Building the Strongest Undead Empire from Scratch

Chapter 17: Equipment Forge

[Equipment Forge]

[Level: Lv1]

[Function: Forge Equipment]

Note 1: Can currently forge Rank 1 equipment.

Note 2: Current forging quality rates for Rank 1 equipment are: Normal 90%, Fine 9%, Perfect 0.99%, Legendary 0.01%.

[Currently Craftable Equipment: None]

Note: Unlock using equipment crafting blueprints.

[Equipment Blacksmith: None]

Note 1: Requires at least one blacksmith to activate forging function.

Note 2: Current level allows a maximum of two blacksmiths, enabling the simultaneous forging of two pieces of equipment.

[Upgrade Requirements: 10,000 units of Wood, 10,000 units of Stone, 1000 Magic Crystals, 10 Red Crystals]

The Equipment Forge was built! However, Alex needed two things before she could start churning out shiny new gear.

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First, she needed a blacksmith. A forge needs a smith, just like a factory needs workers. Someone's gotta swing the hammer! Fortunately, the job requirements weren't exactly demanding. Any unit under Alex's command would do. Piece of cake! Alex might have been short on a few things, but she had an army! With the Lich King's inheritance, she could confidently say that as long as she had enough mana, she could raise a million-strong undead army faster than you could say "braaaains."

Currently, on just the second day of Eldoria, Alex commanded 397 Skeletal Warriors, plus the two Skeleton Dragons summoned from the Necromantic Altar. Just one shy of 400! No other lord among the billions in Eldoria could boast such numbers at this stage of the game. And with her current mana regeneration rate (1 point per minute), she could summon another thirty Skeletal Warriors every hour, provided she had the corpses. (Her Necromantic Summoning skill cost 2 mana points per use.) Manpower? Not a problem. She could just assign a couple of Skeletal Warriors to the forge. The image of skeletons hammering away at an anvil was a little... grim. Kind of a spooky blacksmith shop, but hey, if it worked, it worked!

The second requirement was an equipment crafting blueprint. Like tofu needs a mold, a forge needs a blueprint. This, too, wasn't an issue. The Black Iron Chest, besides the Equipment Forge itself, had also coughed up a Rank 1 Dragon Sparrow Saber crafting blueprint. Two birds, one stone! Or in this case, two blueprints, one chest!

Immediately, Alex placed the Dragon Sparrow Saber blueprint into the forge.

[Respected Lord, congratulations! You have successfully unlocked the Rank 1 Dragon Sparrow Saber!]

The Equipment Forge's crafting menu updated.

[Dragon Sparrow Saber]

[Type: Weapon]

[Rank: 1]

[Current Success Rates: Normal 90%; Fine 9%; Perfect 0.99%; Legendary 0.01%]

[Crafting Materials: 20 units of Refined Iron, 2 Magic Crystals]

"Refined Iron..." Alex deflated. She didn't have any. No refined iron, no Dragon Sparrow Sabers. Her gaze drifted towards her hundreds of Skeletal Warriors diligently grilling meat. "I wonder if they know anything about mining and smelting," she mumbled.

The Skeletal Warriors remained silent, offering no helpful metallurgical advice.

The lack of refined iron put a temporary hold on Alex's arms dealing aspirations. Fortunately, the cooked meat processing business was still booming. Sophie's second batch of a million orders? Alex had only completed less than 100,000. Still a long way to go!

"Gotta keep at it, Alex!" she muttered, giving herself a pep talk. She looked at the two hundred or so Skeletal Warriors huddled around the bonfires, each laden with slabs of raw meat. "You guys gotta keep at it too!"

"As you command, my master!" they rattled in unison.

Nodding in satisfaction, Alex walked away. She had a more pressing matter to attend to. It was time to upgrade the Necromantic Altar! She was starting to have second thoughts. "I should have upgraded the Necromantic Altar first!" she thought. "That darn Equipment Forge, such a temptress!"

After Arthur and John's spider-slaying spree, Alex had collected 18 Red Crystals. Building the Equipment Forge had consumed 10, leaving her with 8. More than enough for the altar upgrade.

[Necromantic Altar (Unique Building)]

[Level: Lv1]

[Allows one summoning per day]

[Current summonable unit options (choose one): 1. 10 Skeletal Warriors; 2. 10 Undead Zombies; 3. 2 Liches; 4. 2 Death Knights; 5. 1 Skeleton Dragon; 6. 1 Zombie Titan]

[Upgrade Requirements: 100 Magic Crystals, 5 Red Crystals]

Alex approached the Necromantic Altar. The imposing Demon King still sat upon his throne in the center, radiating an aura of silent power and authority. "I wonder what level I'll have to reach to summon *him*," Alex mused. "He must be incredibly powerful!"

She checked her inventory.

[Magic Crystals: 505, Red Crystals: 8]

Enough for the upgrade.

"Upgrade!" she commanded.

[Respected Lord, do you wish to consume 100 Magic Crystals and 5 Red Crystals to upgrade the Necromantic Altar?]

[Yes] or [No]

"Yes!"

The altar shimmered.

[Respected Lord, congratulations! Upgrade successful!]

The whole process took less than three seconds. Alex wasn't one to fuss over details. She quickly checked the upgraded altar. Outwardly, it looked the same. The changes were in the stats.

[Necromantic Altar (Unique Building)]

[Level: Lv2]

[Allows one summoning per day]

[Current summonable unit options (choose two): 1. 10 Skeletal Warriors; 2. 10 Undead Zombies; 3. 2 Liches; 4. 2 Death Knights; 5. 1 Skeleton Dragon; 6. 1 Zombie Titan]

[Upgrade Requirements: 500 Magic Crystals, 10 Red Crystals]

Subtle, but significant. Still one summon per day, still the same six unit options. But now... Level 2 allowed her to choose *two* unit types! "So tomorrow, I can summon a Skeleton Dragon *and* a Zombie Titan!" she realized. Based on the principle of power balance, the Zombie Titan was likely on par with the Skeleton Dragon. A God-level being! "If the Skeleton Dragon is anything to go by, the Zombie Titan must be a beast!" Alex was practically drooling with anticipation.

Just then, Sophie contacted her, sounding panicked.

[Sophie]: Alex, emergency!

[Sophie]: Some lord on the world channel is saying he got a fire source!

[Sophie]: Alex, someone's trying to muscle in on our meat-processing gig!

Alex frowned. "Someone else has fire?" She'd never doubted that others would eventually obtain fire, but this was sooner than she'd expected. She'd hoped to milk the cooked meat monopoly until at least tonight. Now, on just the second day at noon, competition was already emerging? "Please don't let them start a price war," she thought nervously.

After reassuring Sophie, Alex opened the world channel.