Roy was a little downcast after Kaleb pointed out the obvious problem with his chosen weapon. But the young Nova bounced back, immediately returning to his work. Kaleb smiled at the look of determination on Roy’s face. He almost chuckled remembering how adverse his Assistant had been about learning to build his own equipment.
He walked back to his Workbench and set down the bone gun and still warm bullet. He was dreading making a second gun. The lathe work would probably take all day. He lightly slapped his cheek, dismissing such thoughts and set about tearing the Bone gun apart. He would need the parts so he could measure then cut out the pieces he would need.
As he worked Daivor stood on the table. “Should I make more bullets?”
“I’m not sure.” Kaleb said stopping his hands and shrugging. “What do you think would be the best use of our time? More bone bullets or Enchanting the normal ones?”
The Gnome seemed surprised at being asked his opinion but he rallied quickly. “Hmmmm, I would say you should make the second gun and we can worry about Enchanting the normal bullets later. The bone bullets are a good idea but we need more experimentation. Does your friend use any other weapon? Maybe we can make him something simple to go with the heavy-ass guns.”
Kaleb thought about D34d–I as his hands went back to work. “A collapsible machete and a rifle. I think that’s it.”
“A one trick duck, huh?” Daivor grumbled.
“I guess.” Kaleb said
“Why not make him armor like your Warlock buddy?” Daivor said as he cleaned the worktable.
Kaleb made a grunt of agreement as he took the measurements of the other gun. Luckily he realized that the bone gun was the exact shape of his new 38 revolver. And he easily found the measurements for the gun online. He double-checked what he found with what he had but it was virtually the same. After he finished, he grabbed a new Ifrit bone and settled in with the lathe to machine the parts.
The loud whirring of the machine drowned out most everything else happening in the garage. Kaleb maintained a vigil over the machine as it slowly cut the bone into shape. He noticed a huge problem early on as the bone heated fairly quickly. He had to stop for a few minutes so he could get a large bucket of water to keep the bone cool as it spun.
This lead to an increased rate of stopping and starting as he watched the bone. Daivor spared his sanity once the Gnome finished his little cleaning project and glanced over.
“Just use a Heat Dispersion Rune on the bone. You won’t have to Imprint it so you should be able to save Magic by just drawing the Rune.”
Daivor had to yell to be heard and Kaleb had to stop the lathe and ask the Gnome to repeat himself. Once he did Kaleb dipped his hand in the bucket of water and touched his neck and face.
“That’s… a good idea. I’ve been thinking though. For runes, do I have to draw them myself? Couldn’t I use a stamp or something similar?”
Daivor nodded. “Sure. But you need to get the stamp right. A shitty stamp or branding iron will just leave a shitty Rune. But once you have a Rune you are happy with, it's a piece of cake. You only have to channel the magic through the stamp or whatever you are using though.”
Kaleb nodded slowly before he shook the idea off. “Something for later. For now, I need the Heat Dispersion Rune.”
Kaleb walked to his worktable and picked up his book of Runes. Once he found the Rune he needed, he settled in to practice. The Rune wasn’t hard, a few squiggly lines and triangle and he had it done. His new Enchanting Glove shocked him a little, so he kept at it until he was happy. As he was drawing the Rune onto the bone, he got a notification that almost broke his concentration.
A case of content theft: this narrative is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.
*Your Companion, Roy Nova has learned the Electrician skill*
The notice surprised Kaleb, but he kept his focus and finished drawing the Rune. Once he finished, he quickly turned around to see Roy messing with his left bracer. Roy had apparently gutted the internal mechanisms, and he was wiring a power source to the inside his large arm guard. Kaleb thought he could just make out a yellow crystal in the housing of the power source.
He smiled at his assistant again as he turned back to his work. Daivor had just finished checking over his design and gave him a silent thumbs up. Kaleb nodded and went back to machining the parts for D34d–I second revolver. As he started up the lathe again he sighed, silently promising that his next big lab purchase would be a CNC machine.
Time passed and the light outside dimmed as Kaleb and Roy worked to the loud whirring of the lathe. The Heat Dispersion Rune Helped immensely as Kaleb bored the holes into a new cylinder. As he worked he noticed that Daivor had clambered his way across the wall and over to Kaleb and the lathe. Once there, the Gnome chanted a spell. Kaleb couldn’t hear what kind of spell it was, but he was happy the Gnome was helping.
It took longer than he would have liked, but it was still quick. Kaleb soon had the parts needed for a second revolver. Except for the springs. As he realized that oversight he almost broke out into loud swears. But Daivor got his attention and pointed at the Worktable. Kaleb smiled, at some point Daivor must have dove back into the bin full of springs. Because now, the springs he needed were laid out and ready for him.
“Don’t know what I’d do without you.” Kaleb joked to Daivor.
“Honestly, I am surprised that all you are missing is one arm.” Daivor snapped back.
“Ha!” Kaleb laughed reveling in the return of actual sound.
He swore his head was still vibrating from the loud hum of the lathe. As he shuffled the parts over to his worktable, he spared a glance at Roy. The boy had gotten a pair of earbuds from somewhere and was working on a blunt baton of some kind. Kaleb almost laughed, Roy had created a little nest for himself in the right half of the garage. He was surrounded by all kinds of wiring and bits of metal junk.
As long as he cleans up after himself. Kaleb thought as he put the two Bone Guns back together. He breathed an audible sigh of relief as everything fit together easily. He smiled down at Daivor, ready to thank the Gnome for whatever magical contribution he had provided. But the Gnome looked just as relieved as he did.
“What spell were you using while the lathe was going?” Kaleb asked.
Daivor smiled and put a finger next to his nose. “A special Gnomish spell. Want me to teach it to you?”
“Does it work?”
“Yeah, about fifty percent of the time.”
Kaleb thought about it before he nodded at Daivor. “Sure, if I can learn it. Teach me.”
Daivor clasped both his hands in front of his chest. “First: You put your hands together. Second: You say “Don’t fuck it up.” repeatedly until the job is complete.”
Kaleb glared at the Gnome as Daivor laughed to himself. Kaleb sighed and shook his head as he couldn’t pretend to be angry at the Gnome. The entire process of building the second gun had been almost as draining as using his friends magic to Shape the first. He was honestly just happy to be finished with the whole project.
As he looked down at the two completed bone guns, he briefly wondered what kind of Enchantments D34d–I would choose. He supposed he could give the Duck and his friend a call. He glanced down at his communicator and cleared his throat.
“Ahem. Farrah, can you get in touch with D34d–I’s Handler and let them know I want to talk to their Super?”
“Can do.” AI Farrah said happily.
Kaleb stood from his chair and stretched out his back. As he waited for Farrah, he tried to figure out what his young assistant was working on. He didn’t want to get to close and distract the boy but his own curiosity was burning. It looked like Roy had increased the size of his metal forearm bracers and added an electric element to his left arm but Kaleb couldn’t tell anything else.
“D34d–I is not on-duty yet. Should I leave a message with his Handler?” Farrah said from Kaleb’s wrist.
“Sure. Just let them know I need help with the finishing touches on their Ifrit equipment. If they can stop by my lab ASAP that would be great, thanks.” Kaleb said.
“Got it. I will relay the message.” Farrah answered before going quiet again.
Kaleb was about to go over what else he wanted to do with the rest of his day when Roy spoke up behind him.
“Hey, Doc. Can I get your help with this?”