Reincarnated as the Strongest Dragon

Chapter 62: Crafting

After teleporting back to Baruda, I made my way back to the inn and up the stairs to our room.

“I’m back,” I called out as I opened the door and entered.

“Welcome back. I’ll be out in a minute,” Liz replied from the bathroom. “Did you find everything you wanted to buy?”

“Yeah. The shops in the capital had all I wanted and more,” I said as I sat down on the bed.

“Did you run into any trouble?”

“None at all,” I proclaimed smugly. “I told you that you were worrying too much.”

“I wonder why,” she sighed. “Are you going to tell me what you bought now?”

“Not yet,” I replied teasingly. “You will have to wait.”

“Such a tease,” I faintly heard Liz mutter from the bathroom. “What do you want to do tonight?”

“I was thinking of going to my house and doing…” I stopped, staring at Liz, who just came out of the bathroom. “... You?”

“Do me?” Liz giggled, tilting her head. “So, what do you think?”

Liz’s hair had gotten considerably shorter than what I had expected it to be, and her ears were no longer hidden by her hair.

“What do I think?” I asked, biting my lip. “I think my earlier reply was accurate.”

I didn’t think a simple change of hairstyle would do this much.

“Does that mean that you like it?” Liz wondered. “It’s not too short?”

“I love it,” I grinned as I stood up and walked over to her. “You’re gorgeous.”

“Thank you,” she replied, a blush appearing on her face. Her now visible ears were also turning red. “I was afraid that I had cut off too much.”

“It’s perfect,” I whispered as I hugged her, not being able to stop myself from nibbling on her ear. “Now, you don’t hide your cute ears anymore.”

“My cute ears?”

“Yes, your cute ears,” I giggled. “You are ever so adorable when your ears turn red when you blush.”

“They do?” She asked, pulling out of my hug and covering her now bright red ears with her hands. “Maybe I should have kept it longer.”

“Absolutely not,” I grinned. “Do you want to deprive me of my fun?”

“You’re such a bully sometimes,” she muttered. “So, what did you actually want to do at your house?”

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“You mean apart from you?” I replied, sticking out my tongue. “I was going to make something.”

“Make what?”

“Also a secret,” I giggled. “You can see when it’s done.”

“I can already guess that it will be something that will break my perception of what’s normal even more than before,” she sighed.

“Shouldn’t you be used to that by now?” I smirked.

“It would be easier if I was,” Liz answered. “Can I come with you?”

“If you want, but I don’t think it will be fun,” I said. “It will probably take a long time, and I will need to focus, so I can’t spend any time with you.”

“That’s fine. I can entertain myself,” Liz replied. “You said I could look in your study, right?”

“You can, but I don’t know how many books you will be able to read,” I pondered. “But are you sure? It will most likely take me over half a day to finish my crafting.”

“Just what are you going to make? Won’t you tell me?” Liz asked, pursing her lips and batting her eyelashes.

“Nice try,” I giggled. “You will have to wait.”

“Muh,” Liz pouted. “Fine, I’ll wait. When do you want to go?”

“Right away, if you want?” I asked. “The sooner I start, the sooner I will be done.”

“That’s fine with me.”

We teleported to the telenode outside of Baruda. I found a suitable spot and evened out the ground with earth magic before pulling my house out of my [Inventory].

“I don’t know if it’s good or bad that I don’t even bat an eyelash when you pull out a house out of nowhere anymore,” Liz pondered. “Maybe my perception of what’s normal is already shattered?”

“You make it sound like I broke you,” I mused.

“Do you deny it?” Liz giggled.

“I guess I can’t even if I wanted to,” I smirked. “Come on, let’s go inside.”

After entering the house, I summoned my foxlings. They began running around the house, apparently happy to see a familiar sight after so long.

“I will have to concentrate on my crafting, so I’m entrusting you three with keeping Liz company, okay?” I called out to the fluffballs running around. “Don’t cause too much trouble. And don’t knock over any books if you go into the study.”

“Kyu!” They squeaked and gathered around Liz.

“Let’s go see what fun we can find,” Liz said and picked up Boxy.

“Knock if you need something,” I called out before closing the door to my workshop.

I began by taking out the materials I planned on using and putting them on a table: Aqua silk, shadow silk, mithril, shimmering dust, yeti fur, prismatic hydra skin, blockrock, dragon scale, a magic stone from a yeti, and a magic stone from a flame hound.

Let’s get the most tedious and time-consuming thing out of the way first.

I picked up a mithril ingot and sat down at my refining station. I then placed the mithril ingot on a magitech device. I started channeling mana into it while turning a handle to refine the mithril into a thin thread. This process took a lot of time since the thread would become unusable if I didn’t channel the right amount of mana at all times, leading to a need for intense concentration. After five hours, I had refined two ingots into spools of thread.

That was honestly exhausting. I hope two ingots worth of thread is enough. Next up is the aqua silk for the base of the cloak.

I began measuring up and cutting the aqua silk into appropriately sized pieces. I then took the prismatic hydra skin to the refining station and started making it thinner by using a magitech device to compress it over and over.

Now that I think about it, there is no way I can use the shadow silk if I use the prismatic hydra skin. But in terms of usefulness, the skin is better. I guess I will save the shadow silk for something else.

One hour later, Liz knocked on the door. “Luna? Should we go to bed soon? It’s getting late.”

“I’m sorry, but I can’t stop right now,” I called out. “Can you go to bed without me?”

“I can wait,” she replied.

“I’m afraid it will take some time until I can take a break,” I said, making sure to keep my mana flowing steadily. “You can go to sleep without me.”

“Okay,” I heard her mutter from behind the door. “This time.”

Another hour passed until I was done with the prismatic hydra skin. It was now thinner than the aqua silk and would be used as a middle layer for added protection.

That should be good enough. The protective properties were somewhat reduced, but this way, the cloak won’t be stiff.

I took the aqua silk, the prismatic hydra skin, the yeti fur, and the mithril thread to my workbench to begin assembling them.

I began weaving the mithril thread into the aqua silk until the entire cloak was covered in an even layer of mithril, thin enough to not be visible to the naked eye. I then took the skin and lined the inside of the cloak before covering it in another layer of aqua silk. To finish up, I lined the inside of the hood with yeti fur.

The most time-consuming tasks are done. Speaking of, what time is it?

I walked over to the window and looked outside, noticing that the first rays of sunlight were fast approaching.

I left my workshop and made my way to the bedroom, making sure not to make any noise. I carefully opened the door and peeked inside, seeing Liz sleeping soundly covered in foxling tails. Boxy briefly raised his head to look at me before going back to sleep.

I don’t think I could sneak into bed if I tried. I might as well try to finish the cloak.

I closed the door and went back to my workshop to continue.

I took the cloak, put it over my shoulders, and pulled up the hood.

Lightweight and cozy, this will do nicely.

I put the cloak back on the workbench. Then, I grabbed the dragon scale from the table and began shaping it into a small shield to be used as a clasp to fasten the cloak.

Hmm, It might look a little bit too fancy compared to the rest of the cloak, and I haven’t even added the magic stones yet… Do I have something to color it with? A more metallic hue would be more inconspicuous. And if I modify it a bit, I can put the magic stones on the inside without it becoming uncomfortable to wear. It should be more than enough, even with the loss of power from refining them down to that size.

I refined the magic stones into a more suitable size and adjusted the dragon scale to accommodate them on the backside of the clasp. I then painted the clasp, giving it a gray metallic hue. After putting the magic stones in place, I fitted the clasp onto the cloak with mithril thread.

This turned out better than expected. Let’s see what I have so far.

I took the cloak to the enchantment table and began inspecting its intricate mana flow more carefully.

It’s already almost at max capacity. I should be able to add one more thing without issues, but two would most likely push it over the limit. The question is, which one? Even though [Cleanse] is nice to have, I think [Identify Blocker] is more important.

Liz can wash the cloak manually, or I can cast [Cleanse] myself, but preventing others from snooping is harder without adding it to the item directly, so let’s go with that.

I moved over to my alchemy station, filled up my magitech cauldron with blockrock, and began channeling mana into it, liquefying the blockrock. I then took the cloak and submerged it in the black liquid, letting it soak thoroughly.

After giving it a good swirl, I pulled the cloak out of the cauldron and watched the black liquid evaporate into nothingness.

Now for the finishing touches.

I went back to my enchanting table and began modifying and strengthening the various enchantments until the cloak was at maximum capacity. Adding any more would cause it to degrade or break without a doubt.

It’s a shame about [Cleanse], but nothing more I could do with what I had to work with. Now for a name…

I pondered for a few minutes before I engraved the perfect name and finished the cloak.

Immensely satisfied with my work, I put away the cloak and cleaned up my workshop.

This turned out great. I can’t wait to show Liz. I wonder if she is awake? What time is it anyway?

I left my workshop and made my way back to the bedroom. I cautiously opened the door and snuck inside so I wouldn’t wake up Liz. I gently moved Woxy and Roxy away from my side of the bed before undressing and sneaking under the cover.

“Took you long enough,” Liz muttered.

“I’m sorry,” I said sheepishly. “I got a little too into it and lost track of time.”

“What time is it?” Liz asked as she turned around and put her arms around me.

“I think it’s still quite early, so you can go back to sleep.”

“Mhmn,” she mumbled, tightening her hug and putting her left leg over me, further restricting my movements.

She really has me pinned down. This must be what it feels like to be a body pillow. I guess I will have to sleep on my back.

Boxy stood up and yawned, stretching his entire body before moving over and making himself comfortable on top of my stomach.

… If I get any sleep at all.