As soon as he walked through the door, Captain Acht reached out his hand and clenched it into a fist, beating it against his chest.
Lin Feng recognized that as the city defense corp's official salute.
"Master Lin Feng! I am here today to thank you on behalf of the entire defense corp, sir!"
Acht's declaration reminded Lin Feng of what he heard at the market earlier. He just smiled and rather politely pushed a cup of tea on the table toward Acht.
Acht hurriedly accepted the cup but did not drink any of the tea.
"Master, I won't beat around the bush. I'm here today on the defense corp leader Captain Holland's orders. Please, sir, look at this list of military equipment we need."
Lin Feng had always had close relations with the defense corp, and he had been the sole smith forging most of the equipment the corp needed. That was why he saw the problem as soon as he took the list.
"Captain Holland…
"Why does he want this many weapons this time? Will there be a huge battle near our territory soon?"
A few months ago, another border city that often traded with Lin Feng's area had suffered that very fate.
A sudden hoard of demonic beasts attacked the city out of nowhere. Although the city guards and defense corp fought to the very last, they could not prevent that city from drowning under the tide of beasts.
Lin Feng connected the memory of that incident to the increasing frequency of battles recently, and the thought made him frown.
Captain Acht sighed as well.
"You're right., Master…
"Our defense corp's scouts reported that there is a tide of furious demonic beasts coming right at us. They are now barely thirty miles away from our borders.
"If we don't prepare in advance, their numbers alone will probably subject us to the same fate as that town from earlier."
Lin Feng's expression turned solemn again, and he picked up the list, written on coarse leather. After he glanced through it, he slammed it onto the table and let out a long breath.
"Based on the resources and assets we already have, it won't be difficult to produce this many weapons within a short period of time.
"However, I have a suggestion."
Lin Feng pointed at the list on the table.
"Captain Holland wants me to forge twenty Grade-1 weapons and fifteen sets of chain-mail armor within half a month. If you really do encounter a beast tide, these weapons and armor will only be able to help you to a certain extent.
"If he's willing, I can make double this amount in the same period of time!"
When he said 'double this amount', Captain Acht's mouth fell open, leaving it large enough to stuff an egg inside.
The vice captain looked at Lin Feng carefully. Only then did Captain Acht realize that the skinny old man from a few days ago now looked strong and energetic. Even the muscles on his arm had a strange tinge to them.
"Master Lin Feng, is your body… up to it?"
Lin Feng chuckled and slammed his fist against his chest, just like Acht had earlier.
"My body is fine. Anything goes, if there are beasts on the horizon."
That moment, Captain Acht's gaze on Lin Feng shone with what looked like real respect.
After Acht left the smithy, Lin Feng nailed the inventory list from the defense corp onto the wall.
He had some materials on hand right now. When he thought of the beasts and the frontline soldiers, Lin Feng abruptly grabbed the hammer next to him in a tightly-clenched fist.
There was the sharp clanging of metal and the whir of air from the forge. Lin Feng's smithy was back in business.
Lin Feng expertly pumped the forge blower to increase the temperature in the forge, and then he threw the ore he had tempered more than a thousand times into the flames.
Fire shone on his arms. Before anyone might notice, the Holy Flames had already replaced the normal mortal fires inside the forge.
Under the heat of the Holy Flames, the ore that had been hammered at least a thousand times before gradually melted into molten iron, with a clear color gradient.
Lin Feng brought the sword mold to the edge of the forge. After the molten iron flowed into the mold, he used his Holy Flame to absorb all the heat from it in one fell swoop.
Less than an hour later, Lin Feng was looking at two brand-new and razor-sharp blades in front of him.
Even an amateur could tell from the color and the edge on these swords that these were top-quality wares.
However, this still was not enough!
Lin Feng attached the hilts he had prepared beforehand onto the blades. Once done, he grabbed one of them and gave it a few experimental swings, only to shake his head.
This sword was extremely sharp, but it was still only a Grade-1 weapon.
If the strongest members of the defense corp wielded such a sword, it would definitely be a huge boost to him when cutting down the beast tide.
However, Lin Feng was not satisfied with just that.
He knew that he could do better!
"Every time I make my weapons and armor stronger, the frontline soldiers stand a higher chance of survival.
"The swords and armor that I forge are meant to save lives!"
With his heart decided, Lin Feng grabbed the cheap tea on the table that had cooled all the way through and drank it all.
He then turned around and gripped his iron hammer once more.
A day passed. At noon the next day, the passersby outside suddenly felt a wave of heat washing out of Lin Feng's smithy.
Their expressions were those of shock and confusion.
The source of all this commotion, of course, was Lin Feng, who had been forging weapons for a day and a night without pause.
When he looked at the scarlet blade in front of him, Lin Feng suddenly heard the system notification in his ears.
[Ding! Congratulations, the host has forged a Grade-2 weapon, Fire-forged Longsword. Obtained 10 Flame Energy points.]
A message appeared in Lin Feng's mind as he gripped the scarlet longsword before his eyes.
[Fire-forged Longsword,]
[A weapon made of the best iron and smelted with the energy of the hottest flames. When swung, it may release energy to burn the enemy.]
Lin Feng held the Fire-forged Longsword for a long time, testing its weight. Just then, a man stumbled into the smithy, crashing through the door.
"M-Master Lin Feng! Did you make that sword, sir?"
The visitor was none other than Captain Acht, who was here to drop off the forge materials as promised.
Lin Feng flicked the blade of the Fire-forged Longsword and heard the metal sing.
"Not bad… Haha."
As Lin Feng nodded, Acht immediately gulped loudly.
"Master! Master Lin Feng! How many of these Grade-2 weapons can you make on somewhat short notice? On behalf of the defense corp, I'll buy them all!"
Before Captain Acht could finish his sentence, though, a few other members of high authority barged into the smithy.
"Master Lin Feng! Ignore the defense corp! We, from the beast extermination squad, want ten… No, twenty longswords of such quality! We'll pay twenty thousand gold!"
"You're in no hurry, beast extermination squad! Get in line! Master Lin Feng! We're the regional guard! We'll pay twenty-five thousand gold pieces. Anything you want in the future, just ask!"