Chapter 54 – I Will Decline
Liam took out the egg from his inventory space and handed it to the shopkeeper who had a big smile plastered on her face. "Anything for you, handsome!"
However, her eyes that were still glued to Liam, and looking at him with twinkles suddenly shifted to the medium-sized egg on her hand.
Her look as well turned serious as she began to examine the egg in detail. It was a white colored egg that was devoid of any specific patterns or marks and it was pristinely clean, almost giving a feeling that nothing could taint it.
"This! Where did you get this?!"
Alex who was rolling her eyes at the woman's blatant fawning over Liam also became silent and listened in on the conversation intently.
She now understood that this was why he had come here and not to buy the eggs that had been on display.
Sure, it was embarrassing but she was not in a position to care about these small things. She quickly put that aside and focused on the thing that was happening right in front of her.
"Ah. I just found it inside a cave." Liam answered politely with a smile.
"Handsome! This egg, can you sell it to me? I will give you 50 gold." This was the same amount which Alex had just paid her for her big purchase and she opened her mouth in surprise.
The egg which the hateful guy had was so valuable? She simply couldn't believe it. Why the heck was he stumbling and falling on all the good things? This was ridiculous!
Both Alex and the shopkeeper were looking at Liam as if they wanted to swallow him alive and Liam cleared his throat. "Ah, I must apologize. I am not planning to sell this egg."
The shopkeeper's expression once again changed but Liam was not yet done talking.
"I was wondering if madam could help me inspect this egg. I heard that you are the best when it comes to beast eggs aha ha ha ha. So please take a look at this for me?"
He flashed another smile which made him look all the more charming and the woman immediately started blushing. "Sure. Sure. I can do that for you handsome."
She once again went back to flirting with him just like that. Liam sighed in relief and he waited patiently. After a couple of seconds, a screen flashed in front of him with a string of details.
[Ding. Beast Name: ??]
[Ding. Beast Type: Spirit]
[Ding. Beast Attribute: Fire]
[Ding. Beast Quality: Rare]
Liam gazed at the details and for a second was completely shocked and speechless.
Even with all of his knowledge about the game, he still had not expected a spirit type egg to fall into his hands this early.
In his previous life, some players managed to get their hands on this type and at first, they were not too outstanding as the growth of these pets was slow and they required a lot of resources.
But when the trial stage ended, suddenly they all came out on top as it was revealed that only spirit type pets and soul type pets could be carried with one from this tutorial phase to the real apocalyptic world.
Anything that was not a part of one's spirit or soul was basically just a mirage, just like these NPCs. This was also why Liam hadn't bothered to use the tame skill.
He was sure that there was some sort of madness to the method just like with mana usage and control, but he didn't want to spread himself too thin by focusing on everything at once.
But since he had this egg, and he was already here, he decided to get this inspected and it turned out to be an unexpected windfall.
It looked like everything was nudging him towards something and this time even fate was on his side. Liam grinned. His plans changed a little but not too much.
"Young man, I must remind you. These types of eggs are very difficult to hatch. Even if you hatch them, they might still not amount to much."
"I would still be honored to take it off your hands. How about I offer you 1000 gold for the egg? He He. I can even give you some information. I recently heard rumors about a legendary beast pet."
[Ding. New Quest Available: Visit the royal city and meet with the innkeeper]
[Ding. Quest Difficulty: S-Grade]
[Ding. Do you accept this quest? Y/N]
"S grade quest huh? Ha Ha Ha. Sorry madam, I think I will decline. Our paths are different. I hope you can find someone else to help you." Liam politely bowed and took the egg back from the woman's hands.
"Ah…! That is such a pity!" The shopkeeper looked very disappointed, and quickly ignored him, tending to her other customers.
And since Liam had already gotten what he wanted, he didn't linger there any longer and started walking away.
Alex looked at his figure disappearing in the crowd and she hurried behind him so as not to lose sight of him. "Hey. Hey. Wait a second."
Liam walked out of the black market zone to the blacksmith's association that he had previously ignored.
Alex followed him there and watched him as he spoke with a person on the counter and learned the basic smithing skill.
"So this guy is just learning a bunch of trade skills without leveling? But then why did he hunt that field boss down? I can't understand his plans at all."
Alex looked at the time and it was almost noon. So she stepped forward and reminded him. "So can we talk now? It's noon."
"Yup. Follow me." Liam walked to one of the small workspaces located in the courtyard of the building where a lot of players, at least those who were interested in learning blacksmithing, were practicing their skills.
"Ummm… Here?" Alex gulped as she looked around, but the other party had already started setting up his bench.
Chapter 55 – Golden Opportunity Or?
Alex could tell that the hateful person was not going to make any special concessions for her. So she fidgeted with her fingers and began talking, her voice barely a whisper.
"That thing you told Mia… I am ready." This was the best that she could speak out despite steeling her nerves.
Come on, at least now he should show more interest? She bit her lips in frustration and looked at the guy and for a moment just as she expected his expression did falter.
"What are you talking about?" Liam was genuinely surprised and decided to confirm it.
When this woman spoke to him over the phone, he had assumed that it was something about a field boss or a dungeon. He hadn't expected this.
He had an inkling that they were going to face a terrible fate in the future so he had mentioned a way out that would be beneficial to him as well, but he didn't expect things to move so fast.
In fact, he hadn't expected them to even think about this until much later when they became absolutely desperate without any other course of action.
But she was already here…?
"Are you serious? You know what I am talking about!" Alex chewed her lips out.
She already knew how this was going to go happen, but she had no other choice except to put up with this hateful guy's attitude.
Hmm… Liam scratched his head, engrossed in his thoughts. He had thought that everything started after the trial phase ended but could there be something going on now?
Looking at him hesitate, Alex became impatient. "What? I also have an S grade affinity. Am I not good enough?"
Liam sighed, silently lifting the anvil and placing it on the workspace. It was not that he didn't pity the woman in front of him.
As someone who had once been desperate for even the smallest of a chance to change his own fate, he empathized with her, but everything was just beginning.
He didn't have the luxury to help a random stranger. Besides, when things turned for the worse, the people that he helped today might turn on him.
This was his second chance and his only chance. He couldn't just risk it all for nothing.
Liam remained silent for a while and then took out the other item he had purchased from the black market.
He handed it over to Alex. "This is a binding contract of sorts. You are right. I can indeed make you stronger, much stronger but before that, you would have to sign this."
Think about this and come back when you are ready."
"Huh? What is this?" Alex sighed in relief as she scanned the parchment of paper which had some words inscribed on it.
She didn't really care much about the contract. She assumed that it was perhaps a gold or cash or property contract. If it was reasonable she had no problem agreeing to it.
"Whatever this is… I am fi… wait a second." It took a minute for her to read and understand the words as they had been written in a weird calligraphy style.
"Hey what is this?" Alex looked up in shock.
"I am supposed to do everything you tell me? I am not supposed to harm you? Act against you or even have the intention of harming you? This is ridiculous!"
"And how can this bloody game even implement these things? I mean this is just basically a slave contract. Are you kidding me?"
"Are you purposefully trying to humiliate me? I only came here so that we can both get mutual benefits. You were the one who suggested this in the first place, remember?"
Liam heard her words but he continued to remain calm and took out some of the iron ores he had. He stacked them neatly on the table.
Though it was not written clearly on the contract with dedicated labels, Alex wasn't wrong. He had indeed given her a slave contract.
So he cooly explained it to her again, at least as much as he could.
"My intention is not to humiliate you. It is the opposite. This is an opportunity that perhaps you wouldn't get again. So take it with you and think about it."
"You don't have to accept it or reject it right now. Take as much time as you want. Your life might depend on it."
Alex silently listened, not knowing what to respond.
On one hand, this was extremely humiliating. On the other hand, the person in front of her was saying words with so much confidence that she couldn't simply ignore them as random nonsense.
She stood dazed for a second but then shook her head, letting out a deep breath. What opportunity? Why would her life depend on it? Wasn't this all just random nonsense?
The pervert just probably wanted to do some role playing as slave and master. Fuck this. Why did I even think he would help me in this first place?
She was hesitant about this from the beginning and now this settled things.
She looked at the man in front of her, tossing the ores one after the other into the smelting fire. He was just doing his own thing, completely ignoring her.
Damn it! What was I thinking? I don't need anyone's help. Especially this person's help! She let out a deep breath and turned around, leaving the contract parchment behind.
She had almost walked out when Liam's voice once again sounded.
"I will be busy these next few days. Do not contact me again to do some sort of negotiation. This is it. These are my terms. I will not change my mind."
"And if you still bother me, then you will only be forcing my hand to cut ties with the three of you completely."
The woman who was already bubbling with rage clenched her fists, wanting to throw something at the bastard, but she continued walking out.
"Now is not the time. I need to think about Mia first.. Hmph. But one day or the other I will surely teach this guy a lesson!"
Chapter 56 – Quick And Dirty
As his hands worked furiously, Liam had already forgotten all about the unexpected visitor and focused on the flames beside him.
He watched the stacks of iron ore melting and forming a sort of lump together and then melting altogether. He quickly removed this molten ore and poured it over a sand clay mold of a simple sword.
Giving the ore only a couple of seconds to take the shape of the mold, he quickly retrieved the raw unrefined sword and doused it in cold water.
He then once again placed the sword in the furnace and reheated the metal, after which he placed it on the anvil.
"Heh. I never thought that I would be doing this again." Liam chuckled. He almost lovingly looked at the piece of weapon and started hammering it.
Though it was not immediately obvious, this step was the most crucial in crafting a weapon. The more a weapon was hammered, the more powerful it became.
Though Liam had simply planned to forge a bunch of mediocre weapons to increase his skill proficiency rapidly, once he started the process he completely forgot about everything.
He hammered the simple iron sword again and again as if it was a priceless treasure. And when the metal had cooled down, he heated it again in the furnace and hammered it over and over.
His entire body was drenched in sweat from top to bottom and the grains in the sword were becoming finer and finer. However, Liam continued hammering away without showing any signs of stopping.
He had been running constantly ever since he had received this miraculous second chance. But now that his mind was centered and steady, the familiar rhythm brought in all the memories of the past and flooded him.
Dang. Liam grunted loudly without realizing and vented all his frustrations by using the hammer in his hand.
Dang. Dang. Dang. Sparks flew everywhere and the hammering sounds echoed in the crowded smithing association workspace.
A few players already had their eyes on him as he had been talking to an extremely beautiful woman a while ago and there were very few women in the game, to begin with.
Now, he was also making exaggerated loud noises as if he was performing a herculean task which was quite annoying.
Liam, however, was in his own world and ignored the dirty looks that were being given to him. He struck the sword in front of him, his every hit landing with utmost care and precision.
An entire hour passed by in this manner, followed by another couple of hours and then another when finally a system prompt appeared in front of him, snapping him out of his trance.
[Ding. Forging successfully completed]
[Ding. Overkill Iron Sword]
[Ding. Rating: Uncommon]
[Ding. Special Effect: When the target is at the last 5% of health, attack damage is doubled]
[Ding. Your forging skill proficiency has increased to Trainee Level]
[Ding. You have obtained the title 'Perfectionist']
[Perfectionist: When the title is equipped, crafting success rates increase by 5%]
Liam dropped the hammer in his hand and collapsed on the floor tiredly. He had almost used up the entirety of his stamina and he hadn't even realized it.
Since it was just common iron ore, he was able to finish the sword.
If it had been any other type of ore or even a more complex mixture of multiple common ores, then he would have sure collapsed before the weapon was completely made.
Haa… Ha… Ha… He breathed slowly, closing his eyes. "There is still a long way to go."
He only opened his eyes again after taking a couple of minutes to center himself again and checked out the notifications.
"Huh? Overkill Iron Sword? What the heck is this?" Liam was perplexed. His gaze shifted to read the rest of the description of the equipment and he became even more shocked.
The sword even had a special effect that was unheard of for common-grade weapons and only common-grade weapons could be manufactured from iron ores!
"How the hell did I manage to forge a common ore into an uncommon sword?" He glanced at the
name again and his face darkened on seeing how apt the name was.
"Damn it. I ended up wasting quite a bit of time on this, didn't I?" Liam smiled wryly. He had indeed gotten carried away. "Oh! I even got a title? Not bad."
The title did not mention 'forging' trade skill specifically, so it mostly applied to all trade skills. He nodded in approval and then moved on.
It was a good thing but once again, just like everything else this was also only temporary. When the trial phase ended, everyone would be stripped clean of their titles and in-game status.
So at the end of the day, it was merely another tool to achieve his goals.
Letting out a deep breath, Liam stood up and took the sword in his hand. "Well, time to get more serious."
For getting the best rewards from the hidden quest, he needed to achieve a 'Master' proficiency in smithing.
He was quite confident in achieving 'Intermediate' proficiency, which was the next step after his current 'Trainee' proficiency, but when it came to the 'Master' level, there were a few issues.
However, these were nothing that couldn't be solved by throwing money at them. So he wasn't all that worried.
Liam quickly began to work again, this time paying attention to his speed and efficiency rather than the quality of the forging. This was the fastest way to level, quick and dirty.
He threw in another batch of iron ore and cleaned his station while the ore was being melted. He then used another common sword mold and poured it in like he was pouring water on the soil without any care.
This time he restricted to simply hammering a couple of dozen times and once again repeated the process three times before sharpening the edges and finishing the weapon.
[Ding. Forging successfully completed]
[Ding. Crude Iron Sword]
[Ding. Rating: Common]
Liam glanced at the sword once. It looked lackluster as if it was a piece of old equipment. "Heh. Now, this is what I expected. One done, a hundred more to go."
He tossed it aside and indifferently started the next one.
Chapter 57 – Why Are You In Such A Hurry?
Yleka city was the trade hub of the Gresh Kingdom and as such, the place was bustling with a huge crowd at every corner.
Several players were swarming the area for interesting quests and golden opportunities that could help them crack the game and take a step further than their counterparts.
However, even in this busy crowd, the blacksmith's association definitely stood out. Weapons were integral to most games and it was a fair guess to give importance to them.
When two players were at similar levels and had similar skills with similar attributes, the one thing that could distinguish them both was a weapon. Especially, the custom-made ones which most games offer towards the end game or higher levels.
This was why a majority of the players had already learned blacksmithing and were currently gathered at the blacksmith association hunting for quests, recipes and trying to level up the skill.
All the NPCs in the association were also completely drowned in this mob, everyone competing with each other just to have a conversation with them.
But amidst this chaos, in a dull and isolated corner of the courtyard, a single person was monotonously crafting one sword after another.
While others were dancing on thorns to get everything right and do every single step to absolute perfection so that the product doesn't fail and the raw materials don't get wasted, this person looked like he couldn't care less.
Liam did not stop at all. He was working like a machine.
His experienced hands tossed one finished product after another in a pile and he simply kept going on without showing any signs of tiredness or mental exhaustion.
Several people noticed him, but everyone was busy with their own progress to pay attention to the lunatic who was wasting iron ores.
From the manner in which he was tossing the swords on the ground, they could only assume that all of his forgings had failed, giving ruined products.
"Eh! Look there. Don't be that guy. I think you should spend more time melting the ore thoroughly. I heard it improves the quality and can even give a boost to attack power."
"Hmmm… That guy's products are probably failing because he is not hammering the raw weapon longer."
"No, he is barely even doing tempering."
Even though Liam wasn't doing anything extraordinary, his sheer concentration, focus, and monotonous perseverance attracted a lot of attention.
But luckily for him, after taking a look, no one paid him any further attention. His actions and forging technique were just that bad.
It looked like he was only doing the bare minimum of what was necessary and sometimes not even that.
Besides, everyone was engrossed in their own training, so no one bothered him and went back to doing their own thing.
However, there was an exception to this.
The blacksmith's association was a tower-shaped structure and on the twentieth floor, a pair of eyes continued keenly observing Liam.
This pair of wrinkled eyes belonged to an old man. He was calmly sipping on his tea in silence, his face not betraying any emotions. However, he noticed even the smallest of Liam's actions.
No one knew what was going on in his mind. As to why he was amused by the young man whom others had ignored was also a mystery.
"Shall I call him over, master?" A person standing next to him bowed respectfully and asked, for which the old man simply raised his hand, waving him away.
But the next second, his figure disappeared and appeared near Liam.
As the next batch of iron ores sizzled in the hot flames of the furnace, his voice sounded aloud. "May I take a look at this sword?"
Liam almost dropped the clay mold he was holding in his hand in surprise. He had completely failed to notice the presence of someone else near him! What happened?
But, he let out a deep breath and quickly recovered. After all, he was paying his full attention to forging, so he probably did not notice.
He didn't think too much about it a and looked at the NPC standing in front of him. The old man was clearly trying to strike up a conversation with him and he seemed like an NPC.
Though NPCs and players were almost indistinguishable, it was still easy to differentiate between both especially at the beginning.
'Hmmm… This should be an NPC from the association?'
"Yes, senior." Liam quickly passed on the sword that the old man was pointing to and then continued focusing on his forging.
He already had the quest that he absolutely wanted so he didn't bother fawning over the man for another quest.
In fact, he hoped that the guy would leave soon so that he wouldn't be disturbed by a horde of rowdy eager players swarming at the place where he was forging.
The old man, however, did not share any of Liam's concerns. He leisurely ran his fingers over the piece of weapon that was merely common-grade.
His eyes glinted as if he was analyzing every grain in the sword that lacked any sort of special properties and when he was done, his gaze surprisingly shifted to Liam himself.
"Ho Ho!" Almost immediately, a subtle flicker of surprise appeared in his face which quickly faded away.
"Lad, why are you in such a hurry?" The old man calmly asked.
Huh? Liam was once again taken aback.
If the person was criticizing his technique, he would have said something like why are you not doing this, and why are you not doing that.
He could have commented about any of the forging steps as Liam was madly rushing through everything, but to ask why was he in a hurry… as if he could tell exactly what he was capable of…
'No. I am overthinking this.' Liam shook his head. He put his thoughts away and gave a generic reply, still continuing to hammer his next weapon.
"Ah. Sorry elder. I am still a trainee. My techniques are not that good. Please forgive my incompetence.. I hope that I have not offended you."