Lin Feng had returned to the Mercenaries' Guild.
The place was still empty, so he walked right in and immediately noticed that even the talkative man was gone.
Lin Feng made a beeline for the counter and stopped in front of Normir, whose head was lowered as she dozed.
"Cough…"
Lin Feng coughed softly to try and wake her up, but he might have underestimated Miss Normir's affinity for sleep.
She was still sitting in front of the counter, mumbling things in her sleep as she breathed evenly through her slightly-agape mouth.
"Pumpkin butter cake… You… stink…"
The corners of Lin Feng's mouth twitched. Feeling rather frustrated, he crooked a finger and knocked on the solid wooden counter.
Knock-knock! Normir suddenly leaped up from the counter, her expression panicked as she looked around her. There was still a trail of saliva flowing from the corner of her mouth.
"M-Mr. Brand…?"
Normir looked at Lin Feng somewhat confusedly, but then she realized something and her eyes widened.
"Have you already completed the underground sewer investigation mission?"
Lin Feng nodded and gave the copper sewer key back to her, saying,
"There was a Grade-2 Sludge Carrion-eater in a sewage pond deep within the sewers, but I got rid of it.
"The members of the city defense corp probably won't be hearing any strange noises from the sewers anymore."
His explanation made Normir's expression change several times.
It was written all over her face.
The sheer extent of her shock!
After a pause, Normir finally bowed at Lin Feng and said,
"In that case, Mr. Brand, could you give me your mercenary badge?"
Lin Feng did not hesitate. He already had the badge in his pocket so he just took it out and put it on the counter.
Normir took the badge in both hands and slowly closed her eyes. A clear white light flashed around her hands, and the badge began to glow in a similar color.
Lin Feng stood in front of the counter and watched her.
He knew that the receptionist Miss Normir was likely a half-baked mage, so she was now using a spell or something that resonated with the mercenary badge to check on Lin Feng's mission completion status.
Over ten seconds later, Normir heaved a sigh of relief, returning Lin Feng's badge to him with a smile.
"As expected of you, Mr. Brand. You could defeat a Sludge Carrion-eater, something even more troublesome than a Grade-3 beast!"
She then rummaged around underneath the counter and pulled out a pouch made of beast hide, putting it into Lin Feng's hands.
"Here you go, Mr. Brand, your reward for this mission."
Lin Feng nodded and accepted the pouch from her. He then opened it and glanced at its contents.
The pouch was packed to the brim and bulging with about four or five dazzling crystals.
These crystals were a type of currency unique to Grimm, each of them worth a hundred gold pieces at stores in the city.
The reward for the sewer investigation mission was pretty gratifying, even matching up to the compensation for a few Grade-3 missions. Lin Feng was quite happy with it.
After that, he bid the receptionist Normir goodbye and returned to the inn.
His excursion that night had gotten his blood pumping more than usual.
Although the beast in the sewer ended up being more bark than bite, Lin Feng still felt an excitement completely unlike what he experienced when forging.
He changed out of his smelly clothes and lay on the bed in the inn, losing himself in his thoughts.
The demonic beasts were a threat looming over the fate of humanity.
If he could make himself stronger, he would be able to improve his forging, but he could also protect the city better and shield his neighbors and friends from harm.
No one ever complained that they were too strong.
The missions at the Mercenaries' Guild could help him vastly improve his actual combat skills, so maybe he should keep accepting commissions here to strengthen himself.
There was still a day until the second round of the Smithing Tournament.
During the tournament, the Association did not allow members to use the workshops, so Lin Feng had no other choice.
That day, he took two more Grade-2 commissions from the Mercenaries' Guild in a row.
The Guild had an unspoken rule that only those who had completed five or more Grade-2 jobs could take Grade-3 ones, so Lin Feng had no choice but to take it one step at a time.
A day later…
Unsurprisingly, Lin Feng received a notice from the Smiths' Association.
"Master Lin Feng!
"The weapon you made was one of the best of the lot. That's why tomorrow, you'll be among the first to enter the field!"
A member of the Association was chatting with Lin Feng.
As he spoke, he handed Lin Feng a feather embedded with the Smiths' Association's logo.
Lin Feng accepted it, knowing that it was probably something like an entry pass.
With this, he could enter the tournament field.
After the Association member left, Lin Feng sat cross-legged in his room and closed his eyes in meditation.
He had heard about the rules of the second round from the Association member.
Unlike the first round, time was not the only limiting factor in the second round.
Another element was the type of materials available.
According to the messenger, the Association would most likely provide participants with extremely common and low-grade materials for the second round.
The participants would then have a set amount of time to use the most commonplace and low-quality materials to make a higher-grade weapon.
Lin Feng nodded instinctively when he heard about those rules.
If he was mistaken, the second round would eliminate almost two-thirds of the remaining participants.
Using low-grade materials to make high-grade weapons was a way of testing the smiths' understanding and handling of the materials.
Just as Lin Feng had told Andera before, the potential of every type of material was crucial to the art of smithing.
Even the most average piece of black iron ore could end up as strong as a Grade-2 material if you tempered it a thousand times.
However, many blacksmiths of their time did not understand that. They assumed that the grade of a material determined the quality of the finished product.
Anyone with that mentality would not last very long in the second round.