I am starting to think that it might be a better idea to get more coins before heading to Soul City. At the least, I should head back to the battlefield world to collect more free coins. Besides, now that I know how, I really need to mark that door before I forget where it is.
I practice entering the soul palace again and again until I can do it at will. By then, I am completely exhausted, so I curl up with the kids to get some sleep. For once, the kids wake up before me, but then they start playing and quickly wake me up.
Luckily, by the time they wake me up I have fully recovered my mental strength. I join in the kids game for a while and then once they are worn out we eat breakfast. After they are done eating, the kids go off to do their own things and I head to my workshop.
I finally get to experiment with the new metal that I got from Holos' realm. The tests show that it is a very strong metal, but rigid so it won't be useful for some things. Of course, that is just the base metal, there are bound to be alloys I can make with it.
The base metal will be useful for armor and weapons on its own, but I have a limited amount. I would like to find alloys that use it so that I can make it last longer. That is my next experiment, mixing the ore with various metals to try and find an alloy.
The simple, two component alloys, are fairly easy to discover and test. The more complex alloys, those with more than two ingredients, are much harder to find. Especially since sometimes to get two metals to combine, it takes a non-metal component.
However, even though most of the experiments fail, I still have a lot of fun. Each and every single experiment, regardless of the result, helps to satisfy my curiosity. Considering all the frustration I normally go through, it feels great to satisfy it even a little.
Besides, even failed experiments help me gain more knowledge of metallurgy. It is not something that I studied in my past life, but I picked up a little here and there. However, the same rules don't apply to this world because of magic.
Magic can allow two metals that logically shouldn't combine to be able to combine. It adds a whole new dimension to metallurgy and greatly increases the number of possible experiments. During the experiments, I find that using a small amount of metal mana really helps.
It won't directly allow me to figure out an alloy, but it does give me hints. For one thing, if two metals can't combine at all, the mana will have a certain reaction. Once I figure that out, it becomes a lot easier to find combinations that will work.
Unfortunately, the hints don't indicate what else might need to be added. So, while I can determine a lot of possible alloys, I still need to do a ton of experiments. However, I can only conduct as many experiments as I have other materials to test.
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There are a number of alloys that should be possible, but that I can't find the right mix for. It is probably due to the fact that they require some rare components that I don't have. Either that or they need some specific magic technique to make the alloy.
Whichever it is, it looks like I am not going to be able to find the alloy right now. However, I do find a few useful alloys, even if they are simple alloys. It should be enough for me to make the ore I got last a lot longer before it runs out.
It probably won't be enough to build a golem army, but equpping an army might be doable. Even using the alloys, the best use of them is still for weapons and armor. For golems, it would be best used as an outer shell, but it wouldn't be good for the internals.
I will probably keep enough for at least a few golems, just because golden golems would look cool. I say golden because that is the best alloy I have found so far, mixing the silver ore with gold. The resulting alloy is a shiny golden color and it retains its strength.
The best part is that the mixture is fifty-fifty, meaning that with enough gold I can double the ore. The fact that it will look awesome and expensive is just a bonus. An army equipped with this metal will look like a holy army, especially if there are angels too.
Speaking of, I need to make sure to keep enough metal to make gear for my angel. I would make it now, but I don't know yet if it will be male or female. Although, knowing my luck it is going to be yet another woman who will cause me problems.
However, since it will be newly born, maybe I will be able to treat it like another kid. Anyway, that is a problem for later, it will take a while before I can level up. For now, I am going to do some crafting, I start making weapons and armor.
The armor is just general in shape, I will add an enchantment to make it fit. The weapons are even easier, they are just basic weapons that I will enchant. Luckily, the alloy has a good amount of mana capacity, so I can do most things with enchantments.
For example, I will make a standard short sword and then enchant it with shapeshifting. It won't be the full shapeshifting, just enough to allow it to turn into any type of sword. I will do the same with axes, spears, and bows, that way I will cover most weapon types.
This will be the easiest way to equip an entire army and still allow them to have their preferred weapons. The only other option would be to wait and custom make the weapons for the troops. Since I don't even know who all the troops will be, that isn't possible currently.
So, this is my only option that can be done right now, so I keep crafting them. I decide to use about three quarters of the ore that I have and save the rest. That should give me enough equipment to equip at least a small army, or the elites of an army.
After crafting for a few hours I take a break to have some food and check on the kids. Most of them are training, but Haku and Ekard went into the shadow plane. It makes me realize that I can't always be around and should make them some protective items.
So, when I return to my workshop I focus on making a bracelet for each of them. I make them extra dense so that they will be able to hold more enchantments. I also add some gem powder and other random things I have in my pouch.
Once they are all made, I turn to putting the enchantments into them. I make it so that they will activate automatically when the wearer is in mortal danger. I add shapeshifting so they can turn into armor that will fit any body type.