Apprentice Blacksmith

In the Golden Valley Kingdom, vast jungles and winding river valleys cover the entire territory, and this unique terrain has nurtured the local people's special preference for weaponry.

This has made short-handled weapons like short swords and daggers highly favored, gradually forming a unique equipment culture.

Here, they have long surpassed their simple function of self-defense; they are both works of art that showcase personal taste and symbols that reflect social status.

The upper class is keen on wrapping sword hilts with precious animal furs and meticulously decorating them with the feathers of rare birds.

Even ordinary civilians will carve a few auspicious wave patterns on their sword hilts.

However, it was only this dense pattern of stripes that Roland had never seen before.

Although he sensed something unusual, Roland still couldn't figure out the meaning of those lines.

He simply shook his head, threw charcoal into the furnace, and vigorously pumped the bellows.

After a series of clanging sounds, Roland looked at the fine cracks covering the cylindrical body in the middle of the dagger, his brow furrowing tighter.

"Forging this thing seems much more difficult than I imagined."

"Kid."

Hawk, who had been observing from the side, walked over at this moment.

He picked it up and examined it carefully, unconcerned about the residual heat on the rough blank.

After a moment, the experienced blacksmith slowly spoke.

"This kind of craftsmanship... even I would need some effort to forge it. With your current forging level, you should stop wasting your energy."

"Perhaps you'll need to practice diligently for a few more years before you can successfully forge it."

As he spoke, the bell for lunch rang at the opportune moment.

Hearing the bell, Hawk waved his hand and turned to leave. The other apprentice youths in the blacksmith shop also put down their tools and left the shop.

Only Roland remained alone.

He first carefully examined every mistake made during the forging process, then took a new metal ingot.

Pumping the bellows, firing the ore, forging it into shape.

With the enhancement effect of [Standardized Production], the process was smoother this time than before.

However, during the third firing of the rough blank, the familiar cracks reappeared on the metal surface.

"Failed again."

Roland shook his head helplessly, rubbed the semi-finished product in his hand, and fell into thought.

"The ordinary tools I forged before usually only needed one or two firings to complete the shaping, but this dagger..."

Thinking of the special structure in the middle, he couldn't help but sigh.

"It requires repeated firings, more than ten times. The difficulty of controlling the heat and timing for each one increases exponentially. Even activating the [Focus] state yields little effect."

"Even with the assistance of [Standardized Production], it's estimated that it will take more than ten attempts to successfully forge it, but the problem is..."

After three attempts, he would have to pay for the ore out of his own pocket!

Roland weighed the five silver coins left in his money pouch, his brow furrowed.

Unless it was absolutely necessary, he was reluctant to spend his precious coins on this.

After all, he had no source of income at the moment, but there were many things he would need money for in the future.

Not to mention the herbs needed to cultivate the Mithril Body Tempering Method.

Even after purchasing all the materials at the herbalist's shop last time, the remaining ingredients were only enough to prepare two doses of the Secret Potion.

If the level cap for the Mithril Body Tempering Method was three, then he would need to go out again and spend money to buy herbs.

Thinking of this, Roland rubbed his temples and gently placed the semi-finished product back on the workbench.

"Let me ponder it a bit more."

"Anyway, there are still more than two months before the delivery date set by Bronson. If all else fails, I can use [Standardized Production] to force its completion."

With that thought, Roland tidied up his tools and walked straight towards the cafeteria.

After lunch, besides preparing for his future blacksmith advancement and forging several finished tools under the guise of practicing his skills, he spent the rest of his time engrossed in blueprints, repeatedly scrutinizing every forging detail.

Seeing him acting so unprofessionally, the apprentice youths in the blacksmith shop's contempt grew more evident, and they often exchanged whispers and snickers.

Time flowed like water, and five days passed in the blink of an eye.

In the dormitory, Roland held an iron sword, practicing the Lionheart Swordsmanship with each move.

The sword edge cut through the air, and a sharp killing aura surged in the small space, long gone was the awkwardness of his beginner days.

[You have successfully completed one training session of Lionheart Swordsmanship, gaining two experience points.]

Sheathing his sword, Roland let out a long sigh, summoned his Profession Panel, and his gaze fell on the experience bar behind Lionheart Swordsmanship.

"Although there's a double experience bonus from the [Preparation] trait."

He mused, stroking the sword hilt.

"But compared to the more than forty experience points that surged when I killed more than ten kobolds last time, this progress seems a bit slow..."

"It seems that with the boost from [Theory and Practice], actual combat is a more efficient way to gain experience than training. Besides that..."

Recalling the strange sensations he'd felt while practicing swordplay in recent days, Roland tapped his fingertips lightly on the sword's hilt, lost in thought.

"Ever since I started practicing the Mithril Body Tempering Method, my body seems to have become much more coordinated. Sword styles that were difficult to execute before are now as natural as flowing water."

"It appears the improvements from the Mithril Body Tempering Method aren't just reflected in my Strength stats."

Roland stretched his wrists.

"There are also hidden benefits like muscle control and body flexibility."

With that thought, he turned and walked toward the wooden table in the corner.

Finely ground gray-black medicinal powder was neatly arranged on the table, gleaming like metal under the candlelight.

Having learned from his previous experience, Roland skillfully added the Silver Dust to the mixture.

After waiting a moment until the gray-black powder once again transformed into a viscous silver liquid, Roland took a deep breath, fully prepared mentally.

Gritting his teeth, he smeared the viscous silver liquid all over his body.

The intense pain struck again, but it seemed because he had already practiced the Mithril Body Tempering Method once, the pain this time was far less severe than the last.

[You have successfully practiced the Mithril Body Tempering Method once, gaining one experience point]

[You have successfully practiced the Mithril Body Tempering Method]

[You have successfully practiced.]

As golden subtitles appeared before his eyes, the viscous silver liquid gradually lost its luster, transforming back into gray-black powder and falling to the ground.

"Hoo..."

After a long sigh, Roland opened his Profession Panel.

[Name: Roland]
[Race: Human]
[Age: 16]
[Profession: Blacksmith Apprentice, Rookie, Learner]
[Strength: 4.5]
[Agility: 2.5]
[Spirit: 1.8]
[Skills: Lv.Max Ore Firing, Lv.Max Bellows Operation, Lv.Max Forging, Lv.MAX Basic Swordsmanship, Lv.2 General Knowledge (179/200), Lv.2 Lionheart Swordsmanship (19/200), Lv.1 Mithril Body Tempering Method (67/100)]
[Traits: Humble Apprentice, Preparation, Focus]
[Additional Buffs: Tempered Steel, Theory and Practice, Standardized Production]

"Strength only increased by 0.6?"

Roland frowned slightly.

"It seems the effect of the Mithril Body Tempering Method gradually weakens with increased practice, but..."

He looked at the other two stats, his eyebrows arching slightly.

"Spirit actually increased by 0.1? That's an unexpected pleasant surprise."

After confirming all the changes, he slowly rubbed his palms, suppressing the surging excitement in his heart, and softly chanted.

"Job change to Blacksmith!"

[Can job change to advanced profession: Blacksmith]
[Requirements: Strength 4, Agility 2, Three max-level forging-related skills, Forged 10/10 weapons of acceptable quality]
[Proceed with job change?]

"Confirm job change!"

To all my foster fathers, this profession panel data isn't just filler; it's mainly to summarize things for all of you after over twenty chapters.

I will make up for this word count in the chapter scheduled for 20:00 tonight.

That's all, this humble one takes his leave.