399 Snakebite

It was far greater than any natural material available out in the earth, maybe with the exception of the absolute tip-top sci-fi thingies like graphene or plasteel, but seeing how light it was, in reality, made me wish for something even better.

Just by a single look, I could tell that combining three ingots into one was possible, so before even other two could be made by my crafter, I simply condensed the material I had on hand in order to verify my theory. Worst case scenario, I would end up with something worthless, but with how my current production lines were working, it didn't really matter. 

Thankfully, as soon as the inner structure of the metal reached the point where condensing it wasn't an option anymore, not only it didn't lose its previous properties, but it actually enhanced them! While the overall weight of the metal increased by threefold, considering how it has a chance of withstanding the pressure of my entropy, it was sure a good deal for me!

While still waiting for more of the Beterian steel to come out of the crafter's mouth, I closed my crafting sphere after taking out the condensed ingot from it. Even if the statistics implied that it could survive the meeting with the force of the entropy, without actually testing it out, I wouldn't dare to craft the weapon and just bank my hopes on my guess being right!

By the time I finished playing around the firs ingot and testing its capability to withstand the influence of entropy and high amounts of pure energy, half an hour passed, resulting in two more ingots being snatched from the belt right into my hands.

Unwilling to waste even a single second more, I moved from the factory, and after closing all the doors behind me just in case, I finally got out of the stronghold sphere of influence. Putting aside the crafting for a moment, I grabbed one of the few canoes that were left on the shore and pushed it into the water.

With the ingots safely lying inside the boat, I swam for a bit, kicking the water away as fast as I could in order to gain some initial momentum for the ship instead of wasting my time and attention away on paddling.

As soon as the canoe entered the sea current, freeing me from the need of actually caring for it, I put my hands on the ingots and got back to crafting. 

At first, I made the entire material to be just a simple, long stick. With its width already making it hard to grasp it fully in one hand, I moved just a centimetre of its diameter away, by pushing the material to both ends. By thinning out a hand wide part, even more, I prepared a proper handle.

But that was only the beginning! 

With the weight evenly distributed between the handle at two-thirds the height of the stick, I moved most of the mass from the upper part to the head, creating a big bulge with just enough space inside to later infuse it with some kind of gem, while turning the bottom part into a cone, starting at the width of the handle and expanding gradually towards the thicker end at the bottom of the staff.

Taking my new weapon off from the crafting bubble, I took a few, light swings around while making sure to not upset the balance of the ship… Only to return it right back where I took it from and fiddle around it some more.

With how nice this weapon was, there was no way I would just leave it as bland as it was now!

Taking a look at the island getting bigger and bigger as the distance between my canoe and its shore shortened with every minute, I turned my attention back to the crafting sphere. The bottom part didn't need any special decorations as it was supposed to be as sturdy as possible in case I would ever need to use it as a simple log. Just by adding some rifts on it and making sure they are sharp enough to hurt anyone hit by them, I moved my focus to the upper part. 

With the artistic part of my soul slowly taking over, I really went out of my way while carving the head of my new weapon. Starting from its very top, I made it look like three snakes coiling around a crystal, that was yet to be placed inside. With their long tails coming together in the proper part of the shaft, the circular pattern continued all the way to the handle, even extending through the holding part so that my hand wouldn't slip off from it even if the entire weapon were to be covered with the blood of my enemies.

While there were still a lot of things I wanted to add, with how I had to land on the shore facing my own island, I was forced to give up any ideas for further improvements. Taking the staff out of the crafting sphere, I couldn't help but shrug where its power coursed through my body the moment it was finally free from the influence of the system.

"Name your weapon."

Despite Bonger still being clearly burdened by the evolved predator's mindset, the usual notification still arrived. This time, just a single look at the staff was enough to spark an idea for its name, saving me time that I would otherwise waste on another creative endeavour.

"Snakebite"

With how the jaws of the snakes at the very top of my staff were spread out wide, just as if they were attempting to bite on the nonexistent jewel, there was no way I would dare to name it otherwise!

"Snakebite staff named."

"Snakebite: Made out of condensed Beterian Steel alloy, this staff can harness the power than no other metal ever could. While lacking the gemstone to further amplify its power, with the conductive characteristic of the material it was made off, not only it allows the user to embed one speel per snake's head for the constant execution. This action though requires a proper gemstone to be locked into the staff.

"Requirments to use: 900 strength, 400 agility, 800 constitution, 1200 intelligence"

"Statistics: +2700 Intelligence, +1300 strength, -200 agility"

"Bonuses: 

- Can embed three permanent spells into the staff. Those spells are fueled by the mana from the crystal and can be cast instantly and continuously, as long as there is enough mana for it.

- Reduces the cast time of tier 0 and tier 1 spells by 100%

- Reduces the mana cost of tier 0 and tier 1 spells by 90%

- Reduces the mana cost and casting time by tier 2 and tier 3 spells by 50%"

- Doubles the size for the area of effect spells

- Triples the damage of tier 0 and tier 1 spells

- Adds bonus magical damage to physical attacks equal to the host cumulative intelligence"

Just by looking at the description of this weapon, I couldn't help but sneer. Despite being made with tier 2 material from my factory, it was already way more powerful than formerly used mage's stick, even dabbling into the tiers of spells that I had no way of using for now! 

At this point, I couldn't help but wonder what kind of insane weapons I could craft after upgrading my system, with how it would allow me to upgrade all the tools I had so far at my disposal! 

But when it came to the effectiveness of this weapon, there was nothing to be surprised about. It wasn't something made just from the resources I obtained from someone but from materials, I had to invest a lot of time and effort to create in the first place while doing my very best to use my current crafting abilities to their maximum! If it would be any weaker, all the hard work I made so far in order to have a shot at this would be rendered worthless in terms of crafting!

This way of thinking also showed me a peculiar rule for this world. As long as I used all sorts of abilities, paths and exploits and combined the results from all of them into a single item, it would be far greater than anything I could achieve just by following a single route!

Considering this form of approach, what would happen if I added the knowledge I gained from inspecting the constitution of the locals into making this weapon? What if I infused the material with entropy and my energy in the first place? What if I cultivate according to the local's formula in order to enrich my blood with energy and use it as secondary material while crafting it?

While some of those points could be implemented almost on the spot, with how high my resistance stats were right now, without a proper cutting tool I had no way of actually extracting my own blood from my body!