"Slipped... It slipped..." Splitting Blade grimaced, looking almost ready to cry. He had intended to show off a bit in front of the Chief, but being unfamiliar with the axe led to an unexpected mishap…
Thud—
The second strike accurately hit the armor plate. The axe blade cut into it but didn't slice through entirely, leaving only a deep gash.
"Chief, heh, this… this is more like my real level." Splitting Blade chuckled sheepishly.
"Alright, hurry up and try it on the next armor plate."
"Got it."
Thud—
This time, the axe blade left only a shallow mark on the armor.
The old blacksmith practically ran over, eyes close to the armor plate, examining the cut by hand. He looked up at Splitting Blade, straightened up, and grabbed the axe from his hands.
"Hey, hey, hey! Why are you taking my axe?"
Thud—
Thud—
The old blacksmith swung the axe twice, his look of confusion finally giving way to astonishment and delight. "Chief, this rune pattern that doesn't require magical affinity, where did you buy it? Must've cost you quite a bit," he asked Kent.
"I drew it myself; I have plenty more," Kent replied nonchalantly.
The old man stood there, as if struck by lightning.
Since obtaining the magic-patterned heavy armor, Kent had developed a strong interest in combining magic arrays with armor.
Now, with the rune-forging schematics, he found a path similar to that of the magic-patterned armor. However, while magic-patterned armor required magic power to activate, the runes could be triggered by sheer force instead.
This single improvement alone allowed Kent to foresee a major impact on the future of the Red Earth Continent—and this was just a glimpse into the mysterious world of magic.
However, with his current understanding of magic, he couldn't grasp how the rune's magic array managed to adjust its activation mechanism. The system's advantage was presenting him with the best solution directly, without intense study or training—something that might become a huge limitation for him in the future as he pursued greater heights.
But for now, he only needed one thing: speed.
The forge expanded to twice its original size, and the few apprentices he had recruited, after days of training, could now independently make coal furnaces. Skilled blacksmiths focused on forging runes.
Currently, the forge was still temporary. Once the valley's mineral deposits were initially surveyed, Kent planned to redesign the layout of the whole valley, assigning clearer functional areas. At that point, all production facilities would be relocated closer to the mines, away from the current camp area.
The first batch of three types of runes with different functions was soon forged.
The Beginner Defense Rune, Beginner Strength Rune, and Beginner Agility Rune.
According to the system's description, "Beginner" meant a 20% improvement standard. This implied that a frontline fighter with a Beginner Strength Rune would gain at least a 20% boost in strength, enabling a level 10 fighter to stand against a level 12 opponent. On the battlefield, the impact would be far greater.
However, the first Beginner Defense Rune forged by the old blacksmith achieved an astonishing 35% enhancement. Kent speculated that the end result might vary based on the blacksmith's skill level, technique, expertise, and the quality of materials used.
With 20% as the standard level, anything below this would be considered a defective rune.
Those with enhancements between 25% and 30% would qualify as high-quality runes.
Anything above 30% would be a perfect-grade rune.
Only blacksmiths of the old blacksmith's caliber could forge perfect-grade runes. For the others who lacked rune-forging experience, Kent's goal was to mass-produce standard-grade runes.
Kent's judgment proved entirely accurate.
There weren't many materials in stock, but with the minimal material requirements for Beginner Runes, they estimated they could forge around sixty or seventy runes. Twenty sets of materials were assigned to the old blacksmith, while the rest were used for training the new blacksmiths.
With hands-on guidance from the old blacksmith and standard schematics, each blacksmith went through three or four rounds of failed or defective productions before achieving a standard-grade rune, and two of them even produced high-quality runes.
As for the old blacksmith, from the twenty sets of materials, he ended up with eight standard-grade runes, three high-quality runes, and two perfect-grade runes. The rest were defective.
Kent was quite pleased with these results.
The satisfaction from the blacksmiths' work also made Kent happy.
The success of the trial production proved that mass production was feasible without manpower issues.
Kent easily addressed the issue of secrecy through adjustments in division of labor.
After the old blacksmith officially joined, Kent entrusted him with all three recipes they had. In future production, all material combinations and mixture methods would be known solely to the old blacksmith.
He wasn't worried about leaks from the old blacksmith.
According to Splitting Blade's investigation, the old blacksmith had been with the Spear Hunting Tribe for over a decade. At his age, the only things that could appeal to him were rare brews and unique forging recipes.
Kent was confident that he could keep the old blacksmith interested, whether with brews or recipes. Even if other territories offered high pay to poach him, the Spear Hunting Territory's earning potential would soon surpass any other territory.
By guarding the recipes, Kent assigned specific tasks in the rune-forging process to the existing blacksmiths. One person was designated for mixing materials and preparing rune magical liquid, while the rest were trained by the old blacksmith to create runes according to the schematic standards.
This method would keep the recipes secure for a long time, turning magic runes into a lucrative secret weapon for the Red Earth Continent.
After the first batch of runes was produced, Kent gathered the guard squad for a performance test.
Testing was essentially burning money.
To the old blacksmith, a standard-grade rune might be simple, but its ability to enhance power without needing upgrades made it worth at least two or three hundred gold coins, even defective runes could fetch dozens. For borderland adventurers, a rune-equipped piece of armor that could boost their battle power by one or two levels was worth half a year's or even a full year's wages.
But Kent, as if money didn't matter, let the guard squad experiment with different combinations of defective and standard-grade runes.
Adding two Beginner Agility Runes to leather armor—leather armor cracked.
Adding two Beginner Strength Runes to iron armor—iron armor cracked.
Adding one Beginner Strength Rune and one Beginner Defense Rune to iron armor—success.
Adding one Beginner Defense Rune and one Beginner Agility Rune to leather armor—success.
...