28 Armaments

In the hottest place of Frontier Town, iron melted like wax. Sparks and flames spontaneously burst into being and lived out brief existences in momentary glory. The roars of man and machine competed to overwhelm any hapless passerby's ears.

There at the heart of the heat, was a man.

Truly, there was no other way to describe him. He was a man's man. Burnished muscles, a towering figure, a six pack middle and shoulders that could bear a cow… women saw him pass by on the streets and murmured with admiration "Now THERE'S a man!"

Do you not believe it? Just ask The Man himself! Surely such a manly man would not lie. Even if he did, your eyes would certainly tell you the truth…

Anyone could see, very obviously, how manly this man was, compared to, for example, that runt of a boy who just walked in with the pretty, long-legged girl with hair like red honey. She was holding his hand as if they were on a date.

A date? What a mockery! To enter the domain of this Manly Man and hold the hand of that runt in front of him when The Man himself still, STILL didn't have a girlfriend…! What a tragedy! What a farce!

On top of that… why would they come here for a date? Did they have a thing for fire? If that were so, nobody handled fire more than The Man…

"Do you customize inscription runes?" the Runt asked suddenly. "I wanted a bow with magic spells inscribed into it…"

"Shop is out front." The Man said sourly. "Don't bother me."

"They don't have a bow I want." The Runt said fussily. "I wanted a bow that can shoot Fire Balls. I was thinking, if you could Inscribe a Fire Ball rune into a bow…"

"It would be a waste." The Man snorted. "Better to simply use a wand."

"But a wand can't cast a spell very far. A bow can easily shoot three hundred meters away."

"That's not the fault of the wand, it's the fault of the rune." The Man grouched. "Whoever forged that rune simply did not give it the power for the range you want."

The Runt exchanged glances with the girl. "So… is there a way for a weapon to shoot something far away and cause an explosion like a Fire Ball?"

"You want to Inscribe a Conflagration Rune into an arrow?" The Man eyed him sideways. "There's nobody on the Frontier with that kind of power in Fire Magic."

The Runt hesitated. "What about a Bonfire Rune? I can inscribe one into a scroll…"

Finally, The Man looked at the Runt seriously. "500 Lir, and I'll forge the rune for you. I guarantee it can contain your Tier 2 Bonfire spell, but you'll have to charge it with your own power."

"500 Lir?!" the Runt spluttered. "For one arrow?!"

"Exactly." The Man nodded, satisfied that the Runt finally learned how expensive and difficult rune-work was.

The Runt sighed. "What about a Fire Ball Wand, then?"

"A Tier 3 Runic Inscription? Even I can't make that." The Man shook his head. "And you better believe nobody else here can either. We're blacksmiths, not mages! It is already rare to find such a talented man as I, who can do both!"

"Well… what Runes can you make?" the Runt queried.

"Mostly Sharpness and Durability Runes. I can even do a Heavy Rune, though most people prefer a Lightness Rune." The Man boasted.

"You can do a Lightness Rune?" the girl perked up immediately.

"No, just the opposite." The Man grimaced. "For some reason, Lightness eludes me."

"Wonder why?" the Runt asked the girl snidely.

"Get out!" The Man roared. He'd had enough of this rude Runt…

"Wait, wait! I'm sorry! Actually, I was wondering if you could teach me Rune-crafting!" the Runt said hurriedly.

"NOW!" The Man threw them out, both the Runt and his girl.

Then, once they had left and he was alone again, he raged at the unfairness of it all in the privacy of his sweltering forge.

***

The prize was awarded at dinner.

Joshu stared at the bow placed in his hands. "Wow!"

"Sorry, this was the best I could do." Remian apologized. "I wanted something better, but this…"

"It's a Tier 3 Runic Bow, Inscribed with Durability and Lightness. It must have cost a fortune!" Joshu gasped. "Genuine Ironwood, with some Wilds Tendon bowstring… how much did it cost?!"

"It won't cost you any points. It's a prize." Remian assured him.

"1000 Lir, after discounts." Mandy whispered from the side. "I haggled for an hour."

Remian shot her a flat look. Then, he turned back to Joshu. "Would you have preferred the scrolls?"

"I would only have sold them for money. Most of that money would probably have gone to a new Tier 2 bow. I've been trying and trying to save up for a Tier 3, but the Tier 2 ones keep breaking and need replacing, so…" Joshu grinned. "A Tier 3 inscribed with Durability… This is awesome! The Lightness Rune also helps, especially when I have to lug it around on long journeys."

Reassured that the money was well spent, Remian left him to it.

Was it worth the spending just to award Joshu a prize he could really appreciate? That sort of price tag pretty much wiped out the savings of the Adventurers Guild and needed him to sell part of their remaining scroll stockpile for cheap besides. Would it have been better simply to give Joshu Tier 2 scrolls and let them sell those instead?

In the eyes of an accountant, most certainly. But Remian wanted more than just a cheap gesture. He wanted to send a message.

The message was this; capability was valued. Having greater ability, being able to do higher Tier missions and fight higher Tier Wilds was all-important. Joshu had the ability to do higher Tier missions and the survival skills to roam farther away from town; that was why he accumulated so many points so quickly and thus ranked up fastest…

It was Remian's hope that this prize would indirectly motivate everyone's training. Increased efforts could very well mean lower casualty rates overall, and that would be priceless.

What if the next casualty was Mandy? Or Mindy? Remian would buy a hundred bows, sell a thousand scrolls if it could save their lives.

But to do that, he first needed to Inscribe those scrolls to sell. Oddly enough, the Burning Steel forge seemed to like the Bonfire scrolls a lot. Most of the staff at the forge were able to cast spells from Tier 2 scrolls, and being able to heat up the forges very quickly seemed very appealing to them.

As for a Tier 3 Conflagration Scroll, if Remian ever managed to Inscribe one… very few of their staff could use such a thing. Heck, not even Mindy could use something like that. Mandy, maybe; she could use the Fire Ball wand, after all. A scroll couldn't be THAT much more demanding than the wand.

Would Buff be able to use a scroll? He could most definitely use the wand… but then again, Buff was a Tier 4 Wild. Mandy might qualify only as a Tier 2 novice.

Thirteen days. The number nagged at Remian like doomsday. Roughly thirteen days before the next expected Beast Wave. What could raise everyone's combat power in thirteen days? The guard tower would certainly boost their defense. As for offense, the quickest way to raise that was to get better equipment. That, and Recruitment, but there was no guarantees for that one.

What sort of equipment? A dozen more Fire Ball wands would have been sweet. Short of that, Remian could only try to get Tier 3 weapons. Tier 2 weapons would hardly bother Tier 3 and 4 Wilds. Tier 1 and 2 spells were minor annoyances at best; the only real contributions they'd made in the last Beast Wave were providing light, the occasional distraction, Mandy's Fire Balls and Remian's super-powered Fire Streams. As for the dozens of Fire Bolts the kids cast from scrolls… they may as well have been throwing stones.

"Remian?" Tim came up to him with some papers in hand. "The Iron Legion had a few blueprints to choose from…"

Remian glanced at the papers in his hand. "Pick one. Consider the time and resources you have, and weigh that with the benefits and combat potential."

Tim hesitated, shifted through the papers, then picked out one. "This one."

He showed it to Remian. It was a four-phase project, the first of which was basically just a hole in the ground. The second was a filled-in hole as a foundation, four walls and a roof over that. The third would be a first floor and a roof above the ground floor. The fourth's phase would be a second floor with a crenellated roof.

There were siege weapons intended for each floor. The ground floor's would be a Scorpion, which was a crossbow-like javelin thrower with a kill-range of 100 meters (maximum range was 400 meters but the power would decrease over distance). The first floor should have a Ballista, which was bigger, heavier, slower, and launched full-sized spears. The Ballista had an estimated kill-range of 200 meters (maximum 800). The roof could have a small catapult, suitable for launching sprays of stones, darts or fire-bombs at 50-200 meter distances, but Tim very decisively crossed it out. "The catapult would have to be dismantled and taken in quickly every time it rains. We could also put a cover on top of it, but that would take at least four or five strong men to be stationed all the time standing by for immediate action, which we really can't manage. Also, stones, darts and fire-bombs won't help much against Tier 3 Wilds, so… the catapult really isn't worth the trouble. We should just skip it."

"That makes sense." Remian agreed. "What's your plan for the next Beast Wave?"

"My plan is to build up to the Second Phase in two weeks, which means a solid foundation, four thick walls and a roof. The scorpion would be nice if we can manage it." Tim hesitated. "It's supposed to be made of stone, preferably cut to fit, but it won't be easy to get such materials. Given our time limits, I vote for thick logs. Eight to ten good trees should be enough to for the ground floor's walls. The roof will need level planks, but there's a sawmill in town that could do it for a good price. There's also supposed to be a reinforcement of steel mesh in between the layers. Later on, if we can get the stone for it, we can add another mesh and build up a third layer of stone outside the log walls. If we can do a fourth layer, we can clear the log layers away and add more space to the interior."

"Is there enough space for twenty people and a Scorpion in the bunker?" Remian questioned.

Tim froze. "Uh… twenty people could fit. But then it would be troublesome to move and aim the Scorpion. Or we could just squeeze everyone to the walls…"

"Do you need some time to re-think the plan?"

"Yeah." Tim grimaced.

He came back half an hour later. "Let's use the double-size option. That means two pillars in addition to everything else. If the Scorpion only fires forward, we can leave the sides to everybody else."

"Just how big are the windows?" Remian questioned.

"Two feet tall, and four feet wide, four on each side except the back, which has two and a door." Tim pointed. "There's supposed to be grills built in as part of the reinforcing steel mesh. The Scorpion crew will have to be careful not to hit them when they fire."

"Do we have time to build it?" Remian asked next.

Tim grimaced. "We probably won't have time to finish the Scorpion if we do."

"Then leave the Scorpion alone first. The most important thing is to have everyone fit into it safely. The next is for the people inside to be able to help the people outside. If it can have roof access with a closeable hatch, that would be even better. Joshu and the archers can shoot from the roof until the Wilds get closer, and then retreat downstairs and close the hatch behind them."

"That would be easier than building a Scorpion." Tim agreed. "I'm actually not very confident in being able to put together a Siege Engine. Max said the Trainees would handle it, but there's a reason why they're called Trainees."

"Good thinking. Go for it." Remian straightened. "Meanwhile, I'll see if I can get the people inside that bunker some better weapons to use."