The day after the barrier stones were installed in Prada Village, I was holed up in Alka’s Crafting Hall.
Today was my first day off in ten days, so I could have taken it easy, but MARS was still in the middle of being manufactured, so I couldn’t leave it unattended for too long.
“But still, the chassis is done, right?”
“It’s still a prototype, but I don’t think there was any problem with installing it in Memoria, was there?”
Ludia and Flam, who had volunteered to be my assistants, raised their doubts.
“That’s true, but it’s still at the prototype-of-a-prototype stage. By replacing the magic stone with one from a Pentaceratops, it can now produce phantom images of A-rank monsters, but its movements are too sluggish to be used for combat training.”
Currently, MARS could only be used for ecological surveys of monsters, but its sluggish movements would hinder research. The research content includes monsters’ offensive and defensive methods, so the current state is not ideal. It’s only when dealing with G-rank monsters that it starts to move somewhat better.
“Even so, I think it’s practical enough, but if it’s actually used, it’s likely to be against high-rank monsters, so more improvements are needed, right?”
“That’s right. Plus, it can only produce phantom images for now, so using it for combat training is still a long way off.”
Fighting phantom images alone isn’t completely without training value, but since damage doesn’t pass through to either the user or the phantom, it doesn’t seem very effective. Therefore, I intend to prepare dedicated Arms and Armor, but the differences from the Arms and Armor they usually use will be too apparent, which is also a problem as it wouldn’t be effective training.
“Aren’t accessories an option?”
“I’m considering that, but it inevitably requires a certain size. It’s easier to embed them in weapons or armor. That’s what I’m struggling with.”
I took out a prototype Gauntlet from storage and explained to the two of them. This Gauntlet has magic stones embedded in it, but magic stones from monsters below G-rank are insufficient in magic power to be used, and even with P-rank monster magic stones, more than two are needed. Two P-rank monster magic stones are embedded in each, and thanks to that, I can say that it’s nearing completion. Although P-rank monster magic stones are available in a decent number, considering the participants, I wonder how many tens of them will be used. There are problems, but…
“That’s done, huh? But with gauntlets, it might be difficult for us Martial Artists to use.”
“Yeah, that’s the problem.”
The biggest challenge right now, as Ludia mentioned, is that it’s not suited for Martial Artists. Martial Artists equip hand and foot armor called Fighting Tools, but if they use these Gauntlets, they won’t be able to equip the hand armor part of their Fighting Tools. Thus, even the Gauntlets that are nearly complete are facing the danger of being shelved.
“If it were regular Fighting Tools, I think it would be fine to tie them on over the gauntlets, but some have arm blades attached, and Ludia’s Drag Rapple ended up like that too.”
That’s exactly it. Fighting Tools are hand and foot armor for combat, so they are made more robust than ordinary armor. Recently, perhaps influenced by Ludia’s Fighting Tool Drag Rapple, ones with arm blades and foot blades have started to appear, and the other day, arm blades were also added to the Drag Rapple. The Drag Rapple, which could originally extend claws from the back of the hand, has become even more ferocious and powerful with the addition of arm blades. However, these arm blades can not only be extended but also rotated, so tying Gauntlets on over them is not feasible. It would interfere with the rotation, and since the Drag Rapple is made of Lapis Laz, the Gauntlets would likely break, not the other way around. I’ve even considered making dedicated Fighting Tools for this purpose.
“In that case, the only options left might be to process it into a belt shape or tailor a dedicated leather armor.”
“That’s probably it.”
Or perhaps wrapping it around the upper arm. Well, considering versatility, a belt seems like the best option. It would save on materials and be easier to prepare in quantity, and then I just need to process the magic stones.
“Then I’ll try making a belt!”
“Understood. The number of magic stones to be attached is four.”
“I understand.”
It seems like the belt is decided, but I can’t know how it will look until a prototype is made, so if Flam is going to make it, I should leave it to her.
“Then, I…”
“I’m back. You’re busy, aren’t you.”
Just as Ludia was about to do something, Mako returned.
“Welcome back. How was it?”
“I passed. Just as Yamato said, it wasn’t that difficult.”
“I had quite a bit of trouble with it, though. But, congratulations, Mako.”
“Thank you.”
Actually, Mako registered with the Crafter’s Guild in May and took her promotion test to S-rank today. The result was a pass, as expected, and it seems she didn’t have any particular difficulties, just like me.
“Now I can finally make Alloys.”
As Mako said, only S-rank Crafters can make Alloys. Iron can be used from T-rank, but Magic Silver requires C-rank, Adamantine Steel requires B-rank, and Crystal Silver requires promotion to S-rank to process. However, once Crystal Silver can be handled, the refinement of Alloys becomes possible, and many Crafters are now refining and delivering Alloys.
“Since there are delivery requests, Jade Silver would be the safest bet to start with.”
“Yeah. Blue-Gray Iron is also an option, but the demand for Jade Silver is higher, and we’re more used to working with it.”
As Ludia says, we don’t actually make much Blue-Gray Iron. Wing Crest primarily uses Lapis Laz, and Jade Silver is the next most used. Blue-Gray Iron, while lighter than Adamantine Steel, is heavier than iron, so there isn’t much use for it. Therefore, Mako will also start by making Jade Silver, and then Lapis Laz. Making Blue-Gray Iron for delivery is also a possibility.
“We do have delivery requests, so we can’t *not* make it, right? We’ll do that later, but what are you guys working on?”
“We’re developing MARS. Flam has started tailoring a belt to replace it.”
“Ah, speaking of which, you’re embedding magic stones in those Gauntlets to attack phantom images, right?”
“That’s right. But then, people like me, who are Martial Artists, can’t use them. So we came up with the idea of a belt.”
“I see. That does seem better.”
I explained the situation to Mako.
“Then I’d like to help, but would it be too much for a rookie Crafter?”
“I think you’ll be fine, Mako. In that case, could you please do this for us?”
“This is, wasn’t this what you said you’d use for the visor?”
What I immediately asked Mako to do was to make the transparent resin of the Cherry Tree, which would be used as a visor, transparent. Since it’s a Cherry Tree resin, it’s a natural material, but it’s similar to plastic. However, its strength and hardness are far superior to plastic, being harder than iron, or even magic-enhanced Magic Silver, so it might even be usable as a shield.
“Yes. I’m not saying it will be perfectly colorless and transparent, but I’d like to increase the transparency a bit more.”
“Indeed, it’s hard to see the other side like this. It looks interesting, so I’ll try it.”
“Please do.”
Unfortunately, the resin has low transparency, making it difficult to see the other side. For use as a visor, it needs at least to be able to see through to the other side, but since Flam and Ludia have never seen actual transparent plastic, they didn’t quite understand. I thought I’d have to do it myself, but now that Mako has become an S-rank Crafter, I can leave it to her with peace of mind. Ah, perhaps it would be better to have some color rather than making it completely transparent.
“By the way, Yamato, I’ve wanted to ask you something for a while.”
“Yes? What is it?”
“You mentioned that MARS is an acronym for ‘Monster’s Action Reproduction System,’ right? Did you perhaps come up with the name to match the acronym?”
“Actually, yes. I was originally thinking of a different name, but as I was thinking, the acronym popped into my head, and I realized this one was better.”
As Mako pointed out, MARS was originally intended to have a different name but it was too long and difficult to pronounce, so I was thinking about how to abbreviate it. A common way to abbreviate is to connect the first letters, but I only realized that while I was thinking. I’ve forgotten the original name I was considering, but I realized that if I thought about it carefully, I could use the name of the god of war, Mars. From there, I worked hard to come up with the official name. Therefore, MARS is read the same as the god of war in Roman mythology. Since I was thinking of it as a combat training system, I thought the name and its abbreviation were fitting.
“I had a feeling that might be the case. It all wrapped up too conveniently.”
“Acronyms are usually like that, aren’t they?”
“Well, yeah.”
I never really discussed the origin of the name, and since it’s named after a god from Earth, it’s natural to be curious.
“Oh, so it was named after a god from Earth.”
“Yeah, the god of war. Although, as I mentioned earlier, it’s more of a retroactive justification.”
Ludia seemed interested too and listened quietly. However, the reason for deciding on MARS was that when I lined up the initial letters of the original name, they were close, so it’s more of a retroactive explanation. In the end, all’s well that ends well.
“Alright then, I’ll try processing the resin, but Ludia, what will you do?”
“I’m Yamato’s assistant. Unlike Flam, I don’t particularly want to make anything specific.”
Like me, Ludia doesn’t particularly want to become a blacksmith or a seamstress. She didn’t register just to be my assistant, but nowadays, she often helps me as my assistant. Personally, she registered because Crafters seemed interesting and she wants to think about what to do slowly. Mako is similar, but Mako intends to research special meals for the sick, so her main focus will likely be as a cook. Still, she seems to intend to dabble in various crafts, just like me and Ludia. Flam aims to be a seamstress, but she’s also trying her hand at various things because she believes it’s better to be able to do a bit of everything. The lifespan of an Ancient Class is about 250 years, so having plenty of time is also a reason.
“Then Ludia, let’s work on improving this thing.”
“Okay. First, we’ll begin with processing the Tenma Stone, right?”
“Yeah.”
The magic to be imbued into MARS’s Tenma Stone is quite extensive: Librarling, Statlirling, Scaffolding, Contracting, Questing, Examining, and Barrier Magic. These will be fused by Ludia’s Fusion Magic and then imbued by my Infringement Magic. Even so, it feels like it’s not enough, and there will likely be some unnecessary magic, so they will need to be reapplied as needed. While the Craft Magic Infringement requires new magic stones, the Bestowed Magic Infringement, Multi Ring, can be reapplied multiple times, which is a great help. The magic stone being used this time is from an A-rank monster, so replenishing it is a hassle.
Putting that aside, let’s get started.
