Wait, I reincarnated as a WHAT?!
Chapter 7
-Percy-
"Come on boys, who wants a shot at the champ?" Percy grinned; elbow dug into the stump he'd pulled out of his slime storage space where it was now acting as a table for arm wrestling. After the Dwarf Guard Captain had rushed off, he'd decided to use his newfound 'not stuck in a barrel freedom' to use his freshly acquired Human form. Thankfully he looked just like he did in his old form, even down to the scars and the Legion brand. Although the brand even showed on his Hobgoblin form which implied things about how it was put on that he'd rather not think about.
"I do sir!" Gobta eagerly rushed forward for a turn, the skinny Hobgoblin having enthusiasm even if he didn't have muscle or leverage.
"Don't worry about it Gobta." Percy consoled his friend a few seconds later after the quick match "Remind me to teach you about 'Thumb Wars' later, that might be more your speed. Now, who's next?" Percy grinned as Rigur took a seat across from him, the son of the Chief being the second biggest Hobgoblin now, only Rigurd himself or Percy's hobgoblin form being bigger. Clasping hands with his opponent, Percy turned his head as he heard footsteps, noting four figures approaching their cell.
"He's distracted! Go now!" Gobta called out, the other Hobgoblins throwing their weight behind Rigur's hand as they tried to use numbers to overpower him.
"Yeah, good luck with that." Percy chuckled, keeping his fist right where it was as he focused on the approaching group, seeing the Guard Captain from before and three others.
"You…wait, you're that slime, aren't you?" the Captain was confused for a moment before seeing Percy's black hair and sea green eyes, the colors matching the fur and eyes of his wolf form they'd seen before "Your potion, it saved them. Thank you, thank you so much!"
"My arm was nearly ripped off, I thought I'd never be able to work again even if I did survive!" one of the dwarves, one with an exceptionally bushy beard grinned, his friends nodding "We wanted to come and thank you in person for saving our lives."
"Of course." Percy grinned, moving his arm to slam Rigur's fist into the stump and tossing the other Hobgoblins back, the group thankfully taking it in stride.
"You and your men are free to go." The Captain opened the cell gate as Percy put the stump back into his storage, the saved dwarves heading off with one final round of thanks "And you have my gratitude as well. Those guys…they're like brothers to me, so if there's anything you need just let me know."
"Well, there is one thing." Percy nodded "We came here to find craftsmen for our village. We don't have anyone who knows how to construct buildings, or anyone who can make clothing or tools. We hoped to find people who would be willing to immigrate to our home or at the very least take a few jobs to get us up and running."
"Oh, that's an easy fix!" Kaidou laughed, "It's a bit late now but you lot can bunk with me for tonight and tomorrow I'll introduce you to the best blacksmith I know. Even if his shop doesn't have what you need, I'm positive he'd know who would."
"I think I'll take Gobta and head back outside actually." Rigur shook his head, "We still have a few people outside the city with the wolves."
"Alright, stay safe out there." Percy nodded, clasping arms with the two of them.
"Wolves?" Kaidou blinked in surprise.
"I named a Pack of Dire Wolves who work with the Hobgoblins now." Percy explained, not seeing any reason to hide that. Hell, hiding out would just have looked suspicious and damage any trust he'd been building.
"Yeah, Dire Wolves aren't something we've let into the city before." Kaidou grimaced, "In the future, if you want them to be allowed in, you'd have to set up a formal petition to the King for him to review and consider. Not exactly a quick process for the average guest."
"Yeah, we had a feeling." Percy shrugged, "Rigur, you and Gobta head out then and set up camp with the others. Let them know what's going on. With any luck we'll be heading back to the village tomorrow or the day after."
The next day, Percy and Kaidou were walking through the market towards the Blacksmith the Dwarf knew. The other Goblins had spread out to sell what goods they'd brought and see about buying other things needed for the Village, Percy having his own materials stored away in his skill. Spotting something in an open shop out of the corner of his eye, Percy blinked in confusion "Is that sword…glowing?"
"What?" Kaidou back up to see where he was looking, "Hey, you've got a good eye! The guy I'm taking you to see actually made that particular magic sword."
"He clearly knows what he's doing." Percy nodded, impressed at the craftsmanship and detailing on the sword as well as the other pieces in the shop "I can't wait to meet him." Kaidou continued onward, leading Percy out of the market and to a much smaller street, the building they stopped at having a smith's sign hanging over the door.
"Here we are." Kaidou grinned, "Trust me, this guy's great. Hey bro, it's me! You busy?" Kaidou called out as he opened the door, Percy blinking in surprise at the fact that this smith was potentially Kaidou's brother.
"Hey, Kaidou!" a grinning shirtless smith nodded to them, hammer slamming onto a forming blade, "Good to see you."
"Percy, meet Kaijin, my older brother." The guard dwarf nodded to the musclebound blacksmith. Hearing a gasp, Percy turned to see the same dwarves he'd saved the day before coming from the back room.
"Oh, hey guys." He grinned, "How are you holding up after yesterday?"
"Wait, yesterday?" the smith paused before his eyes widened "Oh! You must be the one who gave them that potion!"
"Yep." Kaidou nodded, "This is Percy, and don't let the appearance fool you. He's apparently a Slime…a very, very, very unusual Slime."
"I know they said it yesterday, but I wished to thank you as well." Kaijin set aside his tools to bow low, "From the bottom of my heart, thank you for saving my friends."
"Of course." Percy gave a bashful grin, still not comfortable with people bowing to him. Never had been, never would be.
"Now, what can I do to help you?" Kaijin moved to resume working as they talked.
"A few things." Percy nodded "My village doesn't have the craftsmen we need. We need people to handle making houses, making clothes, and making tools." He listed off the 'big three' of crafting needs "Either people willing to immigrate to our home or those willing to come for a time to help get us set up and teach a few others the basics so we can be self-sufficient. Along with that though, I need a sword. Preferably one like this." As he spoke, he shaped the wood in his storage to resemble Anaklusmos as he brought it out in a swirl of shadowy mana.
"You know what you want." Kaijin noted impressed as he took the sword mockup "A one handed blade, although not enough room for a two-handed grip. You have a shield to go with it?"
"I…used to." Percy's smile dimmed "My brother was a smith too but he's…not around anymore." Or more accurately, Percy wasn't around anymore.
"I'm sorry." Kaijin nodded solemnly, thankfully not pushing as he studied the wooden blade "I'd like to help you, but I'm too backed up at the moment." He tossed the wooden blade back over, Percy reabsorbing the replica "Thanks to that dimwitted Minister I've got more work than I can possibly handle."
"What do you mean?" Percy frowned, curious about how much work was 'too much to handle'.
"It's likely we'll be going to war soon." Kaijin sighed, sounding tired at the prospect "So they want me to make twenty longswords…by the end of the week."
"That's ridiculous!" Percy gaped, knowing from Tyson and the Hephaestus cabin how proper quality armaments took time to make. Hell, he'd seen them spend more than a week on just one sword before to ensure quality.
"To make things worse I'm short on materials so I've only got one done." Kaijin huffed, glancing down at the half-finished blade on the anvil.
"You idiot!" Kaidou snapped at his brother "Why didn't you say it was an impossible request?!"
"Oi! Don't call me an idiot you brat!" Kaijin huffed, shaking his fist at Kaidou "And I did try to turn it down at first. But that snooty Minster Vesta just wouldn't let it go. After what he said, I couldn't just let his insult slide, my pride's on the line!"
"Sounds like someone I know." Percy scoffed, thinking of Zeus "You said you need materials?"
"Yeah, a very particular material called Magic Ore."
"It's actually what we were mining for yesterday!" one of the Dwarves, Garm if Percy remembered correctly, shook their head.
"Before that Armorsaurus showed up at any rate." Dord added before huffing "Not that there was much left, that area's pretty much all mined out by now."
"But like I said before, even if I had the materials, I just don't have enough time." Kaijin slammed his hammer down on the work in progress blade again "Even at my best, with nothing going wrong, no excess time double checking, and a hell of a lot of luck it would take me at two weeks to make twenty long swords, but I've only got five days left. Every smith in the Kingdom has been given the same project and if we don't manage by the deadline they've threatened to revoke our certifications."
"That sounds like something that will bite this Vesta guy in the ass." Percy shook his head, "Especially if there's paperwork showing the timeframe he's giving everyone for it."
"Either way, no certification means no work. No work means no money for me or the boys. Even if this does open an investigation, it would be weeks spent trying to find some way to get by." Kaijin sighed.
"Hmm…" Percy considered before pausing, an idea running through his head as Wise Girl helped him with the calculations "Kaijin, how would you like to make this Vesta prick look like the idiot he is?"
"You got something in mind?" the dwarf raised a questioning eyebrow.
"I can get you resources and even make sure the commission is done, today. In exchange I want you to help me get that sword and fill the positions I need for my village." Percy explained.
"You have magic ore?" Kaijin looked surprised, glancing at Percy's hand where he'd already brought out and stored items.
"Better, I have already refined Magisteel." Percy brought out the massive cluster, setting it on the table as the dwarves all surrounded it in shocked awe, openly marveling at the size and purity.
"This is more than enough to finish those swords!" Kaijin was gaping, "But how are you going to help me finish the commission today? Some sort of weird experimental time magic?"
"No, it's a unique skill of mine." Percy shook his head "I have the ability analyze anything I've absorbed into my storage skill. And, if I have the components and the knowledge, to create what I need."
"You're saying you can replicate the one sword Kaijin was already able to make." Kaidou realized.
"Right." Percy nodded "I wouldn't be able to make my own sword this way since I don't know enough about smithing to do it right. All I was able to do was make a wooden copy of the size and shape I wanted. But if you have an existing longsword that matches what you need, I can make you twenty copies, or even more." He didn't want to just do it without getting Kaijin's permission first though, not if it would risk insulting the pride and skill of the smith.
Kaijin frowned as if considering the matter, before glancing at Kaidou and the three brothers "You know what, go ahead!" Kaijin laughed, slapping his gut "This will put Vesta in his place and now I have a new goal. To make a weapon so amazing you won't be able to copy it! I do love a good challenge!"
"That's the spirit!" Percy laughed, turning into his 'base' slime form for easier use of skills as he absorbed the presented longsword, Wise Girl analyzing and spitting out the copies.
"I'm going to go turn these in to the commission office." Kaijin collected the twenty swords "Boys, you go get us a reservation at 'Butterflies of the Night'. Tonight, we're going to Party! That means you too Percy!"