As he finished reading the information about the armor, he was confused. But more confused than even him was his teacher. The DM had seen a lot of things in his long life, but seeing an inferior creature craft an intermediate-grade armor on his first try without struggling was something completely new even for him, and he was in shock for a solid second.
"Uh, your reaction says this is not normal. So on a scale of 1 to 10, how talented am I?" He said it with a smug grin on his face as he picked up the piece of armor. He put it on without thinking, and the effects were seen simply as wearing it. The armor, despite its toughness, felt like he wasn't even wearing anything. It was super flexible, despite being metal armor. He was more than happy with everything about his new armor.
"This is... some really insane talent. You have no strategic intelligence when it comes down to it or even patience, but this luck is…insane…unless." He looked at Jack with a doubt in his eyes as he said, "Kid, do you have a trait that makes you lucky?"
"Yeah, something like that also makes me unlucky, though," Jack joked, deciding to keep the anonymity of his trait. The confusion on the face of the DM was visible. There were a million questions he would want to ask Jack at that moment, but seeing how Jack kept the secret about his trait, he decided not to push further. His job was to teach this kid, and with the amount of talent he possessed, he would be a failure if he didn't make this young man a fine blacksmith.
"Alright, now back to smithing. Your training as an inferior rank is almost done, but I'll teach you one more trick that will be helpful."
Jack understood the meaning behind those words. This was something people were not generally taught, but he was being taught, which only meant that his teacher thought he was worthy of learning it. He did a slight bow as a sign of respect, making even the DM feel awkward.
"Okay, okay, stop now and listen carefully to what I am going to teach you. This technique is only for intermediate and higher-level blacksmiths, but I'll teach it nonetheless. However, if you can do it, don't force it. I'll teach you how to bind that armor to yourself so only you can use it. It's a relatively simple process: you release mana from your whole body at once directly into the armor until the infusion gem on the armor forms two circles around itself. That's your cue to stop."
Jack understood and began the process, instantly releasing mana from every part of his body, which flowed directly into his armor. Slowly, a line started forming around the gem, forming a circle. By the time the first circle was finished, Jack was already sweating and having a hard time breathing, yet he couldn't stop. He was meant to be greedy, and he was being greedy right now as he kept pushing himself beyond what should be considered his limit until ultimately the second circle was formed and he fell back on the ground, passing out.
That time Jack finally had a good sleep after 7 months since he had no reason or need to sleep in the dungeon; he didn't. But that didn't help him a lot as the human mind was used to the sleep cycle, so now that Jack passed out, he ended up sleeping for a whole week without realizing it, and the doctor didn't wake him up as he thought Jack deserved this one.
After exactly one week, Jack found himself right next to the altar, where he passed out. He felt fresh, even though his back hurt from sleeping in his armor. As soon as he woke up, he checked his armor and found the two circles there. Which made him take a breath of relief.
"Good morning, Mr. Sleepy. You've been out for a good week," the DM said as his hologram was sipping tea while sitting cross-legged in mid-air. Which made Jack realize how long it had been. He panicked a bit before getting up. As he got up, the DM put his tea away and stood up properly.
"Jack, you have surpassed most of my expectations and finally completed the dungeon forge of Rhurtas. As your reward, you have finally gained the obsidian hammer as your own. It's already bound to you by now, so don't worry about binding it." The DM said with a smile on his face, a proud smile. A screen popped up in front of the jack.
[Hammer of Rhurtas, II
A copy of the hammer Rhurtas used while learning smithing. Can be used as a blunt-force weapon.
BOUND TO JACK HOFF
Effects:
Mana channel: the user can directly channel his mana through this hammer into materials without wasting any extra mana.
Forge: The mana in itself has all the abilities needed for crafting. It can be used without a forge or altar, as long as the mana and materials are available.
Note: Due to the hammer being a utility-type object, when used as a weapon, it will only be as good as an inferior weapon.]
"Ha, it's been a long while," Jack said to himself as he took a deep breath, thinking about the past months he had spent in this place. Feeling a bit emotional about leaving it.
"It really has been; you were one of the better students I've had. Well, the only one I have had so far; regardless, now's the time for the important decision, Jack. Will you accept the class?"
[Congratulations on clearing the forge of Rhurtas.]
[+5000 merits have been awarded]
[Will you accept the class "Blacksmith"?
Y/N]