by Yuu Tanaka
“Yeah.”
“Woof.”
But don’t get careless.
“Of course.”
“Arf!”
They were so reliable. All we needed to do know was go to Garrus’ shop to pick up Fran’s armor, and we would be all set to go for Ulmutt.
A few days had gone by since our night out at the bar, and we were now at Garrus’ smithy.
“Is the armor ready?”
“Yep, it’s good to g—God, that thing’s huge!”
It had been a month since we arrived in Alessa. Today was our appointment.
The sight of Jet surprised old Garrus. The Direwolf was in his smaller form, but he was still gigantic compared to the dwarf.
“Ruff!”
“Your familiar?”
“Yeah. His name’s Jet.”
Fluffy dog aside, how’s the armor?
“Gahahaha! It’s perfect! My finest work, if I may say so myself!”
Now you’re exaggerating.
We had given Garrus C- and D-Rank materials to work with. Nothing to scoff at, but a Magesmith of Garrus’ calibre should be used to handling higher rank materials.
“Hey now, this ain’t a job where you can just make the toughest thing you can think of and call it good.”
“What do you mean?”
“Well, you know… You gotta put your soul into it. And I put my heart and soul into each piece of gear that I make. But every once in a while, there’s a piece that comes across my anvil that’s just pleasing to work on.”
His words were difficult to grasp but I saw his point. They were the thoughts of an expert craftsman.
“The little lady’s gear is one such a piece. I’ve put my heart, soul, and originality into crafting hers into existence.”
Sounds like we can expect a lot from it.
If Garrus was bragging this much then we were sure to get spectacular armor. I couldn’t wait to see it.
“Damn right. Hell, even God approves of this armor set!”
“God?”
What was that supposed to mean? We looked confused as Garrus retreated to the back of his shop to retrieve Fran’s gear.
“See for yourself.”
He came back lugging a huge chest. He took out each piece of equipment and set it on the table with confidence. I didn’t need to Identify them to know that they were loaded with magic.
“Here’s your new gear, little lady!”
Name: Black Cat Armor
Defense: 100; Durability: 600/600
Skills: Deep Sleep; Deodorant; Cleanse; Mental Abnormal Status Resistance Up (Medium)
Name: Black Cat Gloves
Defense: 70; Durability: 600/600
Skills: Physical Resistance Up (Medium); Strength Up (Medium)
Name: Black Cat Boots
Defense: 65; Durability: 600/600
Skills: Jump; Agility Up (Medium)
Name: Black Cat Earring
Defense: 15; Durability: 600/600
Skills: Poison Resistance; Sonic Resistance; Elemental Resistance
Name: Black Cat Cloak
Defense: 85; Durability: 600/600
Skills: Cold Resistance; Heat Resistance; Self-Repair
Name: Black Cat Belt
Defense: 15; Durability: 600/600
Skills: Magic Resistance Up (low); Abnormal Status Resistance Up (low); Item Bag (small)
W-wow. They were far and away stronger than the armor Fran currently had on her, and that had cost us 150,000G. The defense values were leagues above, and the skills were splendid. All that while being lighter than her current equipment? How did that work? And what did Garrus mean by the armor being “God approved”?
“I present to you my greatest work, the Black Cat Armor Set!”
“Good name.”
Sounds cute coming from you, old man.
“Woof.”
Fran had liked the ring of the Black Cat set, but for old Garrus to name it that himself was a little surprising.
Pfft.
“Shut it! I didn’t choose the name myself, all right?”
“Then who did?”
“Like I said, God did.”
“?”
“Aroo?”
What do you mean?
Did a name come down from the heavens?
“You don’t know? This is what we call Named Items.”
Named Items were special items which the gods had seen fit to name. When a blacksmith forged a piece of equipment with all his heart and soul, a god might see fit to rain down their blessings on it.
You could also find Legendary Named Items within labyrinths. They were items which had the gods’ divine protection attached to them. Their strength was easily inferred.
“Having your work be approved by the gods is the greatest honor a blacksmith can achieve. I appreciate you giving me that chance. Everyone involved in this production was so happy they were moved to tears.”
That was our line. They all must have put their heart and soul into crafting this set if the gods approved of it.
We should be thanking you for crafting such strong gear.
“Gahaha. The gods reinforced the sturdy composite material with divine blessings. This here set can give equipment made with B-Rank materials a run for their money.”
Wow.
“And they’re powerful blessings, too.”
Wait, I thought the Resistance skills were the blessings.
“Just put it on and see for yourself.”
“Alright.”
We borrowed the back room so Fran could put on her Black Cat Armor.
Did she need help putting on the armor, you ask? Well, she did have trouble putting on her pajamas, so of course I helped. I was her appointed guardian, after all, and it’s not like I had any capacity for lust ever since I became a sword. It couldn’t be helped. Bear with me.
I used Telekinesis to assist Fran with her armor pieces.
Fifteen minutes later, Fran had fully donned her Black Cat Set. The base color of the armor was black with green and white accents. It looked good on her. The main piece of the set, the Black Cat Armor, had a cute boyish look to it. It came with a skirt which had a hole for her tail to pop out of. Her top looked like a cross between a large collared shirt and a bustier. Jewels decorated the clasp of her chest, adding to the feminine look of the armor. Her midriff was left exposed, but it still looked adorable on her.
She wore fingerless gloves and boots that went up to her calves. Her belt looked like a gunbelt and looked like it had room to conceal a dagger; it came with a Small Item Bag, too, which meant she could store up to five emergency potions in it. Her silver earring looked like an animal ID tag by itself, but on Fran, it looked stylish.
Her cloak, which covered her entire body, looked more like a raincoat than a full blown mantle. It was light and supple, and didn’t get in the way of her movement.
“I didn’t use much metal in making that. Lemme tell ya, reinforcing cloth and leather ain’t no small feat. I took the Tyrant Sabertooth leather, Doppel Snake skin, and the Blast Tortoise shell, and cured them in a special solution. Then I further reinforced it by applying the Gluttony Slimelord’s fluids all over it. This is a masterwork of composite material.”
Just the way you explained it sounds amazing.
“We had a string of failures along the way but it was well worth it. We managed to make a fine weave of composite materials, much stronger than any old metal. Lighter, too!”
Lightness was an important aspect of the armor as Fran relied on her agility in combat. This really was the best armor she could get.
I Identified it again and noticed something new.
Black Cat Blessing?
“You spotted it, huh? That’s the divine blessing I was talking about earlier! It increases all its user’s stats by 10. Also grants protection from Instant Death. However, only Black Cat Beastmen can wear it.”
You got a set bonus just by wearing it, too? That was amazing. A flat +10 to al
l stats might as well be an overpowered title. The armor was no match compared to heavy plate mail, but once you added the stat bonuses and lightness of it, the Black Cat Set was far and away stronger.
“So cool.”
It’s strong and it looks cute!
“Right? Toldja it’s my masterwork. Gahaha!”
Are you sure we can have this for free?
How much would this cost if we were to pay for it? We wouldn’t have enough money for it, that’s for sure.
“Yep, that was our deal. I took whatever materials I had left over, so I’m not making a loss or anything. Besides, I’m thankful that you let me do this work for you. I couldn’t accept your money if you shoved it in my face. Just, one thing, though.”
“What is it?”
“There’s something you gotta be careful about with this armor. This is a fine piece of armor and because of it, repairs are gonna cost you more than a pretty penny. You’ll need Mana Spheres, the good kind, too. The repair fees are also gonna be quite high…”
The better the armor, the more expensive it was to repair.
How much?
“100,000G for the first round. It’s only gonna get more expensive from then on.”
Oof… That’s rough.
“It is, but remember the cloak has Self Repair on it. That extends to all the other pieces of armor as long as she’s wearing it. It’ll take a few days for everything to get into tip-top shape again but so long as you’re not pressed for time…”
That helped. We might never need to bring the set in for repairs as long as we’re careful. That was a relief.
All that’s left now is Jet’s gear.
“The dog’s?”
Yeah. I mean he has to equip his Familiar Identification Tag, anyway. Don’t suppose you can outfit him with actual equipment?
There was another problem. I explained to Garrus how Jet had the ability to manipulate his size. He was far bigger in combat, and his equipment needed to accommodate that. No amount of money would be enough to replace his gear if he broke his collar every time he shifted to his original size.
“There’s a lot of armor pieces that come with the Size Adjustment skill. I’ll just fix one of those for your pupper there.”
“Really?”
“Arf?”
“You betcha. Give me two days.”
Thanks.
“Awooo!”
Jet leapt happily. He tackled Garrus and started licking his face.
“Hey now!”
Welp, there goes Garrus.
So how much do we owe you?
“R-right… Give me 50,000G and I can have a whole assortment ready.”
“Please and thank you.”
“Yep—Will you quit it?!”
“Arf!”
Garrus snapped at the Direwolf. He didn’t mean it, of course, and Jet figured that out, too. He got off the dwarf and backed off, waiting for another opportunity to pounce at him.
Jet turned back into his original size so Garrus could get accurate measurements of his size. He licked Garrus in the face so hard that it flung the old blacksmith to the wall of his shop. The same thing happened when Garrus was trying to measure his hind legs with the Direwolf wagging his tail at the dwarf.
It was a good thing Garrus made it out in one piece. Any ordinary blacksmith would’ve needed several life potions by now. I admired the old man for his extraordinary Defense.
I made a note to myself to teach Jet to take it easy while he was “playing”. He might actually put someone in a hospital at some point.
“So where are y’all headed next?” Garrus asked while wiping his face with a rag.
“Ulmutt.”
“I see. It’s about time I got a move on, myself. Ulmutt’s a good destination as any for my next stop.”
Ooh, do you want to come with us, then?
We would love to have the old Magesmith in our party. He was strong, and knew of our special circumstances.
“Which route are you taking?”
We’ll head west for Dars, then take a boat down south to Bulbola. Then we’ll foot it all the way to Ulmutt. It’s a bit pricier compared to a land route, but it’s faster. I also want to show Fran how much fun it is to be on a cruise.
“Do you want to come with us?” Fran asked, a faint glimmer of expectation in her voice. Amanda couldn’t accompany us on our journey. Having Garrus around would make things livelier.
“I’d love to, little lady… but I can’t.”
Why not?
Garrus sighed, scrunched his face. “We dwarves are mountain people, you see…”
“Uh-huh.”
“We don’t get along with water. Put simply… I can’t swim!”
I see. It was a very dwarven excuse. With how heavily built Garrus was he’d probably sink right to the bottom of the ocean.
“Oh. That’s too bad…”
“Sorry.”
I guess we’ll see you in Ulmutt.
“You betcha!”
“Okay.”
Fran shook Garrus’ hand, promising each other they’d meet again.
It was the day after we got the rest of our gear from Garrus. We had finished preparing and were ready to depart for Ulmutt.
“I’ll miss you!”
“Good luck out there!”
“Meet you in Ulmutt!”
“Come back any time!”
“See ya!”
Amanda, Donadrond, Garrus, Randell, and Delt sent us off at the gates of Alessa. Amanda was blowing her nose into a handkerchief and looked like she was crying. Everyone else had encouraging smiles on their faces.
What a great town.
I didn’t know what the other towns of this world were like.
But I was glad Alessa was my first.
“Yeah.”
Let’s keep heading west. Next stop, the port town of Dars!
“Woof, woof!”
Dars was a port town located to the west of Alessa. We would take a ship there and head south to the city of Bulbola, Alessa’s Gateway to the Ocean. From there, we would travel eastward on land and it was a straight shot to the Dungeon City of Ulmutt. At least, that’s what the books said. I had no idea what any of those cities would look like.
Our immediate goal was to get on a nice boat. A ferry would be ideal, even if it would end up costing more than a cargo ship. If we didn’t have enough money to get on one, we would simply have to earn more once we got to Dars.
I wasn’t too worried, though. We weren’t lacking in potions and we still had a cool 1,000,000G in our purse.
It’s all you, Jet.
“Woof!”
Jet knelt down, and Fran hopped on top of him.
Hang on tight.
“Yeah.”
Fran held on to the reins attached to his collar. Garrus had sewn in short straps into Jet’s collar for Fran to use. Jet could now run at full speed without having to worry about Fran falling off. Good job, Garrus.
Jet’s forelegs were now fashioned with black metal anklets. They came with Strength Up (low), Agility Up (low), and had the ability to adjust to its user’s size. Jet could shrink and expand without having to worry about the anklets breaking. Garrus had made these, as well. It only took him two days, too. It underscored how much of a master he was at his craft.
“Let’s go, Jet.”
Fran pumped her fist and pointed it onwards, filling Jet with energy.
“Awooooo!”
Jet let out an elated howl and dashed westward. He was so fast that the surrounding scenery was reduced to a greenish blur.
Before long, Alessa was nowhere in sight.
Keep going, Jet!
“Arf, arf!”
Jet accelerated at my command. His tail wagged happily, a sure sign of his excitement.
There was a girl in our party whose spirits were gradually getting dampened, however. That girl was, of course, Fran.
“My eyes hurt.”
She couldn’t open her eyes. Jet wa
s going too fast, I guess. I used Air Current Manipulation to divert the headwind from her eyes.
How about now?
“Yeah. That’s better.”
Good. Fran squinted her eyes and enjoyed the fresh wind on her face.
“What’s that? I’ve never seen that before. That mountain peak’s white.”
By the looks of it, Fran was now enjoying her ride.
Things looked different when you were on top of a Direwolf running at top speed. Said Direwolf wasn’t slowing down, either. Even when there were obstacles in the way, Jet nimbly navigated through them, allowing us to speed past mountains and rivers in a straight line.
Oh, are those monsters over there?
“Where?”
In those trees.
“Let’s go.”
“Aroo.”
We ambushed the monsters and took care of them in no time. There weren’t any strong monsters here so a single attack from Jet was enough to do them in. I absorbed their crystals, stored away their meat, and let Jet have his fill of the innards and bones. No wastage here.
Jet couldn’t run at top speed forever, though. As powerful a Direwolf as he was, he still got tired and hungry after a while. He’d been constantly using Air Hike to hop around the terrain so his mana was depleted, too.
No problem. We’ll go on foot for now.
“Good job.”
What about you, Jet?
“Arf!”
Jet barked before sinking into Fran’s shadow.
Jet possessed the skills Shadow Lurk and Shadow Walk. Shadow Lurk allowed him to, well, lurk in the shadows, but Shadow Walk allowed him to move from shadow to shadow. The latter cost much more mana compared to the former. It cost a bit of mana to use Shadow Lurk but it didn’t use any more mana once he was in someone’s shadow. All this meant that he was able to recover his mana while shadow lurking.
He didn’t have to expend any effort to move with Fran’s shadow, either. It was a useful skill to have.
Let’s take it slow.
“Sure.”
We were in no hurry to get to our destination, after all.
We continued on foot as Fran performed some parkour to get around some obstacles once in a while. Eventually, Fran’s stomach let out a cute rumble.
“I’m hungry.”
I guess it’s about time for lunch.
