The Mystery of the Dagger

Roland's body trembled violently, cold sweat pouring down like rain.

The silver liquid writhed as if alive, madly burrowing into his pores, only to seep back out through his skin the next moment, carrying some dark-red substance with it.

With each cycle, the liquid's silver color faded a little more, gradually returning to a murky gray-black.

Throughout the process, he could clearly feel something inside him being forcibly extracted.

His muscles, bones, blood, and even some impurities buried deeper within were all being torn away by the bizarre liquid.

The agony came in waves, one after another, nearly crushing his consciousness. Yet his body seemed to be held firmly in place by an invisible force, denying him even the right to collapse.

At the same time, lines of golden text kept flashing before his eyes.

[Mithril Body Tempering Method learned. Current level: Lv. 1]

[You successfully practiced the Mithril Body Tempering Method once and gained 1 experience]

[You successfully practiced the Mithril Body Tempering Method once]

[You successfully practiced it.] ```

But Roland had no attention to spare for anything else.

"Gah!"

The sound forced from his throat was hoarse and broken.

His eyes were bloodshot, and his vision had begun to darken, yet his consciousness grew sharper and sharper. He never lost consciousness.

As his fingernails dug deeply into his palms, blood dripped down his wrists, only to be devoured completely the instant it touched the gray-black powder.

After who knew how long, the liquid finally lost all its silver color and transformed back into dry gray-black powder. It flaked off his body with a rustle, and the force restraining him vanished abruptly.

Roland's legs went weak, and he dropped heavily to his knees.

"Haha."

He gasped for breath, his throat burning fiercely as if it had just been seared by a hot iron.

Cold sweat soaked his entire body, even pooling into a small puddle on the floor.

It took a long while before Roland finally came to himself, his gaze refocusing on the Profession Panel before him.

"I only practiced it once, and I gained thirty-four experience points? And..."

His gaze lowered, and his voice trembled slightly with shock.

"My Strength attribute actually increased by 0.7!"

The number left Roland finding it difficult to believe.

Previously, even when he consciously performed Strength Training, he could barely increase his Strength by 0.1 in a month.

Although he had later obtained the additional buff from [Tempered Steel], which sped up his progress, he still needed half a month of hard training to increase his Strength by 0.1.

Now, a single practice of the Mithril Body Tempering Method had equaled more than three months of his past sweat and effort.

The gap in efficiency made Roland draw a deep breath and slowly exhale, doing his best to calm the excitement surging in his chest.

Only after his heartbeat gradually returned to normal did he lower his head and carefully examine his body.

The faint outlines of his muscles had become sharply defined, every muscle displaying a firm and powerful contour.

Even more astonishingly, his skin had become fair and smooth like a newborn's, glowing with healthy radiance.

Even the minor wounds left by his fight with the kobolds the previous night had completely disappeared, as if they had been thoroughly cleansed by some mysterious power.

"This is even with the body-tempering effect greatly reduced due to the lack of a supporting Breathing Technique."

Recalling the words on the parchment, Roland felt a surge of heat in his heart.

"If I could practice it together with a Breathing Technique, then..."

But a moment later, he calmed down and slowly shook his head.

Although his channels for obtaining information were extremely limited, he had still heard of the legendary Knight Breathing Technique.

At least in the Golden Valley Kingdom, the Knight Breathing Technique was the core secret of the aristocracy, tightly controlled by the various noble families and never revealed except under special circumstances.

With his current status, it was simply impossible for him to come into contact with something so precious.

"Forget it. Obtaining the Mithril Body Tempering Method is already an unexpected delight. Besides..."

Looking at the number after the Mithril Body Tempering Method in the skill column, the corners of Roland's mouth lifted slightly.

"A hundred-point experience limit means I can practice the Mithril Body Tempering Method at least two more times. And I'm only one step away from the four points of Strength required to become a Blacksmith. But..."

Feeling the faint stinging sensation brought by the breeze brushing over his body, Roland recalled the words on the parchment and pondered.

"In my current condition, I'm afraid I'll have to wait a few more days before attempting it a second time."

With that thought, Roland changed into his spare clothes and walked out the door.

Only a few days remained before the deadline for the Knowledge Test.

He did not want to miss the examination opportunity a month later because he failed the test.

The clangs of hammering still echoed throughout the Blacksmith shop, but the firelight from the village the previous night had clearly affected everyone's mood.

Marco and the other apprentices silently buried their heads in their work. None of them noticed Roland's arrival.

Only Hawk, leaning against the wall, raised his eyes and gently placed his broad palm on Roland's shoulder.

"Boy."

A trace of astonishment flashed through Hawk's eyes, and his rough fingers unconsciously rubbed the fabric of Roland's clothes.

"I didn't expect you to make it back alive..."

After sighing hesitantly, Hawk did not ask about the previous night. He merely raised his gray-white brows and asked, "Recognize all the characters?"

"Yes, Mister Hawk."

"Good."

Hawk turned and gave Marco and the others a few instructions before beckoning to Roland.

"Come with me."

His leather boots landed on the flagstone path with a dull thud.

After passing through the courtyard piled with farm tools, the two arrived at a spacious storeroom.

Sunlight slanted in through the high windows, illuminating the floating dust.

Hawk took a yellowed piece of cloth from an oak cabinet and slapped it into Roland's palm.

"Read."

At the brief command, Roland lowered his head slightly and looked at the yellowed cloth. The knowledge in his mind began racing.

After quickly reading it silently and confirming that he had made no mistakes, his clear recitation echoed through the storeroom.

Hawk's initially calm expression gradually softened. His brows relaxed, and surprise appeared in his eyes.

When Roland finished the final passage and even corrected several awkward phrases, the old Blacksmith finally could not help clapping his rough hands, producing a dull sound.

"Good boy!"

Hawk's voice held undisguised praise.

"I thought your extraordinary talent in forging was surprising enough. I never expected you to be able to read and write so well, too..."

He paused. Half a month ago, Roland had still stumbled over every word and struggled even to read a single contract. Now he could recite it so fluently and even point out grammatical errors. Unable to help smacking his lips, Hawk announced decisively, "All right. You passed the Knowledge Test. Starting today, you can come to the Blacksmith shop for training as usual."

With that, he stepped forward and pressed his broad palm heavily onto Roland's shoulder, his tone turning serious.

"However, those boys with Marco haven't been slacking off. They've been training harder than anyone lately. If you want to come out on top in the examination a month from now, you'll have to put your life into it. Understand?"

"Yes!"

Seeing the determination in Roland's eyes, Hawk nodded in satisfaction.

"By the way, Mister Hawk."

Thinking of Bronson's previous request, Roland spoke softly. He omitted the details of the Silver Dust transaction and simply explained that he had been asked to forge a dagger.

After hearing him out, Hawk gave an exasperated chuckle.

"That fellow is still as stubborn as ever. Fine. Since he asked you for help, do as you wish. However..."

The old Blacksmith suddenly stopped, his brows knitting into a deep furrow.

"Because of the fighting near the Black Fir Forest, ore supplies are tight. So I'll only give you enough for three Iron Billets..."

He held three short, thick fingers up before Roland's eyes.

"If you ruin them, you'll have to pay the market price. Understood?"

"Understood, Mister Hawk."

Roland nodded without hesitation.

He still had five silver coins on hand, more than enough to buy several pieces of ore.

The two returned by the same route and arrived at the Blacksmith shop once more.

When Hawk announced that Roland could resume training his forging skills in the Blacksmith shop, the hammering suddenly paused for a moment.

Marco and the other apprentices exchanged astonished looks.

None of them had expected this boy, who had once struggled even to read a contract, to actually overcome the Knowledge Test in less than a month.

However, the rhythm of the hammers soon returned to its former cadence.

Faint smiles hung on the boys' lips, while their hands never stopped moving.

In their eyes, so what if Roland had returned?

Even before this, they had considered their forging skills roughly equal to Roland's.

Not to mention that they had trained day and night over the past month, and their forging skills had already improved by leaps and bounds.

As for Roland, who had let his training lapse, he had probably grown rusty even at the most basic hammering.

Only Marco among them slightly furrowed his brows.

But after seeing the increasingly refined forging skills of those beside him, he said nothing and continued swinging his hammer with his head down.

Roland ignored their faintly mocking gazes and made his way to the anvil in the corner.

He expertly worked the bellows, fired the ore, and hammered the material.

After confirming that his skills had not grown rusty, he did not continue accumulating experience by forging finished tools. Instead, he took out the blueprint Bronson had given him earlier.

In any case, after a few more days, he would be able to increase his Strength by practicing the Mithril Body Tempering Method and officially become a Blacksmith.

By then, he could see what additional traits the Blacksmith profession would grant him and train accordingly.

For now, he might as well attempt to forge the dagger Bronson had commissioned and see whether he could settle the deal as soon as possible.

Emotionally, he disliked owing other people anything.

Logically—

Recalling Bronson's mysterious side that day, Roland slightly furrowed his brows and lowered his head to examine the blueprint in his hand.

"Tsk."

Although he had studied it repeatedly, the difficulty of forging this dagger still made him click his tongue in amazement.

The dagger Bronson wanted was completely different from ordinary weapons.

It was shaped like a short sword overall. The tip and the end were nothing special, but the middle section was concave, narrowing until it formed a cylindrical shape.

This strange structure posed an enormous challenge to both hammering and ore-firing techniques.

That was not all. He also needed to carve densely packed lines into the central cylinder with a file.

The slightest carelessness would cause the middle section to snap.

And those lines...

Roland gently ran his fingers over the patterns on the blueprint, his brows drawing tighter and tighter.

He faintly sensed that the lines were not as chaotic as they appeared, but instead followed some peculiar pattern.

Some areas were dense as spiderwebs, while others were sparse and open. At the turns, they even formed subtle arcs, as if guiding something.

"This thing... doesn't look like a mere decoration."