In the Golden Valley Kingdom, vast jungles and winding river valleys stretched across the entire land. This unique terrain had given rise to the locals' distinct preferences in weaponry.
As a result, short-handled weapons like short swords and daggers were highly favored, gradually giving rise to a unique equipment culture.
Here, they had long since surpassed their simple function as self-defense weapons. They were works of art that showcased personal taste, as well as symbols of social status.
The upper classes loved wrapping sword hilts in the pelts of rare animals and carefully decorating them with the feathers of exotic birds.
Even ordinary commoners would carve several auspicious wave patterns into their sword hilts.
But Roland had never seen such a dense pattern of stripes before.
Although he sensed that something was unusual, Roland still couldn't figure out what those lines meant.
He simply shook his head, tossed charcoal into the forge, and began pulling the bellows with all his might.
After a series of clangs and clangs, Roland looked at the fine cracks covering the cylinder in the middle of the dagger. His brows furrowed tighter and tighter.
"This thing seems much more difficult to forge than I imagined."
"Boy."
Hawk, who had been observing from the side, walked over at that moment.
Completely ignoring the heat remaining in the rough piece, he picked it up and examined it carefully.
A moment later, the experienced Blacksmith slowly spoke.
"This technique would take even me some effort to forge. With your current forging skills, you'd better stop wasting your time."
"Perhaps after several more years of focused practice, you might be able to forge it successfully."
Just then, the lunch bell rang at the perfect moment.
Hearing the bell, Hawk waved his hand and turned to leave. The other apprentice boys in the Blacksmith shop also put down their tools and left.
Only Roland remained where he was.
He first carefully examined every mistake in the forging process just now, then took out a new metal ingot.
He pulled the bellows, fired the ore, and hammered it into shape.
With the enhancement from Standardized Production, the process went slightly more smoothly than before.
However, when he fired the rough piece for the third time, the familiar cracks once again crawled across the metal's surface.
"Failed again."
Roland helplessly shook his head. Then, rubbing the half-finished product in his hand, he fell into thought.
"When I forged ordinary tools before, I usually only needed to fire them once or twice to finish shaping them, but this dagger..."
Thinking of the special structure in the middle, he couldn't help sighing softly.
"It needs to be fired more than a dozen times. The difficulty of controlling the heat and timing increases geometrically with every attempt. Even after activating [Focus], the results are still minimal."
"Even with the assistance of [Standardized Production], I'll probably need more than a dozen attempts to forge it successfully. But the problem is..."
After three attempts, he would have to pay for the ore himself!
Roland weighed the five silver coins remaining in his money pouch, his brows tightly furrowed.
Unless absolutely necessary, he truly didn't want to spend his precious coins on this.
After all, he had no source of income at the moment, yet there were still many places where he would need money in the future.
Not to mention the medicinal ingredients required to cultivate the Mithril Body Tempering Method.
Even though he had bought a complete set from the apothecary last time, the remaining materials were only enough to prepare two more Secret Potions.
If the Mithril Body Tempering Method's level cap was three, then he would have to go out again and spend money on medicinal ingredients.
Thinking of this, Roland rubbed his temples and gently placed the half-finished product back on the workbench.
"I'll think it over a little more."
"Anyway, there are still more than two months before Bronson's delivery deadline. If all else fails, I'll use [Standardized Production] to force it through."
With that thought, Roland put away his tools and headed straight for the cafeteria.
After lunch, aside from preparing for his upcoming Blacksmith class advancement and forging several finished tools under the pretext of practicing his skills, he spent the rest of his time buried in the blueprints, repeatedly examining every detail of the forging process.
Seeing him neglecting his proper work, the apprentice boys in the Blacksmith shop grew increasingly contemptuous. From time to time, they whispered to one another and snickered.
Time flowed like water, and five days passed in the blink of an eye.
Inside the dormitory, Roland held an iron sword and practiced Lionheart Swordsmanship move by move.
The sword edge tore through the air, and a sharp, murderous aura surged through the cramped space. The awkwardness of a beginner was long gone.
[You successfully completed one Lionheart Swordsmanship training session and gained two experience points]
Roland stood with his sword lowered and let out a long breath. He summoned the Profession Panel, his gaze falling on the experience bar beside Lionheart Swordsmanship.
"Although [Battle Readiness] provides a double experience bonus..."
He rubbed the sword hilt and mused,
"Compared to the more than forty experience points I gained from killing more than a dozen kobolds last time, this progress seems rather slow..."
"It seems that under the enhancement of [Theory and Practice], actual combat is a more efficient way to gain experience than training. Besides..."
Recalling the strange sensations he had experienced while practicing swordsmanship these past few days, Roland lightly tapped the sword hilt with his fingertip, deep in thought.
"Ever since I began cultivating the Mithril Body Tempering Method, my body seems to have become much more coordinated. The sword techniques that had previously required some effort to execute now flow as naturally as drifting clouds and running water."
"It seems the improvements from the Mithril Body Tempering Method aren't limited to Strength..."
Roland rotated his wrist.
"They also include hidden enhancements to muscle control, bodily flexibility, and things like that..."
With that thought, he turned and walked toward the wooden table in the corner.
Neatly arranged on the table was finely ground gray-black medicinal powder, which gleamed with a metallic luster under the candlelight.
With the experience from last time, Roland skillfully added Silver Dust to it.
After waiting for a moment, until the gray-black powder once again turned into a viscous silver liquid, Roland took a deep breath and mentally prepared himself.
Gritting his teeth, he spread the viscous silver liquid over his entire body.
Severe pain assaulted him once again. However, perhaps because he had already cultivated the Mithril Body Tempering Method once, the pain this time was far less intense than before.
[You successfully cultivated the Mithril Body Tempering Method once and gained one experience point] [You successfully cultivated the Mithril Body Tempering Method once] [You successfully cultivated it.]
As golden subtitles appeared before his eyes, the viscous silver liquid gradually lost its luster and turned back into gray-black powder, falling to the ground.
"Phew..."
After letting out a long breath, Roland opened the Profession Panel.
[Name: Roland] [Race: Human] [Age: 16] [Professions: Blacksmith Apprentice, Recruit, Scholar] [Strength: 4.5] [Agility: 2.5] [Spirit: 1.8] [Skills: Lv.Max Ore Firing, Lv.Max Bellows Operation, Lv.Max Hammering, 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, Battle Readiness, Focus] [Additional Enhancements: Tempered Steel, Theory and Practice, Standardized Production]
"Strength only increased by 0.6?"
Roland frowned slightly.
"It seems that as the number of cultivation sessions increases, the effects of the Mithril Body Tempering Method gradually weaken. But..."
He looked at the other two attributes, and the corners of his brows lifted slightly.
"Spirit actually increased by 0.1? That's an unexpected bonus."
After confirming all the changes, he slowly rubbed his palms together, suppressing the excitement surging within him, and murmured,
"Take the Blacksmith Profession!"
[Upper-Tier Profession available: Blacksmith] [Requirements: Strength 4, Agility 2, three max-level forging-related skills, 10/10 weapons of acceptable quality forged] [Would you like to take the profession?]
"Confirm!"
Fathers, these Profession Panel figures aren't just padding. It's mainly because more than twenty chapters have passed, so I wanted to summarize things for all my fathers.
After this, I'll make up for these words in the chapter released at 20:00 tonight.
That's all. This humble one shall take his leave.
Before you continue