I've decided to finish enchanting the gear. I need to get it out of the way and I'll be able to focus more heavily once it is done. Finishing the rest of the enchants I hit level 70. Only 30 more levels to go until I get to pick a rank up job. I've had some ideas on how to use dungeon making. I really need to learn in detail everything about it. Once we get out of here, maybe after the war with the pirates. I'll try to re-purpose the dungeon we have.
Days of work on the gear and now I'm done… Whew that took forever but I'm glad I did it. I feel more prepared than before, another advantage my troops have against our enemies. I'll take every one I can get. It has been… How long has it been? I ask the tree.
“Hey, how long have we been in here!?”
“Two months...”
...Really… Only ten, long excruciating months left. Maybe I should have left some of the gear to enchant just as something to stave off the boredom in a few months. Well, I know I've talked to the three people I'm locked in here with more than enough. Lance, Leon and Aegis are probably sick of talking to me… Maybe the tree can hold a conversation.
“Hey tree… Do you have a name.”
“… Nope.”
“… Do you want one?”
“… Nah.”
“...Alright… What are you then?”
“A tree.”
“… I mean… Are you a monster, an item, are you one of a kind? Are there other time trees?”
“I'm part monster, part item. I am one of a kind, so no there aren't more trees.”
“Can you see us?”
“Yes… I can see everything inside me. Everything in this mimic.”
“… Don't you get lonely? You're the only one of your kind.”
“No… I would like to see the sun… The real sun once in my life.”
“Well… I'll try my best to have your dream met in my lifetime… Moving a giant tree would be too difficult to do myself though… Perhaps I can ask a treant on the outside how they move and that might help you… I'm not sure this would work but, do you want to learn a class while I'm in here?”
“...Not really… I guess I will though.”
This tree is so apathetic. He has no opinion on anything… Nature mage would help him the most. Time mage might also be helpful to him. He might learn a different type of skill because of his innate time magic properties. I teach him both. It once again takes a very long time. Longer than even teaching Lance. Perhaps it is because he wasn't a complete monster.
Suddenly, the tree starts to move the wood around on the inside of the room. Small at first eventually turning into waves. Knocking over the freshly stacked gear, some of the other things were knocked over. Thankfully nothing had broken.
Aegis has gotten… No visible increase in speed. Still crawling across the ground. It is almost comical if it wasn't someone trying so hard to get stronger. Grasping at any method to make himself better. I scan him and notice he's gained 10 fatigue points. I feel sad for him but every single fatigue point he gains now will be useful to him for potentially 1000s of years.
I move on… I still have so much to do when it comes to preparation… I've been neglecting myself since I've been in here. Only practicing unarmed combat. I brought the equipment to make some very good bows, so that is what I plan on doing.
With bowyer, I realize how awful my last bow really was. It is amazing I was able to kill anything with it. The draw weight was under 20 pounds. At that weight, the arrows had barely any piercing speed behind them. Now that I think back, most of the arrows I would fire were easily retrievable. Only sinking in an inch at most.
I can't make the perfect bow for every situation. I'll need to make at least 2 for the optimal amount of situations. A compound bow for fighting mid to close range and a long bow to fight very distant opponents. The compound bow will have an adjustable draw weight. I feel I can handle 50 pounds easily now.
The bow feels… Very comfortable in my hands… As if it is perfect for me. I fire at a target, going to accuracy over speed. Firing 15 arrows with enough piercing to dig several inches into the target in one minute. The target was made of wood. If I were to use the old bow, most would have bounced off. If I had used triple shot and tracer arrow I could fire 90 arrows per minute still.
The longbow I've made has a draw weight 100 pounds. It is longer than me. The arrows are almost twice as long as my compound bow arrows. Around twice as thick as well. Firing at the target, the arrow pierced completely through the target of wood. What insane power!
Even compared to my automatic crossbow, I could easily fire twice as many arrows at 4 times the power now that I'm a good archer. Another drop in the amount of arrows fired per minute down to 60, with triple shot though, the accuracy and speed at which I can fire a single arrow is reduced. It might be better to just fire single arrows with tracer arrows for the longbow.
I still need to practice this class to get it to level 10. So I'll start target practice with the bow everyday while the other two are sleeping. I should easily be able to hit level 10 within a few weeks. I also still need to practice both bows. Even with my full strength I'm going to need to build up the muscles that pull back the bow string. Hopefully by the time I exit, I'll have made another longbow at 120 pound draw weight and be able to fire it repetitively. I'll give the 100 pound longbow to Fayeth if she can handle it.
I still need to redesign the gear of my generals. I'll hold off on upgrading Lance's until I upgrade my own… I've got some ideas for his, that is the reason I've picked up so many dragon feathers. For his and my sets of gear.
I start working on another 2 bows. One compound bow and another longbow for Fayeth. I have no idea how much she can pull back so I'll start her longbow's draw weight 80 pounds. Now having 3 different draw weight longbows. Making her a new set of leather gear with pieces of heavy armor for extra protection. I'll make sure that it doesn't impede her firing abilities.
I've had them load the room with a few trees. Just in case I was inspired to make something different… I think I have an idea. I take an entire 10 foot tree and start to shape it. I'm going to make the biggest bow I've ever made. One that no normal person would be able to pull back. But Troll might be able to… I get the shape down, a normal string would snap under the pressure though. The one I've made for it is almost an inch thick spider silk woven together. I call for Lance and Leon.
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“Hey. I need your help stringing this bow.”
They both have to pull the bow down for me to string it. I half expected it to break but since it was a single piece of wood. The bows I designed for myself were made out of three different kinds of wood. Hardened treant wood for the core, the ninjas bamboo wood for the back of the bow, and finally some enchanted softened oak tree for the belly of the bow.
I had brought in some hide glue to firmly attach the three pieces of wood together. While the bow had finished, I had a set place to bend both my bows slightly forwards. After letting the bows set for a week I sanded them into shape. All 4 bows are beyond anything you would find anywhere besides an elven village. The giant bow I just created is something that even an elven village wouldn't have. Tillering the bows was fairly difficult with no equipment. I had to make a makeshift work area… I'll have to make a bowyer work area for making bows in the future.
The entire process for making these superior bows had taken over a week of work… No way would it be possible to arm an army with these superior bows quickly… Maybe if you made hundreds of bows at once it would only take a few months to do.
Just looking at the difference in my old bow… Wow! So many things were done wrong with my last one. No horns or arrow plates or grips for comfort. The bow wasn't checked for balance, even the string was far better than my previous one. I'm so glad I had Fayeth explain this job fully. Even after I had learned it. I'll have to teach some of my woodworkers the bowyer job and how to make these superior bows. Yet another advantage my army will have over the enemies.
It is sort of funny that this mishmash group of people are potentially one of the most well equipped armies in the world. We also have one of the biggest class pools of any army. Most armies tend to have 5-10 classes as the bulk of their army. That wouldn't matter at all against future armies though. As we are outnumbered incredibly… The thing our army is lacking more than anything else is numbers. I hope to gain another 100 troops by freeing the murine folk the pirates have hostage.
Now that I've made Troll a bow. He needs a melee weapon, a set of gear also wouldn't hurt but he doesn't really need it… Maybe a helmet and a chest plate to protect his vulnerable areas. Even just a plate guard in front of his heart would help him stay alive. For a weapon I've taken another one of my trees I had stored here.
Trolls normally use crude clubs or entire trees as weapons. I'm going to make a smooth club for him. Grinding the club down so that is easier to grasp. He'll be able to use it single handed instead of needing both hands to grasp it correctly… Freeing up another hand for him to use. I enchant his giant club with control nature and triple strengthen it. I could make him a shield, but it would take a lot of my remaining wood and hide glue to make. I'll hold back now, I think having archers with superior bows would help more than an almost unkillable creature a shield.
Starting the process to make another 10 bows, I start to redesign my followers gear. For the cloth wearers, I've stitched the dragon feathers over their hearts. Taking out the metal plate, reducing the weight as well as increasing the defense. This uses up about half of my feathers. Piercing the feathers with a needle was a difficult process that takes my entire body weight to push through.
My other generals don't need their gear improved, their weapons do though. The cold iron is sharp but not very tough, so using it for weapon tips works better than using it for entire weapons. It also makes fairly awful armor because of this. I got most of the mithril tips out of the weapons. I had lost my armor plating because of this… Hopefully we get that adamantine soon to help make the dragon slayer armor.
I have to make a few more sets of gear. All the lizardmen the kobold chief and Green and Fayeth need sets of gear. I make them all specially made for each person. Fayeth has an arm unguarded. This will help her loose arrows better without the chance of her clothing getting caught in the process. She'll have to wear a bracer to stop the bowstring from wearing her arm down.
Lizard men don't really wear armor. So I can't make them their sets. I believe the kobold chief will wear anything I give him. I make a spider silk robe and add another dragon feather to it. Green's gear was by far the most different from everyone else. I had made arm and leg protectors made of treant bark.
As well as spider silk gloves with grounded dirt mixed in and strengthened. Finally her chest piece contained a fibrous piece of clothing. This was light but before battle she would soak it in water to help increase her defense. She had aqua mage so she has better control over water. I made her an extra weapon. Hollowing out a piece of metal and enchanting it with a flame enchant. The metal heats to a high temperature. The metal almost glowing red from heat, I add a cover for it so it doesn't accidentally burn her. Inside will be water almost at boiling temperature. She'll be able to use this water to really hurt a single person… It is scary thinking about who she's going to use it on.
Many of my generals refuse to use helmets… The lizard men and elementalists are the main culprits. I would never enter a battle with my head unguarded. I plan on making a specialty helmet out of the dragon feathers. They most likely have fire resistant properties. I'll be able to pull it down, covering my face. It gives me an almost animal like look when it is down. I has the mouth open so I can use my strengthened dragons breath I use glass to protect my eyes, so I can have it down in combat.
Finally done… The entire process wasn't as long as I thought it would be. My head won't change in size so I can make my helmet now. It takes four of the remaining feathers, leaving 5 left… Perhaps I won't upgrade Lance's gear like I had originally planned… I should have gotten more material...
I'm done with my work for now. Asking the tree how long it has been.
“It has been… Four months.”
There isn't really much to do besides train now… I guess that's what I'll do until near the end of our time in here. Then I'll upgrade mine and Lance's gear. I had given all my generals the day off… I wonder what they're up too…