Chapter 322: Namely, the Rebuild of a Comeback
Sunraku: "………Oh, I'm back."
First things first, equipping the Salmon Head. Emul, wake up—bunch of stuff to do, so we're heading to Rabituza.
So, Bilac's workshop. The very place that had turned into a scorching hellscape just a few days prior. I spotted the messy-furred black rabbit along with an anvil that had its corners slightly shaved down.
Sunraku: "Bilac, you-know-what?"
Bilac: "It's done. And on top o' that, I went and gave it the Rebuild ya wanted."
Right. The item in question—Areadbhair itself—had been completed three days ago. But upon completion, Areadbhair Repair presented two branching paths. By choosing one, Areadbhair had been entrusted back to Bilac.
Bilac: "Still… was it really all right? Meddlin' with a weapon that belonged to Pops's friend, when it's just the likes of me…"
Sunraku: "Don't worry, don't worry. If Vash has anything to say about it, I'll settle things myself."
Whether "settling things" with a player's infinite lives—each worth less than a recovery potion—really counts is a gray area, though.
Sunraku: "So, the actual item?"
Bilac: "Dunno if it's 'cause I'm still green, or if that's just how Gratefuls are… but the sword's power is somewhat diminished. Here—this is the reborn 'Areadbhair Rebuild.'"
Thump. She set it before me. A single sword sheathed in a scabbard wrapped in intricate embroidery woven from some kind of leather. The blade was hidden within the scabbard now, but once drawn, a scorching edge capable of slicing through anything would peer out.
Sunraku: "Whoa…! Hey, isn't this kinda big for a one-handed sword?"
Bilac: "That's the limit! Even so, I had to whittle down what was once a giant's spear 'til it could be handled in one hand…"
I'd asked for a one-handed sword, and honestly, going by player action references, I'd thought there was a high chance it'd evolve into a size you could handle one-handed. But no, this isn't a longsword meant for two hands. It's a bit short, so it seems usable one-handed… What's it called, again? Between a one-handed sword and a two-handed sword—custard…? Ah, I remembered.
Sunraku: "A bastard sword, huh?"
The bastard sword—people get this wrong a lot, but here “bastard” means a mixed breed, not “buster” as in destruction. Usable as both a one-handed and two-handed sword. A hybrid in a good sense; half-baked in a bad one.
Bilac: "Seriously, normally this kinda thing is somethin' you're s'posed to finally finish after overcomin' hardships and gettin' the materials…"
Sunraku: "Well, if the required materials for the Rebuild are ores, I can respond on the spot."
There were apparently some other conditions too, but I'd cleared them without even noticing. I'm glad it saved me the trouble, but somehow that also makes it feel a little flat. Hell, what even were those conditions, anyway…?
Rebuild is different from the straightforward strengthening of Reverse: it changes the weapon type in exchange for stats dropping slightly. It also has the benefit of requiring fewer materials compared to Reverse—though it still cleaned out my entire ore stash… How the hell is anyone supposed to get fifty pieces of Amulcidian Quartz through normal play?
Sunraku: "Mind if I draw it?"
Bilac: "…You cut up anything in my workshop, I'll clobber you."
Smoothly, I drew Areadbhair Rebuild. Perhaps because Amulcidian Quartz was the main material used, the blade shone with an obsidian luster, veins of scorching heat running through it like the veins of a leaf. Just a light swing sent flame effects licking through the empty air.
Sunraku: "A bit heavy… Guess that's partly 'cause it's a dual-purpose one-hand/two-hand weapon, but feels like my STR just isn't cutting it…"
If it were a one-handed sword, pairing it with Dis Pater—the Nether King's Mirror Shield—would be an option, but maybe with this, I'm better off just handling the sword alone? I tested the feel by rotating my wrist to swing it, then lightly tossing it upward and catching it. But I was about to skewer something and get kicked out, so I sheathed it.
Sunraku: "Nice work. Absolute perfection!"
Bilac: "H-Hmph…! 'Course it is. Pops left it to me, so I poured everythin' I've got into it!"
Her mouth said that, but her body language was all smug satisfaction—not so tough now, eh…? And—
Vash: "Oooh… looks like it's all finished up…"
Bilac: "G-GAH, POPS!?"
None other than Vash himself had appeared. This guy, not a hint of a presence, right behind us…!? Ignoring Bilac, who was flustered as if the actual person had walked in right as you were doing an impression of them, Vash's gaze was fixed on my hands—on Areadbhair Rebuild, which I'd just been about to stow away.
Sunraku: "Uh… Vash-aniki, if cutting this sword down on my own authority was a bad move, then the responsibility's mine alone, I'll settle—"
Vash: "Don't bother. It was already a piece o' work cobbled together from a broken-off spearhead to begin with… Shavin' it down further now ain't gonna make any piddlin' little thing come back to haunt ya………… Sunraku. Walk a 'path' that won't shame that sword."
Sunraku: "Yessir!"
Heh. Behold, this roleplay skill. Josette and her lot are quite something, but my underling-style roleplay's nothing to scoff at either.
As I was thinking that, Vash, as if suddenly remembering something, turned back on his way out. His face wasn't the face of the big boss of Rabituza, but the smile of a parent looking at their daughter…
Vash: "Bii… ya do some fine work, don'tcha."
Bilac: "Hyu—"
Ah—no, sir, please! That line, as a surprise attack, is not allowed! On Bilac's type, that—ahh! Sir, please!!
After somehow soothing and coaxing Bilac—whose face had gotten about twenty… no, thirty percent more tear-streaked—I moved on to other matters. Areadbhair wasn't the only thing I'd asked to have strengthened, after all.
Sunraku: "C'mon, you're a full-grown Vorpal Bunny. No cryin'. Want me to wipe your nose?"
Bilac: "I ain't cryyyyyin'!"
With that face and that voice, no one's buying it.
Still, she's a smith NPC for what she's worth, and she delivers on her work. The weapons and armor I'd left with her were handed over to me.
Bilac: "Sniff... HNNNK! Ugh… I strengthened 'em as best I could, but considerin' what we started with, don't go expectin' too much."
Sunraku: "Nah, nah, this is more than enough. Really."
Come to think of it, these were my starter gear with garbage specs, but they sure hung in there through my playstyle. Having been strengthened, even in their unequipped—essentially just cloth—state, I could tell how sharp their gaze was. Did this thing actually get a further boost to its intimidating glare…!?
Bilac: "The True Eye Bird Mask, formerly the Staring Bird Mask… Well, it's at least a bit sturdier now."
Mmm, gear…! Nice. Its defense is now a whopping ten times what it was. I can only call its growth rate astonishing…! Even if my VIT is only around 20. Also, there's some kind of… visual correction effect? Seems like it's built in. Going by the name, maybe forward-facing vision shake is reduced or something?
Next, the subject of the modification project: the Empire Bee Twinblade. To the Dominione Hornet materials, I'd added a secret ingredient(?) of deep-sea stinger barbs—probably from a ray or a scorpionfish—plus Crystal Scorpion stingers, which had shot up to number one in my personal useful-materials ranking. Its name: "Veno Stinger"! Successfully achieved a massive improvement to the durability that had been the major bottleneck, and furthermore, mixing in multiple types of materials that'd be real bad news if they hit you upgraded the performance of "Decay Poison."
Sunraku: "…So basically, the moment this thing lands a single stab, the checks for 'Poison,' 'Paralysis,' and 'Decay Poison' each get applied once?"
Bilac: "Don't point that this way. Dangerous."
Unique monsters aside, that's a terrifyingly nasty effect against normal monsters… Just one problem, though: maybe because I dumped in nothing but stinger-type materials, they're still dual swords, but they've taken on a rapier form. Gonna snap if I try using 'em to block badly.
I received various other weapons and armor that could currently be strengthened, feeling the fundamental karma of being a consuming organism in my increasingly lonely wallet as the weapon enhancement event at last headed toward its climax.
Bilac: "And finally… here. That'll do ya, right?"
Bilac seemed to be thinking, "Why would anyone want something like this?" but perhaps because she understood its importance from my main source of income, the work was done with no skimping. In a sense, it fit my hand as naturally as the weapons I'd been holding since practically the start of the game.
Sunraku: "Nice, nice… All right, let's go give it a test run!!"
Emul, bring me some hot-water rice! Your big bro here’s holding a Super Clang-Clang Mining Festival today!
At my declaration—donning the bird mask with its intensified glare and shouldering the pickaxe reinforced with as much ore as Areadbhair, the "Sturdy Digging Pickaxe"—Emul let out a thoroughly resigned sigh.