one more look around before waving and TELEPORTING out of the dungeon. He stood on top of the mountain housing The Forge and expanded his DUNGEON SENSE as far as he could looking for other Contestants that may be outside the city. It did not take long to find them. There were hundreds of individuals and nearly as many groups out and about. Duke immediately wondered if the tale about the guarded gates was just a rumor to keep Contestants from venturing out. He decided to investigate and zoomed his senses in on the area around the city.
With his focus shifted, he was able to see that there were indeed several groups camped around the city. They seemed to be keeping their distance from each other and each group did seem to control a marked exit point of the city. He decided to get closer and see if he could gauge their power.
The flight to the city took a few hours but Duke did not want to expose his TELEPORTATION just yet. He approached the group that had the smallest area controlled as he figured that would be the weakest group. There were only four of them in the group after all.
He approached, slowing his speed down to a running pace and landed a few kilometers away. Although he was at the absolute limit on his IDENTIFY Ability’s range, he figured he would get a good enough read to get a sense of their power. What he received was a surprise.
*** Your Practiced-ranked Ability, IDENTIFY, was blocked by a higher-ranked Ability. The individual you targeted is aware of your attempt and subsequent failure. ***
The reaction was swift. The individual that Duke had targeted signaled to the other three and all four rapidly ate up the ground as they raced towards him. He stood his ground and prepared himself for the expected fight.
The four approaching figures were quadrupeds with wide bodies and powerful trunks extending from the center of their bodies. The trunks seemed to have a mottled green color while the bodies were a mixture of browns and blacks. From each of their trunks, extended four tentacles that grasped weapons of varying types. All had at least one melee weapon as well as some sort of weapon that looked to Duke like a stylized pistol.
As they approached in full synchrony, they opened fire with their pistols. The beams of the weapons converged on Duke’s stomach. Th beams struck with both a physical impact that nearly pushed Duke back a step but also unloaded an energy payload that struck much harder. Duke felt his skin and the muscle beneath it burn in an instant. In less than a second, the beams had bored a hole straight through him.
Guess that answers the question as to whether they are attacking people on sight…
Duke took to the air as his REGENERATION went to work repairing the fifteen million Health the attack had cost him. He rocketed towards the group juking randomly to throw off their aim making his path erratic even though it was fast. Ascendril appeared in his right hand and he prepared to use the sword for the first time.
The creatures wove around each other, presenting their melee weapons in a pattern that covered the space in front of Duke nearly completely. As he tried to work his way past their weaving defense, he was hit with three more of their energy blasts, taking noticeable chunks out of his Health.
Growling, Duke struck out with a dark cloud of POISON to both obscure himself and to distract his opponents. The cloud bust out at the creatures, engulfing them nearly instantly and beginning to billow out into the surroundings. There was a momentary pause as the creatures adjusted to the situation but once they had their bearing back, they began to rapidly fire their beam weapons, burning the cloud away and filling the area with their deadly beams.
Duke was struck another dozen times and his Health was dropping precipitously, crossing below half despite the continuous work of his REGENERATION. He followed the POISON up with a wave of FLAME that burned the remains of the cloud out of the air but washed over the creatures just as quickly. The FLAME was met with a glowing field of energy that emanated from another one of each of their appendages. Despite the heat, there seemed to be no effect from the FLAME other than to make them activate their shields.
Deciding that this was a losing battle without committing to anything he didn’t want to show yet, Duke flew back away from the creatures. Ne noted that they followed him with their beams until he passed their range which seemed to be about a kilometer.
Well, that could have gone better. I have to remember that these are among the top creatures, people, whatever, that could be recruited for this thing. I need to be more careful than to just fly up and start a fight. I didn’t even get a successful IDENTIFY off. At least I’m mostly healed and can head back to the dungeon to start picking up gear.
I do wonder if there are people trapped outside the city that might be easier prey for me? Something to consider. I have a feeling this place is going to wreak havoc with my moral compass.
Duke returned to The Forge and TELEPORTED inside the dungeon having spent a good eight hours getting back to the city and then back to here. He figured the time acceleration would have covered the first year of time in The Forge. He hastened to see what was waiting for him.
Yes, I know this is broken and most would consider it cheating to use such time manipulation, but why should I fucking care. The rules on this are pretty clear. There are no rules around this!
He was met by a smiling Sar Forglyn, “Welcome back Emperor. From the state of your clothes, it has been an eventful year for you. Come in, com in, let me show you what we have for you!”
Duke followed the minotaur, a smile spreading across his own features as he RESTORED his outfit.