Chapter 4
“57 times? That’s not a lot.”
I tilt my head and pick up the hammer. This means I just have to hit the iron ingot, right? I didn’t know anything, so everything felt clumsy, but I didn’t stop hammering.
Clang, clang, clang━
The hammering I started was surprisingly easy. Well, since I’m not aiming for a specific spot but just hitting it randomly, it’s bound to be easy.
Clang!
And the moment exactly 57 hammer strikes were finished.
[Hammering is complete. Do you want to finish it?]
“……Huh? Of course I do. Finish it.”
Flash!
With my answer, all the iron ingots on the anvil turned into light, gathered into one, and soon took the shape of a sword.
Then, as the light disappeared……
[Longsword has been completed.]
I could see a single longsword neatly placed on the anvil.
Well, that’s amazing.
“Anyway, check.”
[Longsword] (Normal)
Description: An ordinary sword made of pure iron. Made with excellent technique, but due to the blacksmith’s inexperience, it became a subpar weapon.
<Additional Stats: Strength (1), Agility (1)>
<Stat Requirements: Strength (2)>
Attack Power: 15 Magic Attack Power: 0
Durability: 12/12
“Hmm……”
Is this good? It has additional stats, so it seems good, but? There’s nothing to compare it to, so there’s no way to know the value of this sword.
‘Wait, isn’t there something to compare it to right next to me?’
Suddenly, I shifted my gaze to the players who were still talking about how expensive the weapons were. No, to be precise, I looked at the weapons they had.
‘I forgot this is a blacksmith.’
There was no need to think hard, just checking the weapons in the blacksmith would be enough. The cheapest weapon here was 4 Silver. I found that weapon and checked it.
[Beginner’s Longsword] (Normal)
Description: A longsword made of iron full of impurities. A weapon specially made for those who lack money, made roughly without much effort.
<Additional Stats: Strength (1)>
<Stat Requirements: Strength (1)>
Attack Power: 10 Magic Attack Power: 0
Durability: 10/10
‘Oh? Look at this? They’re selling this kind of thing for 4 Silver?’
After checking the weapons sold at the blacksmith, I couldn’t hide the corners of my mouth rising.
* * *
‘Uhahaha! Making money is so easy!’
What I did after that was simple. First, I sold the weapon I made to a player I didn’t know the name of. For 6 Silver. And with that 6 Silver, I bought 30 iron ingots and made two more longswords and sold them.
The amount I earned was 12 Silver. I had 9 iron ingots left.
Compared to the initial 10 Silver I received from Noah, I had literally earned an extra 2 Silver in an instant.
Of course, I’m not satisfied with this. I bought 60 iron ingots with 12 Silver and this time made five longswords.
Clang, clang, clang-
Flash!
‘Huh?’
Suddenly, while finishing the last fifth longsword, I saw the anvil, which had been emitting a blue light, strangely change to a light yellow light.
Why is it suddenly turning yellow?
I was puzzled, but since I only had 2-3 hammer strikes left, I finished the remaining number.
In addition, the anvil still had a yellow light even after all the remaining strikes were completed.
[Hammering is complete. Do you want to finish it?]
“Finish it.”
Flash!
[Tempered Longsword has been completed.]
[Ding!~ The level of C-Rank skill ‘Dwarven Weapon Crafting’ has increased.]
[Stats Strength 2, Stamina 2, Technique 3 increase.]
“Oh? Level up. But……”
Even though I only made 8, the skill level increased to 2. But there was something more noticeable than this skill level increase.
‘Tempered Longsword?’
It was the content of the message window.
Until now, the message window only had the word ‘Longsword’, but this time the word ‘Tempered Longsword’ appeared. And its content was enough to stimulate my curiosity.
“First, check.”
[Tempered Longsword] (Normal)
Description: An ordinary sword made of pure iron. Made with excellent technique, and a weapon that brought out the inexperienced blacksmith’s skills to the limit.
<Additional Stats: Strength (3), Agility (1)>
<Stat Requirements: Strength (5)>
Attack Power: 21 Magic Attack Power: 0
Durability: 17/17
“This is……”
Maybe I can sell it for 10 Silver?
Somehow, it was a weapon with better stats than the longswords I had made so far. It was clear from the attack power and durability, and the additional stats had also noticeably increased. I felt confident that I could sell this weapon for 10 Silver.
“But what are the conditions for this kind of weapon to appear?”
Maybe the yellow light from earlier was the cause……
After thinking for a moment, I decided to check the skill.
“Detailed Information. Dwarven Weapon Crafting.”
[C-Rank Dwarven Weapon Crafting Effect] (LV2)
━When crafting, basic quality 20→23 effect.
━When crafting, apply the Technique stat as Technical Quality.
━When crafting, 5→5.1% chance to craft perfect equipment.
━When crafting perfect equipment, quality 10→12 additional effect.
━When crafting perfect equipment, special quality 1→2 additional effect.
━When crafting perfect equipment, 1→1.1% chance of Crafting Level +3 effect.
━Hammering limit 100 times.
“5% chance to craft perfect equipment?”
It seems the yellow light appeared with a 5% chance. Now, because the skill level has increased, it’s made with a 5.1% chance, but I couldn’t deny that it was still a low probability.
Even so, the probability only increased by 0.1%.
‘It would be nice if my intuition worked for this too.’
One guess I could make was that crafting a perfect weapon seemed to significantly increase skill experience. If I could take advantage of this, I could level up my skills faster than anyone else, but……
“Well, I can check that later.”
Right now, I had to sell the five longswords I made rather than worry about the skill level. I put down the longswords in front of the blacksmith and started selling.
“I’m selling longswords that are better than the Beginner’s Longsword sold at the blacksmith! There are only five!”
Honestly, I was nervous. Wasn’t this blatant business obstruction? I was worried that an NPC might come running out of the blacksmith, but fortunately, that didn’t happen, and soon after, my shouting seemed to have worked as a few players approached.
“Can I check it out?”
“Of course. Go ahead.”
They couldn’t take my items anyway unless they used the ‘Trade’ system. So I readily agreed, and the players started examining the weapons I made one by one.
“Oh, this is pretty good. How much is it?”
“That’s 6 Silver. The black sword next to it is my masterpiece. I’m selling it for 10 Silver.”
“10 Silver……”
The player was contemplating. It’s understandable. From that player’s perspective, it would be all their possessions. Still, I didn’t lower the price because it was a weapon good enough for me to use if needed.
“……I’ll buy it since I got a swordsmanship skill from the Random Skill Book anyway.”
“Excellent choice.”
“Trade Start.”
“Trade Start.”
Flash━
The player and I said ‘Trade Start’, and our right hands started to glow faintly yellow. If we shook hands with our glowing right hands here, a trade window would automatically appear, and all I had to do was put the longsword in that trade window.
“Trade Complete.”
“Trade Complete.”
[The trade has been completed.]
After confirming that the player had put in 10 Silver, I said ‘Trade Complete’, and the player also said ‘Trade Complete’ to finalize the trade.
“Then, take care.”
“Yes~ Thank you.”
The Tempered Longsword actually sold for 10 Silver. Following that, the remaining longswords were sold for 6 Silver each, and as a result, my funds became 34 Silver.
‘Already 34 Silver~ Ugh, this is the best.’
After quickly selling all five longswords, I thought about crafting again.
If I buy iron ingots with the 34 Silver I have? 170. I have 9 more iron ingots left, so a total of 179. If I make longswords from this, I can make 14.
’14 longswords for 6 Silver each…… No, wait? Since my skill level has increased, if I sell them for 7 Silver each, how much money would that be? 98 Silver?’
With 98 Silver, I felt like I could get most of the equipment I needed. If I recall the reason I started this game, there’s no need to get equipment, but if I can get items myself, I’ll save that much money.
Because I don’t have to buy items from other people like in online games.
Or I had to prepare for the case where I couldn’t use my intuition. In this Twilight, my intuition is triggered in a strange way, making me extremely anxious. But if I could make money in other ways besides intuition, I wouldn’t have to dwell on it.
“Well, for now, let’s make weapons.”
Even if I came up with various countermeasures, it was difficult to come to a conclusion about intuition right now. So, I decided to give it time and check again, and started with what I could do now without getting impatient.
“First, let’s buy more iron ingots from the blacksmith……”
* * *
“I’m sorry, but I only have 45 iron ingots left.”
“Huh?”
I came to the blacksmith again to buy iron ingots and heard an absurd answer. Only 45 iron ingots left? Since I had bought a total of 105 iron ingots so far, it meant the blacksmith only had about 150 iron ingots.
“I said I only have 45 left. Because you bought them all.”
“Huh, how could that be.”
“I can’t say I have something when I don’t. Well, if you really need iron ingots, how about making them yourself?”
“Me?”
“I won’t force you. It’s your choice.”
[An NPC quest has appeared.]
An NPC quest?
“Quest Information Window.”
I said quietly so the blacksmith owner couldn’t hear, and soon I could see the quest information window that appeared in front of me.
[Let’s Make Iron Ingots Ourselves.]
Description: Deron, the blacksmith owner, wants to give you a little help as you need iron ingots. Accept the quest if you want his help.
<Quest Acceptance: Worn Pickaxe. Acquire F-Rank Skill ‘Ore Mining’.>
<Quest Refusal: None.>
<Quest Completion: 200 Experience Points. Acquire F-Rank Skill ‘Iron Ingot Smelting’.>
<Quest Failure: Deron’s Favorability decreases by 15.>
‘Is this how you get skills?’
I was slightly impressed after seeing the quest information window. By accepting this quest, I could get one skill, and if I completed it, I could get another one.
Then my answer is obvious.
“Alright! Let’s do it.”
[You have accepted the quest ‘Let’s Make Iron Ingots Ourselves.’]
[A specific location will be marked on the map. You can identify the location using the command ‘Map Check’.]
“That’s refreshing. First, take this pickaxe.”
[Ding!~ You have acquired a Worn Pickaxe.]
Deron handed me the pickaxe and told me about the location and how to use it.
“If you go out the west gate of Hispeon, there’s a small mountain. And there’s a mine there. Go get iron ore from that mine. You should be able to get it by hitting the ore with the pickaxe I gave you.”
[You have acquired the F-Rank Skill ‘Ore Mining’.]
[As you acquire the skill, your stats increase.]
[Strength increases by 1.]
[Stamina increases by 1.]
Huh? What? Did I learn the skill with this?
I was a bit bewildered after seeing the sudden skill acquisition message and looked at Deron with a puzzled expression, but he had an indifferent look.
“What’s wrong?”
“Oh, no. But how much iron ore do I need?”
“Usually, you need 4-5 iron ores to make a proper iron ingot, so…… bring at least 10 or more. Oh, and there are monsters in the mine, so it would be good to prepare yourself to some extent.”
“……”
Monsters?
For a moment, the thought ‘Ah~ I sold the wrong longsword~’ crossed my mind. It would have been nice to have the Tempered Longsword when fighting monsters.
‘By the way, what are my stats now?’
I checked since I thought about it.
[Name: Rudin]
[Title: None]
[Level: 1]
[Fame: 0]
[Health Points: 160/160]
[Magic Points: 110/110]
[Stamina: 100.0%]
[Attack Power: 6] [Magic Attack Power: 1]
[Defense: 0] [Magic Defense: 0]
[Stats]
Strength: 6 Intelligence: 1 Agility: 1
Stamina: 5 Technique: 6
[Acquired Skills: 2/20]
‘Hmm. My stats have definitely increased compared to the beginning, but……’
Above all, my health points were 160. Why did they increase by 50? There’s no need to think hard, it’s because of Stamina. The numbers of the stats matched, and there was an explanation that the higher the Stamina, the higher the health points.
‘Health points are 160. Still, it’s better to be properly prepared, right?’
It’s good that my health points have increased, but hunting is another matter. I need to get proper equipment to be able to hunt somehow.
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