Castle of the Dead.
Shrouded in a black haze, this place exuded an eerie and desolate atmosphere.
The outer walls of the castle were made up of countless bones, over which red moss had grown.
Dried-up trees clung here and there along the walls, while flickering will-o’-the-wisps added to the grim ambiance.
‘So this is the Castle of the Dead.’
Truly, an rank 8 Gate.Ā Ā
The sense of intimidation was no ordinary thing.
And this was considered one of the weaker rank 8 Gates.Ā Ā
What could the others possibly be like?
“Master, it seems this will have to be tackled in the form of a siege battle.”
The castle gates were firmly shut.
Naturally, they showed no sign of opening.
That meant the only way to clear this Gate was through a siege.
“Team Leader 10.”
“Yes, Master.”
“What do you think?”
I first called over Team Leader 10 to ask for her thoughts.
Since we entered the Gate, she had been leading and commanding the Vulcanus Guild.
With her ability, Strategian, she would be able to grasp the current situation perfectly.
Combined with her knowledge, she could devise a more efficient strategy.
“Please wait a moment.”
She activated Strategian.
Strategian wasn’t simply an ability to observe the situation alone.
As an A-rank skill, it also allowed her to project her vision to those around her.
As soon as she activated it, a virtual map appeared before her.
Though the limitations of Strategian meant she couldn’t see everything inside the castle, she could still observe terrain and structures in far more detail than by mere sight.
“There are no visible weak points or hidden passages. The walls are made of bones, so it looks possible to climb…”
When she zoomed in on the walls, I saw Dark Knights standing atop them.
They lined up, each wielding massive bows nearly as big as themselves.
You’re seriously expecting us to climb the bone walls under a hail of their arrows?
That was ridiculous.
Maybe if we had shields or weapons to block their arrows it could be different, but climbing bare-handed on bone walls was impossible.
“Realistically, assaulting the walls is impossible.”
Several other strategies were suggested and discarded.
The other team leaders watching from the side voiced their opinions, only to be silenced by Team Leader 10’s rebuttals.
After going back and forth, we reached one conclusion:
“It will be difficult, but the only option is a straightforward assault on the castle gate.”
“What are the chances of success if we attack the gate?”
“Honestly, they aren’t very high. Even if we manage to break the gate, it will take a long time, and during that period, we will be completely exposed to enemy attacks.”
“That figures.”
“Even if we break the gate, there’s another problem. The core combat forces of the castle, including the Dark Knights, are likely stationed just inside.”
“So as soon as we breach the gate, they’ll counterattack.”
“Exactly. Just breaking down the gate will be tough enough, and if they counterattack immediately after, the actual success rate drops to around one percent.”
Attacking the gate was the plan.
It was the simplest and most brutal method, but under the circumstances, even a one percent chance of success was better than none.
The gate was less durable than the walls, and with luck, we might be able to break the lock and open it.
While the team leaders were worried about this simple but risky plan, I posed a question:
“What if we have siege engines?”
“Hm?”
I was the first to bring this up.
“For example, what if we had a battering ram?”
“Of course, if we had a battering ram, the gate would break much faster. It could also block the enemy’s path as they rush out after the gate falls.”
The battering ram was a siege weapon primarily used to break gates.
Its forms varied quite a bitāfrom a large log with a handle that soldiers charged with, to wheeled carts pushed forward.
There were many types of battering rams.
Surely, hitting the gate with a battering ram would break it down several times faster than a bare-handed assault.
“What about a trebuchet?”
“If we had a trebuchet, we could take down enemies inside the castle before even charging. If it had long range, we might be able to clear out archers on the walls ahead of time and advance safely.”
Trebuchets were similar in that regard.
The ammunition could be easily produced with Earth Magic by Team Leader 3, so we could attack the enemy from afar as much as we wanted.
“A siege tower?”
“That would be even better. With a siege tower, we could ignore arrow attacks and climb directly onto the walls, taking out the archers and gaining a geographical advantage.”
Other weapons like mobile ladders or ballistas were mentioned as well.
Every time I named a siege engine, Team Leader 10 proposed strategies on how to utilize it.
And the longer I spoke, the more smiles appeared on everyone’s faces.
They’d figured out why I was mentioning siege engines that we didn’t actually have.
“What if we had all the siege engines I mentioned?”
I am Vulcanus.
A blacksmith.
Though siege engines might be bigger and more complex, they were still weapons and items.
There was no reason the best blacksmith in Korea couldn’t create them.
Moreover, as soon as I heard this Gate was the Castle of the Dead, I created the largest possible Space Pocket and packed in plenty of materials.
With that, making all the siege weapons I mentioned wasn’t impossible.
To my question, Team Leader 10, Choi Yoo-na, responded with a bright smile:
“Guaranteed victory.”
***
Right after hearing the certainty of victory from Team Leader 10,Ā I immediately prepared to manufacture the siege weapons.Ā Ā
First, I took out the Space Pocket.
Since we had to make siege equipment, the required amount of materials was huge.
So rather than bringing rare materials, I brought plenty of basic ones like iron ore.
Of course, I didn’t bring no rare materials at all.
Just in case, I also brought a generous amount of rare ores for potential use.
“Did all of this come from that pocket?”
“Wow, a Space Pocket.”
“Did you really make this yourself? I’ve never heard of a blacksmith creating a Space Pocket before…”
“Why have you never listed something like this in the Forge page?”
From the moment I opened the Space Pocket, everyone’s curiosity was focused on it.
Understandably so.
Space Pockets weren’t typically something a blacksmith could make.
Sometimes enchanters or other special professions could create them, but their capacity was quite limited.
At best, twice the original volume.
If you wanted a larger Space Pocket, you had to aim for those randomly acquired from Gates.
And their price was exorbitantly high.
“It wasn’t efficient to mass-produce them.”
“Ah, I see.”
The reason we didn’t mass-produce Space Pockets was simple.
The Production Teamāmy disciplesāfound it difficult to make such ambiguous items.
They excelled at producing ordinary mass-produced items but struggled with things like Space Pockets.
So I was the only one who could make them.
Rune Script for space was difficult to carve, so even I took quite some time to craft one.
Unless it was necessary for me, I didn’t bother making more.
“Could you make one each for us? No, we’ll buy them! Please just sell them to us!”
“Could you perhaps advance it by deducting from our salaries?”
“I want one too! Having a Space Pocket would greatly improve both combat and convenience!”
I hadn’t realized the guild members wanted Space Pockets so badly.
It would take too long for me to perfectly craft 100 Space Pockets myself.
“I’ll think about it.”
“Ooh!”
“Please, thank you!”
“If you make them, we’ll gather all the monster materials from the Gate, down to the last scrap!”
I had to consider a plan.
Maybe find ways to shorten production time or design a version the Production Team could make.
Something along those lines.
Anyway, I took out all the materials needed from the Space Pocket.
Once everything was out, the amount was quite large.
It was like a hill of ore.
“Wow!”
“This must be at least an S-rank Space Pocket.”
“I heard the drop rate from Gates is insanely low.”
“Not just insanely low. The chance of getting an S-rank Space Pocket is lower than winning the lottery.”
“As expected of Vulcanus.”
“Please, I beg you! Even mass-produced ones would be fine, please, please!”
With that, preparations were complete.
The Space Pocket contained even tools like an anvil, so a makeshift forge was instantly set up.
Immediately, I grabbed my hammer.
[Using Crafting Skill.]
I began crafting.
Among the various siege engines, the first one I wanted to make was…
[Please select the form of the item to craft.]
“A trebuchet.”
A trebuchet.
As the name implies, a siege weapon that hurls stones.
The reason I prioritized the trebuchet was simple.
Battering rams or ladder carts couldn’t be used immediately after crafting, but a trebuchet could.
Once the trebuchet was finished, while I made other weapons, guild members could continuously bombard the Castle of the Dead from within.
So making the trebuchet first was the natural order.
[Please set the detailed form of the trebuchet.]
I already had the design in mind.
Among the common trebuchets, I chose the popular type known as the Trebuchet.
I had memorized its appearance beforehand by researching it online, so I registered the details right away.
Since it was a complex siege engine, not a simple cold weapon, its structure was more complicated than expected.
But as my level rose, so did my intelligence and wisdom stats, making it easy to memorize.
[Please select the materials for the trebuchet.]
I used various materials.
Heavy ore for the support frame, wood from the mines for the body, and tough, elastic fibers from the mines for the ropes.
As soon as I finished preparations,Ā Ā I swung the hammer.Ā Ā
“Bang!”Ā Ā
Every satisfying crack of the points forming signaled the assembly of the frame.
Then came the pillars, the rotating mechanism, the counterweights, and the launch platform in order.
“Oh!”
“To witness Vulcanus’s hammering in person.”
“It really makes you feel the Master is a blacksmith.”
“Is this speed normal? Other blacksmiths take so long to make a single item.”
“He is our Master, after all.”
Everyone’s attention was focused on me.
Naturally.
There was nothing else the Vulcanus Guild members could do.
With no tasks, they all just watched my crafting.
Even so, having a hundred pairs of eyes on me was somewhat distracting, so I swung the hammer with even more effort.
[Completed.]
[Obtained ‘Vulcanus Trebuchet’.]
“Ohhh!”
“A trebuchet!”
“To create a siege engine inside the Gate itself!”
As planned, I had successfully crafted a proper trebuchet within the Gate.