Check Toolroom progress.

Current Tool (Progress %): Magosbone Workknife (90%)

Current Forge Load (Time Remaining): x2 Boneback Bear Plates (2 minutes remaining)

My Favor ran out but it did a lot of the heavy lifting. The knife's shaping, sharpening, and cooling are all done while the forge managed to properly set everything up. Working on Bomber's armor can't start without the knife, it's a good use of time to let it cook-up while I handle the easiest part of the knife's production: the handle.

Creating a handle isn't a terribly difficult process, either. A proper hilt for a blade is done using wood and heat but I can't do that in skill nor dealing with the necessary heat.

Crystal Crafting: 40 MP.

Using the crystal is easy; unlike wood, my Cutter Thorn can cut a slit for the bone's extended grip and I can properly fit it using magic.

... Once my MP recharges.

Earthy Grasp.

[Notification] You have created a magical weapon.

Condition Met: Granting title. New Title: Magical Weapon Maker Mages and magic-users of all shapes often hate combat, but some rely on weapons. You can make those weapons.

Passive Effect

+ 4 Maximum MP

+ 6 Maximum SP

Equipped Effect

N/A

My Toolroom really enjoys giving me titles, doesn't it? Given it's the best manner for gaining stats after leveling up, maybe that's why Craft requires so much SP. It is a bit annoying earning MP but it's not that big of a deal.

However, I have to admit it's strange that this knife is classified as a weapon. Maybe the Toolroom doesn't differentiate between the type of knife and just bases it on it having an edge?

Urgh. It doesn't matter. What matters is that the knife itself is basically finished. However, before we analyze our tool, I need to remove the plates and get them set-up on the workbench.

... And there we go.

Both of the plates come out completely black and are lighter than expected. They don't have any of the white detailing yet but I suspect that'll become prominent as I cut and shave away at the material; after all, the white coloration is near the thinnest part of the material.

Speaking of which, my new knife - the Magosbone Workknife - is so good it makes me wish I'd never made my sickle or the other tools beforehand. The weight is a bit heavier compared to the ranbi bones but that lends into giving it a more prominent tip and weight to its edge. The grip itself acting as an additional MP battery is already useful but I've probably shed it down to around 36 MP from chipping away at the edges to better groove it to my hand.

When I carry it, though, the white turns silver. I'm not sure why but it definitely darkens and sparkles when put in the light, almost as if the bone turns crystalline. Touching it before it was done never produced anything like this, so I suspect it's something to do with my mana influencing the finalized blade.

More importantly, its edge is exactly as sharp as I needed. With Bomber's measurements, a single slice is all it takes to cleave off a large chunk of the plate.

So to summarize the next few hours? Slicing.

Lots of slicing. As clean as I can make cuts for larger sections, I have to make smaller cuts to shape and refine the sections afterward.

...

It took a few hours but I think this is as good as it's going to get.

[Notification] You created your first set of armor.

Condition Met: Granting title. New Title: Apprentice Armorer Every professional who makes armor has to start somewhere. Even if it is a shabby piece of garbage unfit for most warriors.

Passive Effect

+ 6 Maximum HP

+ 4 Maximum SP

+ 1 CON

Equipped Effect

N/A

Always nice to have positive reinforcement from the system.

Bomber, come down to the Toolroom again. It's finished.

The forge's heat had been lingering around but it's refreshing for that heat to now be fully gone. As great as its products have been, running this in the future might be best left for if I evolve or obtain a better way to deal with the difference in temperature. Making things from metal will not only require a stronger heat but one that stays longer-term. Upgrading out of bone and stone technology will be a major leap but one that I'm physically limited at tackling right now.

Bomber paces into view, however, so it's best to get him properly fitted. I set the knife down on the workbench, hoisting up the armor pieces by their vines. The ranbli kid looks confused at the pieces but I'm sure it'll be much like how they adapted to being given weapons.

Alright. First up, hold this against the front of your body with its white facing you.

The first and main piece of his Magosbone Armor is a simplistic but effective breastplate. It's big enough and curved to give him full motion of his arms either standing or on the ground and thinned to a few centimeters thick. It's a lot of weight but it should be able to endure anything that hits him from the front. Unlike humans or plants like me, Bomber and Ivy have a thick enough fur coat that it can be worn without chafing too so long as he wears it for short period.

This is about teaching him how to put on the armor rather than preparing him to go back to Grey Valley right now. I tighten the vine straps around him, stepping back in front of him.

Good. It fits. How does it feel?

Bomber looks between the armor and I but eventually gives a small, single squeak.

I'll take that as it feels fine. When we try going to Grey Valley, you'll need to wear this for your own good.

I hoist up the forearm guards, tightening them onto his body. I didn't get him any leggings but the pitch-black armor he does have is already heavy enough for a creature that's not worn armor before. The polished sides of the armor needed painstaking levels of effort, yet that's exactly what produced the white veins; the reason it shows on the knife is thanks to its blade being sharpened thin and smooth.

In the case of armor, the edges and curve lines of its as well as the body-fitting sides are all white. Bomber's armor actually has a stylistic look to it but he can't actually make use of Magosbone's benefits. I plan to make a sheath of crystal for my "workknife" specifically because of just how useful it is.

Magosbone is a catalyst for MP. I'm not sure to the extent of just how effective it is, but that white hues silver when I hold it its handle.

Bomber's armor still looks white. So either I'm just special or it's to do with the main difference between us being his lack of spells.

The ranbli is squeaking confusedly at my silence, though, so it's probably best to keep it short. I still need a proper time and place to verify just how Magosbone interacts with my magic or, if it doesn't, why it changes color when I touch it.

Good job pal. You look fine. I want you to wear it for a few hours and try to get used to fighting and using skills with it.

Bomber blinks.

... If you need help taking it off, just come find me.

Without another gesture or squeak, the ranbli turns and wobbles his way out. It'll be a while before he gets used to the weight, which means leaving will need to wait until he's confident with it.

It'd also be preferable to create a new weapon for him but the club's use is probably best using it until it breaks. The Mana-DCT isn't exactly bad and the only creature that could resist the impact of that thing in Grey Valley so far would be the Boneback Bear. Plus, it'll give him more time to figure out if it's a fitting weapon for his combat style.

Given that Bomber currently uses kick skills, it'll probably be better to try and devise some ideas for reinforcing his legs or feet. More importantly, though, I can't help thinking of how it feels almost refreshing trying to find ways to keep him safe.

Seeing all this and how compliant Bomber is makes me wonder back to that mention about earning his trust and exactly what that means. Bomber does things without much complaint compared to the sass or reluctance Ivy sometimes flashes. Ropert is mostly the same but I think it's more just him being simple.

Protecting my summons is second nature to me but it seems like the idea is expected when the first thoughts Ropert had were to sacrifice himself while Bomber was willing to fight and do anything to keep the Omega Ranbi busy. Neither of those situations helps the two of them. The only one with benefit from their deaths in those scenarios is potentially myself if you exclude the loss of their power.

When I return to Grey Valley, I have to watch and make sure Bomber understands I don't need any of them getting killed. Selfishly throwing them away for momentary gain is definitely at the bottom of my list.

Comparing this situation to isekai and games, it's a lot like how the initial summons make a massive difference in strategy. All the stories I saw took one of two paths: pawns and heroes. The path of the pawn is how they felt, while my actions are steadily pushing them to the path of special, heroic members of my dungeon.

... I like that path. Progression and development-style stories are always better anyway, even if their wind-up to action can be on the longer side.

But now that Bomber has his armor to train and adjust to, it's time to replace Ivy's garrote. I still don't have anything too special as far as materials go for hers, but recreating a cheap vine choker isn't that difficult for the boost to her abilities it grants.

Hell, screw it. Let's make a few back-ups. Since we're going to have a short stint of downtime before Bomber is adjusted, it'll do good to focus on constructing a Water Tank finally and getting a few more rooms built onto the dungeon. Raising the Expansion Level of my dungeon will likely add more construction options for it, but the Water Tank takes priority; getting new trap options might prove useful for finally ensuring we can minimally defend the place.

The less people defending here, the more people I can take with me to Grey Valley.

... Well, it might not hurt to figure out the conditions for teleporting the others, too. But that can wait. At the very least, improving the quality of life here will start ensuring we can conquer these plains and make them ours.