Chapter 13: A Bolt, Probably.

Frank had three reasons for being in town today. None of which had to be completed, but each would help move along one of his goals. He wanted to kick start his drug empire, build his magic flask, and profit off his new crossbow design.

He would sell the crossbows for money and the flask would be used for his home's plumbing. There was always the option of crafting one and selling it, but first he wanted to try and build an inferior version.

There was no real reason to sell something well made as his personal effects. That way he would always have the better items. Frank's smile was ear to ear as he imagined owning an empire funded by his equipment.

Back on Earth there was a term for the type of person Frank was becoming: "Overgeared." It was usually used in games to talk about someone with good gear in low leveled areas. Frank was certainly starting to feel like he was overgeared.

He was able to easily take care of the goblins and the bandits, though the latter almost became a disaster. Still, his mighty Herokiller took care of it and Frank had no doubts that he'd continue to sweep all of his challenges.

As Frank moved through the streets, lots of people stopped to stare at him and Exodius, who was following him. Due to his appearance as an adventurer and the addition of his stone guardian, most people gave him a wide berth as he moved through the streets.

Arriving out-front of The Sleeping Owl, Frank turned to Exodius and commanded him to standby in the front of the shop and to resume his previous commands once he returned outside. Frank wasn't sure if he could compound orders or if it would only work on the last command he gave it. He didn't want to take the chance that it didn't remember each subsequent order if the latter was true.

Once more Frank found himself in the magic shop, he looked around for the required materials and almost cried at the prices. The materials alone would cost him 400 of his 425 gold coins. Seriously thinking about it, that was relatively cheap for what the item would do.

Its infinite water generation would practically pay for itself. With this one item, Frank could become a water merchant. Imagine if he lived in a desert, he would have been crowned king the next day.

"Not a bad idea," Frank mumbled to himself as decided to not buy the materials right now. He owed quite the sum and he would need as many coins as he could spare. He couldn't justify the purchase right now.

Seeing that buying the materials for that was a bust, Frank moved to the alleys. The stone golem once again followed him as he handed out magic mushrooms to anyone who would take them. He managed to give out roughly 20 before he decided that would be enough.

In a few days he expected people to come to him asking for more. Slowly his mushroom monopoly would grow and the duke would have an epidemic on his hands. Frank seriously doubted that of all people that man would even consider helping his subjects.

If this thought proved to be true, Frank was left with free reign over the sale. It mattered not to him whether it would be legal then or not. Next Frank moved to the blacksmith to purchase more crossbow parts from James.

He bought 10 kits, costing him 40 gold total. That left him with 385 gold. He would aim to sell each completed crossbow for 75 gold apiece. Regular hand crossbows usually cost around that much and even though his were way better, Frank didn't have the time to personally sell them.

Thus, with a verbal deal with James, he decided to sell all of them to the smithy. They both knew how much the raw materials cost, as Frank bought it from them, but it didn't really matter to James or his father.

Once again, Frank rented a mule and cart for two gold per day. He paid for three days just in case and whittled his pile of gold to 379. He checked his bag to make sure he had all of his mushrooms and valuables, save for the penicillin experiments which he left to continue cultering.

Noticing that he had everything he would need, Frank set out towards the location of the Orcs. Frank rode on top of the cart, working on his gauntlet crossbows and occasionally correcting the mule.

Not far behind, Exodius ran, each step causing the ground to rumble like a distant thunder. About a third of the way to his destination, Frank finished all 10 of the crossbows. Each one was tested and then stored in his bag.

If all went well, he would be 750 gold coins richer after this mission—not to mention the reward of 145 gold for killing some orcs. The quest itself was another party-sized one, but Aslef seemed to trust Frank's skills enough to take it on.

After all, he did clear out a much more difficult mission. Thinking back on his fight with the bandits, Frank had half a mind to attempt the same strategy. There was another part of him that wanted to test his mettle in an all out battle though.

He had his golem that could serve as a "meat" shield and he was able to fire more shots in a second than he thought it would take to kill an orc. Keeping a head on fight in mind, Frank spent the rest of the trip practicing combinations of his spells. Thus, before he even realized it, he had arrived. Looking up from the cart Frank saw a crude wooden fort.

As a consequence of him not paying attention, Frank had driven his cart too close. All of the large green men went on high alert screaming in a language he could not understand. Not wanting to lose the mule and the cart, he turned it around and moved it into the forest off to the side.

He tied it off to a tree and ran back into the clearing where the orcs were. Half of said creatures were charging his position, moving a great distance with each stride. Frank commanded his golem to stand in front of him and as it moved to a defensive stance, he got to work.

Using [Shape Earth], Frank created a defensive wall in which he could shoot from. It was shaped like a World War One bunker and would serve as a buffer just in case they got too close. Frank took aim with Herokiller and began to unleash bolts into the horde.

One by one they fell, but even as their comrades fell, they continued the death march. As the remaining group of maybe 20 orcs got closer, Frank threw his left hand out of an arrowslit and coated the ground 60 feet away.

A 10-foot square under the orcs were completely covered in the slick liquid. More than half of the charging orcs toppled as they couldn't find the traction to stand. As they fell, Frank once again used [Shape Earth] to make the floor beneath them uneven, even adding the occasional spike.

These spikes took the lives of a few more orcs and opened up the ranks enough for Frank to unload more bolts into the prone forms. The remaining 10 or so orcs seemed to lose the will to fight. They broke off from one another and scattered.

Some moved towards the forest and some ran straight back to the fort. Frank took further advantage and fired bolts into the backs of those that ran away. "Damn it. Those cowards. Why couldn't they mindlessly keep charging? Gotta make my work harder."

Frank ignored the notifications and created an opening in his defense. He stepped out and Exodius followed. He stepped past the dead bodies, a strange coolness washing over him, and moved towards the palisades.

From the tops, orcs stood up and began to fire arrows. As a few sailed over Frank, he had his golem walk in front. This alone reduced the possible arrows hitting Frank by half, the rest just passing harmlessly over or to the side.

He continued to follow right behind the moving wall, occasionally poking out to send a volley of bolts towards an orc on the walls. Each time he did so, another orc fell. Eventually, the arrows stopped coming and Frank arrived at the front gates.

It felt easy to Frank which now meant to him that he was strong. Too strong to continue to bother with these weaklings. That train of thought had Frank pause. "Weaklings? I don't actually think that… why…"

Frank didn't finish his contemplation as orcs jumped out from behind the walls to ambush him.

Exodius moved, intercepting one orc. He sent a punch with such surprising speed that the wind howled as it moved to connect with the orc. The golem's punch landed squarely in the chest of the creature and caused a sickening crunch to ring out.

Taking advantage of his guard, Frank backstepped. Firing off shot after shot, he was able to still all that tried to attack or get past his creation.

Repeating similar strategies, Frank and his construct were able to clear out the fortified settlement. He didn't worry about the few that managed to run away and instead got to looting. After stripping each orc of their rustic gear and noses, which were required for verification, Frank buried them with a wave of his hand.

"That took what, an hour at most? I'm just too good. That [Hero] won't know what hit him."