'The information until now is correct; I hope I can get the quest.' Alex thought as he took the Disaris Ring out from his inventory.
Alex came to Thogrim workshop not just to get a free equipment upgrade but to get a {SS Rank} quest that will help him gain the friendship of Thogrim Brightstone.
Thogrim was not a blacksmith master but a Forge King hiding his identity after experiencing some unfortunate events in life.
........
The blacksmiths are divided into different Ranks.
•1: Emperor
•2: King
•3: Grand Master
•4: Master
•5: Apprentice
.........
These were the Basic Ranks a Blacksmith would have, but there were many variants of each rank, such as a weaponsmith, a blacksmith that specialized in forging weapons, but a Forge King was someone that was an expert in many crafts.
In Alex's previous life, there were thirty known Blacksmith Kings in the world, but finding one willing to complete your request was close to zero.
Only some lucky players have their request accepted by a blacksmith king, and as payment for their work, those players need to pay with many unique and absurd things.
Alex planned to complete the quest and become friends with Thogrim, the blacksmith king that could help him in his time of need.
The player that completed this quest in Alex's previous life was a solo Ranker, and after becoming friends with Thogrim, he became one of the most influential players in the world as he could request a Forge King to Build weapons and armor.
The player sold the services of Thogrim to the High Ranking guild for a crazy amount of money and resources.
Those guilds happily accepted any request of that player just because he could ask a blacksmith king to forge their requested armor and weapons.
"What are you thinking so deeply about? I will not run away with your ring. Just give it to me already." Thogrim said, looking at Alex with an annoyed look.
Alex didn't say anything as he gave the Ring to Thogrim.
Thogrim took the ring and started examining it; his aura changed from a weak-looking dwarf to a deadly beast as mana gathered around him, and the workplace atmosphere changed.
Alex could feel the room temperature rising steadily and see that Thogrim doesn't look too happy after examining the ring.
"WHAT A FU**ING WASTE OF GREAT MATERIALS," Thogrim yelled as he looked at the ring with sadness.
"The Ring may be a failure, but it is still a unique Rank Ring Forged by a Blacksmith when he was a Blacksmith Master."
"I think Forging a Unique Ring at Master Rank is a great achievement," Alex said, knowing that destroying a great material that the blacksmith cannot use is a great taboo.
"What a Kid like you know about forging," Thogrim said, looking disappointed at the ring.
"Give me the other equipment you want to be upgraded; I will do it for free," Thogrim said.
Alex didn't waste any time swapping his armor with newbie armor and gave his armor and sword to Thogrim.
"The quality of the armor and sword is not bad; stand here while I do my work, and don't disturb me, or I will throw you in my forging furnace," Thogrim said.
"Sir. Thogrim, I want to see the forging process." Alex said that to get the quest, he needed to see when Thogrim was forging.
"If you are ready to die from the furnace heat or be killed by me for disturbing my work, then you are welcome to watch me work on your equipment," Thogrim replied while walking into the room with his forging furnace.
Alex didn't take Thogrim's threat seriously and entered the forge room; the room was mostly empty, with a giant furnace in one corner with a raging orange flame.
'A low-grade forging furnace with Second Rank forging flame! Thogrim is dedicated to hiding his real identity.' Alex thought as he stood in the corner of the room to have a clear view of the furnace and Thogrim.
After preparing some things, Thogrim started his work; first, he placed the sword into the furnace, and after some seconds, he took it and started hammering.
---------------------
"Your equipment is done; take it and leave my workshop," Thogrim said.
Thogrim took one hour to complete the upgrade of all three pieces of equipment, and now it was time to see if he could get the quest.
"Sir. Thogrim, you have my gratitude for upgrading my equipment; if you need something, you can ask me."
"I don't need anything; just get out of my workshop."
"If you don't mind the question, can you tell me what happens to your First forging hammer?"
'The answer he will give will determine whether I can get the quest or not.' Alex thought as he looked at Thogrim, who now had a surprised look.
"My hammer is alright; nothing happened to it, so stop wasting my time and leave already," Thogrim replied.
"I read that dwarf hammers are like their limbs, and they forged their hammer at a young age, upgrading it as they achieve new heights, but the hammer, Sir. Thogrim is using is not correct."
"The flow of mana around you and the hammer is different; it feels like you are forcing mana into your hammer to use it, but a dwarf doesn't use their hammer in such a crude way; their hammer is like a part of their body."
Alex said the words that his previous life Ranker used, and then he was given the quest to help Thogrim rebuild his real hammer.
"Your perception is right. It is not my first hammer, so what about it?" Thogrim said like this was natural.
????????????
'You need to say I have a request, and great adventurer, will you please help me to rebuild my hammer.'
Alex thought after hearing Thogrim reply as a dwarf, not having his first hammer was a natural thing, and there was nothing wrong with it.
"Sir. Thogrim, If your hammer is damaged and you need help repairing it, I can help you find materials." Alex didn't know what to do to get the quest, so he picked the most straightforward route of asking directly.
"HAHAHAHAHAHA"
"You Immortal adventurers are all the same. You all want to put your nose in other people's matters."
"Kid, Even if your talent is extraordinary, Do you believe you could find the materials I need with your puny strength that I can't gather in decades?"
Thogrim said in a chilling tone with killing intent many folds thicker than last time, filling the room; he was not threatening this time as if Alex's following words didn't satisfy him, he would kill him without a shadow of a doubt.
'I have made him truly angry, and my next word will decide my life, But why am I enjoying this moment?' Alex thought as he smiled back at Thogrim.
"As you said, I am an Immortal adventurer. I can do many impossible things. Give me a chance, and I will prove you wrong."
Alex understood that he would not get the real quest because he was too weak in the eyes of Thogrim, and the player who triggered the quest in his previous life was a peak Fourth Rank warrior.
"I will give you a chance, but only one with a time limit of one year."
........
{Blacksmith Thogrim Brightstone Test} {S}
Objective: Core of Diamond Rhinoceros.
Time: One Year
Reward: Thogrim Brightstone Trust.
Description: The Dwarven Blacksmith has given you a chance to prove your strength and demonstrate if you are worthy of being trusted by him.
Accept: {YES / NO}
........
'The quest objective is difficult for a normal player, but I can obtain it in one year.' Alex thought about all the details he could remember about the Diamond Rhinoceros.
'The Diamond Rhinoceros is a Third Rank wandering world boss which can only be found in a hidden area of crystal valley. I will need major help to kill that walking fortress.'
"What cant do it, Mr.Immortal Adventurer," Thogrim said, seeing Alex thinking.
"I was just thinking how much time I should take to complete your request," Alex replied, not caring if he would get angry because he already got what he needed.
"I will be waiting for good news Now get the FU** out of my workshop, and don't show me your face until you have the core of a Diamond Rhinoceros," Thogrim said as he forced Alex out of his workshop.
'The things didn't go as planned, but I still got the quest.' Alex thought as he walked toward the building exit.
'Now I need to buy some skills from the adventurer guild, but before that, let's check my equipment stat after their first upgrade.'
Alex left the building and equipped all his upgraded gear; the equipment didn't have any significant change to its appearance other than the sword having a darker blade with armor having frost glow around it.
'Let's see if the equipment stat boost is as good as their appearance.'
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