Chapter 96 What Happened?!



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"This is?..." Barme said as he saw Dale take out a Chipped Sword and a strange-looking thorn

"!"

But Barme immediately saw 'something', carefully grabbing the sword and inspecting it.

Taking this opportunity, Dale started to talk:

"That's the sword of the Commander, its edge is chipped and the hilt seems to have been grasped by something pretty strong as it's heavily distorted…"

"I can see that much, I'm not blind, kid." Barme replied, focused on the sword

'It's beautiful… The patterns... These engravings are magnificent…'

'What's this in the hilt?... Cowards, ignorants… I can feel the anger behind these letters...'

'It was clearly made after the sword's production, given its state, it may have been written moments prior to its owner's death… Probably his last words filled with his grief...'

'I wonder what he wanted to say by writing it… If it was him who made it.'

...

Barme stared at the sword for 10 long minutes before looking at the other unusual piece on the ground, while Dale sat on a chair nearby.

The blackish-red thorn, glimmering under the fire of the forge… It seemed ominous in its own unique way.

Barme could see the faint stains of blood on it, quickly realizing where this torn was…

"Was this the killing item?" He asked deeply

Dale nodded.

"Interesting... I can't tell what it is from a glance... So... Time to improvise."

/Clang/

Barme grabbed the thorn and hit it softly against the anvil using a large round hammer…

"Hum…"

'Nothing...'

/Clang!/

He then used a squarish hammer to hit it, but it once again made a metallic sound…

Barme frowned, this time, he grabbed the hammer and hammered with everything he had!

/CLANG!/

"Huff… Impressive." He said as he looked at the Thorn

The thorn was completely intact, instead, his hard hammer had actually been dented!

This wasn't just any hammer, it was a heirloom made from a very hard material, yet, it was scratched by this horn…

"There is no doubt this is made out of some metallic materials… Or so tough that it can rival most…"

'I would have to test it further but... I'm afraid of damaging it.'

He looked at Dale and said apologetically:

"I cannot work with this for now… Neither can I repair this sword… My skills are far from accomplishing either, even if I were at my prime."

"Bring the thorn with you… But leave the sword with me. I may be old, but I'm not senile…"

"Even if it's the last thing I do, I'll repair this sword!" He said confidently as he tapped his chest

'First, I'll recover my old self... Then, I'll surpass it!'

Dale smiled as well.

"Once you're ready, just tell me and the thorn is all yours."

Barme nodded.

"For now, I'll work on these lower tools and study the way they were made, hopefully, the books you brought will shine some light on my questions…"

"Once I have practiced enough, I'll try to fix these, and eventually… I'll become good enough to work with the rest."

"Regardless of it all, there is still a lot of work to..."

/Clap!/

Barme suddenly slapped his leg.

"I almost forgot!" He exclaimed loudly as he got up and went to the corner of his shop

He grabbed a large box and gave it to Dale

"Here, this is the armor you left for me yesterday, I have studied it for the entire night, it's really a nice piece of gear…"

"But now that you gave me another pair to study, I don't need it anymore, so take it, and thank you." He said with a rare smile

"No worries, I'm glad it was useful." Dale said as he stored his armor in his inventory

After that, he talked a bit more with Barme, but it was clear he was more focused on the things on the ground than on him.

So Dale said a few more words and parted ways… Not before receiving a notification…

[Your Quest has been updated]

"Hm?"

Before he left the shop, Dale checked the notification…

'Blood and Iron huh… I see.'

'This was the quest related to Barme's motivation as a smith, and it's linked to the other quest, Metal Chain Part 1.'

'I have quite the expectation for this Quest since it's related to the sole blacksmith of the Village… Maybe, depending on how well I do with it, the result could be rather unexpected.'

"A man can dream…" Dale mumbled to himself with a half smile

'It says that I have given him a considerable amount of high-quality materials and that he's now extremely excited, something he hasn't felt in decades…'

'That's good, and one thing less to worry about.'

Dale dismissed the notification and opened the door outside, it was time to visit another Elder…

…

/2 hours later…/

For the next hour, Dale visited the other Elders to tell them about the books and inform them of his current condition.

Many of them were quite worried, they didn't learn much from Testros since he had shut himself in his house doing something none of them knew.

But they had to leave him alone after what happened earlier…

Dale reassured them all that he and Testros were both fine, and that there was no need to worry.

Tina was tired from overlooking the Village, so after seeing he was okay, she told him to leave her alone as she wasn't in the mood to teach him anything.

Ophelia was busy dealing with the materials he gave her last time, still processing the leather and the bones from the creatures they hunted…

It didn't help that the players actually bought items from the outside with them as well, including pelts and other similar objects…

Adamante was happy as her services were now required by many, but like Ophelia, she was also busy dealing with the materials Dale brought, after all, those pelts and bones had to turn into something…

While Jyter, the last of the Elders, was doing what he was best at… Relaxing.

Don't blame him, he's a retired Miner, what else can he do?...

Well, he's the best carpenter in the Village, a hobby he took in his free time…

But what can he do when there's little material to work with?...

Jyter was happy that Dale was thinking about the Mines, and he was more than happy to share what he knew about the many ores and mines he worked in.

Of the 2 hours he spent visiting the Elders, 1 was spent here…

…

"Now… Here."

The next person Dale was keen on visiting… Was none other than a certain Alchemist girl.

She wasn't the last, especially now that the Villagers weren't working in the fields, Dale would take this chance to get to know them better…

He also had to talk with a certain old man… Not old… Middle-aged?

But only after he was done talking with Yumi.

As expected, the door said closed, but he could see many players around her shop.

It was to be expected, Yumi was the only one with potions and similar items.

Right now, her services weren't as useful, but once they started to work outside, her potions would be of extreme importance.

That was why many players were here, to try their best to acquire as many potions as they could as they were of limited supply, and also to know the beautiful alchemist better…

And many other reasons of course.

…

/Creak…/

Dale opened the door and got inside the shop, he wasn't being rude, Yumi had actually asked him to do so…

But where was she?

"Hello?"

'This smell… Burning?'

Dale looked at the stairs, he could smell something burning!

Without waiting a single extra second, he started to run…

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Notes

This chapter was very small, it's just that I didn't manage to increase its size by much.

Aside from that, enjoy the day!

Peace.