In preparation for this whole campaign, Michael visited the blacksmith workshop in the Parched Lands once again.
He was greeted by Thrain and the rest of the Ancient Dwarves with excited smiles. They almost couldn't contain their excitement as they showed Michael what they had been working on for the past few weeks.
"Boss! Welcome back. You missed a lot when you were gone. Barcus got married, I was able to hit a home run, and…we were finally able to solve the mystery of the multi-elemental Mithril Artifact!"
Thrain picked up a glowing arm brace from his furnace and shoved it in the water, whistling a satisfying TSHHH as its internal temperature shot back down to normal.
A few seconds later, Thrain showed Michael the finished product.
The uni-elemental Mithril Artifacts that they had created before, the ones that were only good if they only had one element in them, had the appearance of a glass sculpture with a glowing light in its core.
It certainly looked good for wands and other such delicate weapons, but it looked a little bit too brittle for offensive weapons and armor.
But now, this multi-elemental Mithril Artifact looked a little bit more opaque, with a milky white appearance with the frequent red, blue, and yellow glints of light shining through the surface.
"Fire, Water, and Earth mana," Michael said, listing off the mana in his body that was reacting crazily from the appearance of the Mithril Artifact.
"How did you bypass the need for a [Transmutation] spell?" he asked them.
"We had a little help from the Dwarven Kingdom, boss! Turns out they have an old-school smithing technique that can replicate the effects of a [Transumation] spell."
They showed him the technique involving only Dwarf-specific skills and unique tools from the very ancient treasure room of the King himself.
Michael didn't know why he hadn't thought to ask Biru, the Dwarven King, in the first place. There was a reason why they were renowned for their smithing technique back in the past, and even in the present as well.
"Congratulations. Looks like we can finally mass produce these Mithril Artifacts for the Rebornians."
The Ancient Dwarves shouted their joy, clinking their hammers on their anvils to express their excitement.
This new iteration of the Mithril Artifact, hereby named ver. 2, would be better suited for the Dragonborns and the Shadow Orcs, who mainly used Physical Arts spells in their day-to-day lives. In short, these would benefit the Rebornian fighters tremendously.
A Mithril Artifact ver. 2 only boosted the magic power of spells by 10% or less, which was low compared to the 30% boosted effects of the original version.
However, this new version now allowed its users to boost multiple mana cores, not just one. So in truth, they would actually be boosted by about 40-50%.
Of course, for Rebornians who didn't go out much, like the Engineers, the Famers, and other production-related jobs, it would be much better for them if they just used the 1st version of the Mithril Artifact. That way, they would get a 30% boost in stats and just switch Artifacts whenever they needed a new elemental mana boosted.
For the Drabonborns and the Shadow Orcs who needed to always be prepared, especially in the upcoming campaign in the tomb, they didn't have the luxury to change Artifacts while in the middle of fighting. So, the second version would be much more fitting for them.
"Our next project is to now create Mithril Artifact ver. 2 for each Dragonborn and Shadow Orc," Michael said to the Dwarves. "I'll handle the Dragonborns, you guys do the Orcs."
Thrain and the others hadn't met the Orcs yet, so Michael summoned an Orcanine and Orcupine Orc from his shadow and had their measurements taken by the dwarves.
While they were working on that, Michael continued working on the armor for the Dragonborns.
He had to take into account their personal preferences and their unique powers in creating these customized sets.
ChatJK3, plan the best armor set for the Dragonborns.
[Understood. Creating suitable weapons and armor…]
[Complete!]
…
…
…
After about a few days of nonstop work, Michael was finally finished with different sets of Mithril Artifacts.
The Ancient Dwarves couldn't stop praising Michael for his quickness, but in truth, most of the hard work was already done by ChatJK3. He just had to swing the hammer in the correct spot each time. Heck, he didn't even have to swing. Magic was all that was needed.
After taking a break, he approached the Dwarves and asked them about their other products.
"Can you make acid-proof leggings?" he asked them.
The Ancient Dwarves almost scoffed at the question. "Of course, boss. All leggings should be acid-proof, or else they wouldn't even be armor in the first place."
Of course, the standards of Dwarves were extremely high compared to normal humans.
"Why do you need it, boss?"
Michael told them about his plans to sell armor to the adventurers.
Thrain scratched his beard, contemplating. "We can do it, boss. But, it will take time away from making Mithril Artifacts. The boss Fudge keeps on bugging us about their new ninja outfits."
Michael nodded, understanding their concern. These Ancient Dwarves were way too overqualified for the job, especially for something just to be sold to adventurers. They wouldn't be able to buy even one pair of boots if Michael sold Thrain's handmade crafts.
He had to go to the normal blacksmiths of the Nation of Reborn. They were good, but not as good as the Ancient Dwarves whose blood could even be compared with lava.
"Boss! I hear you want us to make some leggings?" a Satyr blacksmith approached Michael.
"Yup. As a matter of fact, those look good," Michael said as he pointed at the armor sets just strewn around haphazardly in the smithy.
"Are you sure, boss? These are just the rejects from our students. It barely passes as armor!"
Michael couldn't help but chuckle. Even their 'reject' armor was at least two times better than the best armor he saw from the adventurers. These would definitely be enough to satisfy their needs, without it being too pricey for them to not be able to afford.
"Send all of these armors to Neo Orcus. All of them," he said to the blacksmiths.
It was then quickly arranged for these tons and tons of 'reject' armor to be transported to the Queens region through the railway.
And since this was a request directly from Michael himself, the armors were quickly given VIP treatment and shipped off to the next train leaving the Nation of Reborn.
…
…
…
Michael arrived back in Neo Orcus and immediately moved to the Golden Road project.
He was gladdened by the progress he saw.
The previous crevice-filled, cracked, and degraded stone road was no longer present.
It was now replaced by a flat, concrete road leading directly to the horizon. Of course, the work had just barely started, but it was good that they had finally stepped off Neo Orcus and were heading to its next destination.
"How's the progress?" he asked the Rebornian Engineer.
"It's good, boss! I'm guessing that by tomorrow, we can reach the jungle area, just on the outskirts of the tomb!"