Blacksmith vs. the System

As I opened a portal to the third floor, leaving Harold behind to organize the defenses, a part of me resented the need for it. I had just gotten an inkling of how to utilize Wisdom properly, but instead of experimenting with it, I had to deal with creating a whole new set of weapons.

It wasn't that I had been considering abandoning them to their fate, but it didn't prevent the necessity from being annoying.

I never liked being interrupted when I had something to focus on.

However, the moment I arrived at the third floor, next to the open-air forge complex, some of my annoyance evaporated. A part of it was the sheer volume of discord from hundreds of hammers slamming together, mixing with the sound of the belts and other effects. It was a mismatched cacophony, yet I found it relaxing.

I wondered if it had anything to do with my class, or was it simply a habit ingrained into me after spending most of my time in a forge one way or another. Either way, the smell of iron mingled with burning wood smelt like home, and it was enough.

Another part that helped my mood was the attitude of everyone who was working around the forge complex. Even without speaking a word, I knew that both the news of the beast wave, and the departure of the guards had reached their ears. Their acute anxiety left no place for anything else.

Yet, instead of panicking, they had gathered around the complex. People with Forge skills worked without a break to create both weapons and ammunition like arrowheads and ballista bolts, while the others worked hard to keep them supplied and deal with the products.

It was chaos and not one that was run particularly well, but I didn't blame them for it. They didn't have the time to develop a proper approach.

Though, my presence worked like a stone against a calm lake surface, only instead of waves, it was silence. "I'm sure everyone has heard about the beast wave and the departure of the guards," I said. A hesitant murmur passed through the crowd.

A part of me wanted to apologize to them for what I still saw as my failure. But, I couldn't do that. Not when I could feel the spark of hope that alighted in them the moment I had appeared.

I decided not to take the risk of admitting my failure. Not because I was ashamed, but because it seemed the situation was not exactly ideal to have a heart-to-heart where I confessed my failings. After my failure with the guards, I much rather err on the side of caution.

"There's nothing to worry about just because a few cowardly guards have abandoned our fight. I promised you victory, and we'll start with the beast wave!" The speech was short, and not particularly inspiring, but it still worked. "Now, continue with your tasks for the moment while I work on a design of my own."

My design was a steam-powered cannon.

It was an ambitious design. Not because it was particularly complicated, at least in principle. It would be like any other steam engine, but instead of using the steam generated to constantly move the piston, it would push the loaded projectile toward the target. Not unlike an air gun toy, only stronger.

It was an inferior solution compared to gunpowder. Not only was it not as mobile, but it was also mechanically complicated. But, it had one advantage over gunpowder in the post-Cataclysm world.

It had no chance of spontaneous combustion due to a mana fluctuation.

Ultimately, the creation of gunpowder was not complicated, nor was it a great secret. It was also relatively easy to replicate. Where the challenge was to find a balance between stability and explosiveness, which had proven itself to be too expensive to be workable, especially when combined with the other options.n/ô/vel/b//in dot c//om

Guns weren't particularly impressive compared to bows when bow users had supernatural powers to imbue their weapons. It was something that I was even more sure of after I realized the interplay between the skills and weapons was more complicated than I had first given it credit for.

But, I wasn't making steam guns. I was making steam cannons, ideally to deliver frangible explosives from a distance of several miles rapidly. I was under no misconception that it would work well against stronger monsters, but as long as we created a payload that would shatter explosively upon impact, it should be enough to deal with the weaker creatures attacking in waves.

Leaving the Farmers free to deal with the stronger monsters, which was only possible due to their rapid skill development. As long as they were armed with fully developed Uncommon spear skills, they would be able to attack the stronger monsters in teams.

While the rest worked, I focused on the schematics, which went smoother than I had expected thanks to Wisdom. The enhanced memory was an interesting concept, allowing me to remember everything I had read.

Of course, that act of remembrance didn't mean I suddenly comprehended everything I had ever read. I still had to consciously recall the information before mentally perusing through it. It was almost like rereading, but with two advantages. The first was obvious, as I had no chance to read most of these books and articles again. I didn't know if they even existed anymore.

The second advantage was faster comprehension, whether it was the ability of Wisdom, but it was the act of processing the information again and again making it stick. It would be a lie to say I was uninterested in the exact mechanisms, but for my current task, it didn't matter how it worked.

Only that it did.

I quickly worked on several drawings, far more detailed than anything else I had created. The steam cannon was simple in principle, but it had one challenging requirement. Its release mechanism. It would not only have to release the pressure in its tank immediately, but it also needed to be strong enough to hold in the pressure.

Luckily, while lack of access to modern technology made things harder, there was one advantage. With the methods we were using, every blacksmith could easily create bits of metal that would make even the strongest modern alloys look like soggy biscuits.

Though, as I finished it, it resembled less of a cannon, and more of a mortar — albeit with a rifled barrel to make sure it maintained velocity. The difference between the two was that a mortar threw the projectile in a high-arching ballistic trajectory, gaining range while suffering when it came to accuracy.

But, I imagined that a beast wave would be easy to aim at.

As I finished the drawing, I didn't even bother making a prototype. Instead, I gestured for one of the blacksmiths to come closer. "Gather the team that had worked on the ballista project," I said.

"Yes, sir," he said excitedly. Enjoy new adventures from empire

I gave him an approving nod before turning my attention back to the blueprint spread out on the table beside me, adding some notations to it. Ultimately, the design was mostly completed except for the release mechanism, which should be an appropriate challenge for the development team.

Meanwhile, I had shifted my attention to the real challenge. The ammunition.

While the delivery mechanism was important, it wasn't what would make the weapon deadly. Throwing chunks of metal like an advanced trebuchet would hardly make a dent in a monster wave. It would have been different if I had the ability to add enchantments similar to the siege weapons purchased from the System stores, but without such enchantments, fragmentation was my best bet.

Though, my challenge was whether to feed the mana directly, or through an intermediary mechanism like the crushers so that the others could use the cannons as well.

My thoughts on the ideal ammunition were interrupted when the group I summoned came in, led by Terry. "How can we help you, sir," he said, acting as a spokesperson.

I appreciated his initiative. "I need some assistance forging the prototype. Since you all worked on the ballista, I thought you could handle the task."

They looked excited at the opportunity. "Thank you for trusting us, sir," several of them said in concert.

"We'll create your design perfectly."

"No, that's not the point," I said. "Feel free to make any changes you feel appropriate, but make sure to document them. That's the whole point of working together. We need to learn from each other." Ideally, I would have loved to tackle the project as an orderly challenge, but the situation was too urgent to focus on such aspects.

While they busied themselves creating a few prototypes, and linking them with boilers, I focused on the ammunition design. It wasn't too difficult. I created something similar to modern mortar shells to maintain some aerodynamic advantage while still keeping it simple enough to make casting possible, weighing around thirty pounds. The metallic alloy I used was a variant of the fragmenting javelins I had used against the foes without armor.

At the same time, I had been doing my best to give feedback on the prototypes they were creating. "You need to be more careful with the boilerplates, Liam," I said as I examined the structure, appreciating one underrated advantage of Wisdom.

It made remembering the names easier.

"But, it resists double the maximum pressure with ease, sir?" he replied, but the moment I corrected his design, I could sense his panic, like he had committed a great crime.

"Good point," I started, making sure to pause and smile at him to make sure they weren't afraid of making mistakes. "But, sometimes, mana reacts unpredictably when faced with extreme situations, and high-pressure steam is one of those extremes. Some extra caution wouldn't go amiss. But, excellent initiative."

Liam nodded earnestly before departing to fix his design. "Yes, sir!"

It wasn't the only question I faced, but I made sure to address every question as gently as possible. Even the obvious ones. The last thing I wanted was to scare them from taking the initiative and asking questions.

I was finally a part of a proper research team, as embryonic as it might be.