Chapter 46 : You Are a MAGE?!

Ragna continued his daily activities after the whole problem ended. He first sold all of his materials he gained, then he restocked every potion he had consumed that day. After he finished the business he had with Lily, he made his way toward Blacksmith's Association. 

He was using the same outfit he wore yesterday. He didn't want to attract any unwanted attention. His jump in level was enough to make people target him. If he flaunted his evolved set.. that would be akin to suicide.

That was why he changed it back to the basic equipment before he entered the base. By keeping it as a secret, he could have another trump card at his sleeve. Everyone, not even Crane knew that Ragna had that kind of Rare Set.

Ragna saw the familiar building made of brick from afar. It was the Blacksmith's Association.

The familiar sensation of a burning furnace could be felt as he entered deep into the building. Silver had waited for him and was already inside a different room than the one they used yesterday. The room had forging equipment of higher quality. It was normal because Ragna had formally been accepted as an apprentice.

Silver was crouching in front of the furnace while holding a dark colored hammer in her hand. One of her hand was holding the hammer while her other hand was adjusting the temperature of the furnace.

Sweat rolled from her forehead. The sight of her slightly wet black-colored short hair coupled with her well-proportioned and muscular body was enough to mesmerize countless men. Furthermore, she was only wearing a white t-shirt with its sleeve rolled to her shoulder. Her brown skin and the white t-shirt made a beautiful contrast. Even Ragna was momentarily stunned when he saw her.

"You're late", Silver's voice resounded inside the room,  "Those Main Quests or whatever are just a waste of time. With your talent, I think it's better for you to wholeheartedly focus on blacksmithing"

Ragna laughed bitterly. How could he abandon it? Adventuring was his passion. Blacksmithing could be considered as a refreshment for him, but his main focus still lies at doing quests and adventures. 

"I'll think about it later", he didn't want to decline it too strongly. After all, Silver was his master.

Naturally, Silver could see Ragna's true intention. She turned around and harrumphed coldly, "Hmph! I don't see the benefit in you doing the Astral Realm's Quest. Just look at your level- wait.. HOW come you raised 4 levels in a day?!"

Silver stared at Ragna with an astonished expression. She never heard about someone who could jump levels at this stage of the game. Well, as she thought over it, it didn't really surprise her. Maya had too many strange opportunities after all. There was a chance that Ragna could somehow gain a substantial leap from doing the quest. Furthermore, the quest was a Main Quest one. However, what she saw next was something that could make her gape in disbelief.

"You... You are a MAGE!", She pointed at Ragna's floating status screen, in which it showed his current level and his profession as a mage.

"Um.. Is that a problem..?"

"OF COURSE IT IS! How the hell could you swing the hammer hundreds of times without feeling exhausted yesterday?! Furthermore, you shouldn't even be able to lift it! Don't tell me you raised your Strength and Endurance instead of Intelligence and Wisdom?"

Facing Silver's unending stream of questions, Ragna didn't know how to answer. He just shrugged his shoulder and said, "Yeah.. I guess?"

Silver looked at Ragna like he was some sort of strange monster. It was too strange! Even for her, she needed to assign all of her stats to Strength and Endurance to be able to stand the harsh environment and requirement for Blacksmithing. A few points also had to be distributed to Dexterity to increase her hand's nimbleness. For a Mage to have this kind of talent and strength in Blacksmithing.. that was unprecedented.

At first, she didn't realize it because the status display screen was too indistinct. She had never paid any attention toward one's profession because everyone that came to her was her client. There was no need to differentiate them.

Seeing Silver's expression, Ragna quickly added, "No.. No need to worry! I'll keep raising my strength! I promise I'll be able to keep up!"

Silver frowned, he had no choice but to believe in him, She had formally accepted him as his disciple after all. There was no turning back.

Sighing deeply, she shook her head while saying, "Suit yourself then. I'll pretend to not notice. Let's start today's training. You target today will be to reach level 5 in Blacksmithing in order to start crafting your own equipment"

Ragna's eyes brightened, he nodded his head enthusiastically. Today will be another tiring yet satisfying day!

...

Back at the Tavern, Crane was at one of the corners without his subordinates near him. He seemed to be speaking to someone.

"Crane, you need to be careful. He's not as easy as you think. I saw his status screen and strangely, he's a mage", A calm voice could be heard from a young man with a black tattoo on his cheek. His mouth was covered by his dark-blue scarf. Even though the man had a somewhat small physique with only about 165 cm in height, he exuded a dangerous pressure from his cold eyes.

"What?", Crane frowned, "Dreg, are you sure?"

"Yeah. I've asked my subordinate who followed him that day. He didn't wear anything strange that could increase his movement speed. His fast movement should be innate", Dreg replied.

"Strange.. A mage who has an Agility on par with thieves. Don't tell me he followed the Agile-Mage build?"

Agile-Mage was one of the builds for Magician. Instead of raising one's endurance, the build encouraged players to raise Agility instead. The goal was to create a magician that could move nimbly on a battlefield. Naturally, the downside was that the magician would be like a paper. One or two hits would be enough to kill them. It was only a theoretical build which was acknowledged to be not suited for normal players. However, professional was always an exception.

"I don't know. But I think he's hiding something. Do you remember his face when we confronted him? He looked strangely calm."

"Now that you mention it, it really does seem strange", Crane's expression turned solemn, "However, his secret is way too enticing. I can't abandon this opportunity. We'll just move more carefully. That's all"

Even though Crane was talented, he still had a hard time closing the level gap from elite and top players. His leveling speed was about a level a day. If he could somehow gain something from Ragna and increase his leveling speed, that would be very beneficial to him. Not everyone was blessed with fortuitous encounters after all.

He started about a week later than the current top players. As a rising star, he was under a constant pressure from his guild to level faster and quickly help them on the front lines. He was currently at level 27 and only by quickly breaking through to mid 30s would he be able to really contribute to the guild.

He had to seize every chance!

"Well, if that's your decision", Dreg turned around while muttering soundlessly, "I hope it won't lead to your own demise, Crane"

...

Inside the Dojo.

"That's for today's training", Even though Mr. Romi had a stern expression, there was also a hint of a smile hidden on his face, "You are improving at a fast rate. Look's like you've slowly gotten back to your previous self"

If someone was there, they would be very shocked to hear Mr. Romi's words. He had never praised someone except Banu after all.

Raka got up from the floor. Even though his body was sore all over, his eyes were still full of vigor.

"Uncle, let's not stop. I want you to teach me how to fight multiple enemies"

Mr. Romi frowned, "Why? Someone dares to gang up on you?"

Ragna hesitated for a bit before answering, "No.. I just want to learn"

Naturally, Mr. Romi could notice the hesitation in Ragna's words. However, there was no way for him to confirm the truth. He sighed and turned his back toward him while saying, "All right. Follow me, I'll teach you a thing or two"

Ragna's eyes brightened when he heard what his uncle said. He felt slightly bad for not telling him his reason but he didn't want his uncle to be worried. His uncle was the one who gave him the helmet and he didn't want to look troubled because of it. 

He looked at his uncle's back while following him. It seemed his uncle wasn't that overprotective toward him anymore. The event that happened years ago had etched deeply into his mind. He couldn't forget how ferocious his uncle's expression was when he knew about the matter.

However, there was one thing that Ragna didn't notice. That ferociousness was once again could be seen in Mr. Romi's face. His eyes were cold and a twisted smile could be seen on his lips.

Someone DARES to gang up on my precious Raka?

Let's see WHO will get beaten up by WHO!

Obviously, it wasn't just a thing or two that he planned to teach to Raka. He was prepared to turn Raka into a killing machine full of savagery.