Chapter 9

I was diligently polishing stones in a non-combat area. Half of the stones I picked up were just ordinary stones, but the other half turned out to be valuable.

Among the stones I picked up, there were twenty iron ores, but without a furnace, I couldn't smelt them into ingots. Furthermore, it seemed that I couldn't make accessories without ingots.

So, I was now polishing stones to level up my crafting skill.

The sound of scraping echoed quietly in the forest. With a light scrape, beautiful gems appeared on the surface. After continuing to scrape, a stone the size of a fist became a three-centimeter gem. It was called a Medium Peridot Ore.

In this area, it seemed that only peridot could be obtained. No matter which stone I scraped, only peridot came out.

I might find other gem ores if I explored other areas. Or, should I look for someone in town who sells stones and buy them? But, do such people even exist? Probably not.

Besides, I'm short on money, so that's impossible. It's a tough world where you need money to make money.

"In other words, I have no choice but to keep scraping."

Well, I could use the crafting skill "Polishing" to process the stones instantly, but they would become Small Peridot Ores. Normally, the smaller they are, the less valuable they become. Also, the risk of breaking them during polishing increases.

Especially with a low skill level.

So, I was carefully polishing each of the dozen or so ores. Even so, some of them broke. In such cases, they became nothing more than stone scraps, which counted as production failures.

After three hours of polishing, the result was three Medium Peridot Ores and seven Small Peridot Ores. The rest were all gone.

To further polish and refine the gems, I would need a higher-grade polishing set.

However, thanks to the polishing, my crafting sense was now level 5, and my production sense was also level 5.

My skills are still low, but I plan to proceed at my own pace and am not in a hurry at all.

From now on, I'll also gather and hunt in the forest at night. At night, the growth of my Eagle Eye will be faster, and I want the materials from the mobs in this forest that I haven't encountered before.

Before that, I want to experiment with synthesis and alchemy.

The iron ores I have. Perhaps I can turn them into ingots without a furnace.

Using advanced alchemical conversion, I might be able to turn iron ores into ingots.

Although having ingots without a furnace is meaningless, the possibility of turning them into ingots cannot be ignored. If I don't have enough, I can just pick up more stones.

So, I used alchemy to transform all the iron ores I had.

"Iron ores × 20, [Alchemy]!"

After a moment of white light, the result was unexpected.

High-quality iron ores.

As the name suggests, they were iron ores, but of high quality. There were two of them. The item conversion rate didn't seem to have changed, but why did they become high-quality? Perhaps turning ores into ingots is a specialty of blacksmiths and crafters who handle metals. I should show these iron ores to Magi and discuss them.

The next experiment was with the ordinary stones I had.

Could I use them in synthesis? The items I have that might be useful are wooden arrows, fur, gems, bones, branches, and bird feathers.

Perhaps I can upgrade wooden arrows to stone arrows.

I tried synthesizing one arrow and one stone.

A light appeared, and indeed, a stone-tipped arrow was created. If this theory is correct, I could upgrade the arrows by changing the stones to iron or silver. It would be costly and disposable, but for stone arrows, the balance between cost and attack power might be acceptable. After all, the existence of lower-grade arrows compared to iron arrows from the start indicates that bows are underprivileged. They are already higher in grade than other consumables from the start.

"Alright, let's mass-produce them."

Feeling good, I tried to create stone arrows from the [Recipe], but it didn't work. I couldn't even synthesize them.

"Why can't I use it? Three... Ah, can the beginner's kit only synthesize up to two items?"

Indeed, there were only two spots on the magic circle on the sheet for placing items. So, I can't synthesize from the [Recipe] without a higher-grade kit.

"Ugh, more expenses! Well, it's a hassle, but I found out that I can create items via wooden arrows. Let's synthesize a lot!"

One set of wooden arrows became one set of stone arrows. After increasing the production of wooden arrows, I had two sets of wooden arrows and one set of stone arrows. I secured a sufficient quantity.

"But, it's really a waste that arrows are disposable. It's hard for archers to discard even mithril arrows. It's probably due to the lack of strength. Should I use wood instead of branches for the arrows? But, wood is expensive. It's used for making bows and staves."

I muttered to myself, unable to accept it.

"Maybe, like the iron ores earlier, the material doesn't change, but the arrows become high-quality."

I decided to try alchemy on a whole set of wooden arrows.

The bundle of arrows was enveloped in light, and when they became three arrows, I almost shouted in frustration, but I held back and checked the items.

+10 Wooden Arrows

What does this notation mean? If the attack power has increased, it would be great even if they are disposable. I tried shooting an arrow, being mindful of the basic movements, drew the bow, and released it. It was just like usual.

I confirmed that it stuck into the wooden target. The attack power didn't seem to have increased.

While checking closely, the bow and arrow disappeared.

"Ah~. Another disposable. Bows are really hard to use."

I grumbled, and I had three arrows left. Wait, one should have disappeared, leaving two. And one of them was marked +9.

I picked up one and shot it in the same way. The arrow that disappeared returned, and the number decreased.

"Archers, here I come!"

This was a great discovery. The poor cost-effectiveness of archers! And the reduced hassle of reloading! Wow, this could be a game-changer. But, I thought about converting them to iron arrows.

To prepare a set of +10 iron arrows, I would need 300 arrows. In gold, that's 300G. It's tough for beginners, and you need alchemy sense to make them! Even if you could make them with other senses, hardly anyone would bother to enhance disposable arrows.

If anyone did, the supply would be minimal.

In other words—

"Archers are still underprivileged. They can't fight properly without support from other production classes."

Well, I can make them myself, which is good, and it helps me level up my senses. Plus, I discovered a hidden ability of bow sense.

The arrow return ability. I don't need to retrieve them, and I think this falls into the category of magical tracking effects or swordsman's motion assist. It's very helpful just to have this.

It's truly a fantasy world.

"Yep. Knowing this, I don't need to reload during prolonged battles. It might be interesting to specialize in archery."

Alone in the forest, I smiled slyly.

Finally, I checked my sense status and logged out.

SP: 1

[Bow Lv7][Eagle Eye Lv13][Magic Talent Lv9][Magic Power Lv10][Alchemy Lv4][Enhancement Lv8][Synthesis Lv6][Mixing Lv6][Crafting Lv5][Production Sense Lv5]

On hold

[Training Lv1]

Revised - Complete