Chapter 41 Apprentice’s Own Decisions

After giving Ard the money, Klaus immediately returned to his bed, put on the newly acquired NeuroGear, and with his eyes closed, uttered:

"Start Connection!"

[Calibrating Data...]

[Calibrating Data.]

[Checking RISE ONLINE game updates...]

[No updates were found.]

As he logged into Rise Online, Klaus Park felt like the first time. Knowing how strong he had become compared to other players of his level was somehow comforting.

[Do you wish to connect to RISE ONLINE? YES/NO.]

Quickly, his finger moved to the YES key.

When Kaizen entered the Medullar Forge once again, Therkara Ironstone immediately looked at him, and watching the huge smile on her face made Kaizen feel a little sad.

'Therkara... She is a really great person...'

Although he had almost died mining at her request, which made him receive many points in all attributes when he evolved from level 7 to level 8, he felt sad because one day he would have to say goodbye to his master.

"I'm back," Kaizen said to her, opening his arms.

"Welcome back, apprentice. Don't waste time standing there, I've prepared everything, so we can start making the arrows."

Guided by Therkara, Kaizen took a large hammer with her right hand and began taping a mold with a poured molten solution. In the mold, hardened molten iron appeared in the shape of a thick wire.

Kaizen took the wire and placed it besides it, where there was another mold, just smaller. Then he put the wire into this other mold and began hammering. After this was done, he used a hand-held grinding wheel to sharpen the edge. The wheel was like a cylinder that spun at high speed when Kaizen kept the pedal down.

After careful work, a typical arrowhead with a sharp edge was completed. It was neither thick nor heavy, which meant that it would not penetrate armor, but because the shaft and tip were metal, it was even faster and more accurate than ordinary arrows. Kaizen attached the tip of the arrow to the pre-created shaft, and then a new notification window popped up.

[You have just created 'Fast Arrow (1x)'].

[You have learned how to make the 'Swift Arrow'.]

[Your understanding of the 'Swift Arrow' has reached 100%. You will be able to use the 'Swift Arrow' perfectly].

A few minutes ago, Kaizen was a little tense about it being his first time making an item professionally. No, actually, he was more excited than tense.

Luckily, while he was doing the process of hammering out the metal mold, his proficiency with blacksmithing was steadily growing. This was great! His high dexterity and delicate workmanship made each hammering more correct than the last.

Learning to forge was a slow and laborious process in which one could not be afraid to make mistakes, and Kaizen was not.

Therkara once again felt admiration after watching Kaizen finish the Swift Arrow.

"Watching you work is amazing. It doesn't even resemble the handiwork of a novice.... Your skill and precision are excellent. You certainly have the gift needed to be a craftsman." She praised him.

Kaizen loved to be flattered, so a closed smile appeared on his face as the praise came, and he tried to hide his contentment.

"By the way, apprentice, I have a gift to give you.... There are limits to how much an old knowledge smith like me can teach you, but I'll give you this so that you take note and don't forget my lessons and methods of production." Therkara hid in took out on his back a thick, old, dusty book, which she held out to Kaizen.

"Oh... thank you."

Kaizen opened the book and saw two things already listed in the index. There were the production methods of a pickaxe and the Swift Arrow. All the other pages in the thick book were completely blank, without scribbles.

"It may be empty now, but I dream the day will come when this book will be filled with diagrams of weapons and items you have devised or discovered while exploring the vastness of this world." She explained with eagerness.

Opening the page of the Swift Arrow indicated in the index, Kaizen noticed that there was a method of making the shaft and the tip of the arrow, from the casting method to the joining of these two central parts. The pages about this were full of precise details, pictures, and text.

Grateful, Kaizen looked at the smith-lady as she closed the thick book and said:

"Master, I will meet your expectations. That is a promise."

"I look forward to that." Therkara spoke and smiled. "Now, get back to work!"

Over the next hour, Kaizen fused the iron ore with limestone once again, mixing in the right proportions. He then poured the result into the mold. Then, after 40 minutes, he hammered until he got the shape of the wire. Finally, he poured a bucket of water.

*Chiiiikk!*

A loud sound was heard as the scalding wire cooled rapidly. This process served to increase the hardness and strength of the metal.

"Hey, hey, hey! What do you think you're doing?" Therkara became agitated as she realized what Kaizen had done with the water and the hot wire.

"Cooling."

"Why are you using cooling when making arrowheads? I didn't teach you this, but cooling metal makes it harder and less durable. Once this arrow hits something, instead of piercing, the arrow will break."

That was true, but Kaizen had another plan in mind.

"I will also use tempering."

Tempering is the technique of reheating cooled metal and gradually lowering its temperature for the purpose of reducing the metal's brittleness. In the end, this would strengthen the metal, compensating for the quenching. However, it usually took a long time to do all this. This was definitely a job Kaizen was not a fan of and had only seen in television programs.

Therkara frowned since she didn't like that method either.

"You intend to make arrows for how many hours? I know you are an archer, but I don't understand a reason to spend so much time making the arrows. In the end, they run out fast, and those who buy them don't care much for the individual quality of each one."

Why? The reason for increasing the amount of work was simple to Kaizen and the same as the reason he had agreed to start by learning how to make arrows.

"If I make it just a little better, I can sell it for a higher price."

"..."

Therkara understood when she heard his words and did not interfere further.

After it, Kaizen knew that Therkara was right that arrows are consumable items and that novice archers don't pay much attention to their quality level. But people with higher levels are more attentive to the arrows' qualities and could perceive this, and this was the target audience for Kaizen, he was aiming at with these more elaborate Swift Arrows.

Following his instinct and business idea, Kaizen made the arrowheads by cooling, forging, and tempering them quickly. He didn't even see the time pass, but he became pretty tired of the painful heat of forging. And his clumsy hammering kept getting better with time.

'Geez! That's like a job in the game! But it's kind of fun...' He thought.

[Your persistence increased. The amount of AGILITY attributes you will receive when you move up to the next level will be higher].

The warning about Kaizen's increasing attributes really made it all seem worthwhile. He was willing to do anything to improve his stats and never again go through the stress and nervousness he went through while avoiding being spotted by the Black Vultures in the Misty Woods.

...

Edited by: DrHitsuji

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