by R. A. Mejia
Manny stood over the goblin and slapped him several times before shouting, “Who’s the Weenie now?!”
Devena, the twins, and I stopped chasing after each other and stared at the two. I was worried that some old childhood grudge had resurfaced, and I was going to step in when Manny stepped away from Greebo and held out his hand to his cousin. Greebo grabbed it and got to his feet, looked Manny in the eyes, and the two stared at each other for a moment before they both broke out into a fit of laughter. Greebo shook his head and said in a sing-song voice, “Greebo is a little weenie, little weenie, little weenie. Greebo is a little weenie, who got all slapped to hell!”
It was obviously some private joke, but the song made Frik and Frak join in the laughter, and it marked the end of the game. After a short rest, we returned to the cycle of training and healing, and while Manny used his new ability to effectively charge around the room to protect his target, I didn’t feel comfortable using Bone Breaker on my friends and was determined to use it once I went into the dungeon again to test it out.
By the end of the day, everyone had completed at least one class quest. The twins and Manny had completed two after returning to the desk at the Fighter's Guild to get new ones. I made some good progress towards repairing 1,000 HP, but I actually completed Fixer II by repairing everyone's equipment as it lost durability and gained another class skill point. Everyone else gained at least three levels in their combat skills while I only gained a level in Unarmed Fighting and Blunt Weapons.
When we packed up our gear and left the training room, day had turned to evening. After returning the key to the attendant at the guild, the six of us left for drink and food at the Tipsy Minotaur.
Chapter 33 - Magic Booms
After a few hours carousing at the Tipsy Minotaur, I spent the night crafting and making progress on my class quests. The next morning, I met up with my goblin friends and the Divas, and we spent the day mining and fighting monsters. It was another great day in the dungeon and at the end of it, we sold the processed ore, monster loot and deposited my share of the coin in my internal inventory. Only when it was all counted up, did I realize that after all the scrimping and saving I’d done the last weeks that I’d finally done it. I’d saved enough to finally purchase the supplies and materials I needed to make my mechanical companion.
It was another milestone in my plan but I wondered if it would be enough. I’d counted and it was already the twenty-third day since the gnomes issued their challenge and while I’d made great strides towards my goal, I’d only reached level seven a few days ago and only had ten more days to reach level eight. Ten days to somehow get as much XP as it had taken me to reach levels six and seven.
I considered what that meant as I strode through the marketplace and the Merchant’s Guild, putting in my order for Ochrium and steel, the most expensive of the materials I’d need for my mechanical companion. I’d already gathered the wood, iron, and fabricated some of the simpler parts that the companion schematic called for and had them stored safely in my room at the Institute. It had been a way for me to cut costs, but as I waited for my order, I wondered again if making this mechanical companion would be enough.
The first step of my plan had been to craft the Flintlock Rifle, and taking the time to learn to blacksmith and craft had indeed paid off. The weapon had doubled the damage I dealt in the dungeon and by using the mining operation to get swarms of monsters to attack, I’d found a way to increase the amount of XP I got each day by over 50%. But I knew that I’d need to do even better if I was going to reach level eight by the deadline and it depended on this mechanical companion and any other idea I could work out. It would have to give me the edge I’d been looking for to further increase the XP I got out of the dungeon each day.
“Your order’s ready.”
The words shook me from my thoughts and I looked up to see that the Merchant’s Guild attendant had placed a large package on the counter between us.
“Thank you,” I said and handed over just about every bit of my accumulated wealth.
The attendant took the coins with a smile and asked, “Would you like us to give it to deliver it somewhere for an extra fee?”
I only had a little over a silver left to my name, so I politely declined the delivery offer as I took the bundle off the counter. As I walked eastward, I saw a line of people outside a restaurant called Cold Treats and as I passed by, I heard a voice call out, “Wait, wait.” It was a familiar voice and I paused to see who had called out. A man dressed in a chef’s uniform walked out of the restaurant and looked around. When he saw me, a big smile appeared on his face and held out his arms and embraced me. It took me a moment to recognize him as the chef from that restaurant that served the Spicy Salamander Soup.
“My friend, finally you return,” He gestured with his meaty hands towards the restaurant behind him. “How do you like it?”
I looked at the restaurant again and realized it was the same place I’d taken Niala on our date, but it was now painted blue and had a different sign above it. “You changed the restaurant?” I asked.
“Yes. Yes. I had so many customers requesting your Ice Cream, that I relaunched the whole restaurant to be only cold desserts like yours. We have expanded on the recipe to include all manner of flavors from Chocho berries to Txlian Crickets.”
“I’m very happy for you. From the line it looks like business is booming.”
“Yes, yes partner. It is.” He reached into his apron pocket and pulled out a small bag of coins. “Here is your 10% of the profits. I did not know where to send the money and have been waiting for you to return.”
With how much work I’d been putting in at the forge and the dungeon, I’d honestly forgotten all about the deal with the chef. “Why didn’t you just keep the coin? I’ve honestly been so busy that I’d forgotten.”
“No! Please, I could not. We made a deal and the gods acknowledged it. I would risk severe penalties for breaking it. A loss of levels, perhaps even a loss of my cooking skills. No, was better to put the money aside and wait for you.”
I shook my head at the effectiveness of a System generated agreement. It made breaking any agreed upon contract a serious deal. I took the bag of coins, opened it and saw silver shining inside. “Wow. This must be like 40 silver.”
“It is exactly 45 silver. I told you, business has been very good. Your Ice Cream has been a hit with the wealthy. We had to raise the price to a silver a bowl and still it did not diminish the demand.”
I shook hands with the chef and gave him my address at the Institute to send my share of future profits, and parted ways. I felt lucky as I slipped the coin purse into my bag with the resources I’d bought and continued to walk east.
I returned to the Gnomish Research Institute and found that my handlers, Tognomey and Gnomerad, were waiting for me. Gnomerad had a scowl and demanded to know what I'd been up to. I told them about my progress and my report that I’d finally saved enough money to buy the materials for my Mechanical Companion.
Tognomey was interested to see the creation of the machine, and while he could not give any material aid because of the challenge the gnome council imposed, he wished me well in my efforts. Gnomerad just frowned and waited to take notes while observing the procedure.
I opened the door to the nearest empty lab and emptied out my backpack and then carried the other materials I’d stored in my room to the lab. The gnomes watched it all, and I sat with a sigh, glad that I was at least going to get credit toward my debt to the gnomes if they were going to watch me. I sat on the lab floor, in front of the pile of wood, stone, wires, monster cores, ochrium, and steel. I opened the command window for the Companion Design Program and selected the option to use the Trap Spider.
Companion scan located. Materials located. Time to fabricate: 6 hours, 32 min, 53 sec.
Would you like to enter the Stasis Program while fabrication is completed?
I hadn't realized that it would take that much time to make the mec
hanical Trap Spider, but I should have. After all, it was the most complex thing I'd made. I informed Tognomey of how long it would take, and while part of me wanted to see the process, another part of me realized I could spend the time more productively in the dream-like practice space. I confirmed the command to start the fabrication, and the world went dark.
When the light returned, I was in the Stasis Program with its white infinite space. Only, this time was a bit different. There was a projected green outline of both me and my new mechanical companion, which was very gradually being filled in from the bottom up. There was a timer above the projection that was counting down what I assumed was the time until completion.
I already knew what options I had to spend my time here. I still had ideas to work out that would not be easy to test in the real world without drawing attention. I activated the practice mode, and a list of options appeared.
Blunt Weapons
Deconstruction
Fabrication
Firearms
Haggle
Improve Armor
Infusion
Machining
Metalworking
Magical Spell Scanning
Repair
Sneak
Trap Making
Unarmed Fighting
Woodworking
I selected Firearms from the skill list. Even though I'd gotten the skill as soon as I made my first successful shot, it'd taken a long time to increase to level. Because of my crafting class, my combat skills took longer to increase. With my specialization, it took even longer when not using a Tool as a weapon. I'd been able to craft my own two-handed Blacksmith's Hammer and gotten a pretty good weapon, and I just wished I could do the same with the Flintlock Rifle.
I activated the practice session for the Firearm skill, and the infinite white space around me shifted, and a target range was built from the ground. Several target dummies at increasingly farther distances stood downrange, and there was a table with my Flintlock Rifle and a stack of paper cartridges right in front of me.
I fired at each target, reloaded, and fired again. As the targets got farther away, it became harder to hit them. I knew that I would not be a marksman without a great deal of practice, but overall, I was satisfied with my accuracy. However, what I was not as pleased with was the level of noise and smoke my rifle made. The monsters on the sixth level like the Razorback Badger had shown me clearly that the weapon made far too much noise, and as a result, it was far too easy for the monsters to zero in on me, which limited the number of shots that I could get off before my target closed in if they were fast. I had a few ideas on how to address the problem, and I could only really experiment efficiently here in this space where my mana pool and all my resources were infinite.
I pulled up a list of all of my infusions and their descriptions.
Minor Regeneration - An increase in the natural regeneration of the target. Components: 0.04 lbs Sphagrium. Cost: 15 Mana
Extended Air Blade - An extended blade of compressed air that is sharp enough to cut through flesh. Components: none. Cost: 15 mana.
Earth Grasp - Creates a hand from the earth that grasps the legs or body of the target. Components: Miniature Clay Hand. Cost: 15 Mana
Firebolt - Produces a small ball of fire. Components: 0.02 lbs Charcoal, coal, or coke. Cost: 10 mana
Minor Divine Heal - Divine healing that scales with the wisdom of the caster. Components: 0.04 lbs Powdered Silver, favor of a god. Cost: 10 mana.
Alarm - A magical alarm system and placed an invisible barrier around an area, that when crossed sounded a loud bell. Components: 1 bell. Cost: 5 mana
Gust - A gust of wind is created originating from the target location. Components: none. Cost: 5 mana.
Echo - Produces an echo up to 20 feet away. Components: None. Cost: 5 mana.
Thaumaturgy - Spell increases the volume of sound made by whoever or whatever the spell is cast on. Components: none. Cost: 5 mana.
Light - Creates a magical glow to emanate from the target object. Components : 0.02 lbs phosphorescent moss. Cost: 5 mana
Minor Acid Globe - Golf Ball sized globe of acid created and causes damage when the globe broken. Damage to health and durability if used on an item. Components: 0.12 lbs rusted metal. Cost: 10 Mana
I was proud of the variety of spells that I had been able to copy from mages and clerics. I had several costly combat spells that I hadn’t used since I’d made the Flintlock Rifle. I still used Minor Regeneration whenever I grouped with Greebo or the other goblins, but it was the only healing spell I had since I couldn’t use Minor Divine Heal without the favor of some deity. The rest of my spells were relatively cheap to use at a cost of 5 mana, but on their own, they were utilitarian at best. However, I hoped that I could make them more powerful by combining them with my crafting now that I’d taken Fabrication IV.
I put the Flintlock Rifle on the table in front of the shooting range and picked up one of the paper cartridges. It was two inches long and filled with gunpowder and a minié ball. The powder inside the cartridge simply created too much smoke and noise. Someone back on Earth had developed smokeless gunpowder to solve one of those problems, but I did not know the formula and didn’t have any idea of where to start recreating it. So, I’d have to come at the problem from a different angle.
I knew that the gunpowder created a chemical explosion that created so much pressure inside that it forced the bullet out of the gun barrel at tremendous speed. The rifling I’d added to the Flintlock Musket design gave that bullet spin and increased accuracy and the effective range of the weapon. But who said that gunpowder was the only way to create that pressure or energy? I recalled that there were other kinds of guns on Earth. Heck, there were entire Internet channels devoted to weird ways to shoot objects. I recalled there was a guy that was famous for his slingshot and rubber band weapons, and while I thought I was fairly certain that I could recreate them, I wasn’t sure if this world had rubber bands.
Another way to shoot a bullet involved using rotating charges sent through electromagnets to propel a bullet or projectile at great speeds. That type of weapon was called a railgun, and while it was quiet and smokeless, it was also a technology that was beyond what this world was capable of. I didn’t doubt that I could recreate it if I had enough resources and time. After all, I knew the basic science to create an electromagnet: iron, copper wire, and electricity. I’d thought of several spells I might be able to use for short bursts of electricity, like some kind of lightning spell, but it would take a more consistent source of energy to make a railgun work. I’d really have to develop a battery system first, which was just not possible without other technological developments.
I shook my head. No, I needed to keep things simple. When I was a kid, my Indian neighbor Sandeep had received an airsoft gun for Christmas, and the two of us spent the weekend shooting everything we could with small pellets until we painted a red bullseye on his little brother and used him as a moving target. After that, his parents had taken the air-powered gun away. Still, the principle behind the gun should work for me: use a powerful burst of air as the force behind the bullet. I looked at the list of my infusions and chose Gust.
My left hand glowed, ready to find a target for the infusion. I put the paper cartridge down on the table and touched my glowing left hand to my right and applied the spell to it. I pointed my right hand, palm out, toward the shooting range at the closest straw dummy. I called out the name of the spell, “Gust!” and felt a powerful burst of wind shoot from my outstretched hand. As the wind hit the straw dummy, it blew away all the loose straw freed by my earlier shots but didn’t do much else. I’d only used the Gust infusion to clear away the fog on the fourth level of the dungeon before, and I was worried it wouldn’t be powerful enough for what I wanted to use it for.
It would all come down to how I applied the spell. I knew from my college engineering classes that the amount of pressure created was related to the amount of force applied over an ar
ea. To increase the pressure, I can either increase the force being applied or lower the area that it was being applied to. I looked down at the paper cartridge and the Flintlock Rifle on the table and considered how I would apply the principle. The gun itself was already built to utilize explosive force to push the bullet out through a relatively small area, the barrel. So, in theory, I could apply the Gust infusion to the inside of the barrel. The only problem was that the inside of the barrel was rather inaccessible as it was constructed. The back of the barrel was secured to the shoulder stock, and the only access to the inside of the barrel was through the small hole drilled into it where the primer powder ignited the gunpowder stuffed down through the muzzle of the gun. But that’s where magic came into play.
I called up the infusion of Gust again, and instead of applying it to my right hand, I touched the barrel of the Flintlock Rifle. The outside glowed, and when I called out the spell name, a burst of wind blew all around the outside and knocked over the stack of paper cartridges. I scratched the back of my metal head and wondered why the infusion didn’t work like I wanted it to. I could only guess that the initial point of application was where the spell came out from. So, if I wanted the gust of wind to come out of the inside of the barrel, I’d have to reach inside of it. I applied the next infusion of Gust by touching the inside of the muzzle with the tip of my glowing left hand. The tip of the rifle glowed for a moment before it dulled. I called out the spell name, and a great gust of wind blew out of the end of the gun. It reminded me of a leaf blower: powerful but with a wide angle.
