Frontiers ~Chronicles of Bucket-san’s Detailed Pioneering~ - Chapter 66 – It’s been a while, but Substance X is here!

It took a while to make all the intermediate level tools, so I had to immediately log-out for lunch as soon as I finished it.

However, spending all that time was worth it, as I now have 5* Intermediate Tools ready to be used!

With this I can expect a considerable increase on the rank of my materials after they’re processed… Could this finally let me aim for the dreamy iron items with three Options in them?

No, that’s unlikely to happen. I actually experimented a bit with Copper and Bronze items, and I have yet to be able to make items with three Options just by improving materials, tools, equipment, and skill level. The same most likely holds true for iron.

If I want three Options, then I’ll probably need to use ‘Add’. It’s the kind of thing that just can’t be done through normal means.

Though well, I was able to skip that requirement in that one time I entered the zone and made the Bronze Bucket Helm – Lily, but it’s not really something I can reproduce at will, so I need to keep on working on preparing everything I need in order to be able to properly use ‘Add’ like master Merget taught me.

Like this, items with three Options might become a real possibility.

More importantly than that though, Improved Blacksmithing has finally reached level 100! It’s time for the second evolution!

I wonder what will the next level be? True Blacksmith perhaps?

Well, nobody has gone over the Improved levels even in the forums, so the name of the third tier of skills is unknown.

I can find it out now though! I just need to check what the name of the skill is after evolution!

Now let’s see… Artisan? It’s not True Blacksmithing, but Artisan’s Blacksmithing?

Oh well, it costs 25 Skill Points to evolve it, and thanks to the Joint Collection Tour, I ended up earning a lot of Skill Points, so I have 33 Skill Points available right now.

It’s enough, so let’s evolve it without hesitation!

Now let’s see how much better is Artisan’s Blacksmithing when compared to Improved Blacksmithing! If the difference is as big as the one between Blacksmithing and Improved Blacksmithing, then… I’m looking forward to the results!

******

Well, that’s a bit unexpected…

——

Steel Ingot

Material/3*

——

The level of Artisan’s Blacksmithing is still at 1*, but I’m already able to make Steel Ingots… And yet, it was only around level 20 or so of Improved Blacksmithing that I was able to make Iron Ingots.

I thought I wouldn’t be able to reliably make Steel Ingots until my level rose further, but… Ah, well, maybe there is a sensible reason behind it.

Namely, my tools and my equipment. Both of which are of Intermediate Tier now.

Moreover, the Tools are 5* already, so they should be quite helpful at this. Tools and Equipment are indispensable for crafting in Frontiers, so they might be the cause of this unexpected surprise.

Not to mention the techniques I learned from master Merget that cannot be measured by Skill Level alone.

Though still, I wanna see how big is the difference between intermediate and beginner’s equipment… I’m not as passionate as Hime about this kind of thing, but let’s test it!

After all, I still have beginner tools and equipment available, so… Let’s try making a steel ingot with them and see what happens!

******

Substance X

Material/1*/Durability 1

——

It’s been a while, but Substance X is here!

… Tools and Equipment are really important. I thought I’d be able to make at least a 2* or 1* Ingot, but even after being really careful in the process, I still ended up with Substance X at the end.

I guess using 3* Beginner Tools might have been a bit too much of a handicap.

Still, this just makes it even more clear to me that Tools and Equipment are extremely important!

But well, in any case, I still need to see if this ingot is actually useful. I can’t say for sure that I’ll be able to make equipment just because I can make 3* Steel Ingots.

Also, I only have recipes for generic Steel Gear at the moment, but it should be enough for the time being. I’m sure that now that I have Artisan’s Blacksmithing, Discover will let me find even more new recipes at the library.

So, let’s get started on making Steel gear and pray that Substance X won’t appear again!

******

“I have come! Now show it to me!” Mika exclaimed.

“You were fast, Mika.” I replied.

“Of course! Seeing your steel gear takes priority over dungeon exploration! Now show it to me!” Mika told me.

As expected of Mika, she rushed inside from the entrance without even knocking.

I was able to successfully craft steel equipment, so I sent a message to both Mika and Hime. Hime quickly gave a reply saying that she was a bit busy and would take a while to come, but Mika hadn’t replied at all, so I thought she was unavailable.

However, it seems like she thought spending time making a reply was a waste, so she just ran here… It hasn’t even been ten minutes since I sent her the message.

“It’s still 3* though, so don’t expect that much.” I told her.

“No no, I know the performance of steel gear by seeing the status of stuff on display in big stores! Show me!” Mika exclaimed.

“Ah, there was that alright…” I muttered.

“I’m here.” Hime then came inside without knocking while saying that.

“Oh! You came too, Hime! You are interested in it after all!” Mika told her.

“Eh, Hime? What about the woodcutting work? Won’t it trouble your party members if you leave suddenly…?” I asked.

“It’s alright.” Hime replied.

She had said she couldn’t come because of the woodcutting, but she came anyways… Oh well.

Though I can understand the excitement when looking at the performance of those items… I only made one item so far, and I knew from the start what it was going to be… It had to be my signature Bucket Helm!

For comparison, here are the Bronze and Iron Bucket Helms.

——

Bronze Bucket Helm

Head/Heavy Equipment/3*/DEF +13/Durability 40

——

Iron Bucket Helm

Head/Heavy Equipment/3*/DEF +24/Durability 40

——

Steel Bucket Helm

Head/Heavy Equipment/3*/DEF +43/Durability 40

——

It followed a similar pattern to the transition between Bronze and Iron. The Steel Helm has almost twice as much DEF as the Iron one.

A whole Steel setup would definitely give a considerable improvement to one’s overall defensive power. This is extremely important as new areas are being unlocked, as the combat-pioneers are definitely in need of better equipment to properly handle the strong enemies that are now appearing before them.

I can see how excited Hime and Mika are when looking at it.

“Ooh!” Mika exclaimed.

“Incredible.” Hime said.

“I just started making Steel items, but I’ll give priority to the things you two need. Still, you’ll need to wait a bit until I’m done.

“The specific gear you two need hasn’t changed, right?” I asked them.

“Of course! Though I only need one weapon now, since I have this!” Mika showed off her Mysterious Sword. She uses two swords though, so she still needs a new one.

“I’m jealous of your Sealed Dark Mysterious Sword.” Hime muttered.

“What about your doll, Hime? Quite the fuss was raised on the forums when people saw it.” I asked her. Hime just pouted in response though, “Got it, got it. Your needs still haven’t changed though, right?”

“Yeah…” Hime nodded.

As Hime is quite popular, it was only natural that a fuss would be raised once her weapon changed. Especially if they suddenly started seeing a doll that moves just like a living being.

Though people aren’t attributing the creation of this doll to me for a change, as my store mostly handles heavy equipment.

Dolls on the other hand are made of wood, so most people are suspecting that the players focused primarily on Woodworking are the ones who made Hime’s doll.

My store also sells no dolls, which also helps keep my anonymity… I mean, I could try putting them up for sale, but dolls are way too cheap, to the point it’s not profitable.

It’s possible to raise the price if a large demand for them appears, but I already get enough trouble just from the heavy equipment I make, so I’d rather avoid becoming any more conspicuous.

Moreover, I’m now wandering outside while delivering or receiving requests from NPCs with some frequency, so there are more opportunities for people to bother me now.

Granted, the annoying people had kinda stopped bothering me by now as other crafters started catching up and making Iron Gear, but things might get troublesome again now that I can make Steel gear… I might even need to start using a disguise again.

So well, because of all that, I only sell dolls to Hime.

That said, the number of people on the library might increase soon, as I taught the members of Works about it. It’s not impossible for them to also trade the library information with others, and have it eventually become widespread.

Or rather, it will probably still take some time, but the library information will most likely become widespread eventually. At that point, anyone might become able to get the Doll Making Recipes.

******

“Then contact me as soon as you can! I’ll come pick it up right away!” Mika told me.

“I need to leave soon. I got to finish that last spurt.” Hime told me.

“Got it. Then, Hime is prioritizing the Magical Gloves and Mika is prioritizing armor.” I confirmed their orders, and they both nodded to it, then they hurriedly left to get back to their own guilds.

After those two that came in like a storm left, the workshop felt lonely and quiet… Though well, it won’t bother me once I get back to making gear. I’m just a bit sad we didn’t have much time to talk.

Well… Let’s take some time to recover my energies before getting into making Steel gear then! I’ll call Homun and go all-out into my favorite activity!

Of course, I also like the other cute summoned children, but Homun is special because he is the first one I summoned, so… Please come, Homun! Come and soothe me!