5.20 – cksmithing IV


    Natalie returned to Shara''s forge the next day, a bit apprehensive about what she would find.


    Part of the reason she''d given Shara such vague instructions was because she wanted to see what the woman figured out on her own, without influence from Natalie''s suspicions. The rest of the reason was, well, obvious. Exining to Shara that she thought erotite might have an affinity for, well, lewdness of some kind would sound downright crazy. And if she turned out to be wrong—reasonable as the assumption was from her perspective—that would be unbelievably mortifying. Better to let the cksmith deal with it on her own.


    Shara was in the middle of a job when Natalie arrived, as she usually was. Her eyes locked on Natalie, and immediately, she paused—then started to blush.


    Blush. That was all the confirmation Natalie needed. Just what had she subjected this poor cksmith to? Even Natalie, ustomed to her ss by this point, could be caught off guard by how ridiculous it became. Shara had no such defenses.


    Shara wrapped up her task as expeditiously as she could, then brought Natalie into her workshop, giving them privacy.


    "So," Natalie started. "How''d it go?"


    "It went well." She winced. "Sort of."


    "Sort of?"


    Shara chewed her lip for a moment. She seemed toe to a decision, nodding firmly to herself.


    "I''ll just show you." She walked over to a stand covered by a canvas tarp. "But first, know that I didn''t <em>mean </em>for it toe out like this. I think it might be the specialty of the ore, as strange as it sounds?" The sentence was inflected up, more a question than a statement. Shara took a breath, then, without ceremony, yanked the covering off.


    Natalie stared.


    Had she expected anything else?


    There, in four pieces—boots, gauntlets, torso, and lower armor—was a shiny set of pink erotite gear. Though really, only the boots and gauntlets could be considered armor in any traditional sense. Even just hung up on a stand for disy, not worn by anyone, the heat on Natalie''s face rose rapidly. The torso armor, especially, was scandalizing. And the lower even more so. A tiny triangle of metal with a thin strap to keep it attached.


    Considering Natalie''s unique situation, the armor wouldn''t remotely keep her modest. And even most women, only <em>technically</em>. Since magical gear would reshape itself to fit the wielder, it''d probably rework itself if Natalie tried to wear it. But she couldn''t imagine it would be much better.


    The set of armor was, hands down, one of the skankiest ensembles Natalie had seen. The dungeon sometimes spat out revealing armor—since the dungeon created just about anything—but this set a whole new standard.


    Shara, seeing Natalie''s expression, scrambled to exin. Not that Natalie needed an exnation; this had been what she''d been expecting.


    "Like I said, I <em>promise </em>it wasn''t intentional," Shara said hastily. "The ore basically begged me to be shaped in that way. I just listened. It was the strongest connection I''d ever felt. And the effects seem quite strong. It''s a full set of umons, and the chest piece is even a rare. And, and …." Shara trailed off. "And … you don''t actually look surprised?"


    Natalie jolted. "What? Of course I am. I mean, look at it. It''s so …" Natalie herself trailed off, giving up on her flimsy attempts to save herself. It sounded unconvincing even to her. Cheeks coloring, she cleared her throat and shrugged her shoulders. "Well. It is what it is."


    Shara studied her for a long moment. Natalie nearly expected the woman to start questioning her—Natalie wouldn''t have been able to help it, if she''d been in Shara''s position—but, as before, the cksmith didn''t pester. It''d been one of the reasons Natalie had hired her in the first ce: she was a woman who minded her own business. Something Natalie valued above most other things, at the current point in her career.


    "Huh," Shara finally said. "Well, I only used up a bit more than half of what you gave me. It took less metal to make a full set than it usually would."


    Natale grunted in amusement, eying the scandalously small pieces of armor. Of course it had taken less than usual: the boots and gauntlets had probably taken the bulk. The lower piece was genuinely a tiny triangle, a thin sliver of metal; it must have taken close to nothing. Ridiculous.


    "The effects are strong, you said?" Natalie asked.


    It was a rhetorical question, since she could check herself. And she did so now.


    Scanning each of the four items, her eyebrows went up. Every piece came with arge Tenacity increase, which was phenomenal. The bra also came with an additional effect, the possibility of rooting her opponent on being attacked. Being the rare item, it was the only of the four to have a bonus effect.


    "There''s a set bonus, too?" Natalie asked.


    "Can''t see what it does," Shara said. "Not until you equip the full set. Didn''t take the liberty—figured it''d be overstepping. I''m dying to know what it is, though."


    Natalie paused.


    "Not that you have to put it on <em>here</em>, of course," Shara hastily said. "On your own time. Though, I''d like to know, next time you stop by. Set bonuses are rare."


    No joke. Set bonuses were a bit moremon with crafted gear than items found in dungeons, but they weren''t extremely rare there either. Typically they''d be found within a single region, with the items dropping one after the other. Natalie and her team hadn''te across such a situation yet, but the concept was familiar to them—as most delvers.


    There were only four total equipment slots, but Natalie could still get the full set bonus so long as she <em>officially </em>equipped one piece and wore the others as mundane armor. Of course, she wouldn''t get the magical bonuses of non-equipped armor—the Tenacity boosts, in this case—but the set bonus would still go through.


    Natalie intended to wear their more important items like the treasure-hunting ne, but equipping, say, the top and bottom, and using the boots and gauntlets as mundane armor, could be a reasonable strategy, if the set bonus turned out to be worth it.


    "How''s the durability?" Natalie asked. "The metal, itself. Is it tough?"


    "Much better than iron and other low-level ores," Shara said. "It <em>is </em>a unique ore. Or a very rare one, at a minimum. I wouldn''t call it anything phenomenal, though." She shrugged. "I didn''t condense it all that much. Limited supply."


    Most metals could be repeatedly condensed into tougher and tougher versions of the same material. Iron deposits showed up even in deeper levels in the dungeon, in increasingly huge quantities—and it wasn''t all that unusual to condense it down into a level-appropriate piece of gear. Erotite followed the same trend, it sounded like.


    Natalie stepped up to the armor and visually inspected it, peering at the craftsmanship. While embarrassingly scandalous, Natalie admitted it looked great: Shara had done a great job. Non-functional, perhaps, but aesthetic. And the various pieces matched, creating a cohesive design, something not found in most pped-together sets of dungeon gear. Not that <em>style</em> was ever something on the forefront of a delver''s mind.


    Though, with [Stylish], in Natalie''s case, maybe it should be. She literally got bonus stats for looking good, and so did her teammates.


    For that matter, what would Jordan or Sofia look like, geared up in this? Her heart skipped a few beats, imagining it.


    "I''ll try it on and let you know," Natalie said. "Either way, you did a great job." Even without a set bonus, the armor was an upgrade from what she currently had equipped. The chest piece especially, with that snaring effect. "And you said there''s some erotite left?"


    "Little less than half."


    "Could you make a pickaxe with it, you think?"


    Shara paused at the request. "Don''t see why not. But why? You think that would do something?"


    "Not sure. It''s possible." Her mining sub-ss was taking on its own unusual—lewd—characteristics, so leaning into that by forging an erotite pickaxe <em>could</em> be beneficial. It could also be a huge waste, but that was the risk that came with experimentation. "I think it''s worth trying."


    "Hm," Shara said. "Then, I''ll have it done as soon as I can."