Alfred stood up and said. "You two should chat by yourselves. I still have to complete an order requested by an old friend so I won't be joining you guys."
"Pops, what about your tea?" Max stared at his father with a helpless smile.
"Just leave it there. You guys can go upstairs. This place will be noisy soon so it won't be appropriate for you to stay here." Alfred said.
"Fine." Max put one of the small cups on the table and filled it with tea. He then glanced at Mark and said with a smile. "Follow me. I'll show you around the store."
"Alright." Mark nodded. "We'll take our leave first, Sir Freddy."
Alfred waved his hand at him before he continued with his previous work.
Max and Mark left the forging room.
"I believe you didn't come here just to visit me." Max suddenly said the moment they stepped out of the forging room.
Hearing this, Mark grinned. "We gained a lot from our recent trip so I plan to buy some equipment. I just didn't expect that your family is actually the owner of this shop, but don't worry. I won't ask for a discount."
Max chuckled at his words. "Since that's the case, I will show you the best items in our store. To tell you the truth, my father is already a Silver Rank Blacksmith so there are some Rare Weapons available in our shop." He revealed a look of pride as he mentioned this.
Mark was stunned.
Rare Weapons were even more powerful than Uncommon weapons. He didn't think that he would actually have the opportunity to see an item of this level in Greenwood Village. However, what made him even more surprised was the fact that Alfred was a Silver Rank Blacksmith.
Blacksmiths didn't need to have a high cultivation to forge an item. This means that if a blacksmith is at the First Level of Body Strengthening, they could still create Rare Weapons or even Epic Weapons. However, the weapons they could create were still dependent on their cultivation. To make this easier to understand, a blacksmith at the Body Strengthening level can only make weapons that are useful for Body Strengthening cultivators. There was no precedent of a blacksmith at the Body Strengthening level being able to forge an item at the level of Qi Gathering stage.
"Holy moly!" Mark exclaimed.
Max gave him a tour around the shop and showed him the items on display. He even showed him the items that were kept for their esteemed customers. One specific weapon caught his attention.
Malicious Fire Tiger Sword [Rare] (7600 Orbes)
+ 12.9 Damage
+ Unique Passive {Fire Manipulation}
Mark was stunned when he saw the attributes of the Malicious Fire Tiger Sword. Other than an increase in the damage stat, one could also learn the unique passive skill {Fire Manipulation} after equipping the weapon!
Mark tried to identify this passive skill, but he saw that there was no additional information upon checking it. This means that his current level is too low to learn more about the passive skill.
Looking at Mark's dumbfounded expression, Max laughed lightly. "This is the best weapon in our store, the Malicious Fire Tiger Sword. Pops made this recently. He was reluctant to sell it so he kept it hidden here. If you want this weapon, I can sell it to you for 7600 Orbes."
Mark stared at him with a forced smile. "Are you deliberately making fun of me? I just became a hunter so I don't have that much money. I only have 2000 Orbes with me." He really wanted to buy the sword, but he was too poor at the moment.
Max grinned and patted his shoulder. "Haha! Keep working hard! I'll keep this sword for you, but I can only keep it hidden for a month."
Mark's eyes flashed upon hearing this. "What if Sir Freddy finds out?" As much as he liked the weapon, he didn't want his friend to get into trouble because of him.
"Relax. Even if Pops finds out, he won't do anything to me. I can see that he is quite fond of you so there's nothing to be concerned about." Max smiled at him.
Although he knew that Max was only an NPC, he decided to treat Max as a real friend from that moment. "Thank you."
Max grinned at him. "Come on. You have already thanked me enough."
Mark shook his head and smiled helplessly. He never thought that helping Max at that time would result in this. "I will buy the full set of leather armor for now." This was his objective other than visiting Max.
"Alright. I'll grab it for you." Max nodded his head.
The two headed downstairs. The full set of leather armor was only an Ordinary item so it was only displayed on the first floor. Only items of higher quality are displayed on the upper floors of the store.
Leather Breastplate [Ordinary] (500 Orbes)
+ 0.5 Endurance
+ 0.4 Cold Resistance
+ 0.4 Heat Resistance
Leather Legplates [Ordinary] (400 Orbes)
+ 0.3 Endurance
+ 0.3 Cold Resistance
+ 0.3 Heat Resistance
Leather Armguards [Ordinary] (400 Orbes)
+ 0.3 Endurance
+ 0.3 Cold Resistance
+0.3 Heat Resistance
Leather Helmet [Ordinary] (400 Orbes)
+ 0.3 Endurance
+ 0.3 Cold Resistance
+ 0.3 Heat Resistance
"That would be 1700 Orbes for all four items, but since you are a friend, I'll give them to you for 1500 Orbes." Max said as he placed the items inside a box.
Hearing this, Mark shook his head. "I've already received a lot of help from you, Max. I don't want to take advantage of your generosity so please let me pay the full price."
Max stared at his serious face and thought for a moment before nodding his head. "Alright."
"Here's my payment." Mark was relieved that Max didn't insist on giving him a discount. He then handed him the payment for the items.
Max took the payment and handed him the box which contained the items he bought.
"I'll take my leave now, Max. I will come back and visit you again soon. I don't want to disturb Sir Freddy so please tell him that I'll go." Mark couldn't wait to equip the new items so he bid Max farewell.
"Take care, Wolf." Max smiled and sent him off.
Mark quickly returned to the Cloud Mystic Inn.
Upon entering his room, he grabbed the box inside his storage bag and opened it. He unequipped the Ordinary clothes set he received as a gift which caused his cold resistance and heat resistance to become zero. He then donned his new items.
The leather armor set was a perfect fit for his body. "Let's see the changes in my attributes." He muttered excitedly.
Player IGN: Wolf of the Grassland
Cultivation: First Level Body Strengthening
Physique: Mortal
Qi: 50/100
Wealth: 2088 —> 388
Vitality: 1.7
Endurance: 3.7 —> 5.1
Strength: 2.1
Stamina: 1.7
Speed: 1.5
Spirit: 2.9
Cold Resistance: 0 —> 1.3
Heat Resistance: 0 —> 1.3
Damage: 1.7
Mark laughed happily upon seeing the changes in his attributes. The increase in his endurance stat would be a great help in his plans. At least he didn't need to be worried about dying if he went to the Enchanted Woodlands.