Hawk's Favor

"What are you standing around for? Keep going!"

Hearing Hawk's furious shout, Roland hurriedly gathered his wits and continued swinging the hammer in his hand.

Although the theoretical knowledge of forging in his mind had already formed a complete system, there was still a considerable gap between imagination and practice.

As a result, the next few hammer strikes were exceptionally clumsy and unpracticed.

Forget compared to Hawk—even Marco's crude craftsmanship from earlier was slightly better than his.

Seeing this, the youths watching nearby could not help whispering mockingly.

"Ha! He dares to try with skills like that?"

"I knew this guy couldn't do it! Look at how thin his arms are, like branches. He probably won't have any strength left after a few swings!"

Hawk stood nearby with his arms folded. Though he said nothing, the constant tapping of his fingers showed that he was dissatisfied with Roland's performance.

But Roland ignored their idle chatter and focused entirely on swinging his hammer again and again.

[You have successfully completed a forging action and gained one experience point.]

[You have successfully completed a forging action.]

[You have successfully completed]

With every prompt, Roland felt his understanding of the Forging Skill deepen by another degree.

The hammer in his hand no longer seemed like an external object. It felt like a part of his body, ready to be wielded as he pleased.

This made every strike more precise than the last, with increasingly appropriate force behind it.

As the forging continued, Hawk's tightly furrowed brows gradually relaxed, and a trace of poorly concealed surprise appeared on his normally stern face.

When the youths around them saw Roland's increasingly skillful forging motions, they could not help murmuring in amazement.

"This guy's forging skill seems about as good as Marco's."

"Could his father be some famous blacksmith too?"

As the final hammer blow fell, Roland stared at the dagger taking shape on the anvil, his eyes flashing with delight.

Though its surface was still somewhat rough, there were no cracks at all.

The quality was far from excellent, but with a little Polishing, it would still be usable.

After taking a deep breath, Roland ignored the strange looks from the youths and looked toward the old blacksmith beside him.

"Mister Hawk, what do you think?"

"Hmph."

With a muffled grunt, Hawk slowly stepped forward, picked up the rough dagger blank, and examined it carefully.

Only after a moment did he raise his head and ask,

"Roland, right? What did you do before this?"

"Like my father, I trained horses for the Baron."

Roland searched through the Original Body's memories, scratched his head, and answered.

"Trained horses? Have you ever handled any work involving forged tools before?"

"No, Mister Hawk."

Seeing that the delicate youth before him had not wavered in the slightest, Hawk's lips curled up faintly. Then he turned around, raised the rough dagger blank in his hand, and barked fiercely,

"All of you, look carefully! This is what forging tools is supposed to look like!"

"Quite a few of your families run Blacksmith shops, yet your forging skills are worse than a horse handler's!"

"Later, each of you will take a metal ingot and practice using Roland's blank as the standard! Anyone who fails will go hungry tonight and reflect before the furnace!"

Amid a chorus of groans, Hawk gave Roland's shoulder a firm pat.

"From now on, focus solely on assisting me. You don't need to practice any other skills. Understand?"

"Yes!"

At once, a surge of joy rose in Roland's heart.

Assisting Hawk would not only give him ample time to practice the Forging Skill, but it also meant he had earned the master blacksmith's approval.

Baron Foslin of Blackwater Territory was not financially well-off. Supporting even one knight stretched his resources thin, and Hawk was the only blacksmith assigned to the entire territory.

Earning Hawk's favor meant Roland already had one foot over the threshold of the assessment to become a formal apprentice!

"Thank you, Mister Hawk!"

"Good. Work hard from now on, and don't slack off!"

After offering a few words of encouragement, Hawk waved his hand and strode away.

Watching his departing back, Roland remained where he was, savoring the wondrous sensation he had felt while forging.

"The traits granted by transferring to a Blacksmith Apprentice seem even more powerful than I imagined!"

"Not only did they instantly let me grasp knowledge I had struggled to understand before, they also make learning blacksmith-related skills twice as effective with half the effort!"

"If merely being a basic Blacksmith Apprentice has improved me this much, what about other occupations?"

"If I keep taking on additional occupations, then with my attributes, skills, and traits stacking together..."

Just as Roland was lost in fantasy, a thick arm suddenly hooked around his neck, followed by an odd shout.

"Nice one, Roland! I knew you could do it!"

"Sean?"

Looking at the excitement on his best friend's face, Roland said helplessly,

"You're getting a little too excited."

"Buddy, how could I not be? Mister Hawk used the blank you forged as the standard! That old stick-in-the-mud has never praised anyone like this!"

"I know. But shouldn't you be more worried about whether you'll get dinner tonight?"

"Hehe! You're right."

Seeing Sean's honest, simple expression, Roland rolled his eyes, then pulled him over to an anvil. As he explained the key points of forging, the two casually chatted.

As time passed, Roland's taut nerves gradually relaxed, and exhaustion immediately washed over him like a tide.

Feeling his arms, sore and numb, nearly lose all sensation, he could not help sighing softly.

"I used up all my strength just forging one crude dagger. Two points of Strength clearly aren't enough."

"And if I want to gain attribute increases in the short term, transferring occupations is the only way. But judging from becoming a Blacksmith Apprentice just now, I first have to learn the corresponding skill."

As Roland pondered this, Sean looked around cautiously. After making sure no one was nearby, he whispered,

"Roland, you need to be careful lately."

"That kid Marco didn't look too happy just now."

"Do you remember that guy called Landers? He had talent in forging too, and he was even steadily better than Marco. But what happened?"

Sean set down his hammer, leaned closer, and continued.

"After meeting Marco privately, he inexplicably left the manor and vanished without a trace."

Hearing this, Roland looked up.

Sure enough, Marco was watching him from not far away while muttering something to the people around him.

The displeased look in his eyes made it obvious that whatever came out of his mouth was certainly not praise.

"But you don't need to worry too much. This is the Baron's manor. No matter how arrogant Marco is, he wouldn't dare cause trouble here. Besides—"

Sean flexed his arm, displaying his bulging muscles.

"If anything really happens, I'll protect you!"

"Then thank you, Sean."

Roland smiled faintly, but he did not lower his guard.

Without Roland, the apprentice position three months from now would undoubtedly have belonged to Marco.

As the saying went, taking someone's livelihood was like killing their parents.

Not to mention that this livelihood was a position as a blacksmith employed exclusively by a noble!

"One must always be wary of others! And besides Marco, that potential threat..."

Remembering the information he had recently gathered, Roland's brows slowly drew together.

"This world also has rampaging monsters, as well as powerful people like knights who possess extraordinary strength. It's dangerous everywhere!"

"I need to find a way to learn some combat techniques as soon as possible and take on a combat-related occupation. That would not only improve my attributes, but if I encounter danger, I'd at least have some means of protecting myself. But..."

After thinking it over, Roland helplessly faced reality.

Given his current situation—without money or status—he seemed to have no way to learn combat-related skills at all.

"Right!"

As if recalling something, Roland turned his gaze toward his best friend, who was clumsily practicing his forging technique nearby.