Chapter 57

"Take it easy, take it easy, dear Alpha, cough... maybe you really have a talent for forging... but... I think... well, forging can be learned, but I think I still need to give you... oh no, give you a test, yes, a test..."

Old John Halifchek, the blacksmith of "Silver Hammer," fumbled for a while,

Alpha immediately perked up, sensing that there was something he needed to do.

Clearly, it was another task, perhaps due to the uniqueness of a mage becoming a blacksmith? Or perhaps because not only did a mage become a blacksmith, but also possessed the strength to throw a hammer around? In any case, it was clear that various unprecedented events had triggered an unknown task for Old John,

—just like how having all three attributes maxed at 20 triggered the library cleaning task for Old Häagen-Dazs,

"You know, blacksmiths are always short of good ore. If you can get me 1000 sets of [Raw Iron Ore], I might consider teaching you some more profitable techniques—of course, free [Raw Iron Ore]... hehe, that... free."

"Ah?!"

Alpha was momentarily stunned,

"Received task [Old John's Request]: Deliver 1000 sets of [Raw Iron Ore] to Old John to obtain his [Forging Techniques]."

What they say about "when you're sleepy, someone brings you a pillow" is true—now it's happening to Alpha!!!

Alpha had plenty of everything except [Raw Iron Ore], which he had in abundance. Initially, Alpha thought he wouldn't use all the [Raw Iron Ore], but now, with Old John asking for 1000 sets, he had 4000 sets in his bag,

This was perfect; otherwise, he would have to dig or buy them one by one, which would be time-consuming and expensive.

Without hesitation, Alpha immediately deactivated a [Spatial Backpack]. The [Raw Iron Ore] that appeared in the blacksmith's shop due to the deactivation of the [Spatial Backpack] almost buried Old John. It was a full 10 cubic meters, equivalent to a small room,

The black [Raw Iron Ore] piled up in a heap, and Old John beamed,

It seemed these old NPCs were all like Scrooge, one greedier than the other. Häagen-Dazs was greedy for money, but Old John was even worse, asking for 1000 sets right away. Only a peculiar and useless person like Alpha could hand them over so easily,

1000 sets of [Raw Iron Ore] piled up on the ground, and Old John's "Silver Hammer" blacksmith shop immediately went into a frenzy:

"What the heck is going on?"

"No idea, suddenly so much ore?!"

"Is this showing off wealth?"

"Ah!!!"

One player tried to grab a piece, and Old John immediately hammered him to death,

The commotion in the blacksmith's shop naturally drew the attention of the surrounding players, especially the barbarians and warriors who were hammering away at the public anvils—among all the professions, these two had the most people learning forging, as it was a strength-based profession,

"Hey, who's that, isn't that 'Waste Guy'?"

"Cheating Waste Guy?"

"Damn, is this a waste guy? A tycoon?"

"Rich friend!!!"

...

...

Alpha realized he was now a small celebrity, recognized, but had no choice. In the middle of a task, if he ran away, the 1000 sets of [Raw Iron Ore] would be wasted, so he could only stand in the blacksmith's shop and endure the gazes from outside,

"Waste Guy, where did you get so much iron ore?"

"Did you buy it or mine it? You're my idol!!!"

"Bro, if you have extra money, help a brother out."

...

...

Alpha smiled awkwardly, not knowing how to respond, and could only scratch his head in embarrassment, looking to Old John for help. The blacksmith ignored Alpha, quickly organizing the [Raw Iron Ore] while muttering disdainfully:

"These greedy, lazy adventurers—may they go to hell!!!"

Alpha was speechless, "greedy" and "lazy"... it seemed the one who blackmailed 1000 sets of [Raw Iron Ore] was Old John himself?!

But Old John was still trustworthy, teaching Alpha both [Forging] and [Forging Techniques]. After learning the two skill books, Alpha received a system notification of completing the task and becoming a blacksmith,

"Task [Old John's Request] completed, obtained [Basic Forging] and [Forging Techniques]!!!"

Other blacksmiths just had to swing a hammer, but Alpha had to swing a hammer and deliver 1000 sets of [Raw Iron Ore]. Of course, the task reward was also greater. Seeing the two new options in his life skill bar, Alpha smiled brightly,

—this 1000 sets of [Raw Iron Ore] was worth it:

[Basic Forging: Forge items.]

[Forging Techniques: When forging consumable items, there is a chance to obtain extra products. The chance and quantity of extra products depend on the forging skill level,

Basic Forging: 10% chance of +1 product;

Intermediate Forging: 15% chance of +1 product, 5% chance of +2 products;

Advanced Forging: 25% chance of +1 product, 15% chance of +2 products;

Expert Forging: 30% chance of +1 product, 20% chance of +2 products, 5% chance of +3 products;

Master Forging: 40% chance of +1 product, 30% chance of +2 products, 15% chance of +3 products;

Grandmaster Forging: 80% chance of +1 product, 60% chance of +2 products, 30% chance of +3 products.]

In other words, one item could turn into two, three, or even four. The "consumable items" limitation ensured that equipment wouldn't suddenly appear in large quantities, as top-tier equipment with complex materials and high collection difficulty would be absurd if multiple items appeared at once,

As Old John said, it was a small technique to make money. If [Forging] could be advanced to Grandmaster level, he would be truly rich, making two for every one he put in,

The benefits of [Forging Techniques] from [Grandmaster Forging] were significantly greater than any previous level, with a direct doubling chance, showing how impressive the rewards were for advancing life skills to the top level,

He couldn't help but show off to Lancelot, who sighed, lamenting that fools have luck and why he didn't choose to be an archer,

Indeed, for making arrows and other consumables, [Forging Techniques] was incredibly powerful, directly reducing costs. [Basic Light Arrows] were also consumable items, and this time the luck was exclusively Alpha and Bella's.

Having learned the skills, he quickly started to boost his proficiency,

Alpha's goal for today was to use [Basic Light Arrows] to boost his [Forging] proficiency. Once he learned [Forging Basic Arrows], he could then learn [Recipe: Forging Basic Light Arrows]!!

—after all, [Forging Basic Arrows] only required intermediate proficiency,

Boosting proficiency from basic to intermediate was relatively easy. Although the game didn't provide direct proficiency data, players had already listed the numbers: smelting 1000 sets of iron ore would meet the proficiency requirement, and using lower-quality [Iron Ore] was sufficient,

But few had the generosity of Qin Yu, casually having over 1000 sets of [Raw Iron Ore]. Of course, as a higher-grade ore, smelting [Raw Iron Ore] provided better proficiency gains,

Alpha spent 1 silver coin to rent a set of blacksmithing tools and started hammering at the anvil,

The players who had been attracted by the 1000 sets of [Raw Iron Ore] didn't leave, all standing behind to watch the "Waste Guy" forge,

Who had ever seen a mage forge? They had to watch while they could,

Alpha, at the center of the crowd, didn't care, letting them watch. He wasn't a courtesan, and no one would pay for just looking at his face.

This didn't matter, but it immediately shocked these curious onlookers:

The first few minutes were fine, just a hammer blow per ore, all pre-set actions. Alpha stood there, dazed, watching the [Iron Ingots] automatically go into his backpack. The crowd watched Alpha more than the anvil, as Alpha was the focus of their attention,

But after a few minutes, the onlookers noticed something was off,

"Two seconds per ore, that's been about 5 minutes? 150 pieces, 10 per set... 15 sets?"

"Yeah, where did you get so much [Raw Iron Ore]?"

"Not bad, not too much, 100 sets or so, a few days of mining would do it,"

Alpha didn't speak, thinking, "A few days? Not bad? You guys wait, it's early."

...

...

After 10 minutes,

"Damn... must be 400 to 500 pieces by now? All from [Raw Iron Ore]."

"Right, you said a few days? All [Raw Iron Ore]!!"

"...Half a month... still... not impossible..."

This person's confidence was waning. Alpha kept hammering,

...

...

Two hours later...

"Damn, is my camera sprite broken? Did it record?"

"Recorded, recorded, will anyone watch?"

"Recorded? Just saying the numbers is scary enough, 3600 pieces, 360 sets, Waste Guy, you're my idol, all of North County doesn't have 360 sets of [Raw Iron Ore]..."

"Not just 360 sets? Waste Guy just handed over 1000 sets..."

"Where did you get so much? Did Waste Guy clear Blackwater Marsh?"

"** Blackwater Marsh doesn't have that much [Raw Iron Ore]..."

"Damn, who said that, step forward, I'll kill you, believe it or not?!"

"Have the guts to kill Waste Guy!"

"Damn, is Waste Guy a GM? Or the CEO's son?"

"Dragon and Dungeons has no GM..."

"I knew saying GM would make ** appear saying 'Dragon and Dungeons has no GM'..."

"Damn, who said that, step forward, I'll kill you, believe it or not?!"

"You're a broken record?!"

...

...

The crowd was noisy, but the center of attention, our "Waste Guy" Alpha, continued to hammer away, making a calm clinking sound:

Clank, clank, clank...

.

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