CH 169

It’s supposed to be the middle of the night, but it’s as bright as ever here in the dungeon. Strangely enough, monster activity dies down anyway, but that might be because they’re hunted so much during the day.

“Master, I have something to ask.”

Tonight, I’m keeping watch with Hikari.

We chat for a while, and she asks something when we eventually stop talking.

“What is it?”

“I want a new weapon.”

“Weapon? Is the mithril dagger hard to use?”

“No, it’s pretty simple.”

“So you want something else to keep as a spare?”

Apparently not.

She says she wants something she can use from a distance.

“Like that one you use. The ‘gun’?”

“You want to use a gun?”

“No… Hum, something that explodes when it hits.”

Throwing knives don’t really serve to take down enemies. They’re more to keep enemies in check and slow them down.

And as we advance deeper into the dungeon, knives are going to do less and less damage.

That means that depending on the monster, they won’t even serve to keep them in check. And if blades don’t work on a monster, we have to go for the eyes or vital parts or we can’t even ward them off.

Hikari is probably asking this because she was led around by those kobold chiefs.

This party is pretty reliant on magic to take down enemies from a distance.

Actually, we don’t see a lot of archers in the dungeon. It’s probably because arrows are disposable items, and have to be carried around.

Still, there has to be at least one in parties without magic users. Even then, it’s less likely that they’re only archers, and more that they usually fight up close but fire arrows when they really have to.

But apparently having an item bag expands the possibilities and tactics that parties can use, so parties that have item bags can have actual archers. At least that’s what I’ve heard. Apparently that’s mostly true for parties exploring the deeper floors.

“No good?”

Asks Hikari, as she looks up and tilts her head.

That looks like a very sly way to ask someone to do something. Did someone teach her that?

If Hikari thinks she needs it, I want her to have it, but what should I make?

“No, it’s not like I can’t do it. I’m thinking of making something with magic attached, but how would it be activated?”

I guess she was getting worried because I was silent, so I explain what’s on my mind.

As far as I know, there are two ways to activate effects.

The first, is to have the impact be the trigger to activate it. This is simple and easy to make, but requires care when walking around with them. Throwing knives are usually stored in a belt around one’s waist so they can be used at any moment, so I’m worried that something might happen that causes an impact and leads to an accidental explosion.

Of course, I would make them with a shock-absorbing material for that very reason, but that might hinder the ability to quickly take them out and use them.

The second method is what I did when we fought that shadow wolf, make it so it’s activated by magic energy. First they’d be activated by making magic energy flow into them, and then they would explode after being thrown and feeling an impact. Or maybe make them so they explode a few seconds after receiving magic energy, like a grenade.

This would make them safer to carry around, but would she be able to smoothly infuse them with magic energy? If she has to infuse a throwing knife with magic energy in that split second when she decides to use it, it will probably cause some thrown knives to end up not exploding. But if she actually takes the time to make sure she’s infusing them with magic energy, she might miss her chance.

I’m really at a loss, as I explain this to her.

Judging by how she infuses her mithril knife with magic energy, I’d say she’s pretty used to that. But can she do it in an instant without preparing first?

“Master, how is it with guns?”

When I pull the trigger and the bullet is fired, the magic also activates.

As for the bullets, there are two kinds. One activates on impact, and the other a few seconds after being fired.

I made the ones that activate even without hitting for monsters that can dodge them. They’re useful as distractions too.

“Hikari, for now at least, I’m going to make ones that activate on impact. Try using them and tell me how they feel.”

I can’t think of a good way to prevent accidental explosions with the impact type on this floor, so I have to go with the other option.

And so, I’ll make something that activates after being infused with magic energy, and when they hit something.

“Keep an eye on our surroundings while I make it.”

I say, although I also check Map and see there aren’t any monsters or people nearby.

This is basically just a test, so I’ll use leftover wolf magic stones.

I fuse magic stones while making the knives themselves out of ore, attach a fire effect, and write the activation formula. The magic stones are there to make it at least a little easier to infuse with magic energy. But if I did this with bullets, I would never have enough magic stones.

I make a total of ten throwing knives.

“These are just prototypes. They might not even cause damage, so don’t try to use them to take down enemies. Use them to disrupt their movements.”

“All right. Thank you master.”

“As for how you use them…”

She can infuse them with magic energy just like she does with her current weapon, so that’s not a problem.

Their power depends on the amount of magic energy I used when I attached the effect. They should be more powerful the more magic energy is used, but maybe that would change with good quality magic stones. Maybe I’ll test that later with bullets.