Chapter 4.12 - Overdue Upgrades

Serin knew if he was to survive deeper in the dungeon, he needed to increase both his lethality and his survivability.

Serin spent the afternoon with Olma, teaching her his [crafting] skill. The first thing he did was work on modifying the armor that Ephraim had given him. Using the thin leather of horned rabbits as well as the super light mithral, Serin built a rig to holster several weapons, as well as a magic rod.

He used leather linkage to have the rig connected to the plate leg armor. Serin then refitted his plate forearm armor with mounted wands. Serin had to use gold to make skin contact points so the wands made contact with his body, but it was worth it as it would free up his hands. He tested out his setup. With a little practice, Serin figured out how to cast using a forearm mounted wand. He noticed that because of how the magic formed he would have to refrain from using the wands for most fire spells, as there was a bit of excess heat that burned him on his attempt.

As for mounting additional external weapons, Serin kept a cut down scattergun on one leg and a pistol on the other. Magazines and Crystal explosives were stored on his chestplate. His magic bag and magic essence bag were put at the small of his back. Serin could move easily in this equipment, as he had it custom fitted to his body. A small benefit of having the Advanced rank in [crafting] and being the son of a crafting family. The only issue was that his current rifle was too bulky for this setup. Serin looked at the entire design, and decided it was time to start from the drawing board. He wanted something that was compact and could fit under a cloak, but was powerful enough to handle swarms of smaller creatures.

This is when an epiphany occured to Serin. He was unable to craft magical equipment using his crafting skill, but he was able to create separate items and imbue them with magic then reassemble them. Serin ran down to the adventurer's guild.

As expected, people were still donating mana as they could. It had become an accepted practice. Plus Jericho, who had the largest (and only) tavern in town had plastered patriotic advertisements on the subject. Serin knew he even offered a discount to anyone who donated half their mana prior to coming. 'Half off for half off' was the current promotion and it seemed to work.

Thankfully this gave Serin a continuous stream of mana to spend on spells. He arrived at the adventurer's guild.

"Good evening Lord Serin. Nice to see you awake." Serin was sure that these Divine agents knew all that went on in the world. Serin smiled, "Is it possible to look at a list of spells available for purchase? Or ask of a specific spell ability?"

The Attendant put on a frown. "I am sorry, but the list of spells is just too many for you to view at any one time. Would you like to narrow it down?"

Serin smiled, "Abjuration. I need a spell that works like [knockback] on small objects, but with much more force and speed."

The attendant smiled, "I am hoping you don't plan on trying to split mana. I have rather enjoyed this world." Serin looked confused, the attendant smiled, "Nevermind what I said. The spell [Propel] will suit your needs." Serin picked up the intermediate Abjuration spell and started to walk back to his home when he spied a quest on the questboard. Serin looked at it, grinned, and took the notice.

Serin created the special firing pin he had designed for his rifle, and although it took 4 hours and his entire bank of mana, he was done. Afterwards, Serin spent the rest of the night designing and building his new weapon as well as the special ammunition it would take.

***

Serin arrived fifteen minutes prior to the guide expedition with Olma. He had needed most of the day to calibrate, refine, and test fire his weapon. Maybe it was due to his understanding of magic, crafting, or firearms, but once he built it it required very little fixes. Serin's magic had not even fully recovered, so as he walked up he watched as his mana was only 95% available. As a reminder to himself, he summoned Ignis, his fire familiar, and the unnamed Songbird, his wind familiar.

As Serin walked up, he smiled as all of the other guides were present. Serin and Olma had arrived with two of the autocarts the slavers had brought. They were considered state property, but Serin decided that dungeon guides could check them out.

Everyone looked at Serin, kitted head to toe with weapons and equipment, carrying his new strange weapon. It was shorter in size than his previous rifle, but still had a long barrel. The trigger mechanism was mounted in front of the weapon's magazine, which was about twice as wide and a little longer than his previous magazines. Serin smiled, "I made some modifications to my armor to make reloading and casting easier."

Jericho looked at him, "We get that, as it's a pretty common idea, we are more wondering, what in the divines is that?" pointing at his new weapon.

Serin smiled, "This is my automatic rotary bolt launcher, or 'bolter' for short."

Jericho looked at him, "Does it work?" Serin smiled, then pointed his weapon at a tree about 50 meters off.

Serin began to fire. It started to fire slowly, but within 5 seconds it was firing more than 4 rounds per second. Serin took his finger off the trigger, and there was a mechanical whinedown noise. The tree had been cut in half, and began to fall. "I have it loaded with iron bolts, but should we deal with magical creatures I have prepared silver bolts and of course mithral bolts in case there are heavily armored foes." Jericho looked at him, "what's the catch to this weapon?" Serin kind of smirked, "Due to the nature of how it works, this weapon is very loud. I have integrated sound dampening into the barrel, but this is as quiet as it gets."

Jericho was speechless. "Do you plan on making more of those?" Serin then smiled, "I definitely do, however the magic behind this device, due to the danger involved, is considered a state secret. Therefore every single one is protected." Jericho furled his brow in confusion, "How were you planning to protect it? Do you plan on having armed guards?"

Serin laughed, "I put a tracking spell on it and a delayed explosion. Should it fall into the wrong hands, it will detonate. I also overpowered the detonation, so anyone carrying it would probably meet a terrible end. Additionally even if someone bypassed all of those safeties using a [counterspell], since it is a magical device it would turn this device into an ornate chunk of metal."

Serin was met with blank stairs. Serin saw as the gate shifted to the dungeon. "Alright everyone, time to go!"

With a bunch of wide stares and slack jaws from the group, Serin walked through the gate.

***