8 days since the last chapter...

 

A green bottle that held the remnants of a sugary beverage that was long gone from this world was being used to hold down multiple sheets of paper with various rings slowly tightening down to a red dot. With the sound of the air tearing, the bottle suddenly shattered as it was hit by a projectile fired from a short pipe connected to a handle. This bottle had been sitting to the side far off of the shooting range.

 

“Tray! How the hell are you so bad at aiming! I even made your goggles with the corrective lenses you wanted!” David said in exasperation. “Do you have any idea how cringey you look?”

 

They were on a dirt lot that had been cleared and a metal rack had been created to hold targets and various signs were set for different ranges. Tray stood proudly with mirrored goggles placed over his head with their slightly thick lenses covering his eyes. He didn’t care in the least that he missed the target as a part of him had already expected it.

 

“I told you that I can’t aim it very well!” Trey yelled.

 

“Tell your future girlfriend that!” David yelled back.

 

There were several drawbacks David had discovered to Tray’s power, which gave it some serious limitations. The first one was that the amount of force it created wasn’t always the same and the atmospheric pressure affected the number of gasses he could break down. Being in a place with thinner air like Colorado, where he was a mile(1.6km) above sea level. was holding back his ability.

 

The energy release wasn’t uniform either, even through a rifled barrel he was getting a lot of drift from the bullet being pushed too much on one side. David was under the impression that later on in his growth he would be able to separate liquids and cause the gasses released to explode. That would make it much more powerful since he could use water as fuel instead of air which had much fewer variables.

 

If he can get to the high-tiers he might be able to make someone explode just from touching them… That was the horror of powerful espers, their abilities would often mean instant death if they could get ahold of you. They were weaker than martial force users and had a shorter range than mages, that was unless they were of the rare variety whose ability did not hinder them from training in one of the two.

 

“Hey! That’s fucked up!” Tray yelled back. “My lance is straight and true!” 

 

A long metal pole had been converted into a pole blade by attaching a machete to the end of it after adding an exhaust pipe to direct the flow of his ability. A long blade had been chosen over an ax blade to increase the power of the weapon's slashing potential. A sharp spike butt plate had been added to the bottom that served a second purpose.

 

By channeling his ability into the hollow metal pipe he could drive the butt plate out on an arm like a small piston. This would give it a powerful penetration ability at close range, it was also enchanted with a shocking power on the butt plate. The main blade was reinforced with an enchantment to make the blade stronger to deal with the force of his blows.

 

“Your lance might be but your stream is all over the floor!” David yelled to him with a laugh.

 

It had only taken David a few hours to make a weapon for Tray, and the moment he went to show it off to his friends the orders had just piled in one by one. Kurt wanted a sword that had required grinding down sheet metal and using propane to heat treat it. Megan wanted a spear and Tanya wanted a bow, the bow had been made using aluminum stock his dad had and a belt sander to shape it. 

 

It had been so much work that Harry, Lena, and Jasmin decided to take down some low-level monsters for meat while he kept working at the compound instead. Ol’ Jorge did a great job with his machining but he could never match the hundreds of years that the Machine Lord had spent enchanting. And this makeshift firing range was cleared for testing while he was creating weapons for the various fighters.

 

“Mavis! Give me your best shot!” David yelled to the blonde woman wearing a tracksuit.

 

In her hands was a long hooked pole that resembled a lacrosse stick with a metal arm at the end for better leverage. The ammunition was a plastic ball made from heating a plastic bottle in a mold to change its shape. They then reattached the cap and used a heat gun to fuse the thing so that it was watertight.

 

Using a strong sideways swing, the shiny plastic bottle was launched through a set of black rings with a camera attached. It then hit a metal target sending water flying everywhere as it exploded from the force. David whistled from the results as he took a reading from the machine that was used to gauge the speed of a flying object. 

 

“121 Miles per hour, or about 195 kilometers per hour after a touch of rounding,” David reported back and wrote the results on paper. “How is the balance this time?”

 

“Perfect! Almost as good as the one I left at home.” She said happily.

 

“Great, I can make 20 more in a few days,” David told her.

 

“That’s more than we will need.” She told him hesitantly.

 

“I’d rather have spares. You never know if you might need them.” David explained.

 

“Right… but haven’t you gone overboard…” She said and pointed to a barrel a bit further from him.

 

Within this large barrel were countless weapons from axes, maces, swords, spears, and various polearms. But behind it was wooden crates filled with shields, armor, and various items like caltrops, razor wire, and Molotov cocktails. It was enough gear to equip everyone in the compound with a full set, even if the armor was just made from metal plates similar to the Roman’s Lorica Segmentata.  

 

A lot of these were orders for Mr. Rawlins and his group of boy scouts, a large rack of metal recurve bows sat on a rack with steel arrows. The bowstring used steel wire that was able to handle the incredible draw strength from the bows and they were enchanted to surround the arrow with the wind to help it with air resistance. The only problem with the gear was a severe lack of magic stones, that was because of how Tray’s group handled them.

“Son, I can’t keep up with him!” his dad called from the side.

 

“What do you mean?” David called back.

 

His father looked like he hadn’t been sleeping well, his eyes had bags under them as he approached the table that David was using to adjust gear. Tools were scattered everywhere and he had several small notebooks filled with notes. As his father approached he could see that sawdust covered his flannel shirt.

 

“That old man is already done with the pool! It just needs to cure and a coating of silicone.”  His dad replied before he started to get louder. “Then Jorge decided that he hadn’t done enough and threw up a greenhouse in a single afternoon! It took me a week to build one of them!”

 

“Mr. Rawlins taught physical education, he made sure that everyone was in good shape,” David explained.

 

“Then why haven’t you taught me anything yet?” His father asked with some accusation.

 

“Funnily enough, when I thought about training I never thought to apply it to the general people. I fell into this logical hole where I got it into my mind that only combatants needed to be stronger.” David explained. “Imagine my shock when I was able to see Ol’ Jorge work circles around you.”

 

“So you never thought about it?” His father asked with some hurt.

 

“No. We have been so short on magic stones since I got here that it never crossed my mind.” David explained.

 

While he had thought of passing on some powerful techniques to his family, it didn’t make a lot of sense now that he thought about it. His father was getting up there in years and had many injuries from his youth, his mother was much the same way. On Edea people with general skill sets were often taken into labor positions where their powers could be better utilized.

 

“Hey Tray, how many magic stones were Kurt and his group able to get when they went out last time?” He asked.

 

“They got 8 of them, but they average around 10-12.” Tray said after thinking for a minute.

 

David pulled a map of the area out and laid it on the table as he took out a marker and began making marks for the various areas. He marked the mysterious lake to the south and the junkyard to their east. North was a big question mark as that was the direction the military had gone, and on occasion, he could hear the sounds of gunfire from far off in that direction.

 

This led him to look at one direction on the map that hadn’t had much activity in it yet. There were many small water holes and lakes to the west of them, which had primarily been used as wildlife reserves and recreational areas. A mountain chain without any direct roads through it prevented the passage of vehicles through the area, but it would make an excellent hunting area. 

 

“Hey Tray, do we have anyone with automotive skills? Do you think they would feel comfortable fixing trucks and bringing them back here?” David asked.

 

“Trucks?” Tray asked with confusion.

 

“We have a lot of tractors around here, I might convert some of the trucks for offroading,” David explained.

 

“Are you talking about making monster trucks?” Tray asked with excitement. 

 

In his mind, an armored truck on large wheels appeared, instead of 4 it would possess 6 of them to better distribute its weight. He would build an armored shell on top of it that would have all the amenities the group would need with more space for long journeys. After he lost the trailer to the Ursok and almost lost the van itself he realized that it would not be suitable for long journeys away from the compound.

 

“I want semi-trucks. Those will be the easiest to convert.” David explained. “We need stuff that can be better used for moving over long distances.” 

 

“David, what about your father?” His dad reminded him.

 

“You are right, I got caught up in what we need. I want you to gather up all of the old-timers in the area and start meeting with Mr. Rawlins to start training.” David said.

 

“With the boy scouts?” His dad asked in shock.

 

“What’s wrong with that?” David asked.

 

“Son, it's just a bit embarrassing…” His father muttered.

 

“Do you see that everyone joins in during their exercise and stretching routines? Mr. Rawlins has converted training techniques into just another form of physical fitness. I was trying to see if we had enough magic stones for all of you to at least have something to help you out.” David then paused and looked around cautiously before he leaned forward to whisper in his father’s ear. “Lena told me that mother is worried that you have been spending too much time around other women. Mother  is now taking lessons from her so you have to be careful from now on!”

 

“She is teaching Cherry personally?! Son! You have to help me!” His father yelled in fright.

 

“I don’t know what you are talking about. That sounds like something I am not supposed to know about, and neither are you.” David told him and patted his father’s shoulder. “As a son, I have given you more than I am given. Use this warning well and make sure you listen to everything Mr. Rawlins teaches you.”

 

“How can you do this to your father?!” His dad voiced his accusation.

 

His image covered in sweat and crying as he absorbed mana or did some hellish training appeared in his mind. Looking over at his father who was pudgy, short, and with a large unkept beard, a thought passed through his mind. You don’t have the slightest idea!

 

The entire time he had been crafting he had used the time to refine his fighting style and create new weapons for himself. Unlike his friends who seemed well suited to their roles, David felt like he was a duckling trying to be a swan. With the addition of Tray, he realized that his role wasn’t well suited for the party, so he needed to change it. 

 

Looking over at the corner of the shooting range on another table was a long bundle with a long round shaft that could be made out under the cloth. It was as long as a person and almost looked like a polearm, but it was hard to tell. The old poleaxe he had used was added into one of the various barrels of weapons, it would be able to be used by someone else. 

 

“Dad, sometimes we have to work really, really hard if we want to compete with our significant others. Now you can understand my pain a bit better.” David said with a smile. “Hey look, Mr. Rawlins is right there.”

 

The old man had a spring in his step and his white beard had just been cleanly trimmed, the moment he saw his former student a smile crossed his face as he issued a greeting.

 

“Davey boy, the new weapons you made are wonderful.” The old man said with a smile.

 

“Thanks for the armor suggestions, that saved a lot of work. Enchanting sheet metal is easier than riveting plates to leather.” David explained. “Much less cutting too.”

 

“The weight distribution isn’t on par with a proper brigandine, which came nearly a thousand years later, but you only need 38 steel plates compared to 140.” Mr. Rawlins said with a nod.

 

“Oh! That reminds me.” Mavis said from the side after she had finished her practice throws. “Christy said that her armor was too tight around her chest.” 

 

“Do me a favor and get her chest measurements and I can fit the armor better,” David explained. “Both Brigandine and Segmentata open at the front, so they are much tighter there since they have overlapping plates held with pressure. A lot of women liked gambesons made from enchanted wool with steel plates over the top since it put less pressure on their chests. Monsters will usually go after your magic stone so you need to make sure you have the most armor there.”

 

“Christy’s stone is in her chest…” Mavis said with embarrassment. “I will go get her measurements!”

 

Mavis turned with some embarrassment and ran off with her staff, some of the other girls began laughing at her innocent behavior. David wasn’t fazed by it as to him they were just numbers, there were so many new people that he was having problems remembering them all. All he had been doing for the last week was crafting and training in his spare time, at night he would spend time talking with Lena.

 

“Hey, David! My mother wanted to talk to you about the greenhouse!” VioIet called to him as she and a group of girls could be seen carrying several hot stock pots using potholders.

 

“Making healing potions?” He called back.

 

“Yeah, we used up the rest of the supplies as you asked us to. The seeds are also curing.” She replied. “Mother wanted me to tell you she has planned out the spaces for the greenhouses.”

 

When they had left the campus, Mrs. Franken had taken the store of seeds they used to teach agriculture. They had tons of packets of various seeds for all kinds of different plants, many David had never heard of. With a background in biology and someone who had owned an off-the-grid homestead, she had a lot more knowledge than even the Machine Lord did when it came to agriculture.

 

“That was fast,” David commented with some shock.

 

“We created the large grow beds using clay, but mom wants to use the shelving units that are just rusting outside to grow all of our herbs and short crops.” Violets explained. “She said it will be easier moving the water from the top to the bottom that way. Vertical growing is more space-efficient.”

 

“I will need more pumps, but most of the houses have wells and I should be able to use those,” David muttered out loud.

 

“We are going to be growing a lot of perennials. She is planning to make berries for jams, spices like oregano, sorrel, kale, and rhubarb. Then traditional crops like potatoes, tomatoes, lettuce, garlic, wheat, and rice are also planned.” She confirmed setting the large pot down and stretching her back backward.

 

“I thought you couldn’t do root crops in an aquaponics system?” David said with some hesitation.

 

“The large clay beds we made will be filled with water, then you just place a pot with holes in the bottom and fill it with soil,” Violet said after finishing her stretches. “They grow great, my mom did Yukon golds in the backyard. They are smaller but you get good yields.”

 

David didn’t know a lot about growing traditional crops since the Machine Lord didn’t eat or drink anything. The factories he set up to supply the monsters he raised were primarily controlled by Mother, he only knew how to set up habitats. Mundane things had bored the man, so he didn’t spend much time or energy researching them unless he needed to for some reason.

 

“How do carrots and onions do?” He asked.

 

“They do great, you just need deep pots for them.” She said with a nod.

 

“I think I saw some in some of the houses we went to. We can collect them as we go.” David suggested.

 

“No thank you, we would prefer to make them ourselves. We don’t want any lead or chemicals getting into the system we eat from.” She said with a shake of her head. 

 

“You're right, I didn’t think about that. I will be careful where I source the parts for the pumps.” David said with a nod. 

 

Looking at a list on the table, all kinds of scrap parts were appearing one by one. The more he looked it over the more he wanted access to the scrapyard, but he had decided to make that his goal before going to the dungeon. While it might seem like he was becoming sidetracked by taking a week off of hunting, it had been one that was incredibly productive for him.

 

“You might also let gravity do some of the work for you, if you took down one of the water towers in the area you could save a lot of energy,” Violet recommended. 

 

“I thought about that, the water for the aquaponics system is going to be sourced from a stream initially. I plan to use the rooftops to catch rainwater and the runoff from snow, but water might become a problem if we use so much of it.” David muttered.

 

“No, if we only use aquaponics to grow things then the water levels will be better since we aren’t wasting as much of it farming anymore.” She replied with a shake of her head. “Around 60% of the water used in ground farming is wasted. By eating from an aquaponics system we are reducing our water usage. If we change the soaps and detergents we use, we can feed it into the system to be cleaned by the plants.”

 

“I can filter the water from the garage using magic, if you can come up with the detergents then I can have my dad reroute the gray water into a separate reservoir before it goes into the greenhouses,” David said and noted it down. “We might as well just pull water out to filter for our day-to-day uses anyway, we will have a lot of it just sitting around.”

 

“That is how humans should have done things, our water can host all kinds of life that we can use for our food,” Violet explained passionately. “For that matter, we should reroute our sewage for composting. The berries and fruits are going to be grown from the fish fertilizer.”

 

“One step at a time, for now, we need to get housing built for everyone. We are trying to get food, water, and shelter done at the same time.” David sighed out tiredly. “I am just glad that your mother has so much experience with these things.”

 

“We lived off the grid for most of my childhood, it isn’t as bad as people think you just need a bit of imagination,” Violet explained. “It's ideas like aquaponics that humanity should have invested in, we can produce our food right in the middle of our community. If we didn’t have to ship food across the country we could have saved a lot of resources.”

 

“Now we don’t have a choice, the land necessary to make a farm would exceed what we have.” David sighed out angrily. “We would need almost 10 acres(40 000 square meters) and if we didn’t use greenhouses, we wouldn’t have nearly the diversity.”

 

“Are you sure you can make the temperature control systems? The heating will be hard to manage otherwise.” Violet explained.

 

“We are going to use magic stones for all of it, Lena is working on the programs for it as we speak. The magic stones that you guys use for training have mana left in them that isn’t enough to help push anyone up in layers but it can be used to power tools.” David explained. “Once they are completely spent they will crumble into a powder that is almost pure calcium carbonate. All of these are useful materials.”

 

Reaching over to the table behind him where the weapon sat, he pulled the cloth off of it to reveal the weapon. At first, it looked like a rifle but the barrel was made from three strips of thick metal held together by metal plates covered in enchantments. Silver and copper wire formed a coil around the barrel and a round plug went over the end to protect it and keep the strips in place. 

 

The rifle itself had a large straight clip and a straight-pull bolt, it had a plastic grip taken from another gun and a wooden stock David had spray painted black to match the grip. On the left-hand side of it, on the opposite side of the bolt handle was an aluminum soda can that had been cut down to accept magic stones. The gun was constructed entirely from bent sheet metal and parts he had worked down with a lathe and painted with spray paint.

 

“Is that a railgun?” She couldn’t help but ask. 

 

“No! This is a slag rifle.” David explained. 

 

Holding up a spare magazine revealed a round that was made from iron that had been poured into a mold. It was finger length and had a bluntly pointed tip that made her question the purpose of it. David picked up the rifle and held it on his shoulder as he used the iron sights he stole from one of his father’s old rifles.

 

Hit a switch on the side that acted as the safety turned on the rifle and caused sparks to begin emitting from the coils. The bolt operated off of a spring, and it didn’t need to be airtight since there was no pressure, so it was easy to push the slug into the chamber. The moment it reached the inside of the copper and silver coils it began to float in place until he sighted in his target.

 

“That looks like a rail gun…” Violet commented again.

 

“This only has the same kinetic power as a small-caliber rifle. The damage would be worse since the round is so large compared to something like 556 which is small.” David explained. “But the real damage doesn’t come from the energy of the bullet.”

 

Pulling the trigger caused the bullet to begin flying forward, but the metal bands holding the barrel together activated causing red light to appear throughout the barrel. Flames burst between the metal and the coils as a line of fire shot out from between the bands and quickly dissipated into the air. But the metal projectile had become white-hot as it soared forward and slammed into a metal beam and made a wet slapping sound. 

 

“The heat makes up for the force, allowing it to penetrate,” David explained.

 

What was left was a red hot rivet formed in the metal that had penetrated deeply, but the rivet head was flush and looked like a puddle on top of the metal. That was exactly what this tool had been used for by the Machine Lord, for joining metal in his large constructions as it was faster than welding. A smile crossed his face as he saw the results of his shot hitting close to where he had been aiming at.

 

“That’s a rail gun!” His dad shouted from the side.