Learning

The best time to use the forge was right after the master blacksmith had finished with it, while the furnace was still hot. Borrowing that heat, one could forge ordinary farm tools from ordinary iron.

Dole naturally needed to make use of the forge's remaining heat. Before long, the blacksmith's shed rang with a clanging chorus.

Verek rested as he guided Dole, nodding again and again. This child was quite good—it all depended on how much insight he possessed.

The highest-ranking blacksmiths in Duomeng City were only level three. That was because the transition from a level-two to a level-three blacksmith required a certain foundation in battle qi. Once one had that foundation, one had to use battle qi to inscribe all kinds of formation patterns onto weapons. Being able to use battle qi to attach formation patterns to weapons was the main yardstick restricting whether a blacksmith could advance.

Yet the overwhelming majority of blacksmiths in Duomeng City were only level two. A large part of the reason was that everything else was easy enough to attain, but battle qi cultivation methods were hard to find. Every blacksmith shop priced its battle qi cultivation methods clearly, and even the lowest-grade ones cost at least twenty gold coins. Verek had worked for so many years and only saved ten gold coins. He still had to help support the household, so accumulating twenty gold coins was a distant dream.

He had not told Dole any of this, afraid it would dampen the boy's confidence.

But the child had one good quality: he was used to hard days. As long as he could stay alive, he was happy and content. He was a good child.

Before long, it was time to eat.

Although Dole's work at the blacksmith shop was grueling and involved as much exertion as the mines, leaving his arms and waist aching by morning's end, there was one advantage: there was always enough food, and there was even meat. Dole had not eaten meat in a very long time, so he did not mind a little hardship or exhaustion. All in all, he was simply happy every day.

Whenever he had a spare moment, he went to hammer iron and practice the basic hammer techniques. He found it quite enjoyable, and it strengthened his body as well.

Soon, another day passed, and it was time to get off work again.

They shut down the furnace, put out the fire, and tidied up the tools.

After a hard day's work, Dole was allowed to take home the little hammer he could use. In Verek's words, if you wanted to use a tool well, you had to become familiar with it. When Verek had first started forging, he had even slept hugging his little hammer at night—closer than a wife.

After bidding farewell to Verek, the other blacksmiths, the apprentices, and Ha, Dole stood at the entrance of the blacksmith shop and waved goodbye. Turning around, he looked at the city, already somewhat dark, and watched the light of the setting sun gradually fade. For no reason at all, a feeling of loneliness rose in his heart.

The blacksmith shop was lively, but when he returned at night, he would be alone. On the not-so-quiet main road, his expression gradually changed from joy and happiness to indifference.

This was who he was at night, when he was alone.

Looking down the darkening road, he muttered to himself, That bastard better not come tonight. If he does, I'll hammer him to death with this little hammer.

He tightened his clothes and tucked the little hammer into his wide sleeve.

Stepping onto the main road, Dole's lonely figure quickly vanished down the roadside.

The slums were not far from here. As soon as he entered them, a familiar, intimate feeling welled up within him. Crossing the drainage ditch, Dole soon saw his new home.

As he walked, he quietly watched his surroundings. Seeing no suspicious people, he reached the door, swiftly pulled it open, entered, and shut it behind him—all in one smooth motion.

At that moment, dog Aoduo had already been waiting by the door. The moment Dole came in, dog Aoduo circled around him excitedly.

Dole patted the dog's head and played with him for a while before taking out the food he had brought and placing it before dog Aoduo.

The food at the blacksmith shop was far more plentiful than anything outside. He had wrapped it in paper, and it was still a little warm.

Dog Aoduo tore open the greaseproof paper in a few quick bites and finished the food in no time. Afterward, he picked up the paper in his mouth and carried it outside.

Dole clicked his tongue in wonder. This dog Aoduo had practically become a spirit.

After dealing with that, he shut the door and took a candle from his clothes, preparing to read properly. He opened Naluye's storybook and read while consulting the dictionary, learning the words inside. It was an extremely slow process. There were too many words he did not recognize, and sometimes he could not even recognize the words in the dictionary, so he had to look those up as well. As a result, he read very, very slowly.

Even so, Dole read with great relish. The room contained only the sound of breathing and turning pages.

He also discovered something: whenever he read, dog Aoduo never came to bother him. The dog lay there in perfect silence, his eyes seeming to be filled with... wisdom.

Dole felt as though water had gotten into his brain. To think he would believe a dog possessed wisdom—it was simply absurd.

He was soon drawn in by Naluye's story and immersed himself in it.

This was an immensely great figure, and immensely formidable as well. Most importantly, he was immensely intelligent. Starting as the young master of a minor family, he learned martial skills, then witchcraft. He was exceptionally good at using his mind, advanced by leaps and bounds, then left the manor and entered the world, one step at a time...

After Dole had read for a while, the candle soon burned out. He sighed, set down the book, and began practicing the combat stance. He had discovered that this stance was genuinely useful. At the very least, after practicing for several days, he felt lighter all over and more coordinated in his movements. Thus, he decided to practice for a while every night before bed.

After reading Naluye's biography today, he took the combat stance even more seriously, because Naluye had built a solid foundation through this very stance. To deal with that bastard Aoduo, Dole had no choice but to seize every opportunity to improve himself—to improve his abilities.

And so, he practiced the few movements over and over until his legs went numb and his arms grew weak. Only then did he rest, quickly falling into a deep sleep.

Hellhound Aoduo climbed to his feet. Looking at the deeply sleeping Dole, his drooping ears swiftly rose and stood straight, while every trace of his doglike state vanished. He glanced at Dole and spat out a ray of light that landed on Dole's body before quickly disappearing.

The front door opened on its own, and dog Aoduo quietly slipped out.

After scouting for several nights, he had roughly determined that deep within those iron mines of Demon County lay a small magic crystal vein that had not yet been discovered by humans or the various demons and monsters. As long as he claimed it and absorbed it, his injuries would mostly recover.

Over the past few days, his injuries had been slowly improving. He had recovered roughly one-thousandth of his strength, but that was still far too slow.

Demon County was simply too remote, its resources too depleted. If this had been the Demon Realm, such injuries would have healed in three months at most.

Of course, that was assuming he could survive on the spot. Given the ferocity of Demon Realm creatures, even if he could cling to life, he would likely be eaten the moment he encountered any random creature—never mind being picked up and raised by someone. That would have been impossible.

Thinking of this, his gratitude toward Dole deepened further. It was all thanks to Dole. When he had been on the verge of death, Dole had endured the pain of hunger and given him a vegetable dumpling. Who could have imagined that a dignified hellhound had survived on a human's vegetable dumpling?

Sometimes, life was just that ridiculous.

He quickly left Duomeng City, racing through the woods alongside the official road. Before long, he entered the mountain range of the mining grounds and continued onward. As long as he found the mineral vein, recovery would no longer be far away.

Dog Aoduo was extremely confident about that.

The next morning, Dole woke from his sleep. After a night of rest, he felt full of energy, his entire body brimming with drive. He reached out, grabbed his little hammer, and swung it through the air a few times with whooshing force, feeling immensely invigorated.

Another pleasant day had begun.

He washed up and went to work.