Chapter 51 First Weapon

Chapter 51: Chapter 51 First Weapon

The Rogue Dungeon incident had become the hottest topic across both the forums and the news. Even though the government was trying to keep much of the information hidden, it couldn’t silence the hunters who had entered the dungeon.

That was exactly what Lars was reading while having his meal at a café inside the Dungeon Hub. His last proper meal had been before entering the dungeon, so he was starving. He ordered fried rice, a chicken steak, and a glass of soda.

However, there was another forum thread that was just as popular as the Rogue Dungeon incident. It was the class voting thread that Lars had created.

At the moment, the Mage and Assassin classes were locked in a neck-and-neck race. Meanwhile, in the comments section, hunters supporting both sides were busy slandering each other nonstop.

(Anonymous214! Please sell a new Mage class! Choose a mage class that can one-shot a boss with a single spell!)

(Why Mage? Don’t you already have Blazing Archmage? Just use that one. Right now we want an Assassin! Assassin!)

(Don’t all of you already have Phantom Magus?)

(Phantom Magus is a hybrid between a Mage and a Rogue, so it doesn’t count as an Assassin. We want a pure Assassin class!)

(Can I request a Dancer class? I’m good at Zumba.)

(Go play somewhere else, Viktor!)

Lars smiled as he read through the comments. There were still about twenty-four hours left before the voting deadline.

"I guess I need to start thinking about what class I should create." he muttered.

"But before that, let’s head to the smithy first!" He wiped his mouth before getting up and walking away.

The Dungeon Hub smithy was located in a separate building beside the main one, as it was constantly filled with loud hammering and thick smoke.

When Lars arrived, there were already a few hunters waiting inside. Most of them were there to have their equipment repaired.

"Hello, sir! How can I help you?" a tough-looking man asked as Lars approached. Most of the workers here were full-time blacksmiths rather than hunters.

"Err... can I buy some materials?" Lars asked.

The man, whose name tag read George, raised an eyebrow.

"Buy materials? You mean ingots and things like that?" he asked.

Lars nodded.

"Hahaha! What are you planning to do with those? You know ingots aren’t cheap these days, right? Most of the ingots we have are smelted from rare ores obtained from dungeons."

"Besides..." George glanced up and down at Lars. "You don’t exactly look like a blacksmith with those skinny arms of yours."

Lars’s mouth twitched after hearing George’s remarks. He had only come here to buy some materials, not to be body-shamed, if that was even considered body-shaming.

"I just want to buy some steel ingots. I will pay for them," Lars said, trying to keep his temper in check.

"Sigh. It’s pretty rare for someone to buy raw materials from us. Let me check with my supervisor first," George replied. A few minutes later, he returned carrying several silver, rectangular-shaped steel ingots.

Each one weighed around 10 kilograms. Lars picked five of them.

"That will be 100 Zents each, so the total comes to 500 Zents."

Lars paid without hesitation. Nowadays, he was no longer as stingy when it came to investing in something that could earn him more money later. After purchasing the ingots, he loaded them onto a trolley.

Later, he stopped by an armor shop to buy some leather before finally heading back home.

"Alright! Now let’s start crafting!" Lars tied a headband around his forehead after noticing that most blacksmiths wore one while working.

He equipped the Master Blacksmith class before summoning the Master Forge, Master Anvil, and Master Hammer.

BOOM!!

All three appeared inside his room with a loud crash, causing the entire room to echo. He could only hope his neighbors wouldn’t get angry about the noise.

Lars opened the Blacksmith Archive and selected the Steel Sword Blueprint. Then, he began the forging process. First, he ignited the Master Forge.

"The guide says to heat it to around 1,000 to 1,200 degrees Celsius. Let’s do that."

Unlike an ordinary forge, the Master Forge didn’t require coal or gas. Instead, it generated heat through magic, something Lars still couldn’t figure out. Mounted above the forge was a thermometer displaying the current temperature.

"Huuu... I think smithing inside a small room was a terrible idea," Lars muttered as sweat began pouring down his face.

After the forge reached the temperature he wanted, Lars immediately tossed three steel ingots into the crucible. He also threw in his old Steel Sword since it was nothing more than a trash weapon anyway.

After that, he moved on to the next major step, hammering. The molten steel was placed on top of the anvil, and he began striking it. If a real blacksmith saw what he was doing, they would surely be furious because he had skipped many important steps.

However, the Master Blacksmith did not follow the methods of an ordinary blacksmith.

Ting!

Ting!

Ting!

Lars continuously swung the Master Hammer, activating Tempered Strike while following every instruction shown in the blueprint.

Before long, the shape of the blade gradually began to emerge. After going through the hardening and tempering processes, the blade was finally complete. Lars attached the leather grip before raising the finished sword high into the air. A satisfied smile appeared on his face.

"I finally forged my own sword! This is definitely something worth celebrating!" Lars exclaimed excitedly.

However, his celebration was cut short when someone called him. It was Madam Jenn.

[Lars! What are you doing inside your room?! The neighbors are all complaining about the noise coming from your room! First it was Celine’s room, and now it’s yours! Stop whatever you’re doing, or I will kick you out tomorrow!]

Lars’s eardrums nearly ruptured from her shouting through the speaker. He quickly apologized to her.

"Looks like I need to find another place to forge my weapons. Anyway, let’s check my new sword first." Lars activated Inspection.

---

[Rude Steel Sword]

Grade: F+

Forging Success: 35%

---

"Why is it called Rude?! Did it accidentally leave out the letter C at the beginning? Or is my technique still so poor that it doesn’t even deserve its full name?" Lars scratched his head in confusion.

Even though he had followed every step in the blueprint, the forging success rate was only 35%. Still, its grade had increased by an entire rank.

"But that’s fine! I will keep training every day until I become better!" Lars clenched his fist as his motivation burning brighter than ever.