We got a sudden attack from the Calamity Objects from time to time, but none of their attempts were prolonged into multiple waves of dangerous threats.
After a great effort on speedrunning the weapon that I envisioned, while also maintaining the defensive perimeters in check—we finally finished the project at last.
"Huwaaa…! So this is what you guys are making within the inner layer of the walls."
"I can't believe that I greatly took part in this exotic craftsmanship, genuinely, respectful, and indubitably."
"That's a lot of adverbs you used there…"
It only took my impossibly dexterous arm and Verina's uber-thermostat power half an hour to finish our project.
The fact that we could directly skip the smelting process was already a godsend, since the claws were already a metal and ready to be reforged.
Nonetheless, my attempt and method was still inexperienced and forced. If an actual blacksmith supervised what we were doing with these precious metals, we would get whacked on the head with a broom.
As I placed my finger on the surface of my rather hastily-made creation, a sense of pride and parenthood suddenly dawned on me.
"I'll name this, the Fortcracker."
The beast of war stood tall against the horizon, a menacing silhouette that struck fear into the hearts of all who beheld it.
A frame of construction, stretching nearly two meters from end to end, with four durable legs and a pair of anchors.
The wood was reinforced with Sandstalker's steel bands that glinted in the luminescence, each one hammered into place with painstaking precision.
Despite its size, the machine was ingeniously portable, with its four menacing legs capable of folding-in simultaneously and its frame breaking down into manageable sections, allowing a dedicated strong-man or a wagon to transport it from one position to the other.
However, it was the six throwing arms that truly defined this weapon of destruction.
Arrayed in pairs along the central stock, each arm was a behemoth. Carved through intricate contraption and compound layering, these arms were slightly curved, tapering to vicious points that would grip the projectiles with deadly intent, as each one of them connected to their respective torsion bundles of unprecedented drawing-weight.
"And that's why it's stronger than the ballista that we have lying around inside the fortress."
""Ooooooh""
Though, we only got ammunition of giant wood poles to accommodate its function, so the Fortcracker, albeit much more powerful than the earlier ballista, won't be cracking any kind of fortified castle anytime soon.
[Fortcracker (Masterpiece 100%) - 175.1kg: The Fortcracker is an extraordinary siege weapon designed to be a strategic pulverizer. With a compact yet powerful frame reinforced by iron bands and six torsion-powered throwing arms, this wrathful ballista can launch any type of bolts with devastating force, capable of shattering stone walls and obliterating organic armor. Portable yet powerful, it requires a crew or a skilled individual to operate, making it a feared instrument of siege and bastion's first heart of defense]
I couldn't believe that this thing was part of my equipment, as if it was something that I just put in my pocket.
Heh, it was somewhat amusing to see the game's perspective of the Fortcracker.
Though, I also didn't expect that the game system would just conveniently integrate any kind of creation as part of the world's objects.
This game really had an advanced AI or LMM, if that was the case.
Then again, if one would think about it, my existence and consciousness should be part of the server database or whatever the hell was processed by the game engine.
Quite hard believing all of this stuff with how vivid my experience was as the NPC of the game.
After we put the Fortcracker on a wagon, our Moods got a raw +15 increase. "Everyone, to WAAGH!"
""To WAAAGH!!""
With the addition of the Fortcracker, our fighting strategy shifted massively when we were against a tough Calamity Object.
Instead of fighting defensively atop of the fortified walls, or kiting them with one vanguard outside of the wall, we opted to gather around the gate area and escort the Fortcracker like our iron cavalry.
"Unleash, the Fortcracker! Muahahah!" Lupina screamed, as she laughed maniacally like a goddamn villain.
In the state of battle where a new wave of Calamity Objects were suddenly attacking from a different side of the bastion, both Verina and I rushed to the battlefield early as we waited for Lupina who would be wagoning the Fortcracker back and forth.
Without knowing it, we had already reached the 11 hour milestone.
[The Ordeal of the Midnight will be approaching in 1 hours_]
"This is genuinely the first time where I broke the 11 hours threshold in a bastion with less than 10 ten people, let alone three," Verina commented, right before her face was caught by the whiplash of the wind current that was created by the shockwave of the Fortcracker's firing.
I chuckled. "Well, it is indeed a miracle that this bastion stood the test of durability with only three people defending it."
"Then again, you're counted as ten people, Narcissus."
"I doubted that."
"Fellows, I got inspiration!" Lupina howled.
"Speak up, Lupina of the Fort."
"What if we make more of the Fortcracker!" Lupina submitted her ideas like it was something revolutionary. "However, instead of making it with the exact same size and ratio, we make a smaller version of them, give it a handle, and then name it Little Fortcracker!"
"That's just a glorified arbalest," Verina pointed out.
"Less size means less destructive power, and there are only three of us, and possibly ten of the Calamity Objects that are three-times the size of us, and have metallic armor or some kind."
"Better have a single giant artillery that can shoot as fast and kill a single one of them with a single bolt," Verina followed. "Besides, we have my musket."
"Urgh, only you can be the one to use that musket, Verina."
"And I take pride in it."
Although, the idea of having a distributed long-range weapon that can be used at any situation sounds very enticing.
Not to mention, after utilizing the metallic claws of the Sandstalkers, I realized that the lingering dead Calamity Object could be used and repurposed into something beneficial.
Then again, most of the manifesting Calamity Objects, especially the phenomenon and environmental one would often disappear when the dawn of day arrived. Only the entity-type could be scavenged for their materials.