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Chapter 294 – Everyone Was a Weirdo
I headed east from Rosberia.
Nearly ten days had passed since I began mapping the outer perimeter, keeping the border in mind. Then I shifted to mapping the interior.
Surprisingly, I gained a few new skills from the monsters I encountered, including those in the C-rank hunting grounds I’d targeted. And even after crushing two small bandit groups in the mountainous areas along the way, I only gained a few experience points, though not enough to level up any skills.
At the transmigrator spawn point, Ril picked up a hollow plastic bag, which left us at a loss for how to react, as well as a single sandal that I could tell was definitely from Earth. Other than that, the dreary aerial journey continued without any major progress or growth.
“Loki! They’ve finally finished!
“Whoa! Seriously!?”
The moment I returned to base, Carla’s words sent my excitement skyrocketing.
It seemed the day I’d been eagerly awaiting had finally arrived.
This time, Zeo’s share was ready too. When the three of us rushed to Lodge’s place, we saw that several pieces of equipment had been laid out on the desk alongside empty bottles of booze and women’s underwear.
“Sorry to keep you waiting! Shall we start with Loki this time?”
As he spoke, Lodge promptly handed me a full set of leather armor—clearly made from Gargouille material—along with a matching piece of face armor for the head.
The deep navy blue, accented here and there with black highlights, was quite splendid.
“Obviously, this gear is a complete upgrade over what Loki’s wearing now. It’s strong against physical attacks, such as strikes and slashes. But above all, its enhanced water resistance makes it superior to most other materials.”
“Huh? So, is there something better than this?”
I looked up, taken aback by the unexpected information. Lodge tilted his head slightly, then gave a subtle nod.
“My great-grandfather heard about it from the people, though. Apparently, such absurd monsters exist in the sea.”
“Ah, the sea. Well, that does sound plausible. Does Zeo know anything?”
“Hmmm… I know of a fairly large monster that preyed on trading ships at sea. They were a real pain, appearing unpredictably, even after being defeated. I’m sure countless extermination parties were organized.”
So, it’s probably a regular boss, then?”
“Hey, what about that other thing? The one that erases islands?”
“”Huh?””
Lodge’s and my voices overlapped.
I could still understand attacking ships.
But wiping out islands? What even is that? It feels like a different scale or a different quality altogether.
“It’s just a rumor, right? I’ve never seen any records confirming its existence. I once heard a story about how negative emotions born from a great disaster were channeled into monsters to control them.”
“…”
Which is it, really?
After seeing that rotten dragon, the idea of such a monstrous creature from another dimension doesn’t seem so far-fetched. Creating a clear-cut villain, whether fictional or not, to unite a country or town is actually a plausible tactic.
Hmm.
“Well, if you’re going to fight such a monster someday, isn’t this the perfect armor? This thing’s strong water resistance will come in handy, right?”
Lodge tapped the equipment with a pat-pat sound as he spoke. I nodded deeply in agreement.
“Yeah, you’re right. Just like Lodge said! Having a specific use is what gives equipment meaning.”
Yes, this is something to be happy about.
Specialized resistance gear, in particular, has limited uses. At least in MMOs, it’s not meant for PvP.
Instead, it’s the type that becomes essential in certain situations. So, if it gets its moment to shine, that’s something to celebrate.
I don’t dislike collecting gear that costs time and money but has no practical use. However, I’m not looking for that right now.
Next, Carla received leather armor similar to mine, followed by Zeo. Hmm?
For some reason, Zeo was given a cape instead of armor.
The way he donned it and fluttered through the air looked incredibly stylish and cool.
“Are you sure this is okay?”
Zeo nodded, arms crossed, in response to Lodge’s words.
“Even though my strength is slowly returning, my body still isn’t in a state where I can fight properly.”
“Besides, Master, you never wore armor, just a cloak, right?”
“Umu.”
Umu?
I wonder if that’s really okay. Well, back in the day, he was probably so strong that armor didn’t matter.
“Besides, we had extra materials. Since it’s boss material, it should be excellent for channeling magic power. I carved some of Gargouille’s bone to make a staff.”
“Hoh.”
“It suits you perfectly, Master!”
“Indeed.”
The gray-tinged bone staff had an oddly bulging handle and a sharpened tip that could easily pierce an animal.
Zeo had never used a staff before, but it should provide a bonus to “magic-related” skills.
Zeo was originally a mage and usually wielded axes or tools, but this weapon really suits him.
“So, what’s the weapon’s name?”
“”Huh?””
Once again, Lodge’s and my voices overlapped.
What is a weapon’s name?
A short sword is a short sword. I’ve never seen a weapon name listed, even if a maker’s name was written on the shopfront.
In games, though, it’s common for equipment to have “proper names.”
A quick glance at Lodge showed him frozen in utter shock.
He seemed to be taking a long time to process Zeo’s words.
“I’ve never… I’ve never named any equipment before.”
“I see. Then I shall name it: Ashbone Dragon Staff.”
“”…””
Carla looked up at Zeo with sparkling eyes. Meanwhile, Lodge stood there with his mouth half open, lost in thought.
Zeo was undoubtedly the most levelheaded person at this base.
But this…
It brought back memories from middle school.
I remembered giving a cool name to a mysterious sword that had appeared out of nowhere and fighting something in my dreams.
(Could it be… Zeo’s actually a dangerous guy, too…?)
This thought flashed through my mind, but since I had brought him to this remote forest, there was nothing I could do about it now.
As comrades, I guess I just have to ride this big wave, too.
“Zeo, could you name my armor, too?”
“!?”
“It’s unusual to name armor. Well, fine. I’d call it ‘Azure Dragon Scale Armor.’”
“Nice. I’ll take that.”
“…Ah, well, what is it? Was it common practice back when Zeo and Carla were born to name equipment like that?”
“Since most equipment had names, it felt like people named the things that didn’t have them.”
“That’s right. If you inherited equipment from your parents or companions, inheriting its name was just the norm.”
“So it’s a race-specific cultural thing, huh?”
“I don’t know about the dwarves back then, but humans had customs like passing down ‘family heirlooms’ along with the family inheritance, didn’t they?”
“And a lot of gear was named by the gods, too.”
“Huh? Hmm?”
Carla started saying things that made no sense mid-sentence, so I couldn’t understand the conversation at all.
When I told them, they dug deeper into ancient equipment practices.
First, powerful individuals like Zeo often wore dungeon-made weapons and accessories that granted special bonuses or abilities.
Lodge agreed with this. Just as I’d studied in the “Book,” weapons and accessories were dungeon-made, while armor was entrusted to blacksmiths.
That’s precisely why the cost of making armor at Valnir felt like such a rip-off.
Furthermore, some dungeon-made weapons and accessories have unique names based on their abilities. Anyone with a high enough appraisal skill can confirm this.
For Zeo and his former comrades, having a “name” for weapons and accessories was normal — if an item didn’t have a name, they’d give it one.
Nevertheless, high-rarity gear with excellent stats or modifiers is a treasure to be kept for life.
When death or old age approached, it was common practice to pass them on to someone—a child, a comrade, or another trusted soul.
“I knew some dungeon-dropped gear was in high demand, but I never imagined the goddesses themselves named them.”
“Hmm—”
Listening to Lodge, I stared at the ceiling, lost in thought.
This job probably wasn’t handled by the goddesses in the first place.
If they had known, they would have made a ring with maximum concealment for themselves from the start.
That means it was Felza-sama who set up that kind of ‘system.’
…That’s exactly why dungeons are still fun.
“Right, Loki. Give me a little more time on that weapon. It’s a type I’ve never made before, so the adjustments are taking longer.”
“It’s not like I need it right away, so no worries.”
“Also, I made this thing you mentioned.”
“Oh? How was it? Was it easy?”
“Making something this simple is easy, but that spiral-like ‘coil’ you talked about? That’s beyond me. Someone stronger in Processing than Blacksmithing would be better suited for that sort of thing.”
“Got it. This is good enough, thanks!”
Hmmm, so this one’s easy to make.
It’s still a total dump job, but it might be useful somehow if I pass it along to Yagov-san and the others.
“Well, then. I’ll go test it out right away. If you want any bestowing, just say so, and I’ll add it now.”
After storing the finished sample, I set to work as a novice bestowing specialist, including my own piece.
Once that was done, I headed out for nighttime hunting to familiarize myself with the new equipment and map southern Palmera.
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Is he making guns? Not sure how that will balace out and fit in this story. 🤨
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