#Soldier On
"This should do the trick..." I muttered as I carefully placed the blade into the iron pipe.
While waiting for the iron pipe to cool down and fuse the blade to the bow, I picked up some dirt from the floor of the tunnel to make a bowl-full of mud. When it was fully cool, I used my fingers to apply a layer of mud to the blade, but leaving the sharp edge uncovered. After which I placed it into the portable furnace to heat up, being careful not to put it in too deep, in case I burnt the bow itself.
"What are you doing?" asked Jenna. She had logged on an hour ago, much earlier than the appointed gathering time. Although I had nothing to say, since I was here waaaay before she was.
We were currently in a cavern that was in-between the first and second floor of the dungeon. It was a safe spot meant to allow players to rest in a dungeon where the monsters never stopped respawning.
After we had cleared the first floor of the dungeon, we logged-off and agreed to meet back here the next day.
"It's a technique that Japanese swordsmiths use. By applying a layer of mud to the back of the blade, we slow down the rate that it gains and loses heat. This results in a sword with a hard edge, but a strong and flexible body. It's also the cause of the curved shape that Japanese katanas tend to have."
"Wow. You seem quite knowledgeable in this... Are you a blacksmith on real life too?"
"No, I'm an Engineer. And as such, Metalurgy is part of my expertise," I took out the blade to observe the color of the metal, "Hey, Jenna. Do me a favor. Can you use "Drown" on this?"
"Huh? Oh.. Alright," She pointed her staff at the Sword-Bow(patent pending), "Drown!"
The water hissed and steamed as it cooled the weapon down.
After the mud was cleaned off, all that was left to do was to attach the bowstring, and I'm done.
Your Blacksmithing Level has increased!
Iron Sword-Bow(Patent Pending):
Durability: 88/88
Damage: 12-13
A weapon designed to be both a sword and a bow at the same time. The inventor of this weapon learned from his mistakes from his first try, and made a few changes to the weapon, resulting in better durability and accuray.
Equip:
+15 DEX
+15 STR
+10 CHA
The following bonuses can only be seen by players who have the "Bow Bash ability":
+23% Increased damage with the "Bow Bash" skill.
+15% chance to knockback/stun with the "Bow Bash" skill.
Slower durability loss when using the "Bow Bash" skill.
Damage type for "Bow Bash" is changed from blunt to slicing.
Limits:
Level 16
DEX 45+
STR 55+
Other that the difference in material, there were two changes that I made to the Sword-Bow(patent-pending).
The first was the thing I did up there with the mud, that improved the durability of the weapon. And the other was that I drilled the "bowstring hole" lower on the blade-end of the weapon than I did before. By doing so, I hoped to improve the balace between the upper and lower limbs, hence improving the accuracy.
"There we go..." I held up the weapon, admiring my own handiwork.
"MUSTACHIO-SAN! JENNA-SAN! o_0 ! New weapon?"
"Oh, Pepe, you're back. Yeah, I just finished this."
"Pepe, any word from my idiot cousin?"
"WHO ARE YOU CALLING IDIOT!" Kang shouted as he just logged on.
"Okay, entire party is here. Let's go!" Jenna said, completely ignoring Kang.
"HEY! Don't just ignore me! HEY! I'm supposed to be in front! Wait up! Oooooi! Wait up damnit!"
**************************************************************
"Hey... Notrem..."
"Yes Jenna?"
"Remember what you said before about an army?"
"Yeah?"
"You weren't kidding."
Ever since we entered the second floor, we've been attacked by a continuous stream of Soldier Ants.
"Don't worry Jenna-san! We're much stronger than before!"
Compared to before, it only took us as much effort to kill the Soldier Ants as we did to kill the Giant Ants when we first entered.
"Yes, I know that but..."
"JENNA! Don't get distracted and keep protecting me!"
"I'M TRYING MY BEST YOU IDIOT COUSIN!"
Indeed, the biggest problem was that the Soldier Ants were capable of spitting acid, hence allowing even the back row to attack Kang. They were essentially using the same tactic as us.
In order to keep Kang alive, Jenna had to abandon offense entirely and focus on intercepting the projectiles with her water.
Whenever Pepe and I killed an ant in the back row, another one would come to replace it in a few seconds. The only reason we didn't stop shooting entirely was because it slowed down the enemy volley.
All we could do was slowly push forwards until we reached the safe-point at the end of the level. From the information gathered by Jenna, it was a small cavern built into the side of the tunnel with a large rock acting as a door. By pushing the rock into the cavern, we could hide inside to take a break before tackling the other half of the level.
*At least they aren't attacking us from behind anymore.*
"Notrem! I need to recover. Switch with me for a moment!"
Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.
"Got it! Lunge!"
I quickly switched places with Kang and used my Sword-Bow(patent pending) to protect myself from the two ants in front of me while Kang ate a few kebabs to recover his health and stamina.
*To think he's been killing them while pushing forward this entire time without dying. He's more skilled than I expected.*
Seeing that one of the ant's had low health, I made a sharp strike towards it to end its life, but just as the ant disintegrated into nothing, the other ant made a sudden rush past me.
"Oh shi-"
"PSYCHO CRUSHER!"
Kang did a flying headbutt and knocked the ant back several feet.
"STOP PLAGIARISING!"
"Eh-heh...."
"Hey, Pepe!"
"Yes, Mustachio-san?"
"Change of plans. We fire at the front lines to push forwards faster!" I took a look towards Jenna, "Is that alright?"
"Hnnnn..." Jenna gave it some thought, "Okay! It's better to fight offensively and scrape through with a some bruises, than to fight defensively and not make it through at all! The three of you focus of pushing through! I'll continue intercepting the acid shots!"
"""Yes! (Jenna-san!)"""
Firing at closer targets triggered my "Point Blank" skill, allowing us to kill the ants at a faster rate, and Pepe used her smaller size to crouch and shoot under Kang's shoulder, rather than above, which she had trouble doing so. An additional side effect of firing from a lower angle is that Critical hits tend to occur more often (although neither of us could figure out exactly where that weak spot was).With accuracy being less of an issue, we could fire as quickly as we want without aiming. Even I started to "Shoot like Crazy" to a certain degree.
"Double Arrow!"
"Snap Shot!"
Double Arrow is a skill that causes the arrow to split into two when fired, with one arrow following the other. It's a skill I would like to have, but it's unlikely that I'll ever learn it due to my inherently slow fire rate. What I *can* do, is simulate its effects by using Snap Shot immediately after a normal attack. This also increases the accuracy of the Snap Shot.
Slowly, but surely, we pushed our way through the army. With Kang punching away and Pepe and I shooting, the front row seldom lived for more than a few seconds. Kang might have to switch with me more often than before, but at the rate we're moving, it doesn't even matter anymore. (anyone else just sang that song in their head?) (it doesn't even maaaattuur anyymooooooooooore!!)
"OOOOOH!!! KANG! THE END IS IN SIGHT!!!"
"YOU HAVE GOOD EYES NOTREM! LET'S DO THIS!"
"EAT ARROW, YOU SECOND-RATE SOLDIER!"
"Jenna-san..."
"Yes?"
"Boys are weird."
"I believe they prefer being called "Hot-Blooded"."
"I think I'm fine just being warm-blooded..."
Just ten more ants before we reach the goal!
"Pepe! Jenna! Grab as much of the loot behind us as possible!"
"Ah!" Jenna turned around, "I can't believe I almost forgot about that."
Five more!
"Notrem! Get ready to push the door open!"
"Okay!"
Two more!
"HORAAAAH!!"
"Mustachio-san, hurry!"
Pushing with all my might! And the rock finally gives way and goes into the cavern!
"Alright! Everyone in! Kang! help me close it!"
Jenna had to use her water to physically push any ant that tried to get in.
*Slam!*
And with that, we were finally safe.
************************************************
"Identify!"
Jenna carefully examines a ring.
"Pepe, this one is yours."
"Thanks Jenna-san!"
"Identify! Jenna takes a pair of blue-colored gloves from the pile and identifies it, "Notrem, this one's yours."
"Ah thanks."
Gloves of Iron Grip:
Durability: 43/43
Defense: 7
A pair of gloves made with a strange material that tends to stick to whatever you're holding.
Equip:
+5 STR
Harder to get disarmed
Limits:
Level 20
*Feels kinda like rubber... And sadly enough it has the same defense level as my leather armor. I guess my armor is getting out of date. I need to find a tailor to make something out of that pelt I got off the Wolf-Queen*
"Identify!" Jenna took the last of the 'valuable' loot from the pile of japtem, "(sigh)and this pair of gloves go to.... Kang."
"Woohoo!"
"Cheer up, Jenna-san!" Pepe reached over to pat Jenna on her back, "You'll get something from the boss for sure!"
"Kang!" Jenna called.
"Huh?"
"You better make the best damn meal you can!"
"Okay..."
"I'm just gonna replenish our supply of arrows."
"Thanks! Mustachio-san!"
***************************************************
Author's note:
GAAAH!!!
I mean "Hello again!"
I know this chapter is pretty short, and took unusually long.
And I blame Payday 2.
Totally
Fuck you Overkill Software!
Why'd you have to make such an amazing game!
Right, back on topic. Like I mentioned, here's the second floor of the dungeon.
Poor Jenna didn't manage to get anything for herself. I guess someone must have been talking bad about her in the comments thread.
The boss fight will finally come next chapter!
As usual, any and all comments are welcome.
And fuck you Overkill Software.