THE SSS-RANKED TAMING VILLAIN SKILL-Chapter 35: Craft a colt (final) : Hope Of The Weak
Aelion had wrongly believed that Seraphina had calmed down regarding her jealousy, but that was false. He simply hadn’t noticed because during the past few days he had spent most of his time with her, and if he wasn’t, he was stuck in his books, so none of his actions could have awakened that side of her.
Meanwhile, Seraphina also thought she had calmed down and become more accommodating, however that was a lie because she had spent most of her time with Aelion for his training, a few flirts, and her cooking. Outside of that, he stayed reading and therefore had no real opportunity to spend time with UGAEL, and that suited her well.
Unconsciously, Aelion had followed her wish and she had isolated him so she could have him all to herself. But now that she had seen this, her possessiveness tended to resurface; at the very least she was managing to control herself for the moment because she had something to ask him that surpassed her overflowing feelings.
Her connection with the gods or not. That’s why even though she wanted to jump at the automaton’s throat, she held herself back to the point of digging her fingers into her own arm. On the way back to her safe place, her steps were heavy, the path long and winding, and in the end she decided not to prepare anything anymore, a form of punishment for Aelion.
Back in the forge, Aelion was shocked that Seraphina had withdrawn without causing a commotion. He may have avoided a tornado, but a violent hurricane was forming on the horizon.
He sighed heavily, looking at UGAEL who understood nothing of the stakes of the situation.
"We pick up where we left off," he said, troubled.
"The game?" UGAEL asked, confused.
A small laugh escaped his lips.
"Of course not... let’s get to work."
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Side Quest #4: Path to Alloy Mastery
Description: Mastery of an alloy requires knowledge of the particularities of each metal.
Success Conditions:
Create at least six alloys. [01/06]
Use the crafted alloys in at least five constructions. [01/05]
Duration: No time limit
Reward: Skills [Alloy Master] (intermediate)
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Seeing a new quest upset him even more because he hadn’t finished the one for rune mastery. However, being in a rather enthusiastic state about the forge despite the earlier event, he decided to finish it.
Because anyway, he had ammunition to create to finalize the weapon that UGAEL was finishing. Moreover, he already had a new alloy that was already embedded in a construction. The rest he would complete quickly enough.
For that, he chose only metals that had similarities between them, such as pairing dragonis with solar iron, obscure Mythril with Moonsilver, then moving on to more trying ones like dragonis and obscure Mythril, and the last one, Eternal Steel and pure Mythril.
[ You have created Solragonis bullets ×15! ]
[ You have created Clair Obscure bullets ×15! ]
[ You have created Drascure bullets ×15! ]
[ You have created Perfect bullets ×15! ]
"Perfect bullet? Haha, a surprise!"
Indeed, it was the perfect bullet, the one that had benefited from all the experiments done on the first three.
When UGAEL saw him working like crazy on his pieces, she hadn’t bothered him or informed him that she too had finished the weapon’s design. On the contrary, she helped him discreetly by secretly working the difficult metals and making them available to him.
Aside from the 05 alloys he succeeded in making, the last one was that of Solar Iron and Storm Steel. It was while handling the latter that he understood why people said it had hyper-reactive and very living properties. It vibrated with each strike and seemed to want to leap around the room. That is why Aelion needed to strengthen his grip.
With the quest completed, he could focus on the rune one; however, the moment called for other concerns.
"Master Aelion, it is ready."
As soon as he heard UGAEL’s steady voice announce this, he turned around very quickly. The automaton had placed the weapon on the same silver tray as if she were serving him food.
The colt he had imagined was finally there; the weapon had a rather dark shade, with the main barrel streaked with light red veins. The cylinder gave off a certain cold sensation from afar, while the structure of Eternal Steel made the entire weapon shine.
Mana emanated from the weapon in a furtive and pulsating manner. Aelion had the impression that the weapon itself was calling him to take it. Following his instinct, he grabbed it and was shocked.
The colt was more than what he had imagined; it was beautiful and enticing. Its weight compared to the prototype had been reduced, but since it was a heavy-type colt that wouldn’t be used exclusively at long range, it suited him.
The polished runic oak had not lost its properties; the grip immediately guaranteed stability and the recoil had nearly become nonexistent when Aelion fired the weapon empty. Moreover, there was no overheating due to the excessive rotation of the cylinder.
All that remained now was to test the ammunition. However, he had something essential to do — naming the weapon they had just created.
A weapon was not just an object to use and discard; it is a companion sometimes crafted to measure, destined to accompany us through all the stages of our life and evolution.
That is why the name could not only define what it is but also the ideal one seeks to achieve with it or the reason for its creation. It is the principle that defines its identity and how its user perceives it.
Aelion had imagined it as a tool of protection, one that would help him counter the threat of the goddess’s daughters. Having spent weeks being discouraged and called talentless with the sword and in combat, the colt had become his only lifeline, his only hope of rivaling superhuman beings. A weak human relying solely on his knowledge from another world.
"The hope of the weak."
"Hm?" UGAEL was confused.
"It will be named Hope of the Weak!" 𝕗𝚛𝚎𝚎𝐰𝗲𝗯𝗻𝚘𝚟𝚎𝗹.𝕔𝐨𝕞
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[ Hope of the Weak ]
[ Type ] : Magical firearm.
[ Rank ] : Unique
[ Origin ] : A weapon born from the mind of a brilliant man from the germination of an idea and a determination to stand against overpowering enemies and the extraordinary forging abilities of a jewel of technomagic. The two combined their strength and re-adapted a concept from another world.
[ Damage ] : 75 – 110
[ Range ] : 10m – 15m
[ Movement Speed ] : -10% of the wielder’s speed
[ Reload Speed ] : 8s/cylinder
[ Fire Rate ] : 2 bullets/s
[ Accuracy ] : Excellent (short and medium range), low (long range)
[ Cartridge ] : 6 bullets.
[ Armor Penetration ] : High (depends on ammunition)
○Effect:
●Incandescent Barrel: the more you shoot, the more the barrel accumulates energy which is released in the form of ignition (flaming bullet).
●High magical conductivity
Wow, that’s actually pretty good for a start. The description talks about me and UGAEL? So she’s a jewel of technomagic. I would’ve liked to study her, but she’s not a test subject — I’m sure that if I asked, she would accept.
In general, Hope of the Weak was a good weapon. Although it wasn’t perfect, it was sufficient on its own. Aelion didn’t want only one weapon; thanks to the results he had observed, he wanted a second one to complete his dual-wielding style.
Besides, the weapon was of unique rank despite his involvement and even had a rather decent effect although it relied on accumulation and wasn’t really predictable.
"How do you find its name?"
"The prototype v.02 was the most logical."
"Well, a name is something very special, you know? Even you — your creator named you according to your function, not based on an improved version of another creation."
"..."
"I saw that you managed to add some effects to it."
"It would’ve been a shame for a weapon of this rank not to have any."
"I see, must be a blacksmith thing," he declared proudly.
Aelion was tired and out of breath; developing alloys was exhausting, and handling them to obtain ammunition of a certain caliber even more so. Unfortunately, the bullets had no extraordinary magical properties, only those based on the metals themselves.
He would have liked to engrave runes on similar materials and supports; however, it didn’t yet seem possible to him even though he had succeeded against Seraphina.
"Let’s move on to the test once again."
