Chapter 168 The Blacksmith's Profession

In Rise Online, less than ten thousand players have obtained the Blacksmithing profession.

Suppose we put into numbers and consider that the number of active players of Rise Online is close to one hundred million. In that case, the total number of players in this profession is 0.01%. Therefore, any player who can obtain such a title in any mission is extremely lucky.

The level of difficulty to obtain such a profession is purposeful. After all, players and NPCs need someone to buy their equipment, but if players in the blacksmithing profession are overcrowded, there will be more people trying to sell items they create than people buying these items.

Thanks to the developers' thinking, most blacksmith NPCs are very rude and refuse to accept pupils easily. However, this rudeness of theirs grew naturally because when the game launched, the blacksmiths carried several wards. Still, the number of players who wanted to have the blacksmith profession only increased, and with the game's enhanced personality system, the blacksmiths soon ran out of patience.

In other words, yes, it was easier to obtain certain professions when Rise Online launched.

Still, most players who currently have the blacksmithing profession don't have the slightest talent for it. In the beginning, they learned the techniques from a few blacksmiths, but forging is not that easy, and even though it is a VRMMORPG, the forging system in Rise Online does not make it easy for players. They have to really work hard to be able to craft an item.

This profession gameplay is an additional filter to avoid the overpopulation of blacksmiths. Hitting for minutes or, in the case of some items, hours on a single piece of metal is no fun for most players, and there is no button to skip this step.

Also, forging requires focus.

Focus not only on the metal but also on your strength, hands, posture, breathing, environment, and the temperature of the furnace...

Among so many blacksmiths, Kaizen was one of the few who had the ability to make it look easy. He didn't find it fun at first either, but he gained an appreciation for the art of forging, not only because he was somewhat good at it, but also because of the love Therkara Ironstone showed for it.

Generally, only very experienced and evolved blacksmiths within the profession get the ability to build items that surpass the materials rating level. For example, Kaizen used simple Primal metal to create Mutant Ranked Swift Arrows. What he did was make maximum use of the material's properties.

However, the limit of a blacksmith was exactly there. There was no way to create an Epic Rank item using Primal Rank materials. This was impossible.

Kaizen had already understood this, so he didn't insist on trying to create superior items with bad materials.

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Instead of creating more masterpieces, such as the Dagger of Obsession, Kaizen used the first night to forge only with simple materials to remind himself of the right way to use the materials he had and get used to his new workshop.

In the end, he created 73 Primal Ranked Swift Arrows, and 14 Mutant Ranked Swift Arrows. Only a few days had passed since the day at the Medullar Forge, so it wasn't hard for him to remember what forging was like.

'The next step is to use the diagrams I bought to try to build some better weapons...'

The truth was that Kaizen, after all, was a beginner blacksmith. The name of his profession had not changed even after he managed to create a masterpiece that Therkara, a master smith, could not.

This meant that to evolve in the blacksmithing profession, more would be needed for Kaizen to make good items. He should learn more about blacksmithing, including how to make a bow, a spear, a shield, armor, and everything a blacksmith can build.

However, that would not be so easy. Yes, he had a great teacher, but since Therkara was a ghost without much time to teach, she didn't have time to teach him how to create all kinds of items.

Kaizen had the titles Talented and Descendant of the Ironstones, but this gave him ease of learning, not the necessary knowledge.

'How can I learn more about forging...? Using diagrams? No, that won't be enough. I need to make items different from everyone else...'

Kaizen didn't stop thinking about it that night, even when he logged out of Rise Online.

When he went to bed, no matter how hard he tried to fall asleep, his position, or how many sheep he counted, he couldn't even fall asleep. The anxiety to play Rise Online had reached a new peak.

"I have to make money. I don't want to be a level 1 blacksmith forever."

Instead of sleeping, Klaus was left thinking about a way to learn more about forging. He could not simply buy a book on forging. Even a book on the history of blacksmithing would cost much more than any other book.

This was because the blacksmithing profession was not only rare, but it was also an ancient profession. Blacksmithing was one of the first professions of humans after the Metal Age, and even with a lot of money, Kaizen didn't want to spend hundreds of gold coins on a single book. It was certainly an investment, but as long as there were other ways, it wasn't worth it.

Soon Klaus remembered an old trick for trying to sleep that Rhyzer had taught him when he was just a child.

At that time, there were nights that Klaus simply could not sleep because he was thinking of various strategies to use in Myth2 and to try to remedy this problem, Rhyzer said to him:

"Go to the bathroom, look at yourself in the mirror, and yawn, however forcefully. Then go to the refrigerator and get some milk. While drinking the milk, clear your mind and focus on other things, distancing yourself from the game. The feeling of pleasure that the game provides for you should slowly go away using this method, got it, big boy?"

It was a silly trick, but Klaus must admit it always worked. So he left his room and went downstairs to the second floor of the apartment, where the kitchen was.

However, when he reached the second floor, he got surprised. The Bloody Lily, or rather... Emma was there. She was wearing a simple white dress and looked as if she had just come from some formal party, but what was most striking were her long legs.

She was sitting at the table, with a book in her hands and a cup at her side, but her eyes were fixed on the TV. However, as soon as she noticed Klaus' presence, she closed the book and lost her attention on the TV.

"Good evening." Klaus said.

She stared at him from head to toe and stated:

"At least tonight you are wearing a shirt. Good night." She then picked up the remote control and changed the channel.

"You can't sleep either?" asked Klaus as he walked to the kitchen.

"What are you talking about? That's the best time to relax, so I usually enjoy some early mornings."

"I see."

Klaus opened the refrigerator and grabbed some milk. Emma wasted no time and said:

"What is it? Has something happened that won't let you sleep? Although I'm a little stiff, I'm a good listener."

With a glass of milk in his hand, Klaus looked at Emma and shrugged as he thought:

'Why not?'

He walked over to the table where she was standing and sat down.

"Actually, yes. I can't sleep because I can't stop thinking about one thing."

"What is it?"

"Actually, I'd like to learn more about forging, but I don't know how to do it the right way without spending a lot of money on books I don't even know the provenance of.

"Learn about forging? You're a blacksmith?"

Klaus nodded.

"Oh... That's surprising. So why not seek out a blacksmith to teach you?"

"Well, it's hard to build a relationship when they're so cranky. I know one in Holinda, and he's good, but he's too far from my house. Besides, Holinda is a low-level area and is hard to evolve compared to the surroundings of the Royal City, so until I face Taznaar, I don't want to go that far."

"You are right... I suggest you go to the National Library to look for forging books, but they are still repairing the place.

"Library?" Klaus looked at her and widened his eyes. Then he smiled with relief. "You just gave me a great idea... Thank you very much." Klaus said with a friendly smile, making the woman's heart flutter.

"Do you know of another library other than the one we failed to protect?" She asked, interested, putting her hand on her chin and looking away to the TV. "Ah, now I'm remembering. You saved Princess Ravastine from Leohorn, didn't you? She should be able to let you into the Royal Library."

"Haha! You thought the same thing I did..." Kaizen lied. In reality, he was thinking of visiting the Library of the Magi once again.

…

Edited by: DrHitsuji

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