"That you should. Talk to the Techno Wizard, he’ll get you set up with what you need. You can make munitions creation orbs, and modify them yourself. It can’t be that hard for you to learn to make other spell effects.

Flaming Blade, or some sort of offensive bonus, would be best, as the shield already has a barrier spell built in that will activate at the level of the shield." Pops noted.

Mead tapped the blueprint. "You know, if you’re building them right in, you can make all the effects apply at the shield’s level. That means you definitely want an attack ability because only the Royal Guards will have a skill that’s even close to the level of their gear."

Dominic smiled. "You make a great point. Shields and spears are great for the local guards. But they’re not exactly known for their immense wealth or high level secondary skills. Letting them focus on physical enhancement magitech orbs would save them a lot of suffering."

The town guard didn’t get really high-level gear. But even if he made them all a bunch of Rare Grade shields at level six to ten, with a barrier and attack spell, they could be called elite troops in combat.

With rifles to get them started from a distance, then spears and shields for closer range work, and swords when the monsters were too close for spears, they would be well-rounded.

The shields would also let them use any weapon they liked with nearly equal damage output.

It might not be the great advancement that he was hoping for, but Dominic was certain that he could make something of that turbine plan if he was given a bit of time.

The design was supposed to be more efficient than a steam piston, so it should be adaptable to make a better drive unit for the steam trucks. Or, he could use it to charge electrical lines to power lights around town instead of using magitech lightbulbs.

But that seemed like a step backward in technology.

Running wires all over town, which could be broken, would get in the way of construction, and which were charged with electricity, posing a contact hazard for vehicles and anything else on the street, just seemed like a terrible idea compared to having magitech devices in all the houses.

Of course, it would also be used in the new factories to drive machinery, but that was just too basic.

Pops chuckled as Dominic was lost in thought. "Well, have you decided what to work on first?"

Dominic smiled back at him. "Magitech Orbs for the shields. Then, I’ll make a whole load of them, and some Dark Iron pistols. I’ve got a bunch of Common and Uncommon Grade Minotaur Cleavers, all made of Dark Iron, which has to be better than what I was using."

Pops nodded. "How about you send a few of those my way? Common Grade is fine, I just need the metal. It will help teach Mead the basics of working with advanced metals, and we can make some higher quality tools."

Dominic set two cleavers down on the counter and picked up his blueprints. "I’m glad you could sort that out for me. Now I’ve got plans for the next factory’s power plant, and a project to work on during my free time.

The shields won’t be too bad once I get a mould made for the basic shape. So I’ll do them first, and get them handed out to as many locals as I can. Well, locals and the Royal Guards. A little gift for the visitors never goes wrong."

Pops stroked his beard as he contemplated Dominic’s response.

"That should work. Make the Royal Guards the best ones that you can, within reason. Level twenty at least, so that the skills will hold up against Ogres. They’re the most common of the strong monsters, so the Royal Guard will be sent against them more than anything else.

Building their equipment to specifically target what they’re going to fight will make it seem even more effective than it really is.

Like the rifles. They’re amazing against Ogres, but against hundreds of Goblins, they’re not as impressive. The shots are overkill." He decided.

"Sounds like a plan to me. They’ll also be able to enhance their shield wall formation with this new gear. They already have the tactics for it, but not all of them have as powerful of a defensive barrier."

Amie smiled. "You know, the Sect has plenty of knowledge about Magitech Orbs. Why don’t we head over to the tower next, and we can work on a plan to upgrade that shield? Two built in bonuses and two spell gem sockets should be more than enough for the average user.

You could probably get away with filling all the sockets for the Guards, but they don’t have the mana to effectively use more than one or two spells, anyhow."

"You’re not wrong about that. We picked them to be compatible with Magitech, and to have some magical aptitude. But they’re not trained mages, and I don’t know how much mana reserve training is part of their daily schedule.

Likely little to none. It’s not something that they need to do their jobs. At least not during regular situations." Dominic agreed.

The walk to the new mage tower wasn’t a long one, but they reached the triage area long before the tower itself.

There were still soldiers receiving treatment, both from the Royal Guards and the Alchemists, who were working alongside the army medics. Minor wounds received traditional treatment, stitches and bandages, while more serious injuries and infections got magical treatment.

It was the most effective way of keeping everyone healthy when they weren’t under a time constraint.

Fortunately for Dominic, the ones they needed were not part of the medical team. The magitech specialists could do many things, but healing was not among their specialties.

Amie led them right into the tower, and then up a winding staircase until they reached a room that smelled faintly of burnt metal and burnt hair.

That wasn’t exactly encouraging, though the burnt metal might have been from a welding torch. Burnt hair was never the sign of a good day, though.