NOVEL NEXT Chapter 118 - Brown Iron Armor
It only took James as long as the descent down the stairs to decide on almost all the details of his next set of armor. There was only one question: would he have the strength to wear it?
Hunger had sapped much of his strength. His Light Tower Shield was a struggle to lift, let alone wield properly. His armor sat heavy on his body, and he often found himself light headed with exertion.
Eating the tentacle-flesh barely helped. He wondered if he was even getting any nutrition out of it. But it was all he had, now.
The rest of the day was spent constructing a smelter and forge. Though he was exhausted, the Smith still had his pride in his craft: they were a good smelter and forge. Once finished, James fell asleep almost before his head hit his rolled up mole monster hide pillow.
Brown Iron, the iron associated with Earth, so far as James knew, and therefore best for enchanting with [Earth Resistance], was heavy. Roughly one and a half times as heavy as regular and colored iron except for Green Iron. But for all that, it didn't seem any harder than regular iron.
Still, going up against a stone golem of some kind, James knew he needed [Earth Resistance]. It was a passive enchantment, and although his mana was recovering normally, he could tell he wasn't using it as adeptly as he had in the past. Something about his hunger was loosening his grasp on the power inside him.
In the end, the Smith created molds from his Wind Armor. The design was decent, and it was thicker.
Yes, the Smith decided to make his Brown Iron Armor even thicker, the better to defend against the stone golem. This would make the armor even heavier, but James knew he needed the protection.
He also cast a new Brown Iron Hammer, larger and heavier, hoping that he could make up for the biggest problem this set of armor would have.
He had no Earth Essence. None whatsoever. The last he'd had, from the Fire Lizards on the fourth floor, he had used on a pick-axe trying to escape from the old iron mine. But he was hopeful that maybe, with the essence in that pick-axe, he could forge an even stronger Earth War Hammer, which might give him an edge.
He melted down the pick-axe, nervously watching the essence. It was hard to say, but it seemed like it was more… maybe?
He poured it into a mold, somewhat bigger than his old Earth War Hammer, but not by much: a quarter again as big at most.
While that cooled, James melted down Brown Iron Ingots he'd been holding onto for a long time, from his first days exploring the cavern and tunnels before he'd realized he was in a Dungeon. He poured the molten metal into the molds for his bracers, his greaves, his cuisses. He remembered how the crab monster boss had crushed him there, and then a bush monster had whacked him on the bruise it had left behind.
He made the molds a little extra thick for the cuisses.
Next were the armor skirt and codpiece. His armor design was still not great, he knew. He was making up for it with the overlapping skirt, to ensure that he had the flexibility to move while still having some protection over the vital area.
Next his pauldrons, covering his shoulders and upper arms. He left his elbow free just enough to swing his hammer and hold his shield, but the metal encircled his entire arm. He had even gotten used to thinning the inner part and thickening the outer part, to provide more protection. Before, in his first armor design, he had beefed up the left pauldron, back when he had wielded his shield in his left hand. Now that his right hand was numb and only good for simple grasping, it was the right pauldron that got beefed up instead.
The cuirass.
The armor that protected his back and his chest. The largest piece, and always the hardest to enchant. It would be the hardest to enchant this time, too, but James knew he would have to do it—fight through the nausea and hunger and do the best he could.
Lastly, his helmet. He went with the same visor design as before. Rounder armor pieces were always tougher to enchant with tiled patterns, but the [Earth Resistance] enchantment was hexagonal, like [Water Resistance] and [Shadow Concealment]. It would tile decently.
Once James finished and everything was cooling, he stopped and ate some more tentacle-flesh. But he was distracted by his craft, and hadn't mentally prepared. His stomach cramped, and he vomited before he could stop himself. None got on his armor, thankfully. But it left him queasy.
He cleaned up the mess and focused and forced himself to eat more. He fell asleep still focused on his rebellious stomach, and when he woke, his armor was cool enough to work with hammer and anvil, though he felt just as tired as when he had fallen asleep.
He needed to hurry. But haste makes waste.
He started with the hammer.
Like the first time, the very first time he had forged with essence, he used his Green Iron forging hammer and [Essence Manipulation] skill to push most of the essence into the center of the hammer head. Once done, he had a slightly larger Brown Iron Hammer.
[Appraisal]: Brown Iron War Hammer, Quality: Very Low, Durability: 19/19, Earth Essence
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It was slightly larger and more durable, but James wasn't sure if it had more or less earth essence than his usual Earth War Hammer. Now that it was enchanted, the essence was tied up in the enchantment, sort of locked in.
James was extra careful with his [Filigree], etching the pattern for [Heavy Blow] deep, and as accurately as he could. The pattern was burned in to his memory as strongly as it had been on his Choosing Day, when his parents had told him to burn all the enchantment patterns on the papers Meridox had given him.
James ground up a fair number of brown magic stones, knowing he'd certainly be using plenty of the dust on his armor, and delicately filled each and every groove of the etched pattern, triple checking to ensure none were missed. Once satisfied, he produced a cup's worth of Aqua Magia, applied it to the hammer, and raised his hands.
He pushed, and with a flash of brown light, the hammer was enchanted.
[Appraisal]: Earth War Hammer, Quality: Very Low, Durability: 19/19, Enchantment: Heavy Blow (8)
A disappointment.
But not unexpected.
James had realized the Brown Iron wasn't saturated with earth essence, the way most of his recent crafts had been.
And apparently there had been less essence than he had expected.
Still, the hammer was bigger and heavier. He picked it up and gave it a test swing.
[Technique: Hammer Strike]
[Product Testing]
[Heavy Blow]
Whoosh!
The air trembled.
James pursed his lips grimly.
It was a good hammer. A strong hammer. One he could certainly wield.
But it wasn't the terrible Ice War Hammer, either. The dragon-slaying hammer.
This was—merely—a good war hammer.
He set it aside. It would make a good backup hammer. But that was all.
He turned then to his cast armor pieces. They still need to be touched up.
For three days he forged. Even his Green Iron forging hammers grew heavy in his hands. The cramps in his stomach were now a stabbing pain. There was small streaks of blood in his vomit, when he lost control of his stomach.
But he pushed on.
At the end of those three days, his armor was ready. He spent a full day enchanting, but that was it. Without essence resisting him, applying the enchantments was easy, even when tiled as heavily as he could.
He was a level fifteen enchanter, after all.
It was a height most enchanters working full time would never reach in their entire life.
[Appraisal]: Brown Iron Visored Helmet, Quality: Very Low, Durability: 24/24, Enchantment: Earth Resistance (19)
[Appraisal]: Brown Iron Cuirass, Quality: Very Low, Durability: 30/30, Enchantment: Earth Resistance (21)
[Appraisal]: Brown Iron Armored Skirt, Quality: Very Low, Durability: 18/18, Enchantment: Earth Resistance (22)
[Appraisal]: Brown Iron Codpiece, Quality: Very Low, Durability: 15/15, Enchantment: Earth Resistance (19)
[Appraisal]: Brown Iron Greaves, Quality: Very Low, Durability: 21/21, Enchantment: Earth Resistance (19)
[Appraisal]: Brown Iron Cuisses, Quality: Very Low, Durability: 25/25, Enchantment: Earth Resistance (19)
[Appraisal]: Brown Iron Left Pauldron, Quality: Very Low, Durability: 24/24, Enchantment: Earth Resistance (19)
[Appraisal]: Brown Iron Right Pauldron, Quality: Very Low, Durability: 26/26, Enchantment: Earth Resistance (19)
[Appraisal]: Brown Iron Bracers, Quality: Very Low, Durability: 18/18, Enchantment: Earth Resistance (20)
[Appraisal]: Brown Iron Cleat Boots, Quality: Very Low, Durability: 21/21, Enchantment: Earth Resistance (19)
James appraised the armor set grimly. It wasn't Earth Armor. It would only have that appellate if Earth Essence had been infused into the armor and enchantment. This was—merely—enchanted iron armor.
It would have to do.
After a small amount of time considering, James forced himself to eat that night. More than he had before. His stomach already felt like it was being stabbed, and disgusting bile rose in his throat, but he decided he would rather put up with it now, rather than eat before going into battle.
He tossed and turned all night, before eventually awakening to the same flat, dim light. The dark clouds above matched his mood.
The stabbing in his stomach had faded to a dull ache. He was still hungry, but he felt less physically tired.
He donned the armor, and it was heavy. The heaviest armor he had produced so far, in fact. It pressed down on his body through the Fire Lizard hide under-armor, and James spent a minute practicing with his Light Tower Shield and Earth War Hammer.
Smith Skill [Product Testing] has reached level 6.
Enchanter Skill [Enchantment Testing] has reached level 6.
Synergy Skill [Product Testing] has reached level 6.
The intrusive thought brought a smile to James's face, under his helmet visor. A good omen.
But then he frowned.
His Light Tower shield was just too heavy. In his weakened state, with the Brown Iron armor weighing him down, he just couldn't do much with it other than lift it and anchor it down in the ground.
He swapped for his lightest tower shield, his Green Iron Tower Shield, enchanted with [Reflect]. The one that had saved his life when he had first stepped foot on the second floor of the Dungeon.
It took a long moment to wrap his numb fingers around the handle on the inside of the shield, but once done, yes, this would work. He was able to lift the shield and bring it to bear quickly enough.
There was no reason to wait, and James started his ascent up the stairs. Almost immediately he stored his shield and hammer in his magic bag, to save his energy.
Onward he climbed.
At the top, he stopped to catch his breath and let his eyes adjust to the dimmer light. The stone golem hadn't moved, still facing away into the boss arena, on the hard packed dirt floor scattered with boulders.
Soon enough, James was ready.
He once again readied his Green Iron Tower Shield and his Earth War Hammer, and strode forward, hoping to land the first strike on the golem. It was only ten yards away, it would just be a second—
He barely brought his shield up in time.
The golem had whirled around with surprising quickness, whipping a stone arm around.
And in that moment, the Smith's art failed him.
The Green Iron Tower Shield that had saved his life and protected him for so long in the Dungeon shattered, leaving him holding the handle and a crumpled piece of Green Iron.