19 Blacksmith Joshua

Joshua slammed down the hammer on the anvil as he was thinking what he should create. A lot of ridiculous ideas sprang in his mind. He thought about making a sword out of chocolate with a rune attached to it that poisons people who try to eat from it, but he figured most people probably wouldn't try to eat their opponent's weapons no matter how tasty it looked. He considered making exploding paper planes for the twins to control with their wind magic, but they would probably be too slow and fragile. Finally, he wanted to make a ridiculously oversized weapon for Boris that would burn everything in its way but then considered even he would have a hard time to wield something so massive.

Chasing those daydreams away, he figured he should start by making a weapon they were familiar with and add some punch to it. The other members didn't have the assistance of Luna to improve their aim, therefore making exotic nonsense was probably inappropriate for them. He would just have to try and trick Catherine to use one of his joke weapons when they were no longer in danger.

He started with Cynthia. She fought with a big wooden stick, it shouldn't be too complicated to make something better. The answer he came to first should be obvious to everyone, he tried to make a lightsaber. Obviously, that failed but he expected as much. He was able to reproduce objects and their function as long as he understood how they worked. Luna was loaded with useful data to help him with complex stuff, so imaginary items from movies were not included. Lightsabers originated from science fiction movies, the object he created was a glowing stick that made some 'niong niong' noises when he moved it around, but it was a completely harmless thing.

This little setback didn't bother him, the reason it failed was that the construction of the item didn't make sense, he just had to alter it so it made perfect sense for him. His second attempt was much more successful, he made a staff with a handle made out of rubber in the middle, engraved with a rune of lightning. On both hands of the handle was a metal stick. Holding the handle, he activated the rune, the metal bars started to glow with a purple light.

He created some training dummies and hit them a few times with the stick. As expected, there was a lightning discharge on hit. Considering Cynthia's usual strategy was to unleash a flurry of blows with her stick, having each one electrocute the opponent was a nice addition. Joshua let out a smile, it may not exactly be an actual lightsaber, but it was close enough.

Last but not least, he had to do something about Lydia's bow. He considered replacing her bow with a fire weapon but opted not to do so in the end. The weapons needed to be ready to use and Joshua wasn't very familiar with guns himself. He, therefore, wasn't suited to teach someone who had never seen a fire weapon in her life how to use one. Again, this was something he would consider for when he had more time.

For the time being, he decided to leave her bow alone and focus on improving the arrows. He made a batch of small arrows that exploded on impact. The energy cost was pretty low so he could make up to 10 at once.

Regarding the other members, Eric was a magic user so he didn't need a special weapon, as for Catherine she had the rapier Joachim had gifted her. Having finished his prototypes in his soul world, he went outside and manifested each weapon one by one. While they successfully materialized, he was left with barely enough energy to deploy a single drone. It was currently nighttime so he performed a few tests away from everyone. He was glad to see the weapons were working as intended, his magnificent genius had struck again.

The next morning, the group woke up and saw blacksmith Joshua waiting for them. He was leaning on his hammer, his face covered in ash. He was looking very proud as if he had just accomplished an exploit. The rest of the party looked at each other, wondering what kind of new stupid antics he was pulling. Before they could say anything, he took a step forward, kneeled, and spoke to Catherine:

"Fair maiden, I have successfully completed thine request. The weapons you ordered are ready to strike down thine enemies. None will dare to stand in your path from now on!" he said, in an utterly ridiculous tone.

Catherine bit her lip to not laugh at the situation. She pretended to cough and answered in a similar tone:

"Oh, brave blacksmith, I thank thee for your speedy delivery. I promise thee, we will make great use of those weapons!"

They then both burst out laughing and high fived each other.

Seeing the incredulous glare of the rest of the party, he dropped the act and handed his new creations to everyone. One by one, he explained to them how to use the weapons. The twins and Bories tried them out on a pile of rocks. After a few minutes, they had to admit those weapons were extremely well-crafted and would provide them a major power boost.

Joshua reminded them of the limits the weapons had for now and told them he could only deploy a single drone as long as all those murder tools were out. Still, it was a global improvement to their situation, so it filled the party with confidence. After having filled their stomach, the group resumed their journey.

The voyage progressed slowly but surely. Soon, it had been 10 days since they had fought the Hydra. Luckily, they didn't run into anything as dangerous in the meantime. Sure, the underground was filled with predators, but those wild animals were easily disposed of and ended up as the party's dinner. As for the mysterious figure that had been following them early on, it seemed to have lost track of them ever since they traversed the lake. Joshua suspected whoever that was might have been aware of what was lurking in the lake and decided not to follow them there. Well, it was also possible the Hydra ate them, but he didn't think so.

Boris took out the large shield he was holding on his back and signaled everyone to take refuge under it. Apart from Joshua, they all rushed under the shield. It was a bit cramped, but they were glad to have done so when a rock broke, hitting the shield right above them. The twins deployed a wind bubble around the party, it deflected smaller rocks and made sure they would have air. As for Joshua, he was scanning the situation like a madman, looking for anything abnormal. He didn't find anything though, it appeared the earthquake was a natural disaster.

The scourge passed after about 30 seconds. Everyone left out a sigh of relief as no one got injured. The rocks that fell on them was relatively limited so they didn't lose too much time getting rid of them. Joshua scanned the area, the earthquake had altered the layout of the tunnel a bit. The passage they were planning to head through was now covered by a thick layer of rocks, and it would take them several hours to remove them. However, a fissure had been created, opening a new way.

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He headed down the new path to check out if it was leading somewhere. To his surprise, it actually did. Believe it or not, after following the passage for a few minutes, he exited the place the tunnel and arrived in a massive open area. Even less believable was the fact that he could see the sky in his current location. Several clouds and the sun were dangling as it was the most natural thing in the world. As for the ground, it no longer looked like a rocky cavern. Instead, he was standing in a large grassy open field. He saw a river further down and the area was filled with trees.

He checked Luna to be sure, they were 15 kilometers below ground. As Joshua was scratching his head, he couldn't help but wonder: