Ch.5757. Groomhill’s Rune Armor

Could it be because I previously designated this wolf avatar as my representative when appointing the mayor?

Most people living in the underground city already know the identity of this wolf avatar, and I should add that I’m the only red-headed wolf beastman in this city.

So when I revealed the official identity of the body I’m currently using, Grumhil, who seemed to have already guessed my identity from seeing my wolf ears, gained certainty and immediately tried to bow his head.

“There are many eyes watching. May we talk inside your workshop?”

“Yes, of course!”

However, since this wasn’t something to be discussed in such an exposed place with so many onlookers, I suggested we go inside first and brought him into the workshop.

“The conditions aren’t very good in here… will you be alright?”

Indeed, the interior of the workshop was so hot that while Grumhil might be fine, any ordinary dwarf who carelessly entered would be well-cooked by the steam.

This wolf avatar’s race is the high-tier monster Fenrir, so high temperatures aren’t particularly problematic, but an environment this humid with steam blurring our faces would obviously hinder our conversation.

*Clap!*

“That’s better now.”

So I immediately created a holy magic spell to remove steam, using a clap as the trigger to cast the spell, instantly clearing away all the steam.

“Prepare yourself to receive the message from Him with proper respect.”

“…Yes.”

*Thud*

Immediately after, to fulfill my purpose of “pretending to be a messenger while delivering my own words,” I set the mood and began speaking. Grumhil instantly bent his short legs, kneeled on one knee, and bowed his head.

“Then I shall begin… 《Blacksmith Grumhil, hear this.》”

Only then did I finally speak the message that required me to operate this avatar to deliver in person.

“《In preparation for the coming fall of the Empire, forge armor for my apostle to use.》 So He has spoken.”

“Armor, you say?”

“Yes. That’s correct.”

Indeed. What I needed to deliver by transferring my wolf avatar all the way here was a request to craft equipment for Bjorn—specifically armor, which couldn’t be obtained through hidden pieces or other methods.

Of course, Bjorn has an amulet that provides defense equivalent to level 3 full plate armor to protect against most attacks, but the true value of this amulet is realized when another layer of full body armor is worn over it.

Therefore, I commissioned the creation of armor from the strongest craftsman I could currently employ. After pondering for a moment, Grumhil seemed to make up his mind and asked me:

“May I know what kind of armor He has specified?”

“Yes. The inner layer should be a mythril chain shirt, with the outer plating made of adamantine. As for runes… six of them.”

“…Six, you say?”

“That’s correct.”

In the game, runes are a type of enchantment that, unlike other enchantments, vary in performance according to the user’s specs, making them commonly used even in the late game.

Also, the number of runes that can be applied is strictly determined by the equipment’s level—the equipment level multiplied by two equals the rune limit. In other words, six runes means the equipment is level 3.

Perhaps as a trade-off, rune effects tend to be quite simple… but still, they’re several times more efficient than ordinary enchantments. Besides, there was no other way to apply magic suitable for level 3 equipment apart from runes, so there was no alternative.

Anyway, after I outlined the weapon specifications, Grumhil next asked me about the runes to be applied.

“Then what runes would you like to apply? If He didn’t specify, I could use my experience to decide, but perhaps He…”

“Of course, He provided all details down to the specifics. Please listen carefully.”

“…Understood.”

“Reinforcement, Magic Resistance, Strong Bone, Mighty Strength, Swift Feet, and Perception. These six.”

“I see… mostly focused on enhancing physical abilities?”

“Yes. He said that once His apostle is fully developed, tricks would be meaningless anyway.”

As Grumhil noted, all six runes were focused on enhancing basic abilities.

The Magic Resistance rune to increase resistance to magic, the Strong Bone rune to enhance bone durability—that is, to increase strength and maximum HP, and the simple but effective Mighty Strength rune to amplify power.

In addition, the Swift Feet rune to enhance leg strength and reflexes for increased agility, the Perception rune to improve reflexes and detection abilities, and finally, the Reinforcement rune to enhance all abilities while also boosting the performance of the other runes.

This was custom armor perfectly aligned with Bjorn’s development direction that I’m currently guiding him toward.

In the original timeline, as inferred from the dummy data in the game, Bjorn’s ultimate path as an apostle of countless evil gods was to overwhelm enemies with spectacular specs and fearsome raw damage output, without relying on tricks.

He had disgusting passives like immunity to all magic, immunity to all status effects, and 90% increased physical defense, plus the ability to act seven times per turn, allowing him to defeat even max-level tanks in a single turn with just basic attacks.

Moreover, those seven actions weren’t just a “multi-hit” warrior passive but an upgraded version that allowed him to take seven “actions” in one turn—meaning he could heal himself, apply buffs, and unleash area attacks all at once. I had experienced this terrifying power through DLC.

Of course, the freedom of reality can’t be compared to a turn-based pixel game, but that doesn’t mean the data from Dungeon & Adventure is completely useless.

After some calculations, while damage formulas and buff enhancement rates can’t be recognized as exact figures, they match almost perfectly with reality except for a small margin of error.

And that small margin of error extends to the fifth decimal place due to factors not implemented in the game, such as wind, gravity, or daily condition… At least the data that officially appeared in the game can be considered accurate.

Therefore, based on Dungeon & Adventure data and my experience here, Bjorn’s ultimate build would be…

Ah, my thoughts wandered off for a moment.

Anyway, back to the main point.

“Then shall we go with this design?”

“Yes, that should satisfy Him as well, Blacksmith Grumhil.”

Having finalized the armor’s design and completed my business here, I prepared to return to the temple and then to the divine realm by pulling up my hood… and left with one final remark.

“May you be well, Blacksmith Grumhil.”

“It was an honor, messenger and servant of Him.”

Now it was time to depart.

After leaving Grumhil’s workshop with my hood pulled low, I hurried my steps to return quickly to the divine realm for some rest when I happened to overhear a conversation between some dwarves.

“Are those weaklings (humans) still at war with those barbarians?”

“Yeah. Well, it’s good for merchants like us.”

I didn’t specifically approach them after hearing this, but I was well aware of the war in the Rom Empire they were referring to.

The war with barbarians mentioned by the master dwarf craftsman and the visiting merchants from the Dwarf Kingdom likely refers to the invasion by the Orc Empire that the Rom Empire is currently fighting desperately to repel.

Orcs. As commonly depicted in media, they’re a humanoid race with green skin, protruding teeth, impressive tusks, and well-developed bodies.

Thanks to their excellent passive ability that gives them bodybuilder-level muscles just by eating and fighting, they naturally boast low-tier warrior combat power. Their magical aptitude is also excellent, except that it’s somewhat difficult for them to produce mages.

Add to this their impressive reproductive capacity—twins being the norm—and intelligence that, while lower than humans on average, actually has higher peaks when considering the entire population.

Due to their inherent ferocity and innate survival-of-the-fittest mentality, they struggle to form advanced civilizations, but in the current era of ancient nations, they can easily gather hundreds of thousands, making them a tier-1 nation.

Therefore, I find it rather impressive that the Rom Empire is managing to hold them back—and at the same time, I hope this war continues as long as possible.

As long as the Empire’s elites and legions remain tied up with the orcs, it would be impossible for me to bring down the Rom Empire.

In fact, even in the original game, the evil gods destroyed the Rom Empire by exploiting its weakened state after it had been devastated by defending against the Orc Empire’s offensive.