Kaijin Fighter: So I Have to Make Monsters, So What?-Chapter 1477: Forging a Future

At this point in time, while their creator was off catfishing a grafted warrior and their fellow kaijin were acting like spies in deep enemy territory, the Ragnarockers were enjoying the serenity of relatively easy guard duty.

The trio didn't hang around on the roof of the workshop in their shrunken forms, nor were they inside of the building in their fully grown forms.

Instead, to help maintain stealthiness, they took up their human disguises and hid at three vantage points that were relatively close to the forge.

That way, they would be able to handle any possible enemies that came from any particular direction.

[Well,this is a particularly relaxing state of affairs,] Hurricroak mused. [I figiured by now, somebody would've tried to do something incredibly stupid.]

[It's only been an hour or so, Hurricroak,] Nepherage retorted.

[Give it...time...] Frosttusk agreed.

[Yeah, yeah,] Hurricroak capitulated. [Hmm, now that I think about it, Frosttusk. You're still acting as a mentor to that barbarian kid? I just realized I haven't asked about that in awhile.]

[Yes...I am...] Frosttusk nodded. [He still...wants...to...return...home... which is...going...to...be...difficult.]

[Because we're stuck on Dozing Salamander while your human ward's homeland is across the sea?] Nepherage asked.

[Because...my...his...homeland...is...supposedly...lost.]

[Lost?]

[Buried...in...ice...]

[Oh...hmmm.]

[Well, depressing backstory aside, maybe we should focus on the fact that there are some people watching this forge from afar like hunters stalking prey.]

[Oh, for real?]

...Meanwhile, the clueless mortals...

At the forge, Alicia, Lythero, Zhen Xing, Zhen Tai, Taurna, Rianna, and Lyona were helping Axer knock out all of the commissions he had lined up using all of the materials that they helped to purchase earlier in the day.

It was a relatively smooth process, as Alicia proved herself to be a hell of a manager.

Granted, she did have some critique on the work culture.

"Alright, so we have the [Thunder Diamonds] ready, the [Slime Steel Ingots] prepped and ready to go, the [Jade Aluminite], and...what the fuck is this stuff?"

"I think that was Axer's after-auction snack," Zhen Tai answered as he also beheld what appeared to be a chunk of bread that resembled a piece of coal more so than an actual piece of food. "I have no idea how it got like that."

"Okay. Lyona and Taurna, first lesson right here: don't eat where you work."

"We could do that?!"

"Oh, right. Former slaves."

It didn't take too long for the group to put together the tools, but the materials were another matter.

Some of the items that Axer had purchased were strange minerals that had to be prepared in particular ways prior to actually being forged into an item or had to be modified in strange ways during the forging process.

"Alright, keep your eyes close on what I am about do here," Axer declared as he began to circulate his aether throughout his body and tools. "Because this next part is going to get weird for the uninformed, and hopefully enlightening to those who are truly interested."

Either way, all of this prep work served as a delightfully enlightening process for everyone present. Especially in the case of the former slaves who were eager to learn a new trade, and Alicia, as the [Chaos] she had been cultivating, seemed to be leaning towards the idea of creativity, tinkering, and the forge itself.

As for Lythero, Zhen Tai, and Zhen Xing, they just saw these forge techniques as new ways of manipulating their own Ignarii aether in new, more controlled ways.

That, and it helped to remind them of some recent gains that they had been horribly neglecting as well as some opportunities they didn't consider until this very moment.

"Hey, I just remembered something," Zhen Xing suddenly piped up for his cousin to hear. "Remember when we raided the Wolfe Family's coffers and secured all of those blacksmithing manuals?"

"Yeah, what about them?"

"Did anyone among us take the time to look those over?"

"I…want to say Zhen Liu, given the zakos and what we know about his kaijin…but no, I don't think so," Zhen Tai answered. "Although, I think we did have some of the family blacksmiths take over…"

"Hmm. We may need to look into this stuff when we get back. Would probably be better for us to make our own gear for our beasts."

"Fair."

'Hmm. This Axer guy is showcasing some serious skills when it comes to forging these weapons,' Lythero noted. 'Maybe he can be the guy who can help to repair my swords?'

Either way, with assistance from the group, Axer was able to knock out several commissions ahead of schedule. Hell, thanks to some sharp insights and the usage of higher qualities of aether, and a little bit of [Chaos], that he was unable to produce on his own, the young blacksmith was able to make even better quality weapons than on his own.

^Holy shit,^ Axer complimented as he looked over one of the finished products in his hand, a sword that was made with [Slime Steel]. ^This normally takes me over half a day to process, especially since [Slime Steel] gets incredibly elastic when heated. How the hell did you guys manage to manipulate it so easily?^

^Uh…natural gifts that we can't really explain?^ Lyona technically lied.

^Hmmm. Understandable. Even my late master had the weird secret or two. Whatever, as long as you can keep helping me make weapons this good, you can have the skeleton of a dragon in your closet for all I care.^

^T-thanks?^

This harmonious atmosphere seemed to do wonders in not only helping Axer finish up his commissions at an accelerated rate, but also made it possible for the unlearned amongst them to pick up multiple little tricks and nuances that would surely help them in the future.

However, such harmoniousness wasn't going to last forever.

Not because the group wasn't getting along swimmingly; rather, it was because there was a certain force outside of their control that didn't want Axer to succeed.

…Uh oh… 𝓯𝙧𝓮𝓮𝒘𝓮𝙗𝙣𝒐𝒗𝒆𝓵.𝓬𝓸𝒎

'I fucking can't believe it… how lucky does someone have to be to get a brand-new batch of friends to assist them?'

Watching the forge from afar, hiding amongst a crowd of merchants, buyers, and artisans, was a man dressed like the latter.

In most cities, a spy would best be dressed in dark robes and have a plain face. However, in a city like Rainbowden, where being loud and creative was the norm, being normal was more outstanding than being unique. In other words, it was less noticeable being a splash of yellow on a mosaic than it was being a black dot.

Color analogies aside, the man spying on the forge jotted down a few notes and made a couple of sketches in a small book before pocketing the homemade literature and disappearing into the crowd.

They walked as if they were heading to a legitimate place of business, not in the middle of clandestine activity, certain that no one in the area was looking in their direction.

However, little did they know, a group of small toy-like figures made of bone, metal, and wood were stalking him all the while.

'Alright, just need to send my report down this pipe…'

Blissfully unaware of this fact, the spy delivered their report back to their superior by tossing the small book down what appeared to be a storm drain.

The book would then travel down the sewers, be caught by an awaiting agent and delivered to the superiors of this spy, who just so happened to be the creditors/the people responsible for burning down Axer's forge in the first place.

All of this would've been done without anyone being none the wiser, as nobody would ever really care or notice someone tossing things down a storm drain.

However, since this guy was being tailed by things that were definitely not human, his clandestine actions were caught in full detail.

Clang!

Clatter!

Thud!

The little figures dropped down the storm drain and followed the illicit literature to its point of origins, ready to punish the intended recipient with brutal violence.

...

[Alright, our lovely little proteges have made first contact with our targets and are now making headway in the storm...drain. Damn, I was kind of hoping for some form of alteration there,] Hurricroak reported and complained in the same breath.

[It's...okay...not... everything...in this...world...needs to...rhyme,] Frosttusk assured his froggy friend.

[Maybe, but it makes life more fun when it does.]

[I guess...]

[Alright,] Nepherage interjected before her fellow kaijin went off some kind of tangent involving musical numbers. [Can we focus on our apprentices going on a solo scouting mission? We need to make sure that they don't doing any drastic while we're not there to guide them.]

[Don't you mean, we have to make sure that they do something drastic? As in, what we would normally do?]

[...no.]

[Fair enough, should we alert any of the mortals about what's going on?]

[Yeah, go and tell Rianna. I think she would get a kick out of this.]