Looking at the generous supply of Vicious Claw Wyvern materials in his pack, Andrew's most important decision, besides the armor he already planned to make, was what weapon to forge.
It was a shame the Vicious Claw Wyvern couldn't be used to make a Tachi; otherwise, there'd be no dilemma.
Then again, his primary damage-dealing Dullahan Tachi already had materials set aside for an upgrade, so he didn't really need a whole new one...
Besides, while a Tachi's offensive power is immense, its ability to protect others is...
Let's just say you shouldn't ask for functions that don't exist.
When a Tachi user tries to protect someone, if the target is standing behind them and they execute a Foresight Slash, the hunter who successfully dodges is fine, but the person they were supposedly protecting is in for a world of hurt.
As the saying goes, "As long as I dodge," someone else is going to have a bad time.
They also say that life will find a way.
But after a stunt like that, whether the client finds a way or not, the commission fee has definitely flown the coop.
As for the weapons the Vicious Claw Wyvern could make...
Dual Blades... were an option, but in terms of protection, they were on par with the Tachi. They could, however, serve as new weapons for Anby and the Silver Squad.
It would also be a perfect opportunity to phase out their military-grade weapons, reducing the potential risk of exposure.
The bigger problem, however, was whether they could even handle the fully-upgraded equipment.
After a moment's thought, he decided that since he had more than enough materials, he would first craft them some low-rank training gear. Once they could truly master it, he would make them the final-form versions.
The Charge Blade had a shield, but the moment you unleashed a Full Burst, that shield transformed from a defensive tool into a deadly sawblade, completely losing its protective function.
He could just not use the Full Burst, but if he was going to use a Charge Blade and not use its ultimate move, why wouldn't he just use a Sword and Shield?
And the last options, the Insect Glaive and Light Bowgun, both had their own unique problems.
The Kinsect, the most crucial part of the Insect Glaive, didn't exist in New Eridu, and the ammo for the Light Bowgun, which it consumed like water, was basically impossible for Andrew to acquire.
He didn't even need to bother analyzing their defensive capabilities.
At this point, the most suitable choice was, without a doubt, the Lance.
It was cumbersome, but as the hunter's most resilient shield, its defensive power was absolutely second to none.
The flames of the forge roared to life. The bones, having been decomposed by the soil overnight, were already stripped of any remaining flesh.
The benefits of the rapid decomposition characteristic of wyverns in Monster Hunter were on full display.
Compared to the weeks or even months it took for a normal corpse, this was remarkably fast.
And since the "Vicious Claw Wyvern" hadn't undergone a massive mutation, he could use the standard Odogaron forging template to craft with its parts.
Ether Alloy glowed red-hot under the intense heat, and under Andrew's precise hammer blows, the intricate internal structure that allowed the lance to spin like an electric drill quickly took shape.
Finally, after assembling the collapsible metal frame, it was time for the bone base.
The Odogaron's femur was carefully measured and sawed open. Andrew then meticulously polished the cylindrical bone sections and mounted them onto the lance's metal skeleton.
The purely mechanical frame now resembled a basic Bone Lance.
But unlike a Bone Lance, the material for its sharp point wasn't just a simple, sharpened piece of bone.
The forged Ether Alloy also wrapped around the outside of the bone, creating a framework infused with the Vicious Claw Wyvern's materials.
However, Andrew didn't immediately add the subsequent materials. Instead, he began to craft the other, most critical component of the weapon.
The most resilient shield in a hunter's entire arsenal.
This type of shield had no transforming mechanisms, nor did it have any function other than defense.
When designing and forging a Lance's shield, the only consideration was sturdiness.
Therefore, things like weight and size were of no concern to the creator.
Under Andrew's hand, the Vicious Claw Wyvern's shoulder blades were ground down and combined to form a basic circular bone shield. But this was just the beginning. For the base, Andrew took out the wyvern's single, intact skull.
As one of the Vicious Claw Wyvern's hardest bones, it was the perfect choice for the shield's foundational frame.
All the teeth were removed, and the skull, now a core material, gave the shield a shape reminiscent of a wolf's head.
After another round of forging, a thick layer of Ether Alloy became the shield's inner lining and its face, wrapping around the skull like muscle clinging to bone.
With the basic framework complete, it was time to process the Vicious Claw Wyvern's other materials and fuse them with the lance and shield.
He selected high-grade scales of the right size and shape and affixed them to the sturdy shield. The most unique and durable among them, the Vicious Claw Wyvern's Reverse Scale, was set right in the center.
A shield constructed from these parts, combined with this particular wyvern's unique nature, possessed an inherently stronger resistance to Ether-based attacks.
Aside from its absolutely terrifying weight, it had almost no flaws.
But a weapon's weight has never been its own flaw—only the hunter's.
The tough sinews from the Vicious Claw Wyvern's tail, used for control, weren't iron-hard like those in its limbs; instead, they were incredibly elastic, making them the perfect connectors for the lance's rotating mechanism.
Its fangs became the shell that spiraled around the weapon's body, while its claws, after being processed, were forged into the lance's unstoppable tip.
The threaded, spiraling design gave the weapon a palpable sense of danger when it spun. Its sharp tip normally remained retracted within the weapon's body, but the moment it shot out, it was an unstoppable force.
After the final fusion was complete, the lance known as Otherworldly Spiralflame was born in Andrew's hands.
It wasn't that he lacked the materials to craft the final-form version of the Vicious Claw Wyvern Lance, unfortunately.
The main issue was the single Wyvern Gem he had found. For a weapon intended for a bodyguard commission, this level of power was more than sufficient.
Besides, it was better to keep that unique Wyvern Gem as a rechargeable power source for now.
Looking at the weapon, which the System designated as Rarity 6 and blue quality, Andrew nodded in satisfaction.
A weapon of this quality was just one step shy of the next tier: purple.
In terms of base stats, the weapon crafted from the Vicious Claw Wyvern wasn't much different from one made from the Odogaron he'd encountered back in the Forbidden Lands.
But it carried an attribute he had never seen before: Ether.
Its name was Otherworldly Spiralflame!
Otherworldly Spiralflame II
With the successful creation of the Otherworldly Spiralflame and the system's equipment notification, the next project was his trusty Tachi, the Dullahan!
Back when the Vicious Claw Wyvern was still an Odogaron, the arm blade from "The Infamous Dullahan" he had hunted was the perfect material for an upgrade.
And considering it had thrown that same arm blade right at him... could he call that a pre-battle gift from the Odogaron?
Well, he had returned the favor with a Dung Pod, so it was a fair exchange of gifts. (No, really.)
____
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