100 Roll Credits
QJ stared passively at the far wall; he spent two hours making ammo for the guild. Thanks to the crafting shortcut, he could make several rounds at a time after the initial development. He made [Oh Shit] Shotgun rounds since he was planning something different for his next Sword Gun.
"Ready?" Ringo peeked in from the hallway; her genuine smile instantly lifted QJ's mood.
"Just spinning my wheels here," QJ complained. "Ready for what?"
"You reached level sixty! It's time to visit the Guild Vault." Ringo's smile showed all of her teeth.
QJ's spirit lifted even further. When they returned from Falcon Heights, they stored the loot in the Keep vault and locked it tight. "We need to find ourselves a proper Quartermaster."
"I don't disagree," Ringo replied. "We have a qualified applicant, but Robin turned her down."
"Hmm?" QJ paused at the top of the stairs. "Who is it? Wait... Are you talking about Ru Silverleaf?" QJ scowled at his Guild Leader and descended the stairs to the basement vault two at a time.
Ringo wore a wide smile; Robin relayed quite a few Silverleaf stories involving QJ. "She's worked with the Fora Quartermaster for fifteen years."
QJ stopped at the bottom of the stairs, where a sizeable barred gate blocked further progress. The gate required two keys, one held by Ringo and the other by QJ.
"Let's open it up!" Ringo inserted her key, and then when QJ was ready, they turned them simultaneously.
The gas lamps attached to the hallway wall lit up when the gate was pushed open. The pair walked in companionable silence down the short hall until their path ended in a massive vault door.
"Let me," QJ demanded.
Ringo nodded and used her hud to contact Robin. The orange-haired Songbird's smile widened considerably when she noticed QJ. "We need today's first number."
Robin accessed her hud. "Forty-six."
Ringo brought up her hud. "The second number is 23."
Finally, QJ glanced at his hud. "Today's combination is 46-23-79."
QJ used the wheel to enter the three numbers; when he was finished, it opened with a metallic clang that echoed in the hall. He pulled the safe open and stood in the doorway.
The door vault was a massive three-by-four-meter behemoth made from reinforced steel. The vault was double the size of the one at Falcon's Pride. The sound of gas lamps lighting echoed as the light pushed beyond the far wall, more than a hundred meters in length.
The vault passed the Songbird's inspection; although they didn't say it would be impossible to rob, they did admit that it couldn't be done quietly nor quickly. The ceiling, floor, and walls comprised one square meter of granite blocks. Thousands of them fitted together so carefully it was challenging to find a seam.
Ringo leaned against the wall and gestured for QJ to enter. "I'll chat with Robin while you help yourself."
"You deserve it, QJ," Robin encouraged. "I want to see something impressive."
QJ waved; his focus was already on the rows of floor-to-ceiling shelves. When the [Box of Everything] dumped the Falcon Pride loot onto Ravenwood's courtyard, it had been a mountain-sized stack of goods. Nuna, TAP's Quartermaster, helped organize and box everything.
His group tried to keep Nuna's division intact, so QJ had a general idea of where the items he wanted were. "Let's see, I need armor and some accessories."
In GnG, you could wear four rings, two bracelets, one necklace, and a hat. Finding a hat with any effect was difficult, so QJ was happy to have [Dark Stranger]. He currently equipped two rings, the [Spy Ring] and the [Fade]. Typically the wrist slots were crap enchantments like the [Lightbringer] he'd given Lark.
[Group: Ringo] What happened to that ring you pickpocketed from Night Rattler?
[Group: QJ] I left it with Jezi to identify; she said it was a tough nut to crack.
[Group: Ringo] It was labeled [Glide Ring]. You know what that sounds like?
[Group: QJ] Like those suits adrenalin junkies wear when they feel like tempting fate.
After searching the long row of accessories, QJ found a ring, necklace, and matching bracers.
[Dispersion] Epic
Ring: (Poisoner Set 1 of 5)
Description: Wearer becomes immune to airborne toxins.
Level 60
[Deep Breath] Rare
Necklace: Aquatic
Description: Allow the wearer to stay underwater for twenty minutes.
Cool Down: Instant
Level 60
[Shield Brother] Legendary
Bracer: (Assault Set 2 of 2)
Description: Tap the bracers together to create a temporary shield that mitigates fifty percent of the next attack. If Shield Brother is activated within melee range of the attacker, a three-second stun is applied.
Duration: Shield is persistent until it receives damage.
Cool Down: Two minutes.
Level 60
"Not bad for the wrist slot. I can block half of an attack every two minutes." QJ equipped the bracers with a big smile on his face. "I know just what to say."
QJ took a wrong turn while looking for the medium armor and ended up in the bladed weapons. He was turning around when it caught his eye. "Sweet Georgia..."
He picked up the sword, swiping it casually, causing him to laugh. "Damn... That's a heavy blade." He turned it over, noticing the first eight inches of the blade was beveled on either side. I could set a barrel in each of those."
"Nope, too heavy." QJ sat it down and walked away. He hadn't gone more than a few steps before he stopped. "Shit... Let's take another look."
Bonebreaker (Flawless Replica???)
Falcata: ??? Durian Alloy
Description: This is a replica of the Durian Monarch's infamous Bonebreaker.
Description: Thirty-four inches overall with a 28-inch blade. It features a bone hilt wrapped with fibered resin strips for enhanced grip. Successful attacks may randomly apply [Stagger].
Battle Rating: 12 (Persistent)
QJ swiped it through the air, enjoying the hissing noise it made. "Who makes a falcata this big? It's gotta be at least four pounds." He placed it back on the shelf and stepped away.
QJ's laughter echoed in the vault. "Why can't I leave that bastard there? Fine, I'm taking it."
After a bit more walking, QJ found the armor; although there were three or four ones he favored, he chose the one that best suited him.
[Darkness] Legendary
Medium Armor
Description: Python Leather interwoven with black silk
gives this armor a high mobility rating. While fighting between dusk and dawn, incoming attacks have a slight chance to miss.
+20 Agility
+ 20 Perception
+200 Poison resistance
+8 percent Damage mitigation.
Battle Rating: 12
Level 60
Although it seemed like he'd been gone a long time, Ringo was still waiting patiently when QJ returned from his loot hunt.
"What did you score?" Ringo asked.
"A ring, necklace, two bracers, a sword, and some armor." QJ laid them all out on the floor so she could inspect them properly.
Ringo picked up each piece one at a time. "I love accessories."
"Could come in useful," QJ agreed. "What do you think about the armor?"
"Great stats," Ringo replied. "You'll be set if we run up against poison users." She picked up the sword casually, her face showing surprise at the weight of it. "Can you even swing this?"
"I'd have struggled thirty levels ago, but my stats have been climbing." QJ grinned sheepishly. "I know... It fricken heavy."
"Wow, it has persistent BR. I've only seen two weapons with that." Ringo set the blade down carefully.
"Let's lock up," QJ suggested. I should get back to my workshop."
QJ had removed the bone hilt from the Falcata a quarter of an hour later and was constructing a new hilt/chamber from Sakri steel. Even with the slight change in bullet size, he'd become proficient at fabricating breaches, chambers, and bolts.
"If I don't make a Sakri barrel, this thing will be too heavy to swing properly." QJ set up a mold that would fabricate three 7.62mm barrels unrifled barrels and then melted enough Sakri to fill all of them.
"How do I get more bang? Larger caliber bullets? That comes with a whole bunch of other issues. I'd have to make the hilt the two-handed; that would slow my parry. No... It has to be a one-handed handle.
Without any real purpose, QJ put aside the two Sakri molds he was going to use and picked up the third. "How do I increase the velocity without changing the caliber?"
"I could change the rifling depth. Rifling induces a spin that increases the bullets' aerodynamics and stability. The standard rifling depth is .007--008. If I substantially increased the groove depth, I'd have to change the shape of the bullet. Standard munition wouldn't grab modified rifling."
QJ grabbed his notepad and began drawing. "Let's create the possibility and then fix whatever issues it causes.
After a few design disasters, QJ settled on a bullet that would grip a rifling depth of .02, nearly triple the depth of the standard. He held up the bullet and examined it. The projectile portion of most bullets either had a rounded dome-like appearance or a sharpened triangle. His creation resembled a bowtie.
After soaking the Sakri barrel in water, He attached it to a temporary breach chamber and placed it in his vice. There was no point in creating an entire gun just for test purposes.
After a few minutes, he was ready to start. He fired the first shot with the barrel pointed toward the impact wall. "Test fire number one."
There was a loud bang followed by the targeting dummy pitching to one side. "Holy shit...That was the slowest bullet I've ever seen. You could see it moving."
QJ set up his hud to stream the next test so he could measure how fast the projectile was moving. With that in mind, he reloaded the test gun.
"Test fire number two," QJ fired off another round and then checked the readings on his hud. What he saw caused him to laugh. "I may get a munition achievement for making the slowest bullet."
He rewounded the stream and slowed it until he could count the rotations caused by the rifling. After checking the figures twice, he was tempted to scrap the idea. "Typical bullet velocity is around 2,700 feet/sec. I clocked my special ammo at 888 feet/sec.
QJ stood and stretched his arms overhead while continuing to monolog. "Standard rifling induces an average spin of 300,000 rpm. My setup generates a spin of nearly 2,000,000 rpm. That's pretty much the only positive I can take away."
"I'd need twice the bullet size... Or, two separate bullets." QJ focused on his whirling thoughts. A second chamber that fires a blank round wouldn't need a barrel, and they carry the exact same payload.
"I don't need a second projectile, just more power for the one I have." QJ began sketching a new chamber that housed two rounds that would feed into one barrel. "The blank round should add velocity to the bullet's projectile. I'd have to get the timing perfect."
A dozen test fires later presented another issue. Guns came with a three-slot inventory for bullets. "If I place an internal clip filled with blanks, that will take one of the inventory slots."
After another dozen test fires, and half that many modifications, QJ lined up for another attempt.
"Test number 25. I'm using a special ammo designed to spin the projectile at 2 million rpm. I modified the breech to accept two separate rounds. One is the projectile round at 7.62x39, and the second is a standard 9mm blank. The second round fires precisely .011 milliseconds after the first."
QJ lined up the shot and fired. The target dummy slammed up against the wall with a loud crash. "Okay, the two rounds going off feels like a single round. Let's check the muzzle velocity."
QJ swore under his breath when he read the numbers. "Must be getting tired." He replayed the stream a second time and then a third. "Is that right? 6,000 feet/second? That's a high-velocity round!"
He turned toward the targeting dummy. The head should have been blown apart, but it was intact. "Shit... I messed up something."
QJ dragged himself back to the target dummy and returned it to its original position. Here, he noticed the perfect hole drilled right through the target's head. A quick glance showed an identical hole through his impact wall.
He grabbed a metal rod from the top of his work bend, inserted it into the hole, and used his finger to measure. "That's it... 10cm into my impact wall."
"Time to piece everything together. I'll use standard rounds since I have the Phoenix modifier."
Over the next hour, QJ used the Sakri steel to fabricate his modified breech design. With the increased chamber size, he was forced to scrap the two-barrel design and settle for one.
He treated the Falcata with dragon blood and did the same with the other components.
Although he didn't need to make a fire-base round, he treated one clip of the high-velocity rounds with dragon blood to increase their resilience.
As before, he set the trigger guard to one side and inspected the blade. The weight felt perfect; the blade shone like a brilliant diamond, sharply contrasting the blood-red barrel. Once he was happy with the weapon, he attached the final component.
[Guns and Gore Announcement] All Servers: A Magnum Opus has been created By Sandhealer Faction Leader QJ.
[Please Name your Magnum Opus.]
"Roll Credits," QJ replied.
[System Message] Your World Reputation has been increased by 100.
[Guns and Gore Announcement] All Servers: Bask in the Glory of a Magnum Opus.
[Roll Credits] Magnum Opus (King's Blade)
Single-Barreled High-Velocity Sword Gun [Divine Artifact]
Description: The King's blade was cast from a Volcanic Durian Alloy into a terrifying limb-shearing Falcata. This miracle of ingenuity has been modified to fire 7.62x39 (HI-VE) rounds. Because of the breach design, this weapon only has two inventory slots.
Additional Description: The damage modifier of this weapon
is based on whichever skill is highest, sword or handgun.
+ 300 Accuracy
+ 300 Range
Critical Blade strikes may apply [Stagger]
[Divine Artifact Weapon Modifier] All critical hits do 2.2x damage.
Battle Rating: 12 (Persistent)
QJ took a few minutes to clean up his workshop and put his tools away. He was finishing up just as the door connecting to Robin's office opened.
Robin wrapped QJ up in a tight hug, well aware of how hard he'd been working. "How about coming to the spa with me? Sam's been giving me massage tips."
QJ followed her, his fingers intertwined with hers. "Does this mean I get a happy ending?"
Robin nodded. "I'm pretty sure you'll be happy with it.
