Chapter 18 (1/2)

Translator: Atlas Studios

Editor: Atlas Studios

After arriving at the blacksmith’s location, Fatty was stunned by the surging crowd!

He knew that many players learned to forge, so he should have expected that it would turn out like this. The blacksmith area was covered outside by dense crowds of people. Players even queued more than 20 meters down the street!

How was he going to squeeze in?

Before Fatty was done breaking out in cold sweat, a group of players saw him standing dumbly in the same spot and they immediately came over.

“Friend, do you need a weapon? Come find me. You just need to prepare the materials. You don’t have to spend a single cent on anything else!”

“I’ll do it for you, I’ll do it for you! It’s free as long as you can bring your blueprint and materials. My proficiency is higher than theirs!”

“Step aside. Your dozens of proficiency points are considered high? Friend, I’ll help you. My proficiency is almost 100. If you have any insufficient materials, I can add those in!”

“Look for me. I’ll help you. I’ll give you two Bronze Coins for forging something once!”

“…”

Too many players learned to forge, but the system had regulations. Before the proficiency reached 100 points, they could only forge equipment below Level 10. This meant that players who had just learned the forging skill could only rely on forging low-level equipment to improve their proficiency. Only after they had sufficient proficiency could they forge higher-level Weapon Blueprints.

However, the problem was that at the blacksmith’s location, they taught forging skills and also helped the players forge Level 1 to 9 equipment, which was free. When many players wanted to forge low-level weapons, they would rather find the blacksmith to do it. After all, the players who learned the forging skill had a very low proficiency. If they went to the blacksmith, they could even obtain Refined Rank equipment. If they went to the players, they would probably get Normal Rank equipment…

In that case, too many boats would be chasing a small number of fish, creating a situation where players who learned forging skills flocked to compete for business as if they were competing for passengers at a station. Nothing good would come out of it. The only purpose was to draw one over to increase their forging proficiency.

Now, all players were relatively poor. Those who wanted to buy game currency with money could not do so at this stage. If they wanted to raise their proficiency by acquiring blueprints, they could dream about it, as they didn’t have the financial resources…

After understanding this, Fatty was suddenly caught between laughter and tears and could only say loudly, “Please move aside! I’m here to learn how to forge!”

“Pffft!” Upon hearing Fatty’s words, that big group of players immediately looked at him disdainfully and dispersed.

Just as Fatty was about to squeeze in to find the blacksmith to learn the skill, a player next to him said, “You’re a Venomancer. Why learn to forge?”

It was no wonder that others thought so. After all, they were more dependent on weapons. The vast majority of them belonged to classes like Warriors and Thieves. Their pursuit of high-quality weapons was much more intense than that of a Pyromancer or Venomancer. It was precisely because of this that more players of this class learned to forge. On the contrary, it was very rare for common classes like Fatty’s to learn to forge. Players believed that they should learn enchantments or alchemy…

However, Fatty didn’t care what others thought. He knew what he was doing.

After squeezing his way to the blacksmith, Fatty saw a tanned muscular NPC covered all over in sweat that reflected faint light against the huge stove on the side.

“Forging is a profound skill. Only with a lot of sweat and endurance can you achieve something. Fellow clansman, are you sure you want to learn to forge from me?”

Fatty naturally confirmed this.

“That’s very good!” The blacksmith nodded with satisfaction and said, “However, before learning to forge, you’d better go find my apprentice, who is next to me. He will impart mining skills to you. Then, I want you to make use of them. Go to the Abandoned Mineshaft West of Asgarod and mine an Iron Ore for me. Only then will I impart forging skills to you!”

Coming! As soon as Fatty heard that, he understood that nothing had gone wrong.

After accepting the quest, finding the apprentice next to the blacksmith, and paying him 5 Bronze Coins to learn the mining skill, he purchased a normal mining pickaxe. Fatty then squeezed through the crowd, found the teleportation portal, and teleported outside of the West Gate. Then, he went all the way to the Abandoned Mineshaft just like the blacksmith had told him.

When he had played the Berserker, he had also learned to forge. Thus, he knew a tiny trick regarding the problem of upgrading the proficiency of the forging skill regarding handing over the ore to the blacksmith.

The blacksmith only needed a piece of ore of any level. After he gave him the ore, he would teach the player how to smelt the ore into Iron Ingots and how to forge equipment. The quest was very simple. Since it was not hard to obtain an ore, after many players went to the Abandoned Mineshaft and dug a piece of ore, they would be impatient to fly back. The lazier ones would even directly find someone and purchase an extra piece of ore from them, which they could then take back for the quest.