Lin Feng could not find any words to say to that. With a sigh, he reached out and patted Brent's shoulder.
"All of us have lost a lot to that beast tide…
"Family, friends, our homes… The beasts don't care. Until they are exterminated, we humans will never live in peace."
Lin Feng remembered the corpses littered across Whitewing, and he shook his head. Suddenly, it felt as though the wound in his torso did not hurt as much as the pain in his hurt.
Brent sobbed once, but then he wiped the tears off his face.
"One day, I will personally charge into Whitewing and chase all the beasts out! I want to reclaim our homes!"
The bright determination and resolve in Brent's eyes as he said that touched Lin Feng. The latter nodded and continued,
"As you can see, Brent, I'm a blacksmith.
"Whitewing has now been overrun, and the few remaining residents have all been evacuated to Whitestar. I'm reviving my smithy now, so would you stay and help me?"
Brent was overjoyed to hear that.
He knew that Lin Feng was only asking him to help as an excuse to give him a roof over his head.
"Of course, sir!"
Lin Feng nodded and said with a smile,
"Don't call me sir from now on. My name is Lin Feng, so you can call me Elder Lin, or even Master Lin if you please."
Brent's eyes widened, his expression that of shock.
"You're Lin Feng… Master Lin?
"I heard about you! My father's friend was in the defense corp, and he told me that the weapons you make are all legendary!
"May… May I become your apprentice, sir? I want to make armor and weapons strong enough to save the frontline soldiers' lives too!"
Brent's words made Lin Feng smile, his heart reassured. He rubbed Brent's head gently and said,
"Of course. From now on, you will be my first apprentice."
The days passed. After Lin Feng recovered from his injuries, he dove back into his forging.
In the morning, he taught Brent how to recognize and differentiate the various ores and smithing materials, while at night he continued to forge his own body.
A few days later, Lin Feng was already reinforcing his bones with molten iron for the third time.
His experience from the first two times told him that the more critical the juncture, the less he could afford to let down his guard.
He covered his body with the Holy Flame and then sliced through his muscle and sinew, gritting his teeth through the intense pain.
As the burning-hot molten iron flowed into his body, Lin Feng felt a roar of agony from the very depths of his consciousness.
Brent had been working hard all day, and now he was resting in a room Acht had prepared for him next to the smithy.
Lin Feng clenched his teeth, making not a sound.
This was his third time reinforcing his bones, so he was relatively familiar with the process. It only took him two hours to centi-forge his entire skeleton.
He wore a thin shirt over his chest and then tried to swing his arm.
There was the sound of something slicing through the air. He frowned and thought over it for a moment before nodding slightly.
The way his body was now, he could fight at the highest level for about ten minutes.
Only now was Lin Feng satisfied.
After all, his muscles were as strong as a Grade-3 weapon. If he fought with all his strength, despite his lack of combat experience, he should be able to defeat a Grade-2 beast with no real difficulty.
He glanced at the weapon rack in the smithy.
The rack was now covered with the weapons Lin Feng had forged lately.
Aside from the Grade-1 weapons he had made for the city defense corp, Lin Feng had also shown Brent how to forge a Grade-2 weapon, without using the Holy Flame, of course.
By now, his relatively small smithy was stacked full of weapons.
Lin Feng scratched his head and then could not help a sigh.
"Looks like I'll have to go to the trade center tomorrow…"
Once he made up his mind, Lin Feng used Holy Flame to inwardly reinforce his bones again, before then leaning against the smithy wall and closing his eyes to rest.
The next day, just past noon, Lin Feng found a carriage driver.
After paying the driver six coppers, he moved all of the Grade-1 weapons in his smithy into the carriage.
There were about seventeen or eighteen of them, most of them swords. Once they were all packed in, the carriage's wheels suddenly sunk an extra inch into the ground. The driver inside smiled wryly.
"Master Lin, you have too many weapons. It'll probably take us half an hour to get to the trade center!"
Lin Feng laughed and said he did not mind. Instead of getting into the carriage, he walked next to it, keeping up with it.
They went for an entire hour, and the carriage's little horse was even panting by the time they finally reached Whitestar's trading center.
Lin Feng bid the driver goodbye and then put the three bundles of weapons, wrapped up in beast skin, onto the trade center's appraisal counter.
Perhaps it was because the beast tide was running amok these days, but the trade center was relatively empty. Lin Feng showed his weapons to the employee at the appraisal counter, but before he could ask about the prices, the employee's eyes lit up.
The employee was a large rough-looking man. He took one of Lin Feng's swords and examined it carefully, touching and caressing it gently with his hand before he shook his head in awed approval.
"Old sir, did you forge these weapons?"
Lin Feng nodded and pointed at the other two bundles on the counter.
"There should be twelve swords and six long sabers. Could you help me count them?"
The man in charge of the appraisal picked up each weapon and looked at them for a while. When he next looked at Lin Feng, there was a hint of respect in his eyes.
"Sir, all of your weapons are high-quality. To tell you the truth, the weapons our defense corp here in Whitestar have now look like toys compared to yours.
"What do you think of six gold pieces for each one?"
The man gave his offer with a tone of certainty. The ore in Whitestar was sold for one gold piece per ten kilograms, and Lin Feng usually spent only five kilograms of ore for one Grade-1 weapon.
"Six gold pieces?"
When Lin Feng was discussing the prices with the trade center employee, a few men dressed in defense corp uniforms happened to walk past them.
They were stunned to hear the price the man offered.
"I bought this weapon I have now for three gold pieces just the other day. What kind of weapon could be worth twice that of a normal one?"
The two soldiers hurriedly approached the trade center. However, when they saw the blades shining on the counter, all of their doubts vanished.