"I suppose I should give her a name too, huh?" Sapph turns to look at me with a curious expression. "Well. Names are kind of important aren't they?" She doesn't seem to really get it, but the way her head tilts is pretty cute. "Don't worry about it. I'm sure you'll figure it out."

I turn my attention back to the Hearth Sprite. "Heavy fire attribute. . . I think I know what I'd like to call her. A little, extra, considering she has the housekeeping skill. But. Her name will be Igni." [Nameless Hearth Sprite was given the name Igni] "That aside, I am rather curious about that line about gaining benefits from people who live in her 'Territory'. Plus the fact that it even uses the word territory."

I sigh softly. "Guess there's no real way to figure that out now, huh?" I reach into the fireplace and pat Igni's head with my index finger, then withdraw my hand and step back. Sapph flies up to land on my head again as I walk away.

I walk out of the living area's door and head north and a bit west to the Adventurer's guild. Entering this late in the day, it seems like there isn't much of anybody around on the first floor. When I head up the stairs there are several Adventurers around in the bar area though. Including a few of the other Automatons. Number 1 and their crew, seemingly chatting with some other mining focused adventurers, as well as Goibniu with Patch and Mend. Though they are just sitting at a table on their own. Excellent.

I wave to Number 1 as I walk over to Goibniu. "I'm going to be making something new shortly. If you aren't busy, would you like to come watch?" I'm not certain what they might be up to, but they could have been talking with someone who just left briefly for something.

"That works for me. Haven't had anything else going on for hours." Patch and Mend also hop down from the chair they had been sharing. "Probably need to carry things to the workshop then? And I take it that Flynt guy finished it too?" I nod. "Right, I'll tell Number 1 to start taking their mined metal to the shop. Then I'll take what I can over right away. Oh, and Marel said he had something for you."

"Huh? Ohhh. The stuff I need for black powder. Perfect~ You go ahead, I'll catch up." I head down the hallway, Goibniu swings by to talk to Number 1 before following down the hall and stopping off in the room we had been borrowing. I knock on the office door, then entering a moment later. I approach the Vice Guildmaster. "Goibniu gave me your message. You have the materials we talked about?"

"I see. Well, there are actually three points to discuss. On top of your Sulfur, Charcoal, and Saltpeter, we've gotten word back from the King and from the Central Guild. The King will be scheduling a visit sometime early next season. As for the Guild's message, they have gotten ahold of a Jiengshi who is interested in meeting you. Though it isn't clear when they will be free to travel here." He stands up and grabs a large wooden box from behind his desk to hold out to me.

"Additionally, the other Automatons have already covered the cost. The dungeon has started spawning several kinds of edible monsters, which they have been bringing back after my request for them to do so. Any profits beyond the cost of your requests will be added to your Guild account. At least until the others can register as well." I take the crate, it isn't too heavy, nor quite big enough to be awkward to carry. "Though of course you could set up a party account when the time comes."

"That sounds good. Though I'll have to see if anybody wants to deal with money." I can't say any of the Automatons I've made so far would be interested. But I'm sure I'll figure something out. "Mm, thank you for this. I've got something in the works that could turn out pretty interesting. Or, you might complain about it. Not sure." He gives a weary sigh, then returns to his desk before shooing me away. "Ha, alright. See you later!"

I walk out of his office and stop in the borrowed room. I set the box aside for a moment and load up my basket with Magic Iron, and a bit of some other materials, just in case. Then I retrieve the crate and head back to the Workshop. This time I enter through the door to the main workspace. Surprisingly, Goibniu isn't in the shop yet. Though when I glance around with Spiritual Perception active I can see him over in the house segment, apparently looking at Igni. Makes sense, a tiny spirit hanging out in a fireplace under a magically burning log is likely a curious sight.

I hum softly in amusement, and walk to the half of the room closer to the storage area. I first put the crate on a workbench, then pull all the large items out of my Tool Warehouse. The smelter and forge at the east side of the north wall, and the gem binder and heart spinner to the west. I look through the huge room, then back at the little area the four large tools took up. "Maaaaan~ We are not making good use of all this space yet. . ."

I shake it off, then open the crate. A large orangish lump of crystals, a cloth sack of small, almost salt like crystals, a lump of charcoal, a cork capped metal tube, a few empty wooden containers, and a metal mortar and pestle. Not even stone for that? And, hang on. Do I remember everything I need to know? Then I spot a piece of paper, which upon looking closer, I find has instructions written on it. I skim through the note, mostly just jogging my memory.

I break off a small piece of the orange crystal, drop it into the mortar, and grind it down into a powder. Then I dump the powderized sulfur into one of the wood containers. Then I pour a larger amount of the saltpeter crystals into the mortar and grind it to a similar consistency before adding it to the container. Finally I break off a piece of charcoal about the same size as the sulfur crystal had been and break it down the same way. With the charcoal added to the container, I put the fitted lid on top and shake vigorously for several minutes.

I tamp the contents down by tapping the bottom of the container on the counter top a few times, then remove the lid and take a look. It certainly looks like gunpowder, though scan just reads it as [Fine Black Powder] Which, makes sense. Can't very well call it gunpowder if guns aren't a thing yet. I skim the instructions again, at this point, they would use the quickly evaporating alcohol mix in the metal tube to make larger pieces of black powder for use in cannons. But I'm pretty sure guns use it in this finer state, so no need for that.

Now to spice it up a notch. I grab the metal container we eventually made for the Magic Dust and add a pinch of that to the black powder before shaking it up again and checking the results. [Magic Black Powder] "If its that easy why didn't the book express anybody having done it before? Hmm. Guess they just didn't think of it?"

"You made another spirit?" Apparently Goibniu had finished looking at Igni, and has now wandered into the room. They approach, then look over my shoulder. "Eh, whats that stuff for?"

"Technically, shes a sprite, which is basically the same, just a bit weaker, or something. Not sure of the exact specifications of the difference. Anyway, her name is Igni, and she can't leave the house. Or maybe the building as a whole? Have to test that later." I lift the carved wooden bowl up. "And this, is Black Powder. Though I added magic dust to it. Its used in the thing I'm intending to make. Also, its incredibly flammable, so watch out for that."

I set the container back down and head for the smelter and forge. "Now, for the main part. It's, pretty simple overall. Even just a hollow tube open on one end with a small hole on the other to light the black powder in it would work. I think. But it can be made better than that." I fire up the smelter and load it up with magic iron.

"We should get more into making molds and casting parts. But, for now we can just use Spiritual Energy to shape the materials." Once the metal is in a liquid state I stretch out with my spiritual hand, pull a large portion out, and start molding it like clay. I shape the overall body like a sniper rifle, with a spiral grove through the barrel, and leaving some spaces open for moving parts to be added, or extras to be attached shortly. "I think this all should be made of parts that connect together, but one solid piece for a prototype should be fine too."

Once it has cooled down enough I set it aside and make a revolver like spring loaded hammer, a spring for it, and a trigger. Then I also make a couple pegs to attach to the underside of the barrel for added stability when aiming, a long rod for packing down the black powder since I'm not to the point of making actual self contained bullets, and a handful of small magic iron balls that will fit into the crude, muzzle loaded rifle. [Spiritual Energy Control(External) 2›3]

Once everything is cooled I keep the balls and the rod in hand and indicate the rest. "See if you can figure out how the rest of that goes together. It should give you more ideas of how to make more when you try. I'm, kinda hopeful that you'll be able to innovate a bit beyond my basic design. I already know some things that will improve things, but I don't think I can make them quite as easily."

They look over it a bit looking fairly interested, despite the expressionless metal face. It takes about ten minutes for them to put it together right. Oh wow. This thing is a slapdash of parts huh? A proper sniper rifle would use regular bullets. And have an internal firing pin. And, well. I left space for a scope, but it only has iron sights for now. Eeeeh. I hate that I've done this half assed job. But I've got a lot going on, and I don't know everything I need to get it right. "There, looks like you've got it. So, what do you think, can you make it better with a little practice?"

"Yeah. Like you said, more parts to fit together. Maybe a smaller version for easier use?" They already have the idea of a pistol?! Sheesh. Guess leaving it to them might be the best choice. "I'll also need to see how to use the black powder though."

"Right, I'll show you." I take the gun and carry it over to the workbench with the black powder. I eyeball it and pour a pile of black powder about equal in size to one of the magic iron balls into the end of the gun then shove it down with the ramrod then put one of the bullets in after that. Then I lead the way outside, walking to the side of the building facing away from the town. Then I angle the pegs down, lay out across the ground, aim a ways north of the forest, just to be safe, cock the hammer, and finally pull the trigger.

The hammer snaps forward, but nothing further happens. After an awkward moment I sit up and look at the gun. "Hummm. . . Ah! I forgot to make a firing cap. Actually, what are those even made from? . . ." I honestly don't know. While I think about it I try scanning the gun. [ΣV440X1] What the heck?! A moment later the display changes to another set of random characters and numbers. Guess the system doesn't know what to make of the gun?

Finally, I come up with an alternate to a firing cap. "Maybe, I can enchant the hammer with fire mana?" I remove the hammer and radiate mana which I convert into fire mana and keep it around the hammer. Which does end up working. [Enchanting 1›2] Once the skill levels up I get the idea. Level one Enchanting allows normal mana to awaken the magical potential of a mana infused material, level two allows it to take the specific attribute of one of the elemental mana types. Wonder what higher levels will do.

Then I put the gun back together, retake the pose, cock the hammer, aim, and pull the trigger. The noise when the gun fires is much louder than I expected even. And I can't tell how far the bullet went at all. While I'm thinking about that the system interrupts me with.

[New weapon type detected, please name the weapon type]

"Ehh?  Now I need to interact with the system?" I sit up and hand the gun over to Goibniu while I stare at the visible menu. "Okay. So the weapon is called a rifle, which is a type of gun."

[Weapon type "Gun" established. Gun type "Rifle" established] [Granting Title [Inventor of Guns]] [Please name and define an advanced skill related to the new weapon type to receive the Inventor bonus]

"Uhmm. Name the skill 'Marksman' which specializes in long range combat with guns."

[Weapon: Gun Skill established] [Granting Inventor bonus [Advanced Skill [Marksman] Acquired]] [Title [Premier Marksman] Acquired]

"Just how, aware, is the system of the things it does? Like, is there an intelligence behind it, or? . . ." I sigh and shrug it off. Then I look over at Goibniu. "Alright, are you done looking over that basic Rifle yet? Cause I think I'll make it into a second Spirit Arms for my use when you're done."

"Of course. I could make another one just like this anyway." They hand the gun back to me. I start to reach for one of the soul cubes. Then stop and decide to reload it before I make it into a Spirit Arms. So I head back inside, pour more Gunpowder into it and add another Magic Iron Ball. Then I snag a soul fragment and offer it to the weapon. That familiar darkness spreads out over it quickly. Then after it fades away the gun has taken on a black coloration, much like my sword, it seems to have taken a new form as its default instead of using the original as its base. I go ahead and scan it.

"Looks like reloading it first was the right idea. Though now I wonder if I can put other ammo or powder types into it later? Hmm." I decide to test that some other time, and for now head back outside to test the Generate skills. Once back outside, I drop down, aim and fire again. Then I keep checking the gun's status and trying to fire every five seconds. After thirty seconds it has lost ten points of MP and manages to fire again.

"Thats, not a crazy fire rate. And its fifty points of MP is a bit low. Maybe I can transfer my own MP when it runs out? Still, much better than reloading the conventional way. And if I'm trying to act as a sniper, it'll work out fairly well." 

Chaos_Sinner777

I suddenly feel bad for leaving Igni alone like that. . . Despite the fact that shes still "Blank" Gonna have to give her some constant companions somehow. More Sprites/Spirits? Or some Automaton's left as guards? That aside, I may, or may not have written the first chapter of another story that has been in my mind. Anybody like the idea of me running two stories at the same time? I think I might get more writing done in total if I have choices. Instead of occasionally just sitting and staring at the page while wondering what to write about on one story. Best not to overdo it though, so the other stories I already have in mind will have to wait.