Chapter 9

【Crafting (Forging) +1】

After briefly glancing at the prompt that just flashed, Lu Yuan placed the longsword he had just fitted with a hilt alongside the other seven swords.

After becoming an official assistant, Habase Derlin finally showed interest in listening to him, though only for up to 20 words. So Lu Yuan picked up a hammer and forged three longswords with a clanging sound, then handed one to Habase Derlin, saying, "This is what I'm good at." With that, Lu Yuan transitioned from a potion assistant to a forging assistant. At the time, his forging skill was at level 14, capable of crafting qualified military weapons, and occasionally, high-quality weapons.

【Longsword (High Quality): Typically includes double-edged swords, battle swords, or military swords. Sometimes, longswords may have a single edge. There is no uniform specification for longswords, and their form varies by culture or region. The most common characteristic of longswords is their length, usually ranging from 35 to 47 inches. In the latter case, the blade typically measures nearly 40 inches. Most longswords are double-edged and have a sharp tip. However, these swords are more suitable for slashing rather than thrusting.

Data:

Damage: 1D8+1

Damage Type: Slashing

Weight: 4 lbs

Weapon Category: Longsword

Type: One-handed use】

From a data perspective, a high-quality longsword only has slightly increased damage compared to a regular longsword. In reality, it is significantly sharper, more resilient, and better balanced. Such a sword is easier to use, requires less effort, has a longer lifespan, and is sharper. It is the first choice for mercenaries who cannot afford magical weapons, and they would cherish it like a family heirloom if they obtained a high-quality weapon.

Many mercenaries, after saving enough money, would choose to enchant their favorite weapons, enhancing them into magical weapons.

The longsword Lu Yuan gave to Habase Derlin at the time was such a weapon. After excellent enchantment and decoration, such a weapon could sell for over a hundred times its original price. For a long time afterward, he spent most of his time in the forge, only going to Habase Derlin's library late at night to study. Over half a year, he integrated the knowledge he had gained from his previous life, and his forging skill increased by three levels.

After crafting countless daggers, short swords, rapiers, longswords, one-handed and two-handed greatswords, he finally forged a fine-quality longsword. Such a longsword's data could rival a +1 magical weapon, and in terms of overall quality, it far surpassed a +1 magical weapon. In magical weapons, it was common to find "monstrosities" created by wizards, which were powerful but difficult to use, and often caused self-injury.

Forging a fine-quality weapon also raised his forging skill to level 17. Now, he could successfully craft exotic weapons like katanas and giant scythes and produce metal armor, marking a small leap forward. For weapon forging, he had reached a relative peak, and further improvement would be very difficult. Therefore, Lu Yuan planned to shift his focus to armor crafting.

Weapon quality can be divided into five levels: Rough (degraded quality), Common (unchanged data), High Quality (increased damage), Fine (increased damage and accuracy), and Superior (extremely well-suited). Generally, Fine is the highest quality for general weapons, while Superior quality is only applicable to specialized weapons designed based on hand shape, weight, strength, and habits. Such weapons can unleash tremendous power in the hands of their intended users. Another way to enhance weapons is by using better materials, such as black steel, mithril, adamantium, and alloys that Lu Yuan knew about, but he lacked the conditions to obtain them.

After leaving the harmful alchemical potion work, he felt his health significantly improve. Although weapons also required enchanting, that was something only formal wizards could do. "Weapon Enchantment" required a 1st or 2nd-level wizard who knew 1st-level spells, while "Advanced Weapon Enchantment" and "Keen Edge" required 3rd-level spells and a 5th-level wizard. This had nothing to do with a small magic apprentice like him. He just needed to mass-produce high-quality weapons and secretly laugh at the wizards who aged prematurely from enchanting.

Regardless, the opportunity to enter the library for study every day was the most precious.

He would never forget what was truly important.

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"Check this out, guaranteed to surprise you!" Nicolas carefully took out a large cloth bundle and placed it on the table. This was Lu Yuan's attic, which had become a black market trading spot for Lu Yuan and Nicolas since Lu Yuan no longer lived there. Sometimes his sister, "Black Lily," would also show up. The weapons Lu Yuan crafted sold for several times the normal price on the black market and were in high demand.

After Lu Yuan analyzed the formula for the King of Thieves potion, their business grew even larger. Therefore, Lu Yuan would also buy some precious items through them, things that were impossible to obtain through normal channels. For example, the dark green, hard leather Nicolas unfolded in front of him was the neck skin of a wyvern. This magical sub-dragon was eight feet long from head to tail, a hybrid of a dragon and a snake person. It could spew toxic gas like a dragon, and its degenerated wings allowed it to glide briefly. It also had the ability to cast a few spells. However, its primary combat method was still physical. Although this sub-dragon had a low challenge rating, encountering a group of wyverns would be a disaster.

"Wyvern!" Lu Yuan looked at the well-preserved leather with surprise and exclaimed.

"Yes, as far as I know, it was a nearly 20-foot-long beast! A whole team of people died for it, and I spent a lot of money to get it for you." Nicolas seized every opportunity to raise the price without hesitation.

"Come on, Nicolas. This time the item is good, but it's just an eight-foot-long creature. If it were a 20-foot-long giant wyvern, I guarantee no one would come back alive. Hunting it would be like dragon slaying. Now, let's talk about the price."

After some negotiation, Lu Yuan bought the four-foot-square sub-dragon skin for 2000 gold coins per foot. Nicolas left with a large portion of Lu Yuan's savings, and Lu Yuan returned to the laboratory to test the leather's properties with various reagents. The source of this leather was definitely questionable, and Nicolas didn't know how he obtained it, but it was certain that it had nothing to do with the hunting process. So he only knew the general situation and overlooked the essential issues. After reaching level 12 in forging, Lu Yuan's ability to analyze materials had greatly improved. He immediately noticed something was off and kept the anomaly hidden.

After analyzing it with magical reagents, he finally confirmed that this was the neck skin of a rare sub-species of wyvern, the Psionic Wyvern. Items made from this leather would have some very rare effects.

Lu Yuan soaked the wyvern neck skin in alchemical solution for a whole week before the layers completely separated. After peeling off the dark green keratin layer, the layers of leather underneath were as smooth and white as silk, thin as cicada wings, and divided into several dozen layers of the same size, each layer being a white, semi-transparent piece of leather. After drying and tanning, it became a pure white, cloth-like paper, but much harder and more resilient, making it impossible to tear with ordinary strength. Lu Yuan cut it into one-foot-square sheets, totaling 233 pages.

Using the thick keratin layer of the wyvern neck skin, he combined multiple layers and added brass rivets to create a heavy, hard cover. The spine had a leather strap to tie it around the waist. The dark green cover was adorned with scales in the shape of a snake's head, with the eyes made of two small emeralds. After binding the pages, he asked Habase Derlin to cast the "Spellbook Creation" spell. This spell was not high-level, but the caster's level determined the final effect.

Even Habase Derlin praised the spellbook he had created.

When he returned to his laboratory and used a "Identify" scroll to appraise it, the spellbook became increasingly deep and dark, looking somewhat sinister.

["Dark Serpent": Lu Yuan's Spellbook

Lu Yuan carefully crafted this spellbook using the neck skin of a Psionic Wyvern. The spell cast by the great wizard Habase Derlin fully unleashed the book's potential. The book has 233 pages and has average recording capacity.

Special Abilities:

Durability: The book's durability is comparable to an iron shield.

Magic Nourishment: The leather of magical creatures can automatically absorb ambient magic, allowing the book to effectively preserve magic scrolls and cast "Darkness" once per day.

Resistance Enhancement: The wearer has a 30% chance to resist poisoning and is immune to the immobilizing effects of "Hold Person" and "Web."]

Lu Yuan tied "Dark Serpent" to his belt and walked a few steps, then took it off and bound it to his left upper arm, making a few blocking motions. The book's hardness could be used as an arm shield, truly a strange magic book. Fortunately, the attributes were very powerful, especially the immunity to immobilization, which could provide unexpected advantages in combat.

With the magic book, Lu Yuan could finally start copying the spells recorded in the library. General spells up to the third circle were not hard to obtain in the Baldur's Gate region, even powerful war spells like "Fireball" were widely available due to their versatility. In the great wizard Habase Derlin's library, Lu Yuan quickly collected all the general spells up to the third circle and even found a fourth-circle spell scroll, "Roar," with nearly half its magic drained in an old book. He carefully inserted the "Roar" spell into the spellbook, using the book's magic to nourish it, hoping to copy or use it one day.

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