BXBX NOVEL Vol. 7 - Chapter 384 - Orichalcum and cubes
"Hm? Haku seems to be in a good mood."
(Haku's been getting bigger too.)
The White Dragon Haku Allen had brought to the mountain had grown attached to Allen's Army. The soldiers were also used to seeing the dragon, which had grown larger than twenty meters.
"Yayy, it's Haku!!"
Habarak was the first one to mention the dragon, and Kurena instantly shouted that while running towards it.
'Gurururr!'
Kurena happily petted Haku's head, something she was very used to. The dragon seemed to be purring, leaning closer to Kurena.
"They look…like good friends."
Luck muttered, holding the Spirit King Fabre in his arms.
"Why don't you try getting closer too then?"
"O-okay then… You won't bite me, right?"
Saying that, Luck slowly reached out to Haku's head, which was large enough for an adult to fit inside. He was afraid, but after hunting monsters for so long inside the dungeons he was not scared.
(Luck seems pretty comfortable around us now too.)
At first, Luck would always remain silent and not speak to anyone, but now he was pretty used to Allen and Allen's Army. Most of the time he was leveling up elsewhere, but when they met up he would talk normally now.
Also, he had the appearance of an eight year old boy, and his way of speech and maturity seemed the same of someone that age. He was actually fifteen years old, the same as Allen, but it seemed that High Dark Elves also took longer to mature mentally.
As they neared the foot of the mountain, Habarak's workshop came into view. There were nine other workshops from other blacksmiths too.
"How are your apprentices doing?"
"Hm? Eh, so-so I guess."
After people moved into Coure in Heavy User Island, the population of the island reached 15000. That was a considerable number of people, and they all would need utensils for their daily lives. There was too much demand for only ten blacksmiths.
On top of that, the dwarven blacksmiths were known for their quality work, so they were in charge of maintaining and manufacturing weapons for Allen's Army. They were busy all the time with the weapons and armor of 5000 soldiers.
Eventually Allen decided there had to be workshops in the cities as well.
So he made Habarak take some of the people from the cities as new apprentices. They were helping in the workshops, so they also earned their wages. At first he searched for people with some smithing experience, or weapon dealers, but the workshops at the mountain's foot were quite famous in the cities, so the occupation became a popular choice for many.
Allen and Habarak continued chatting until they reached the workshop. Allen thought the item would be inside, but it was waiting for him outside.
"Ohh, it's orichalcum!!"
(Finally, the strongest weapon!)
Allen exclaimed with excitement. He recalled orichalcum often being the strongest material in other games too, so he was excited seeing the axe against the workshop's wall.
"Try holding it."
"Sure."
Habarak asked Dogora to test the axe's grip. The axe was large and had a golden glint to it, meant to be held with both hands, but as Dogora planned on fighting with two axes at the same time, he tested holding it with just one arm.
He quickly switched to his less dominant hand, and began trying swinging it around. He merely muttered things like "it sticks in my hand."
'Dogora, do you like the orichalcum axe?'
"Yeah, I feel like I can hunt loads of monsters with it."
'I see.'
After a while, the Divine Artifact Kagutsuchi spoke from Dogora's back, sounding slightly jealous. Orichalcum was known as a divine ore, and was exceedingly rare. There was a chance Sacred Beads were more common than pieces of orichalcum ore. Orichalcum was said to have come from the Goddess of Earth Gaia.
(Hey, don't make her even more jealous. Though I feel like your reaction to orichalcum is less explosive because you're used to Kagutsuchi already.)
Dogora was excited about obtaining an orichalcum weapon, though Allen was worried that might lead to Freya getting jealous. Though it was not as emotive as Allen expected, probably because Dogora had experienced a nearly cheat level weapon in the Divine Artifact Kagutsuchi.
"Well, I'll be waiting for the sword next then."
Not wanting to trigger Freya's jealousy any more than that, Allen turned the conversation back to Habarak. Dogora's orichalcum axe had been made with one and a half of the two orichalcum ore lumps they obtained in the dungeon. The remaining half would be used to make Allen's sword.
"Hm? Ah, right, the sword. Should I schedule the knuckle guards and armor after the sword then?"
Now that Dogora's axe was complete, Allen asked Habarak to work on his sword next. Habarak asked whether to proceed with Shea's knuckle guard and breastplate after that, as initially discussed.
"Actually, hold off on Shea's stuff for now."
"Hm? Are you sure?"
"Yes, she might become the next Beast King, which means she'll inherit the Beast King's Emblem too."
Allen was reconsidering his plans for Shea, so he decided to wait until after his sword was complete before deciding what to make next.
"Hmm, well, just tell me when you make up your mind then."
Habarak accepted Allen's decision.
"Hm? I guess that's fine."
Shea had no complaints either. She was also determined to take a position on the Beast King's throne. If she wanted to unite all the beastmen countries under one empire, the fastest way was to start as the Beast King. That would immediately give her control of two thirds of beastmen territories.
Allen had hoped he would obtain more orichalcum by hunting Iron Golems. But even after hunting 28000 Iron Golems, there had not been a single drop. It felt like the chances were ridiculously low. Allen's party could use orichalcum badly. He was thinking he could make proper armor for Dogora and Kurena for example, instead of just a breastplate for Shea.
But there was not enough orichalcum. If Shea became Beast King, she would likely obtain the means of procuring more orichalcum weapons and armor.
The Beast King's Emblem was a set of knuckle guards and armor made of orichalcum, only wearable by the Beast King. And there was Kuwatoro's Sacred Bead too, which was known by some as a Divine Artifact.
Becoming Beast King meant the Extra Skill [Beast King Mode] would become much more powerful as well, on top of the precious orichalcum items and the Sacred Bead.
The dispute to decide the next Beast King was still ongoing. Bek had the provisional title of crown prince, but Zew and Shea were doing their best to take it from him.
Allen had no interest in politics and who ruled where. He simply disliked Bek's lust for blood that made everyone around him suffer, so he wanted to stop him. He also would not take a stance on whether Thomas should be the next head of the Grandvelle family, or whether Sophie should be the next Queen of Rosenheim.
It would be different if they asked him to help, but other than that he would not get involved.
He had helped Prince Zew with his tasks before, but that was merely because it was mutually beneficial. Then he helped Shea with her's, but that was once again because of mutual benefits.
Now he had become aware of just how overwhelmingly powerful her Skills could become.
If Shea somehow inherited those items and the Beast King buffs, he would no longer have an interest to support her fight for the throne. He only cared about making his friends stronger, since that would help him fight the Demon King's Army.
(I'll have to look out for Zew if Shea becomes Best King though.)
There was one small issue with Prince Zew. His wife believed wholeheartedly that Zew would become the next Beast King. He had told her Astrologer Temi's reading that he would become Beast King, which was a big reason for her belief. Apparently she was incredibly dominant in their relationship, and she declared that if someone else somehow became Beast King, she would refuse to set foot in Albahar ever again. She said that if Zew did not become Beast King, she would leave that very night.
For now, Allen decided he would gift Zew two rings to boost his Endurance by 5000 just so his wife would not kill him if Shea won.
Allen's party thanked Habarak for his service and left.
(I guess the rest are already in their workplaces. There, they are!)
Allen also had something to do in the newly built research center.
"Chief Larappa."
Allen called out to Larappa, who was working the dwarves in the center like slaves. This was the magic device research center, where they would examine the magic devices he obtained from the S Rank Dungeon, and new ones would be developed.
"What is it, Commandant?"
Larappa took a break from giving orders to the dwarves and walked over to Allen.
"Could you take a look at this? I got it from the S Rank Dungeon, I'm not really sure what it is."
"Woah, that's a Magic Core! Wait?! You have three!!"
Allen handed the softball-sized cubes to Larappa, he was unsure what they were. They were the size of a softball, and looked similar to the floating cubes he saw on the Dungeon's other floors. When Peromus examined them, he said they were named Magic Cores. He could not determine what they were used for, though. But apparently they went for around a million gold coins a piece.
That was way more expensive than most items they encountered so far, but no one knew what they could be used for. Though the name seemed to suggest they were used in magic devices of some sort. Allen decided he would ask Larappa after the ceremony.
"What are they used for?"
"Anything really. I-I'm so glad I decided to come here! This is the best!!"
Larappa tightly hugged the Magic Cores as she exclaimed loudly. Allen did not mind given them to her, but he wanted to know what could be done with them.
"Well, specifically what kind of things can you make with them?"
He asked again to Larappa, whose excitement would not diminish.
"This can basically become a magic device's heart. Any device can be made with them, even things we've never made before."
Apparently they could be used for everything. Larappa said they could even make a goliath sized ship fly.
"So basically Magic Cores can be turned into any magic device?"
(Oh? In that case…)
There was something Allen wanted them to build.
"Yes. I'm glad you catch on quickly, Commandant. You see, the minister I worked for before was so thick headed that no matter how much I explained nothing would get through. So I…"
She was starting to deviate into something completely trivial. Maybe Larappa's decision to join Allen's Army was also an excuse to escape her old workplace.
"Anything, you said? Even a device to move people from the island to anywhere on the ground or sea?"
Allen was the only person with a means to bring people in and out of Heavy User Island. He considered a landing platform for magic ships, but that would mean building one on the surface too, with storing space for those not in use.
A magic device to transport people and items between the ground and the island would be better, but when Allen asked in Baukis, there was no such device available.
"It might take some time to develop it, but it's possible, yes."
(So basically if the idea is there, they can make it work.)
He then mentioned something he considered as a secret method to counter the Demon King's Army.
"Could you build a mobile teleporter too then?"
"What is a mobile teleporter?!" Allen's friends were bewildered. Allen thought that a device everyone carried to travel around was a common trope in fantasy and sci-fi settings.
"A teleporter? Isn't that an old relic?!"
Larappa was even more shocked though. Then again, Allen felt like she always had a bombastic attitude and loud voice.
"Did something like a mobile teleporter exist in the past then?"
(Something like a Door of Departure.)
His past memories rushed in again.
"Yes. Though three Magic Cores won't do to recreate that. I'd need at least ten of them."
She gently caressed the Magic Cores as she said with a pout. A single one was enough to drive an enormous magic ship, but she needed ten of them.
(Ten, huh. Well, we just need to get seven more, if she's willing to do it.)
"Allen, are you thinking of going to the Underworld?"
Cecile whispered that, recalling something Merus and Allen had discussed before.
"No, not really. I was thinking it could be an interesting way to storm the Demon King's Army's stronghold. And a mobile teleporter makes a lot of other things easier too."
It was said that after the Evil God was split into five and banished to the Underworld, Elmea sealed away the point of connection between the human realm and the Underworld. So there was no way to get there anymore.
The Demon King's Army seemed to be planning on resurrecting the Evil God, but for that they would need to get into the Underworld. So far it seemed that the Demon King's Army was looking into ways to teleport into the Underworld.
They wanted to go into a different realm to retrieve the parts of the Evil God. It seemed the Demon King's Army was researching methods like that. There were even traces hinting at the Demon King's Army abducting people from forts and using them for cruel experiments.
Hearing that, Allen began to wonder if they could take a hint from their plans, and see if they could develop a magic device for them to attack the Demon King's Army's stronghold instead.
"Alright. I'll start looking it then, and research some other ancient technology."
"Good. Please give it the highest priority, together with the means to move the island around.."
Allen also wanted to learn how the island was kept afloat. He also wanted the magic engineer dwarves to develop new magic devices.
Hearing Allen talk about that, they were once again reminded that Allen was only thinking of ways to defeat the Demon King's Army.
Allen had already given out weapons and armor valued as much as a large country's entire national budget, and then he still tried to gather orichalcum weapons and Sacred Beads for his party. Now he was thinking of getting a teleportation device to storm the enemy's stronghold more easily.
"...I guess this is the kind of person who becomes a legend."
As Shea muttered that, she felt like even her dream paled in comparison.