𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐫 32
‘Strange. Where did he get this kind of iron ingot?’
Should I ask? But the possibility of him answering kindly is low. In a way, it’s like his stock in trade. Still, thinking that I wouldn’t lose anything, I opened my mouth.
“Where did you get this kind of iron ingot?”
“Iron ingot? I originally collected it for my own use. But E-rank crafting just doesn’t cut it, so I’m selling it like this.”
Huh? He’s unexpectedly kind in telling me.
“I guess E-rank crafting is difficult.”
“Oh, don’t even get me started. E-rank is fixed at 65 hammer strikes, so it’s hard to make anything decent. Unless it’s a basic weapon made without a recipe.”
‘Hmm, is that how it is?’
If someone who didn’t know heard this, they would wonder what it meant. However, since I also acquired the crafting skill, I could understand it roughly. It seemed to mean that the number of hammer strikes varies depending on the material, so the items that can be made with an E-rank skill are limited.
But the number of hammer strikes can be reduced with the Technique stat, right?
Certainly, the number of hammer strikes decreases depending on the Technique stat. However, after thinking about it for a moment, I shook my head. How high could the Technique stat be with just an E-rank crafting skill? Considering that my C-rank skill increases the Technique stat by 3, E-rank would be even lower.
Anyway, after putting aside my curiosity about the iron ingot, I turned my gaze.
‘What else is there?’
The player was selling various items besides iron ingots. I looked at a few ores lined up next to the iron ingots and said,
“What are these?”
“That’s Black Iron. It’s one grade better than iron ingot. And next to it is Flame Stone, which is extremely rare.”
“Rare, you say?”
“Yes. I’ve never seen anyone who’s obtained Flame Stone. It’s not something you get from gathering, but as a quest reward.”
Was he planning to use this Flame Stone too?
While thinking that, I checked the Flame Stone.
[Lower Grade Flame Stone] (Magic)
Description: A special stone imbued with the flame attribute. Items made with this material will have the flame attribute. Also, the flame attribute strengthens depending on the grade of Flame Stone included in the crafting.
*Material Value 15.
‘So that’s what it was.’
Judging by the description alone, it seemed like a decent item. I was curious why he wasn’t using it. But somehow, I think I know the reason.
“You can’t use this Flame Stone in basic weapons, right?”
“Yes. Basic weapons only use iron ingots. You’ll need to find a separate recipe, right?”
At that answer, I nodded as if I understood. Additionally, I remembered what Deron said on the first day of the game.
[You want to craft weapons? First, you’ll need a crafting hammer and an anvil. And if you have iron ingots, you should be able to craft basic weapons.]
‘So that’s what he meant.’
Anyway, realizing that the Flame Stone was useless, I decided to buy only the iron ingots.
“I’ll buy all the iron ingots you have.”
“Huh? All of them?”
“Yes, all of them. But how many do you have?”
“I have a total of 514, but…… if you buy them, I’ll give them to you for 2 gold.”
The player answered, flustered. It seemed he didn’t expect me to buy them all. And since he was selling them for 40 copper each, 2 gold was for 500 iron ingots. It seemed like he was giving the remaining 14 as a service.
“Is that okay?”
“Because you bought them all quickly.”
Well, I had no reason to refuse. After roughly thanking him, I traded with him and obtained the iron ingots I wanted, and he received the amount I gave him.
“Good work.”
As soon as the trade was over, the player gathered all his remaining items and left his spot. It seemed he was planning to do something with the money he earned.
More importantly, the money I have left now……
[2 gold 12 silver 42 copper]
‘Ah…… my heart aches.’
The amount that was over 4 gold has been reduced to almost half in an instant. However, judging that it would be recovered to some extent if I made more spears with the purchased iron ingots and delivered them, I moved to a place where people wouldn’t come.
***
Clang! Clang!
[A Soul-Infused Spear has been completed.]
[Ding!~ The level of C-rank skill ‘Dwarven Weapon Crafting’ has increased.]
[Stats Strength 2, Stamina 2, Technique 3 increase.]
“Damn it……”
Is this for real?
To put it simply, the iron ingots I bought weren’t enough. I made exactly 37 more spears, but I couldn’t reach level 10. Also, considering that all of these were made with Great Success, it also meant that I would originally need to make hundreds of weapons to reach level 10.
“Should I buy more iron ingots?”
I’m currently at level 9, so if I buy iron ingots just one more time, it seems like I could reach level 10. However, since I wasn’t planning to continue making spears, I decided to deal with the 58 spears I had made so far.
‘Phew, since the item window is full, I’ll have to carry them.’
Still, thanks to it being a virtual reality, I could move them even if they weren’t in the item window. Thanks to that, I could head straight to the blacksmith while holding a few spears in my hand.
Clang- Clang-
After a while, as I entered the blacksmith again, I could see Deron still hammering away. However, that was only for a moment. After confirming that I had entered, Deron put down his hammer and stood up.
His attitude was clearly different from when he was continuously hammering away a moment ago.
‘Is it because of the Favorability?’
“You’ve come. So, what is it?”
“I finished making the spears.”
“You’re faster than I thought. How many did you make?”
“58.”
At my answer, Deron nodded with an expression that wasn’t quite satisfactory. What? Did I have to make at least 100? However, since the quest details didn’t mention how many I had to make, it didn’t seem to be a problem.
“Show them to me.”
I took out all the spears I was holding and the ones in my item window, and Deron, who was carefully examining them, soon made a surprised expression.
“Amazing! I never imagined you could make weapons of this quality.”
‘Of course.’
They were basic weapons, but they were made with C-rank crafting skill and even had Great Success. Also, since all 58 of them were like that, it was no wonder he was surprised.
“And all the weapons are top quality.”
[Deron is greatly impressed.]
[Favorability with Deron increases by 3.]
‘Huh?’
It seems like the Favorability increased separately from the quest. Is this even possible? Anyway, as I continued to wait, I could hear Deron’s voice, looking at me with proud eyes.
“Good work. You’ve been a great help.”
[Quest completed.]
[Reward is given based on the quality of the items made.]
[Ding!~ You have obtained 10 gold 26 silver.]
[Favorability with Deron increases by 58.]
[Current Favorability with Deron: 74.]
[‘Burning Sword Recipe’ acquired.]
’10 gold?!’
I don’t know about the Favorability, but 10 gold was a huge amount. If you converted it to real money, it was equivalent to 2 million won. Of course, considering that I’m selling the spears for 60,000 won each, it was definitely a loss, but it was still an unexpected amount of money.
Additionally, Deron wasn’t finished talking.
“If you’re interested, I’ll write a letter of recommendation to my royal palace. What do you say? I’m saying this because I think you could become an exclusive blacksmith.”
‘Exclusive blacksmith?’
[Ding!~ Deron wants to write you a letter of recommendation to become a blacksmith belonging to the royal palace. If you become a member of the royal palace, you must complete a request every week in real-time, and after a month, the country will give you a certain reward.]
What’s this again?
I read the contents of the suddenly appearing message window. As a result of reading it, it seemed like a system where if you become a member of the royal palace, you have to complete a quest every week, and after a month, you get a reward.
‘Is this a good thing?’
I made a guess.
If I become a member of the royal palace, there’s a high possibility that I’ll have to do a forced quest every week. Conversely, there’s also the advantage of not having to go around looking for quests.
Hmm, but things like this happen when Favorability increases.
“Is it okay if I do it later? I have something to do right now.”
For now, my answer was to postpone it. If I couldn’t postpone it, I would have to think about it again, but fortunately, Deron nodded.
“No problem. I can write you a letter of recommendation anytime, so come back when you’ve made up your mind.”
“Yes, I understand.”
“Anyway, I want to thank you again.”
“Don’t mention it. It was nothing.”
With that answer, I left the blacksmith and thought about the letter of recommendation. What would be the benefits of belonging to the royal palace? If I did become a member, would I be able to quit whenever I wanted? What if they gave me an absurd quest? And so on.
No matter how much I thought about it, it didn’t seem like there would only be advantages. Also, in that sense, postponing the answer seemed like a good choice.
‘Let’s look it up on the internet later.’
Wouldn’t there be some information about the royal palace on the internet?
And after the letter of recommendation, the next thing that came to mind was the Burning Sword recipe. The reward was a random weapon recipe, but thinking that the Burning Sword had appeared among them, I opened the item window and took out the paper presumed to be the recipe.
[Burning Sword Recipe]
Description: A recipe that allows you to create the Burning Sword. Depending on the grade of the materials, you can create a one-handed sword up to Rare grade.
*Required materials: (Iron Ingot 6), (Black Iron 4), (Leather 1), (Magic Powder 1), (Flame Stone 1)
*Abilities gained upon completion:
━Flame attribute power.
━Burn damage.
━Increased fire attribute damage.
━F~D rank fire attribute skill.
“Black Iron and Flame Stone?”
They were the items that the player who sold me the iron ingots had. Should I have bought them? But it was almost impossible to find the player who had already gone somewhere.
“It’s back to square one.”
Here, square one meant crafting level 10.
‘The money I have now……’
[12 gold 38 silver 42 copper]
“Oh.”
A whopping 12 gold!
With this much money, reaching crafting level 10 wouldn’t be a problem. Rather, it seemed like I could even get other equipment.
“I don’t need armor, so should I get accessories?”
I didn’t need to change my armor since I had the Black Beast Set. No, rather, I doubted if there was even better armor than this. So, if I were to change anything, it would have to be the accessories, and considering the lack of Magic Power, there was a need to change them.
“Hmm, there’s more to do than I thought.”
Besides that, I had to register the weapons I made on the Cash Transaction window, and I also had to do the quest that I could do once a day. Thinking that I had quite a lot to do, I headed to the place where players gathered.
Murmur~ Murmur~
‘Huh? Iron ingots…… Ah, there it is.’
After wandering around for a while, I finally saw the player selling iron ingots. And upon finding the player, I bought all the iron ingots without hesitation, then immediately moved to another spot and reached crafting level 10.
Clang! Clang!
[A Soul-Infused Longsword has been completed.]
[Ding!~ The level of C-rank skill ‘Dwarven Weapon Crafting’ has increased.]
[Stats Strength 2, Stamina 2, Technique 3 increase.]
[Ding!~ The skill level of C-rank skill ‘Dwarven Weapon Crafting’ has reached its limit.]
[You can no longer increase the skill level.]
[To exceed the skill level limit, please increase the existing level.]
“Phew.”
That was tiring.
I made a whopping 30 longswords to reach level 10. In addition, since I used Intuition throughout the work, I felt a fatigue that didn’t even exist.
“Now what’s left……”
Now that the crafting was finished, I had to register the weapons I made on the Cash Transaction window. Normal trade would be better, right? If I put them up for auction, it would cost 10 silver each, so a total of 3 gold. Remembering that I bought 600 iron ingots and spent over 2 gold on them, I felt the need to save a little.
‘Before that, let’s make the weapon I’ll use.’
Clang! Clang!
Since I had reached level 10, I made the last longsword to replace my weapon with a better one, and as expected, I could see a longsword that wasn’t that good.
[Soul-Infused Longsword] (Magic)
Description: A longsword made of pure iron. Perfectly crafted with excellent skill, this weapon surpasses the limits of the craftsman and even has his soul imbued within it.
Attack Power: 59 Magic Attack Power: 0
Durability: 41/41
*Increases Health by 50.
‘As expected, the attack power increase is too insignificant.’
The attack power of the level 5 longsword I used was 44.
The level 9 longswords also had an average attack power of 54~56.
It seemed like the limit of basic weapons. Thinking that I would have to make weapons from recipes to get a better attack power, I headed to the bank to use the Cash Transaction window.
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