Guys, don't expect this to be a good story, to be complete or accurate. It was just something I made 'cause I was bored, I hope you can enjoy though.
Naofumi has been spending the last 2 weeks the most futile way. Fist fighting the weakest beings in the world for days on end with barely anything to show for it.
Naofumi found himself in a inn room, his mind glazed from the anger he felt at the world, he woke up from his daze.
Frustration was painted on his face as he sat on the floor. He looked over to a knife and a piece of wood. He took them both and began to widdle away, hoping to distract his mind. Be then zones off.
Naofumi could sense his hands stop moving. He looked down, he had unconsciously widdled a small crossbow, he then rose his brow when he saw the word 'hope' written on the side.
"Hmm..."
The next day Naofumi went to the local lumber yard and bought a piece of wood. He then brought it to Erhard's place.
"Hey kid, you need anything?" the old blacksmith asked.
"Yeah I need some of your tools and some space."
"Sure, there's plenty of space and I got a lot of woodworking tools."
Naofumi went to the spacious workshop and began to work. It took a bit of work until he made with first crossbow, triple layered limbs held together with tape. Naofumi looked at it, but he knew he could do better.
He began making the mark 2 version.
He now held a strong modern compound crossbow.
"That's one strange looking crossbow, but it's surprisingly well made. We're you a craftsman back in your world?" Erhard asked.
"Nah, just liked to play in the woodshop in school when I was a kid." he said.
"Do you want to try it out?"
"I do...but I can't." Naofumi growled out. He merely presses it against the gem of his shield, hoping for something decent.
[Compound crossbow shield]
Equip bonus: 3 Accuracy
Special effect: Support arrow
Naofumi stared at the shield in his hands for some time. Before bolting out of the blacksmith towards the fields.
He pointed his crossbow shield at a approaching balloon and pulled the trigger. The bolt flew.
POP
And just like that, fragments fell to the ground.
"I can do it...I can...attack!"
With that, our shield hero went on a killing spree, shooting down any bouncy thing in sight until he went back to the inn he's been staying at.
The next day, Naofumi was back to grinding, he went deeper into the forest to find stronger foes. Even killing a wolf.
[Mush shield]
Equip bonus: Plant appraisal 1
[Blue mush shield]
Equip bonus: Simple recipe 1
[Green mush shield]
Equip bonus: Apprenticeship compounding
[Egg shield]
Equip bonus: Cooking 1
[Blue egg shield]
Equip bonus: Vision up 1
[Sky egg shield]
Equip bonus: Simple recipe 1
[Usaleather shield]
Equip bonus: 3 AGI
[Usameat shield]
Equip bonus: Dissection ability 1
[White Usapil shield]
Equip bonus: 2 DEF
[Wolf leather shield]
Equip bonus: 6 DEF
[Wolf meat shield]
Equip bonus: Strength up (Small)
[Wolf shield]
Equip bonus: Presence radar
Special effect: Dog bite
Later that day, Naofumi went to the blacksmith again.
"Hey old man, could you teach me a little about blacksmithing, incase I ever need it?"
"What, am I too expensive for you? Sure I'll teach you a thing or too."
"Thank you."
Erhard taught the shield hero some smelting and hammering. He was even able to make up to 100 steel-tipped arrows for his crossbow shield.
The next day, Naofumi was about to start grinding when he saw a poster, it piqued his interest even though he couldn't read it.
He brought it over to Erhard's place.
"Hey kid, you come to craft something else?"
"Nah, I just need a translator." Naofumi says as he hands him the poster.
"Lemme see...oh would you look at that, the alchemist school is reopening in Reichnott area, new classes and new teachers."
"Alchemist school? What do they teach?" Naofumi asked curiously.
"Hmm...material composition, apothecary, smithing and more.
Naofumi sat down and began to think.
"How long does it usually take to get there?"
"From what I heard, 2 days by carriage and a week if you walk."
He exited the blacksmith, then began to collect supplies before going to the gate.
"Food, check! Camping equipment, check! Map, check! This alchemist school better not be full of shit!"
With that, he equipped the [Wolf shield] as it had the highest AGI rating out of all his shields, and he had already masteted all his AGI boosting shields.
With he burst off in a sprint, eventually slowing into a jog. To the Reichnott territory.
He stopped by an inn to regain his strength. He restarted the run, going for an hour and 10 minutes.
"Oh 6 months of track don't fail me now."
He stopped by another town at around 6pm. He stopped by an inn and decided to stay for the night.
The next day, he was jogging again. Running for about an hour before stopping to regain his strength with lunch.
"Just an hour more and I should be there. And thank God, I'm about to pass out with all the exertion." It was true, our hero was beyond exhausted.
Just one more hour, he was in the Reichnott territory. "Finally...I made it." He gasped out.
After resting for a bit, he made a realization, he couldn't simply parade around as the shield hero, he might be recognized and further ostrisized. He already had a cloak so the next parts were going to be easy.
He had copied a arm-gaurd from Erhard.
[Steel alloy bracer]
Equip bonus: 2 DEF, 3 AGI
He had discovered the ability during his last night in the capital, sadly this was the only thing he copied. It also allowed him to discover the shield copy loop-hole.
So now both his head and shield were hidden, now it's his face.
He went to a local tailor.
"By any chance, do you have a type of cloth mask?" He asked keeping his down.
He managed to buy a red breathable fabric mask that covered half his face.
With his disguise completed he found the alchemist's school. He entered the building to see a packed lobby, many people hoping to enroll in the school.
Naofumi got into a line and waited, 20 minutes later and he was finally face to face with the receptionist.
"What would you like to enroll in?" She asked.
"Material composition, Apothecary, blacksmithing, Magic - tech." Naofumi answered.
"And may I know your name?"
"Sebastian Stone."
This fake name was made with careful consideration of himself.
He really liked the name Sebastian, and stone not only aligned with the meaning of his surname, but it sounded cool.
She gave him a ticket and told him to wait.
After about half an hour, things had mostly calmed down.
"Those with the tickets with the asked number, please step forward to recieve your timetables."
After sometime, Naofumi's alias was called and he received the timetable.
10:00 Apothecary
11:00 Blacksmithing
12:00 Magical engineering
13:00 Material composition
"Seems nice."
"MEET BACK HERE TOMORROW FOR CLASSES!!"
After that, Naofumi took some time to grind, getting him to level 8.
The next day he went to school. He packed some lunch for after classes, brought 2 notebooks and writing instruments.
(Info to the reader: the wave is within a week)
The first class was Apothecary, pretty nice as they got to explore plants and even taught him to make basic medicine, his [Green mush shield] acting as a hax instrument.
The blacksmithing class just taught him things he already knew, but still productive.
The magic engineering class was the one he'd been waiting for. They explored magical mechanisms, runes, magic inscriptions and chain reactions.
During material composition class, it was simply just understanding the uses and properties of certain metals and elements.
A lot was recorded in his books.
After that he spent some time to grind the local monsters, boars, wolves, and red vipers. Making him level 10.
[Boar bone shield]
Equip bonus: 3 STR
[Boar leather shield]
Equip bonus: 6 DEF
[Boar meat shield]
Equip bonus: Stamina up (Small)
[Boar shield]
Equip bonus: 5 AGI
Equip bonus: skill: Mad charge
[Red viper scale shield]
Equip bonus: 4 DEF, Poison resistance (Small)
[Red viper meat shield]
Equip bonus: 3 AGI
[Red viper shield]
Equip bonus: Poison compounding 1, Antidote compounding up
The next day, Apothecary was just enjoyable. They learned about healing herbs, fruits and vegetables. They even learned to make healing potions and fruit juice.
Blacksmithing went decent, explaining the uses and properties of metals, and some time just smelting for fun using the school provided metal. Naofumi took this time to make something useful for himself.
The magical engineering class was very productive. Magic inscriptions were the base for spells, enchanting and runes; acting as instructions for the operation of spell. Runes were basically compound or complex inscriptions, being made of multiple magic inscriptions, capable of using entire spells.
They also showed off a device known as lightning motor. It was in the shape of a ring, it would use the enchantment Magic power up aswell as lightning magic inscriptions. It could absorb magic and then convert it into a larger amount of lightning magic, in a Ratio of 5:7.
It was a interesting device Naofumi took notes on.
Material composition was interesting, as they explored some sorts of advanced materials. Naofumi managed to experiment with the materials given, using his past knowledge, he managed to make a quick-made carbon fiber.
"Success!" He muttered.
Later that day, he looked at the object he had created in blacksmithing. It was a steel gauntlet with spiked knuckles, aswell as a 10 inch blade on top.
[Spiked bladed gauntlet]
Equip bonus: 2 ATK, 3 DEF
Special effect: Bleed (Very small)
It had some attack when copied but it was lower than the original, but he didn't want to copy it. He converted his shield into the [Compound crossbow shield] and equipped the [Spiked bladed gauntlet].
Now he had range and defense.
He went out to grind, discovering more than one bear. He picked one that was the furthest from the others.
Naofumi made the first move. He shot an arrow at it's neck, catching it's attention and putting it on gaurd. It looked at him and growled.
"Bring it, Grizz."
It charged at him and he charged back. Before they made impact, he jumped over the beast before he stabbed his blade into it's back. Then he furiously kicked the beast in in the hip.
The bear spun back around and tried to swipe at Naofumi, he dodged and shot a arrow directly at it's face, embedding it into it's schnoz. It roared, while it was in pain, he swung his blade aiming for the neck, it hit and began to bleed.
The bear took a few steps back, only to receive 2 more arrows to the neck. It growled more. Naofumi sprung forward and stabbed his blade into it's neck, severing it's wind pipe.
The bear met its maker
Naofumi killed 3 more bears. The end result was him getting to level 15 from his efforts.
[Bear leather shield]
Equip bonus: 7 DEF
[Bear meat shield]
Equip bonus: Strength up (Small)
[Bear bone shield]
Equip bonus: Stamina up (Small)
[Bear shield]
Equip bonus: Hunting 1
Equip bonus: Skill: Rolling barrier
It was only 4 at the time so Naofumi thought it would be good to try and develop some more. He discovered that there was a mine in the territory, it wasn't visited much as it was populated by monsters but he didn't care.
He grabbed a pickaxe, found the cave and made his way towards the cave.
He was immediately attacked by a wolf, Naofumi shot at it and pierced through the through the brain. He put it's body in a sack.
He continued to kill more wolves, until he found an ore vein. He began to strike the metal stone and collecting the ore.
[Iron ore shield]
Equip bonus: Metalworking 2
[Bronze ore shield]
Equip bonus: Ore appraisal 1
[Magnesium ore shield]
Equip bonus: 1 AGI
He mined the stockpile of ore and put it in a separate sack.
After receiving 30kg worth of metals, he left.
"Damn, so bulky, it's a game-like world and I don't even have an inventory."
[Inventory function available]
Naofumi froze, looking at his UI. He stood there for a solid 5 minutes before saying "I'm an idiot."
He proceeded to put all his stuff into his shield, freeing up his hands.
The 3rd day.
Apothecary went about the same.
Blacksmithing explored more precise work, using tools other hammers.
Magic engineering explored something. In order to properly use the art, you need to be capable of using magic.
They used a method to unlock the magic within them. He was even told that he had a unique affinity of Support and Healing. He wasn't happy about it.
He was taught that based on magic affinity, some people couldn't comprehend certain magic inscriptions, making them incapable of using certain kinds of magic. Even if they did, it wouldn't be as effective as the the magic of their affinity.
They also learned how to build the lightning motor, via learning to enchant.
He actually managed to enchant his [[Spiked bladed gauntlet]
[Spiked bladed gauntlet]
Attack up, Sharpness up (Small)
Material composition was just a repetion.
Later that day, Naofumi took some time to buy a miniature forge to process the metal he mined. It took an hour but he managed to process the iron into steel ingots with a bit of magnesium mixed in.
Using his blacksmithy to create a Magic motor, unlike the lightning motor, this one just increasesd magic, further modification turned it into a fire motor.
Then he began to make a modifications and parts. It was going to be a weapon and a difficult one to make as he only had the idea and made specifications today.
By night fall, the item he wanted was complete.
It was around 35c long, and it looked to be made of several strips of metal that gave the weapon a cage like look. Within was many magic inscriptions overlapped with each other and more than one rune.
Naofumi pointed the weapon at a tree, and pulled the trigger. A bullet of blue fire shot out, it struck the tree with a muzzle velocity of 160m/s and burned right through it.
By using magic inscriptions and runes, the gun would generate a fire bullet, chamber it, generate oxygen, feed it to the bullet, then shoot the bullet once the trigger I pulled.
It's mana-consumption was very low but it's fire rate was only 30/min. It was called the NI - 19 kagatsuchi. The reason for the number was because it took 19 attempts and modifications.
He proceeded to absorb the gun, hoping for a damage dealing weapon.
[NI - 19 Kagatsuchi shield]
Equip bonus: 4 Accuracy, 2 ATK
Special effect: Magic bullet, MP recovery when not shooting (Small)
The shield was still capable of shooting fire bullets. However, they had lower damage output than the original gun.
Naofumi went back to the forest, it was night time and it was dangerous, but he skipped grinding to make the fire gun so he had to catch-up.
Immediately, he was attacked by a boar, which he shot at, the bullet went straight through it's head and out the other side. It let out a dying squeel...which attracted more monsters.
Naofumi used both his weapons to fight off the monsters, it was really hard and he had to constantly keep an eye out in case he got ambushed.
After a certain point, he ran out of the forest. He did his best to dodge the monsters chasing him. He fled back into the city before they could catch up to him, then making his way to his inn.
He washed off the blood on his body and peacefully slept off the experience.
He was now level 23, he killed a lot of monsters in there.
The 4th day, Apothecary went well. They explored Flora and other factors of medicine.
Blacksmithing they learned more precise smithing as well as advanced things like folding.
In magical engineering, Naofumi managed to replicate fast moving hydraulics using magic. When turned into a piston it could extend and retract about 15 times per second.
Later that day, Naofumi wanted to build some armor. He knew that the wave was getting closer so he couldn't go out their in his casuals.
He first put on 2 rings he made during classes.
[Steel ring]
Crafting speed up (Small)
First he alloyed steel with magnesium to make a lightweight alloy.
First he used a special material that he made himself during material composition. It was similar to rubber but hard as hell, if it receives a great enough impact it will bend to absorb the impact. He used it to make the inner skeleton of the armor. He called it Buller-immune membrane.
He used the alloy to make the exterior of the armor, covering almost his entire body.
The helmet was it's own work. It would cover his whole head and included a glass visor. The visor was made of a strong glass and was enchanted with clear clear sight, night vision, thermal vision, mana detection and enhanced durability.
The boots used his magic hydraulics, not only did they increase his speed a bit by gave him a super jump.
He then enchanted it all.
[Steel valley armor mk. 1]
Defense up (Medium), Agility up (Small), Magic up (Medium), Magic recovery (Small), Magic defense up (Medium), HP recovery (Small)
There was still some time before he had to go to bed. He reforged the [Spiked bladed gauntlet].
He gave it 4 blades, each 20 centimeters. He gave the forearm a set of spikes and razor blades. He also spent quite some time trying to get the desired enchantment.
[Spiked clawed gauntlet]
Attack up, Sharpness up (Small), Attack speed up (Small), Time bomb
"Oh lord, please work." With that, Naofumi slashed at a tree. After a few seconds nothing happened.
He slashed again, for some reason one of the scratches began to emit a light. He jumped away quickly and the cut proceeded to explode brightly.
Half the tree was blown away.
"SUCCESS!!"
The effect Time bomb created an explosion where slashed, but it had a 20% chance of activating.
On day 5, most of the day was spent thinking about what to do after he left the school as he was planning for this to be his last day. So he told the headmaster he was going on temporary leave, it was allowed but Naofumi still had to pay the school fees, 10 silver weekly.
Later that day he used his leftover lightweight alloy to build a vehicle. He was not running all the way back to the capital again.
It was going to be a small scooter, he wanted to make a car but he didn't have enough metal yet.
The wheels were made from Bullet-immune membrane. It was powered by a lightning motor which allowed it to go very fast. It moved 180km/hour.
After building that, he had went to forge a shield for once. He used his special alloy as well as light metal, which he then gave the shape of an hexagon. He then gave it a few enchantments. Finally, he copied it.
[Lightmetal shield]
Equip bonus: 1 DEF
Special effect: Magic defense up
[Enchanted lightmetal alloy shield]
Equip bonus: 2 DEF, Magic recovery (Small)
Special effect: Strength up (Small), Magic defense up, Impact bomb (Small)
Unlike the new [Bladed clawed gauntlet], the [Impact bomb] skill would act no matter what, the only condition being that the shield had to be hit first.
He then went back to the mine, hoping to find more ore, he killed monsters, mined some ore and kept going deeper.
"I wonder if I can find any new kinds of or-GYYAAAH!!" Naofumi screamed, feeling an unholy burning on his flesh. He jumped back, having the pain disappear.
After recovering, he equipped [Enchanted lightmetal alloy shield]
He stepped forward and looked around, now the burning sensation being significantly reduced. He looked around and saw a glowing red ore, emitting a crimson aura.
Naofumi used his Ore appraisal on the red ore. He discovered that this was Mystic Uranium, a metal that has absorbed so much mana over time that it became volatile to the touch, very toxic for anyone without Naofumi's abilities. It was also said that if it received a strong enough impact or light magic impact, it would release a magic explosion. There were no real developments to use it, just caution against miners that discovered it. It usually spawned under areas with high population, such as the capital city, but it could be found in barren areas on rare occasions, if enough powerful beings were in the area for long enough.
Naofumi carefully extracted the ore and put it in his inventory.
After that he left to craft somethings once again.
[Small medicine shield]
Equip bonus: Medicine efficiency up
[Small poison shield]
Equip bonus: Poison resistance up
[Calorie Shield]
Equip bonus: Stamina up (Small)
[Energy shield]
Equip bonus: SP up (Small)
[Potential energy shield]
Equip bonus: Stamina use down (Small)
[Medicine shield]
Equip bonus: Medicine effective range expansion (Small)
[Bullet-immune membrane shield mk. 1]
Equip bonus: Impact resistance (Small)
On the morning of day 6, Naofumi got on his scooter and rode off back to the capital city, hopefully going to meet Erhard.
It was a interesting ride as he got to see the clean and beautiful parts of Melromarc.
It was a 2 hour ride but a calming one.