Your blacksmith level has risen to beginner 4.
The attacking characteristics of weapons are now even stronger. Now you can change the shape of a completed sword. Its strength decreases, but the attack will increase.
“Phewwww! That took forever.” Weed had’nt figured out all the variables which led to a level up, but some of them were number of times an item could be forged, creativity / innovation in smithing process and using different materials. Weed put away his hammer and loaded all the forging items and ores back into the cart. He thanked Rodriguez for letting him practice at the ranch and set off for the weapons license test.
If Weed ran, he would have reached the test center in less than an hour. However, he now had a horse and a cart, with the streets being too narrow for horses during the day Weed had to go through longer routes at snail pace (owing to traffic congestion) to reach the test center. Weed didn’t mind the time it took; it felt good to have free time to sit and do nothing once in a while. When he reached the test center, he noticed several dwarves and humans lined outside. After parking his cart, in the center's stable, he joined the others in the cue. Some players were still practicing imaginary swings, while others shared their experiences. Players were called inside in a group of ten. Everyone in Weed’s group was a dwarf; it made Weed stand out too much.
The NPC smiled at everyone and requested them to take the seats provided. The NPC then passed standard blacksmith equipment to everyone. The aim of the test was to measure the blacksmith’s true skill level and not what they could create with bonus equipments or rare ores.
“If I may have your attention. I have provided you all with the necessary items required for forging weapons. The test is simple and broken in two parts, please forge a sword. The stats of the sword are not important but shape is. If you cannot forge a simple sword then you should not be making weapons.”
Everyone moved to their designated spots, where anvils and stoves were available and began forging away. Weed had made at least a thousand swords for practice, the test was like a walk in the park for him. All other players struggled as they had never forged a sword before; they could not have done so as it was illegal. Though they had read about sword manufacturing, it was completely different from actually doing it. Once Weed finished molding the steel, he began hammering away at lightning speed.
Tap-tap-tap-tap.
It sounded like a machine gun. Everyone stopped between their tests to stare at Weed. All the dwarves taking the test never expected the elf to outdo them. They were thinking that the elf had mistaken the wood carving test for the blacksmithing one. Weed paid no attention; he was immersed in his own world where he was aiming to make the best sword he could. With his high dexterity he was able to hammer the sword two to three times in a second. To the other players most of Weed’s hammering was just a blur. They had never seen anything like this before. Some of the players had studied blacksmithing from the dwarves of the mountains; even there only a few of their teachers could hammer at that speed. Although they all knew hammering was directly linked to dexterity, realistically how high could it possibly be? 100? 150? They dismissed notions of high dexterity and assumed Weed must possess high level blacksmith skills; maybe beginner level 9 or 10.
The NPC too, was absorbed in Weed’s skills, it was clearly evident to him, that in Weed lay great potential. The NPC believed that Weed was born with innate skills for purely weapons manufacturing. There had never been someone like him before who perfectly hammered as books instructed. Each hammer stroke applied the right amount of stress and each arm movement down the last muscle was perfect. The elf in front of him was making blacksmithing look like an elegant and graceful movement rather than some clunky chore. And just like that, before others had a chance to resume their forging, Weed finished making his sword.
TRRRING!
Durability: 70/70. Attack: 25.
Strong attack and high durability. This sword is special!
Requirements: None.
Effects: Strength +5.
The NPC held the sword in his hand and swung it a few times. He could immediately identify several problems with the weapon, density and balance etc, however for the purposes of the test this sword was more than sufficient. Its shape was perfect.
“Pass. Beginner Level 4 Blacksmith.” The NPC said. A dwarf examinee dropped his hammer in shock upon hearing that. Weed’s amazing blacksmith skills made no sense given his low level!
The NPC paid no attention and passed a battered shield. Please repair this.
Cracked bronze shield.
Strength: 3/28. Defense 10.
This shield is used in the exam to identify the gift of a blacksmith. Made of bronze. Size small, usually mounted on the brush. Protects you from the impact of a sword.
Requirements: Level 15.
Effects: Chance of enemy arrows missing increased by 14%.
Decreases critical attack by 19%.
Weed had only practiced manufacturing swords, so he wasn’t prepared for this part of the test. He quickly read through the instructions in the help window. He brought some melted ore and began hammering away at the two. In an attempt to fuse them and thus repairing the shield. Sadly, Weed really wasn’t a prodigy of repair; it was a much tougher skill to master than forging. It also didn’t help him that his repair level was beginner level 1 – 0%. The end result was a disaster.
You broke the shield!
Just having a fast hammering speed didn’t mean it would repair to new. The NPC began crying as the image of the blacksmith prodigy shattered in his mind. In the end Weed cleared the first test and failed the second. His overall grade was just a pass. He was given a blacksmithing license with pass grades. These license grades played an important role in how much premium you could charge NPCs for weapons when you sold it to them. They also determined how much discount you would get for materials purchased. Higher the grades, better the premiums and discounts. Weed sighed as he accepted his license; a shield was too heavy for him to carry so he never bothered trying to make one.
That day at the test center a new legend was born of a prodigy weapons blacksmith whose hands were nothing more than a blur when hammering yet sucked at repairs.
-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-
Weed stared at the shop in front of him; Swords and Charms. It was a small shop in the interior of the southern part of the town. At one time, it was a popular store where players from all over Lavias would flock to purchase weapons. However, as time passed the city grew and the shop was forced into the interior. The southern side of Lavias was one of the poorer part of Lavias. It became the training grounds for players who wanted to excel in the thief profession; making it not exactly the safest neighborhood you would want to pass through. That wasn’t the only problem that plagued the shop; other than the owner there was no other blacksmith or employee. It turned into a one man shop. Most of the experienced blacksmiths left the shop and migrated towards other shops, cities or kingdoms. No one wanted to stay and work in a rundown shabby old place.
Weed wondered whether it was really worth coming here. The NPC examiner recommended Weed to this shop to improve his skills. He described the owner of the store, Tizen Fuko, as a master and legendary blacksmith. Looking at the state of the store and its location, Weed wasn’t sure whether he came to the right store or if the NPC examiner had gone bonkers.
He entered inside and was greeted by an old dwarf who was cleaning a shield.
“Hello there! Would you like to buy anything? Swords, Shields? Name it and we have it! If we don’t we can make it! If you break it, we can fix it! If there is anything to melt, We can do it!” The dwarf said enthusiastically; his tone indicated the degree of desperation.
Weed pulled out a letter from his pocket which the examiner had given him and handed it to the old dwarf. The dwarf read the contents and sighed….’not a customer….’
“3 weeks? Ok? 3 silver a week. If you do well, I’ll hire you permanently and pay 5 silver.” Tizen said as he stared at Weed’s weapons license. ‘Just a pass.’ He thought to himself, ‘and that too an elf. The times must be terrible for me to be hiring a blacksmith with just pass grades, no less an elf.’
TRRRING!
You have been offered a job, apprentice blacksmith! Learn the skills of blacksmithing from Tizen Fuko, owner of the store Swords & Charms and learn the art of blacksmithing.
Salary: 3 Silver – 1 Gold per week depending upon Weapons License grades.
Other Benefits: 10% more EXP gain when practicing blacksmithing.
“Sounds good to me.” Weed said.
“It better.” Tizen replied, “No one would be willing to hire an elf, much less an elf with a pass license. However, if you work under me, I am sure I can teach you a trick or two and maybe you can retake the test and do better on it.”
“…..”
Tizen got up from his chair and slowly hobbled past Weed. “The forge is down here to the right, used to be a lot bigger back in the days. Now this is all we got” as Tizen pointed to a small melting stove. “On the left is the display. Three rules, never unlock the display, always accept 100% in advance and lastly and most importantly, never let the customer try the weapon.”
Love what you're reading? Discover and support the author on the platform they originally published on.
“But if they can’t try it then how would they be sure whether they want to use it?”
“Let me ask you this, which do you prefer? Being held hostage by your own weapon or money up front?”
It dawned upon Weed that normally weapons had to be put away before entering a shop. Once inside, system rules prevented players from drawing them back out. However, if they could draw them back out…all hell would break loose.
“Any questions elf?”
“When can I begin?”
“Hohoho…you can begin now!”
As Weed walked towards the stove, “Wait! Who said anything about smelting? First you clean this place. It’s just filthy.” Tizen remarked as he pushed away a spider web.
Weed cursed his luck. He hoped to practice blacksmithing before the last test and earn money while at it; cleaning a dust ridden store was not part of the plan.
As Weed cleaned the store, Tizen began smelting. They had a low inventory, mostly because they couldn’t afford to make weapons if players didn’t buy the existing stock. So Tizen would refine ores and sell those to blacksmithing shops to help ends meet. Weed watched Tizen as he slowly refined the ore; memorizing every step and action. Weed wasn’t allowed to forge anything even after cleaning the store. He was told that customers could come in anytime and it was his most important duty to greet the customer with a smiling face. No one ever came to ‘Swords & Charms’ anymore, it was more likely for one to spot a comet in the skies than hope for a customer. In the end, all Weed could do was watch Tizen refine and sometimes polish weapons.
As the sun set, Tizen finally vacated the seat in front of the stove. “Now, listen here. The secret to being a great blacksmith is consistency and care. Dwarves strive for perfection and you should aim to create perfection. You did a good job for your first day at work. There is some ore in the shed, feel free to practice here. You saw how I melted and refined the ore? Begin from there.”
‘Finally!’ Weed brought out the ore and began melting it and refining. Weed decided to train under Tizen not because he was guided to do so by the examiner nor was it because the examiner said Tizen was a legendary blacksmith but because Weed had the opportunity to check the purity of the ore refined; it was 100% pure iron after refining. Refining ores to 100% purity levels was near impossible, yet Tizen showed him otherwise. Legendary or not, Weed decided to accept Tizen as his mentor for now. There was also the additional benefit of 10% more EXP. But Weed wanted to look towards more noble reasons to accept the profession.
The days flew by quickly, though no new customer ever came, Weed would spend a lot of time just watching Tizen work with different grades and types of ores. He would then have the opportunity to practice the same in the evening. Weed would practice all night and pack away the finished goods before Tizen woke up. The dwarf never bothered watching Weed work or checked Weeds final product, he didn’t have much hope given Weeds poor score in the test and also discriminated against Weed for being an elf. However, Tizen had no idea that Weed only failed the test due to low repair skills and not poor forging skills. The test license never elaborated on how the student fared in both tests.
Initially, Weed’s level was slow to increase when working with just ores however as they moved on to swords and shields forging, it grew rapidly. In just ten days, Weed was beginner level 8 in blacksmithing; he had gained 4 levels. In another five days, he was Intermediate level 1. Weed didn’t quite understand why the EXP benefits were so large and didn’t bother to investigate it either as he was just happy to be leveling up.
At intermediate level 1, Weed’s elemental spirits fusion skill was finally useable. He did ask Tizen about those skills and how could he use them, however Tizen scorned at Weed for believing in mythical skills. Rather than being disappointed, Weed in fact grew more excited. The fact that Tizen, a dwarf, said the skills were mythical just confirmed how rare they really were! Weed grew excited, maybe he was just on the right path to beating this game!
After unlocking the elemental spirits fusion skill. Weed began to experiment with them on his own. He understood enough from the name, that he could fuse weapons with elemental affinity; however he still lacked the understanding of the actual application of the skill. After many trials and errors, Weed had a grasp of his problem. He didn’t know dwarvish blacksmithing. If there were steps to learn blacksmithing then basic blacksmithing would be the first, advance blacksmithing would be next, then dwarvish blacksmithing and finally elemental blacksmithing. Weed learnt the last step first and thus couldn’t use it in the beginning. What Tizen taught Weed so far had been advanced blacksmithing and maybe rudimentary Dwarvish blacksmithing. To progress to the next step, he had to learn everything there was about dwarvish blacksmithing.
Weed didn’t waste anytime. He began pestering Tizen to teach him dwarvish blacksmithing the moment the sun rose. Tizen refused no matter how much Weed begged however latter changed his mind when Weed brought in the shops first customer (Weed had dragged a beginner at sword point into the shop and literally forced him to buy something).
“Now listen elf, using fire elements to melt ores is only a small application of your affinity abilities. Have you considered using water elements during tempering? Or Earth elements during refining? Or Wind elements for cooling? Using these affinities to the fullest of your abilities is dwarvish blacksmithing. These skills can let you temper the most flexible sword in the world, or create the most frictionless dagger. If you are fire affinity, the better you can melt and refine ore. If you are earth affinity, the better you can cast the ore and so on.”
“So if I were earth elemental affinity, I can still use fire affinity?”
“Just barely use it, would qualify. It has a lot to do with your profession as well. You cannot use it outside this profession. Just as you could have never used fire affinity without learning advanced blacksmithing.”
“….” Weed kept silent, he was able to use it at basic level; most likely a benefit of elemental blacksmithing profession.
“This is why dwarvish blacksmithing is prized so highly; it enables you to use all elemental affinities for blacksmithing. It is the highest form of blacksmithing. There is nothing higher than this. With this blacksmithing, you can incorporate the properties of elements into your weapons.”
“Isn’t that elemental blacksmithing?” Weed interrupted.
“How many times must I tell you! There is no such things as elemental blacksmithing! It’s just a fable we are made to listen to as children so that we strive to attain mastery over our own blacksmithing skills. Weapons with elemental properties are not that common however they are not that rare either. Dwarves of the fire kingdoms specialize in making weapons which don’t melt at high temperatures and those of the Earth kingdom can make weapons that never bend or break. However, these skills are part of dwarvish blacksmithing. They bestow elemental properties to the weapons not the elemental affinity. It is one thing to be able to make a high temperature melt proof weapon and another to be able to make a weapon that would burn with a fiery blaze at the will of its user. The latter types of weapons are those imbued with elemental affinity! Understand the difference? It is nearly impossible to find such weapons!”
“Nearly?” Weed asked curiously.
“Aye, nearly but not impossible for I have seen these weapons with my own naked eyes.”
“….”
“In the Temple of Thor, there is a sword whose very constitution changes upon the will of the user. It is said that God Thor forged this sword. It is the only sword of its kind. Though you should not be surprised if you hear folklore on how there exists many more weapons like these, forged by the Gods, scattered across Versailles in dungeons and treasure chests. Whole bunch of nonsense I tell you this elemental mumbo jumbo.”
Though none of the lay dwarves knew about it, amongst the dwarves of royalty and nobility a few knew that there were just two dwarves who possessed this mumbo jumbo skill of the Gods; both were sons of Utmiz Balkan.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Authors Note:
1. Edited by Knaivss.
2. Wooot! I came home early and was able to write a chapter!
3. So just to clear up any confusion, a fire user cant use water abilities, even if they have affinity in it. The affinity can just barely be used in the profession. Do post questions on this, so that I may re-write the bits which are not clear.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Connect to Royal Road – Elementarem Vim next Chapter?YesNo
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------