"I'm going to attempt to reforge this glaive into a 4-star weapon." Borris said with a clear voice allowing his grandson to catch his words despite this loud cacophony of clanging metal and roaring furnaces in the area.
"Oh I see that would certainly help Mr Frost when he's fighting the B-rank monsters, they really do need 4 star wea....wait what!!!!" At first his grandson didn't get the impact but after a second it hit him like a sledgehammer, and he stared at his grandfather in shock.
A 4 star weapon, being able to forge something of that standard would separate one from the chaff, one would truly become a master of their craft.
Anything below 4 star was rather common even Furano given its boonies location had multiple smiths that could produce good quality 3 star equipment. It even had Borris and another smith who could occasionally create half step 4 star equipment and this was just one town out of many in the empire.
However the number of 4 star blacksmiths in the entire empire number roughly 20 and each of them command a great deal of respect in the smithing trade. Most work in the capital Arkheart whereas others are set up in the large cities in the more lucrative and powerful counties. Customers flock from all over the empire as well as other countries to purchased their wares.
Beyond the 4 star blacksmiths and the highest in the Northrend empire as well as the surrounding countries are the 5 star blacksmiths whose work is unparalleled, they even have the emperor's respect.
Northrend boasts 3 of such individuals, one that has the title of royal forger, Lorenz Helmschmeid a mid-level 5 star smith who forges the equipment of the royal battalions and even the royal family.
Next would be the military forger, David Baker who fashions equipment for the generals and commanders of the non-royal battalions (not the war ursa as they get most of their equipment from within the Glacial mountains). A commoner who rose to prominence through his sheer skill, also mid-level 5 star.
And finally the greatest smith in the Northrend empire, Asakura Hina. The youngest of the three and the only woman yet her skills are undisputedly the best making her an upper 5 star blacksmith. She is the only one that doesn't serve anyone, a free smith that forges and sells to whoever she wishes, never being restricted despite the very, very generous offers she receives.
She's technically considered a smith of the Northrend empire as it's her home country, but she travels wherever whenever thus the first two are more prominently known in Northrend.
The young dwarf, Dean had always dreamed of becoming a smith of such repute as did everyone else in his family but to this day none of them managed to even glimpse into that realm besides his grandfather. Borris was the most talented smith in the family, but he was old and he himself said that his abilities were rusting instead of improving.
Dean didn't know exactly when, but his grandfather started passing the mantle of the workshop to his son and daughter, taking a less involved approach, he even gave away his so called greatest work to a young elf that showed promise a few weeks ago as if he was letting go of all attachments.
However doing so elicited changes within him, Borris no longer felt the need to forge just for business sakes but purely because he wished too and giving away the glaive stopped him living in the past. A new vibrant passion bloomed within him, inspiring him to push his skills to the next level. This onset monster stampede encouraged this newfound growth even further.
Despite his advanced age Borris was doing a majority of the repair work and demanding forge work personally and was seeing minute changes in his craft after every forging.
The moment Frost entered his medical room Kiba attempted to leap into his chest and lick him affectionately, but he was hit by flash of pain as well as shout from the medical staff, so he stopped midway. Frost laughed kindly before bringing out the meals, sausage, bacon and eggs from C-rank monsters, very nutritious and tasty.
Kiba rubbed his head against Frost in thanks after quickly devouring the meal as if he'd been starved -which he kind of had been given the length he slept and the energy required to mend his body. He then grumbled through their soul connection about how strict the medical staff were and how he was sorry for being a burden and wanted to fight by Frost's side.
Frost rubbed the big cat's ears and admonished him stating that he was never a burden and that he should listen to the medical staff and care only about getting better.
He also mentioned that Artemis visited a few times while he was out cold and that he promised to treat him to a fine steak once this stampede was all over which caused Kiba to lick his lips in anticipation.
Frost stayed with Kiba for close to an hour before leaving the medical centre, he didn't head to resting areas since he wasn't tired in the slightest. A single wave was nothing in terms of his stamina especially after eating a highly nutritious meal and devouring the vast amounts of high quality DP.
Just remembering the taste of that cyclops's life force was enough for his eyes to grow red and his mouth to salivate. High quality beings tasted delicious when killed especially the first ones of each ranking, the taste was absolutely sublime.
Instead of sleeping he went to find Cassandra and offered up his services wherever she needed him, hoping to learn more about the behind the scenes work during the stampede. Something he'd need to know as his own territory developed.
Cassandra was more than happy to have additional hands but was worried about wasting one of their top fighter's strength and reluctantly tried to turn him down but after he showed her how energetic he still was and briefly described the situation with the enemies upper ranked she agreed and sent him to assist Calder and the merchants.
Until the next wave began Frost found himself at Calder's beck and call mainly dealing with the vast amount of materials being brought in by the clean up crews and dismemberment teams.
Everything was catalogued and efficiently transported to different areas throughout the town that either needed the materials or served as long term storage solutions as most materials would be kept until after the stampede so as to generate money for the town.
Such work was hectic in its own way and no less draining, Frost had give props to Cassandra and those making the town function seamlessly behind the scenes.
And as expected when the next wave hit the forces within the horde were far lesser and the B-rank monsters practically didn't show themselves. Only the youngest rindar stood at the treeline acting as the commander while his siblings and the stronger B-ranks recuperated.
In complete opposition to the last wave this one went off without a hitch, several injuries but no deaths, a perfect outcome and one which emboldened the officers spirits during the strategy meeting. Frost was right the last wave really was a win.
Though they still had a long way to go, things were looking a little better.