Chapter 163 - Disagreements

"Hunter squad? Huh!" said Balthazar. The only hunter squad he remembered were a group of hunting fanatics who used only traps and arrows, methods possible only in real-life to hunt monsters in the game. They were hunting aficionados and stressed on proper way to hunt the monsters in the forest areas of the game.

The hunter squad was primarily made of archers. Apart from that, they had thieves, swordsmen and martial artists, but all of them were prohibited from using their magical skills while hunting monsters and could only use physical attacks. They used the have the concept of judging their skills by the amount of resources they could scavenge from their kill.

Most of the time they laid traps for monsters which was considered by most of the guilds as a waste of time. The traps presently found in the NPC stores were small ones which could only hold down normal monsters. It wasn't considered worth the money as the players could use multiple attacks to do kill the monster anyways. So, guilds considered laying such traps only for special monsters which weren't seen in many areas.

It was more of a hunter training academy than an adventurer group that kept its numbers really small. In his past life, they were known as eccentrics who didn't like to join with anybody. A few years into the game, he came to know that they were actually retired old men who were spending their retirement in the game this way. Balthazar found it hard to believe that they found copper ore. They mostly restricted themselves to forest areas and laid traps for animals.

"We can tempt them. Suggest a sale of crossbows for a discount in exchange for the copper ore. It is best if we can get the details on how they got it. We can even convince them that we will not disturb their activities," said Balthazar. Though he knew some mining areas for copper ore, they were all level 15 areas. Moreover, the White Heart City had a lot of areas forbidden to enter by Foedus Rex in his past life. He also didn't spend much time in areas below level 50. So, there were definitely areas that he wasn't entirely sure of and wanted to get the information.

"Maybe suggest they can even use our guild lodgings at Sylvannus Fort, if they actually have a location of a mine or something. The proximity of the fort to the surrounding forest might tempt them," he continued looking at Lizzie.

"Wow! You really need copper ore, huh," said Lizzie.

"It will soon be in good demand. Copper ore has its uses," said Shadow. Copper ore would be used in lot of equipment from level 20 onwards. Even level 20 black iron equipment would require copper ore. It is better if they build up their resources for the future levels.

"I will finish up the dungeon guide and leave now. You both handle this," said Shadow as he sat down beside them and began to arrange the photos he took and added a few instructions and boss's behavior.

He made two sets of manuals. One for guild elites, where he included details of the mini-boss chrome and how to use the dwarves and advantage of having dwarves alive at the end. The other for every other member and it could be leaked to other guilds too. This would happen due to spies put in by other guilds and also it would be for the best to avoid pressure from other guilds. Them taking the first clears would already force some other guilds to compete with them.

"Here, I will let you distribute the manuals as necessary. I will let you decide who to send the detailed manual to. Just make sure to net let it out of the guild. So, I suggest you let the simpler one to the majority first," said Shadow to Lizzie who was going through the elite manual.

"You followed this for the first clear?" asked Lizzie.

"Not exactly, but you can't follow that method without the special skill subjugation that Merlin has," said Shadow.

"Oh! Rare skill?"

"Ultra rare, from unique weapon."

"Ok. I will handle this. You guys going to attempt hell mode next?" she asked.

"Yes. But thinking of upgrading our armaments first," said Shadow as started to leave them.

"All right. See you later, then. Good luck with your excursion," she said waving him bye.

Shadow quickly made his way to the Forging Association and booked himself an intermediate forging room. He actually attempted for an advanced forging room but was denied the entry by the receptionist who informed him that he needs to be a Basic Forger at the very least to book an advanced forging room. He, being an apprentice of Master Kade could use it as an advanced forging apprentice, but it isn't possible before that.

He immediately set to creating the forging the pair of silver daggers first. The silver daggers he learn't were actually quite simple. Each dagger needed a refined iron ore and a copper ore and a wooden log from the handle grip.

The only new part for him was the melting the copper ore and mixing it with refined iron ore. He just needed the practice with the combination of ores more than anything else. With two different ores, he needed to melt them at different temperatures and mix them at another temperature so that a proper mixture of them is formed. This was the hard part of the entire process. He wanted to practice it once with the daggers before he attempted to create the gold weapon.

He failed in his first attempt producing a dagger of bronze grade, instead of silver grade. A bronze grade dagger with copper ore at level 15 would be considered a crude failure in his previous life. The second attempt was better as it had better damage than the first, but it was still a bronze dagger.

"I will get the hang of it. Just need practice it some more. It has been a few years since I have had to combine molten low-level ores," he convinced himself as he attempted it again. After a couple more attempts, he finally got it right and made a silver grade dagger.

"Finally, took five attempts to get this done," thought Balthazar. "I will repeat another one so that I would get a set of silver grade daggers. I could also do with more practice to see if I got a proper hold on it," he thought as he started on making another dagger. It was best if he was sure on the process of combining ores before he went ahead and attempted a gold grade weapon.

The gold grade weapon design was quite simple except for the detachable part. The handle had a helical thread which would help attach like a water bottle thread by rotating them. The same way could be used to separate into two different swords. There would be a small protrusion on one handle which would go into a hollow dug on the other handle and there would be matching threads on the protrusion and inside the hollow which enable the swords to be attached to each other.

These protrusion and hollows also make the weight of the two swords slightly different from one another. Most players wouldn't notice this, but experts would definitely realize the difference. The swords had a foot-long handle and 2 feet long blades.

The threading of the the handles would be the hardest part for most forging apprentices, but that was because there wouldn't be tools for that. With the lathe present in the intermediate forging room, threading was a quite simple, except for the fact that one had to make the proper calculation for it and mustn't overdo it. Else, it would spoil the entire handle of the weapon.

With the silver grade dagger done, he took two more pieces of copper and refined iron ore each and once he melted them, he poured them into the form of a cylindrical shape like a foot-long rod. He then started to use the lathe to create a screw system between the two of them. Once, the measurements were made it took just a couple of minutes for him to setup the screw system in the handles. Then, he set marks on the handles for alignment of the swords which are to be attached.

Following that, he took two more pieces of refined iron ore and hammered them into the shape of blades and welded them down to the handles. He pulled the two swords checked if he is able to detach them easily before he started sharpening the blades and then selected for inspection by the system.

[Connective Twin swords] (Gold Two handed weapon)

Level 15;

Requirements: Strength: 25; Agility: 25;

(Can be split into two swords or can be used as a double ended blade)

Attack Power +45;

Special Effect: Party counter: Every parry in the combined form has a chance of inducing a counterattack from the other end of the weapon.

Active Skill: Wheel Slasher: Allow the player to rotate the weapon at high speed while attacking. Increases the attack power by 50%. Duration: 5 seconds; MP: 400; Cooldown: 5 min.

"+600 experience points, +5 forging proficiency."

"Another 214 proficiency points for the intermediate forging apprentice," counted Balthazar as he began to examine the gold weapon he had created. He had taken less time than he had expected to create the weapon. He was glad that he had practiced with the silver daggers before he had attempted the gold weapon.

"Still got about 20 minutes for an hour. I best try to create another piece of this," thought Balthazar as he pulled out the materials required for another piece of the gold weapon. He continued with forging another gold grade connective twin swords, before leaving the forging room and contacting Tetsujin.

"I have the weapon ready for you," said Shadow. "Where are you guys?"

"Ya, we got new recruits. Merlin and Quiet Fire are both a bit busy. It will take a few minutes for them. Why don't I come and meet you in the meantime," said Tetsujin.

"Meet me at the auction house in that case," said Shadow as he contacted Lizzie and Hammer about the other things. Lizzie already worked out a deal to sell some of their loot instead of an auction house as they could charge less fees than the auction house. It was just to help Lizzie with her trader profession. Rudra and Slaine are attempting the normal mode with the new dungeon guide as are the other players of the guild. Hammer also got the Troll Cutlass weapon design.

Shadow had decided to make a habit of going to the auction house whenever possible as he knew about a lot of items in the game. In start of a game, there would be a few items that most players wouldn't know the use of. So, it allowed him to get a hold of resources which many other players wouldn't care for.

He went through the various items that were available in the auction house. He was mainly looking for copper in the auction house, but apart from that he was also looking for thing that would help with stealth. He found a pair of vambraces, but he didn't find them worth as he would have to give up on his strength for it.

He also found quite a few Magusweed and Red Highblooms which made him realized that these could be used to craft Less Magic Resistance potions which would become quite famous. The recipe would soon be found from quest at level 15 areas. So, he bought all he could find and asked Lizzie to store up on more when they are available.

He continued to browse through the items available and he suggested Lizzie to be on lookout for a few more items, especially for lesser elixir of Water Breathing and oxygen masks or other apparatus and also the required materials to manufacture them. There were quite a number of players joining the guild due to their fame at the Blackrock town which allowed them to explore quite a bit.

He was sure that the once the mass quest is done, they would need to explore the lake and they would also require methods to move underwater comfortably. He only managed to get to the bottom of the lake due to his special circ.u.mstances, but the lake would allow one to farm monsters till level 30 at the very least. They got quite a decent loot from raiding the quingols, but it wasn't enough. They need a method for a number of players to use the lake. Such a consumable could be sold for a high price. So, he stressed on the Potion of underwater breathing.

As he was going through the items available in the auction house, he received a message from Tetsjuin that he already outside and hence, went out to meet him.

"Where is my weapon, dude?" asked Tetsujin as soon as he saw Shadow. He was quite eager to use the new weapon. It could also be used as two swords which made it much easier for handling.

"Don't be in such a haste. What is the situation with the recruitment?" asked Shadow as he exchanged the weapon with Tetsujin.

"Ah! That is nothing. Blinding White was actually able to recruit quite a few capable ones. It is just that Merlin has high requirements of everyone in the team, but Quiet Fire suggest otherwise. It is just a siblings quarrel," said Tetsujin as he started to detach and attach the two parts of the weapon that he received.

"What exactly is it?" asked Shadow refusing to give up. He was part of the team and he also wanted to know Merlin's requirements. If it is very high, it wouldn't be favorable to him either as he would also be expected to adhere to those terms.

"It is not really that bad. It is just one thing that they are not agreeing with each other. The rest are fine. We form different groups to hunt right. He is suggesting that they exchange group members periodically so as that it would help in overall development of the group," said Tetsujin.

"That is not a bad idea," said Shadow instinctively. It was a well-known method to train players in guilds. It would help players analyse their flaws and dependencies and also that of their teammates. So, he found no issue with it.

"You are thinking like a guild. That is the same issue with Merlin. He had been in a guild and wants to introduce this habit in an adventurer team, but its not going to happen. It is similar to the guild rules and most players join adventurer groups while avoiding guilds to escape rules like this. It is fine if they have a need for a player or a quest or in a specific situation that occurred in the game, but they wouldn't accept it if they were asked to change teams as a training exercise," explained Tetsujin.

"Oh!" nodded Shadow. "How did I miss it? The main reason the players join these teams is to avoid guilds which restrict their freedom. This would also be considered as that. Quiet Fire has a point. It will dissuade many players from staying in the team," he thought.

"He just wants to do something different than the guild and is experimenting on it, but Quiet Fire is adamant about this. It is not like she is wrong either. He will calm down. Let us go," said Tetsujin as they both entered the market to head towards the place where Blinding White was recruiting.