Volume 4 Chapter 6.4

Two days after they set their future plans with Makoto. Hiroshi, Haruna and Mio came back to the centre of fire ridge in Azuma workshop at Wulls. Tatsuya and Makoto had favour from the dwarves, so they stayed back at Crest Cave.

「tis still bit early ta start craftin’ equipment.」

He stated to Haruna and Mio as he laid out the ores, which they have collected from a dungeon dive they went a couple of days ago. Seeing that he was about to say something serious, Haruna and Mio waited for his next words with a serious expression.

「We’re gonna upgrade our current weapons anyways, but are there any other equipment ya want?」

「As in?」

「Welp, all steels hava stronger trait compared ta Wyvern leather armour but do ya wanna change ‘t ta metal armour or do ya wanna keep the leather armour?」

Hearing Hiroshi’s question, Haruna realised that she just assumed that they were going to upgrading all of their equipment to steel. Since there are certain aspects which they couldn’t comprise for just by upgrading their defense, it was natural to think through the pros and cons of upgrading their equipment seriously.

「Hiroshi-kun, is it difficult to craft equipment that’s better than our current ones that are made of leather or some other kind of fabric?」

「With the fabric, we would need ta craft the spirit emperor’s loom first ‘n prepare a catalyst for it. The clothes dat I made for everyone has more defense than wyvern leather armour. But the natural decision ta make would be wearin’ somethin’ else on top ‘o it.」

「I see, what about leather?」

「Even atta bare minimum, we would need some materials from Lesser Dragon. Otherwise, ‘t would be difficult ta craft somethin’ that has a good defense stat.」

「I see…」

Haruna agreed with Hiroshi’s explanation. Lesser dragon referred to any dragon that was weak but had strong fecundity. Although they are weak, they are still dragons so even their basic attack would be equal to, or only slightly weaker compared to Galverencia. However, like their tough appearance, they do not show any sign of intelligence and attack purely based on its instinct. Even its special ability is only attributed to breath and like Wyvern, the threat level was low once you managed to bring the beast to the ground.

Therefore, lesser dragons have attributes in each species of dragon and one specific group within the oceanic dragon. Dragons that can be identified from the colour of its scales are almost always from a stronger species. However, Wyvern does not count as a lesser dragon.

「Even though lesser dragons are stron’, they’re still a trash mob so tis an easy opponent compared ta Barold’s three monsters.」

「Sensei, we don’t have enough time to go hunt a monster like that now.」

「Ya ‘ight. Also, dragons are immune ta oxygen circle so tis difficult ta obtain the leather without scratchin’ it.」

「So there’s only one option to begin with.」

「Nah, ya don’ hafta upgrade ya equipment ta steel based. Instead, we could just remodel the wyvern leather.」

Mio gave a doubtful look after hearing Hiroshi’s suggestion. At least with Mio’s ability, it was difficult to obtain wyvern’s leather.

「By remodel, I meant that we can glue on a plate that’s made o’ either Orichalcum or Hihiitokane onto the wyvern leather armour. That should make it into somethin’ tis only a bit weaker than equipment crafted from a lesser dragon’s leather.」

「Hiroshi-kun, if we upgrade the leather-based equipment using that method, wouldn’t it ruin the leather?」

「That’s not a problem. Tis why the remodellin’s needed. The advantage o’ remodelled wyvern leather armour is that tis has all the traits o’ leather-based armour. The Disadvantage is that tis not much o’ an upgrade.」

「I see, I do need a bit more time to think about it.」

Taking in the pros and cons that Hiroshi has listed out, Haruna though through her options seriously. One of her current weakness was having a weak defense while often fighting on the front lines. However, if she changes all of her equipment to steel-based, she is potentially killing her combat speed which is one of her strength and something that’s needed for a couple of her trump cards. This was a decision that she needed to think through carefully.

「With the ores we have, what kind of equipment can we make?」

「With Orichalcum, puttin’ the traits aside, ‘t can be used like every other steel ore. Admantite is heavier compared ta normal steel ‘n ‘t would craft up an armour that can stop some attacks. Kinda similar ta ol’ man Dol’s armour. Hihiirokane is only a bit heavier compared ta leather ‘n tis purty flexible. But ‘t takes a while until it grows. Welp, the weight o’ the steels can be managed with enchant ‘n additive. The easiness ta move ‘round in can be changed heaps dependin’ on the design o’ the armour. So the only thin’ ya hafta be worried ‘bout is the steel’s ability.」

「As in?」

「Welp, the easiness ta move in changes dependin’ on if ya goin’ for a full plate or sectioned armour. That, defense, ‘n the noise that armour would make also changes dependin’ on if ya goin’ for a chain mail, rin’ mail or a scale mail armour.」

「Oh, I see.」

Haruna agreed with Hiroshi’s explanation. The only metal-based equipment which Haruna has used before were breastplate and gauntlet. However, she did remember hearing about what kind of armours hold well against certain attacks and what type of armours are weak against certain attacks. But she did not think about the comfort of the armour being affected. Though, she wasn’t too surprised by this information since they are changing the structure and the shape of the armour. It was only natural that comfort would be affected by this change.

「It’s difficult to decide on what armour I should go for just based on that information. So can I ask what kind of equipment Makoto-san and Hiroshi-kun is going for?」

「Makoto-san is goin’ for a breast plate, skirt armour, boots ‘n gauntlet ‘t has a metal piece with adjustable operation range in it. Mine’s gonna be the same as the armour I gave ta ol’ man Doul. Durin’ our search, Imma gonna go for a plate armour that can change between half plate ‘n full plate.」

「I see, but if you’re going to that extent, wouldn’t it be better to craft a pieced armour like Makoto-san rather than crafting a breastplate or a full plate?」

「If I wore somethin’ like that, the search rate would drop.」

「So that’s your reason…」

Hearing Hiroshi’s explanation, Haruna blurted out such comment as she showed expression which was a mix of helplessness and admiration. It did not cross her mind until now, but Hiroshi didn’t have any skills that would increase his agility. Even if the weight of the equipment didn’t matter, if he wears equipment that would restrict his movement, his speed dropped as well.

「Sensei, if it was sensei’s strength, I don’t think wearing equipment that would restrict your movement would have that much impact….」

「Agility becomes important when ya wear armour with more ‘en three pieces ta it. With movement restriction caused by an armour, even when ya have good agility, ya still need ta adjust ‘t usin’ some kinda skill. But I don’ have any skills like that. So breastplate is the only armour ‘t is metal-based ‘n have no trouble workin’ at ma usual speed.」

In Fairy Tale Chronicles, the rules for the equipment was that plate armour is a type of armour that requires three or more pieces to cover the player’s body. Different penalties applied depending on how many plates were used and what part of the body those plates were mounted on. Those penalties could be overwritten with a skill for heavy equipment training, aka heavy march. However, it was time-consuming to obtain this skill and even when the skill was obtained, it was a very slow developing skill. Also, apart from penalties caused by heavy equipment, there were penalties caused by plate armour. However, those penalties were very thin. So, even with their initial equipment, for a no-lifer who wouldn’t take any damage in the field, obtaining and developing such skill was a waste of time.

As for a full plate armour made of holy steel, the final product was entirely up to the craftsman and it did not get categorized as heavyweight equipment. It also didn’t have any penalties of typical full plate armour. That is one reason why crafting no-lifers don’t tend to craft heavy armour or obtain heavy march.

Although this universe was similar to the game, the penalty of the armours was less digital. The limits in wearing armours came from the structure of the equipment, the material used and its weight. However, those limitations could be covered with the user getting used to wearing those items.

「I see.」

「So, Mio, have ya decided what kinda upgrade ya want for ya equipment?」

「I’ll go with the remodelled wyvern leather armour. Even though we can put on silencer enchant, thieves are usually not good with metal equipment and my basic defense aren’t as low as Haru.」

「Gotcha, I’ll make a plate that I think would be good ‘n put it inta the armour.」

As Hiroshi finished saying the sentence, he immediately got into refining work. Haruna was still deciding on what upgrade to get but if it was Orichalcum, refining wouldn’t take a long time. So, Hiroshi thought that Haruna could decide while he was working and started to get into work beforehand.