Infinite Realm

Roughly two minutes after Sato had joined the queue behind a counter, a commotion broke out at the entrance of the trade-house.

A group of players had suddenly walked in and the public began to react to it. From the "Oohs" and "Aahs", Sato guessed that the players were quite popular, especially the two in front who seemed to be the focus of the entire players.

"Isn't that the guild leader of Yellow Cross? And that dude over there. Isn't he one of the captains of that big club, Armed and Dangerous?"

The distance between the counter Sato stood in front of and the one by his left was just between 1-2 metres. The players on the queue there were commenting on the characters that had just stepped into the trade-house. Their voice wasn't low to start with and they weren't whispering either so Sato could easily listen in on the conversation.

"Yeah. There's even that solo player who's been making rounds recently." The other player replied to his friend.

"So many popular gaming figures. What are they here for?" The first player who spoke, an [Assassin] by his dressing, asked with confusion.

"Can't you see who's at the lead? That's Blue Flame. The new blacksmith that's been garnering attention recently. He's the dude that forged those Mid-tier Mortal rank Snake swords and double-edged iron swords." The other player, an MT by profession, replied.

Back when Sato was busy with the Main Trials, some weapons and equipment had been making rounds after they were first sold in the trade-house of Black Mountain town. For so many of the same type of equipment with similar quality suddenly appearing in the trade-house was quite rare but not impossible. However, when it continuously appeared with time, a lot of players felt it was unbelievable for one to keep farming these weapons in the same field constantly. Hence the idea that it was the creation of a player blacksmith began spreading.

It originally started as a rumour till the next set of these items were sold with an insignia of a tongue of blue coloured flame inscribed on each of them. This action went on to confirm the rumour, turning it from that to a fact. The result of this was a mad outbreak as various guilds began mobilising their members to look for the original blacksmith.

Double-edged swords were quite common in the IR as literally every sword user made use of this weapon. The quality of the double-edged iron sword made by this unknown blacksmith was slightly on par with that of the ones on the market but what made them more desirable was the fact that the swords could be mass-produced by a player, making them more affordable than the ones in NPC stores.

As for the Snake sword, these were short swords that were extremely compatible with [Assassins] and other short sword users. Snake swords focused on attacking speed and movement so they were easy to handle, light in weight and, were sharp and deadly, possessing the penetrative abilities of a high-quality dagger. The extended length that differentiated them from daggers made it so that [Assassins] would be able to deal comparatively more damage as well as increase their attacking range.

These two weapons, as well as a few other pieces of equipment, were forged by the same blacksmith with the insignia of a blue flame. While their quality could be termed ordinary by experts, it was still an appreciable good when considering the entire player niche.

"You mean it? The Snake swords and double-edged iron swords are his? Those are currently the highest-ranked weapons ever made by a player in the 3 towns and they're pretty much unbeatable in Black Rock province. Their quality is roughly the same as market standard but since they are made by a player, the value is much higher than those in NPC stores but their abilities are half a step higher. So he's the master behind those weapons, the blacksmith Blue Flame." The [Assassin] said a thick tone of awe in his voice.

The popularity of the Snake swords and double-edged iron swords was such that a lot of guilds began giving out orders and rewards to search for the blacksmith. Since a lot of guilds had mobilised their numbers to look for the blacksmith -unless the said individual departed the vicinity of the guilds- the blacksmith would be found and that had happened a few days ago. The man behind the blue flame products that caused a ruckus in Black Rock province was the man in front of the crowd, Blue Flame.

"Yeah. A lot of guilds have been trying to get him on their side recently. Anyone who manages to do so would become a top figure at this stage of the game and they could reap a lot of benefits cause of that. No one wants to be left behind especially since this is the early stage of the game; the best time to build a strong foundation." The MT added.

Mid-tier Mortal rank weapons might be the worst tier of equipment an expert would have but for average players, it was still an impressive gear. Even for the big guilds, they could only garb their experts in Upper-tier and Mid-tier Mortal rank equipment. As for the players below the pyramid, they had to make do with whatever they could find. This was because the cost of gearing players in that equipment and weapons at that quality was expensive, even for a guild. This was where the advantage of a player blacksmith came in.

In IR, one can hire blacksmiths to forge for them equipment however the cost for hiring an NPC blacksmith was absurd; so much so that you could afford 20 Upper-tier Mortal rank weapons with that amount. But if one were to recruit a player blacksmith, the costs would be a lot cheaper and much negotiable. However, player blacksmiths who could make such weapons and equipment were already few and far between.

Blacksmithing, as one of the 3 major subclasses, was comparably harder than the others. It wasn't easy for one to become a blacksmith much less be able to forge Mid-tier Mortal rank equipment with a high success rate. This was the reason why the appearance of the Snake swords and double-edged iron swords had caused a storm.

If any guild was able to hire such a player, it wouldn't be long before they could suit up their members with Mid-tier Mortal rank equipment and weapons at the least. And considering that the blacksmith was able to sell a lot of his handmade goods in large quantities and at an almost weekly pace, it meant that his success rate at forging Mid-tier Mortal rank equipment was high. This meant that he/she might be able to have a shot at Upper-tier Mortal rank equipment.

With such benefits on the line, a lot of 2nd and 3rd tier guilds who, unlike the top tier guilds, couldn't afford to raise their own blacksmith, tried to hire Blue Flame.

"Sadly, he hasn't responded to any of them despite their ridiculous offers. His appearance here in Riverdale is sure to bring a storm." The MT said.

'So he's a blacksmith too.' Sato thought.

After he had passed the blacksmith test, Sato wasn't aware of any other player blacksmith simply because he didn't bother. Blacksmithing was one of the tougher subclasses to get and since most players were only interested in the extra level's worth of attribute points, they wouldn't do something so tiring as to select blacksmithing as their subclass. If not for this incident, Sato would have forgotten that there were other players who took blacksmithing as their subclass.

'However, why would he leave Black Mountain town for Riverdale? Also, he already has a lot of guilds sucking up to him but he refused to join any. That's strange for a regular player.'

Players could either choose to enter a guild or get recruited by one, but the privileges they would receive would be different. When a player joins a guild by participating in the qualification test, they would be treated as regular members and have barely to zero privileges in the guild apart from the basic ones. However, when a guild recruits a player, they tend to offer them nice benefits to make sure the said player joins them. The benefits received are far more than what a player would get if they participated in the qualification test just like every normal player.

"Hehe. Brother Blue Flame, wouldn't you like to consider my offer?" The plump figure who was the guild leader of the 3rd tier guild, Yellow Cross, turned to ask the light-skinned man beside him.

Blue Flame, a player who unlike the rest here, looked to be of European descent with brown coloured hair, had a slightly arrogant expression on his face as he replied the guild leader.

"Guild leader Gon, you seem to not have heard me correctly. I currently do not want to tie myself down to a guild yet. I just wish to be free and unfettered as I explore the extremities of my subclass."

"Haha. I understand, brother Blue Flame, I do. But you know, for you to experiment more in your subclass, you will need the resources and support of a guild. While the others might not be able to fulfill this for you, I will offer you my guild's unconditional support if you join us." Gon smiled.

'This fool thinks too much of himself. If it wasn't because my guild is a 3rd tier guild, would I even be here begging for your help?'

How could Gon not understand the inner thinking of a proud man like Blue Flame? Gon knew why Blue Flame rejected his proposal. It wasn't because Blue Flame truly wanted to be free and unfettered but he wanted a bigger guild to come after him. Since his appearance, only weak 2nd tier guilds, 3rd tier guilds and lower had come after him but Blue Flame had rejected them all. Gon guessed that he wasn't satisfied with the ranks and wanted top-tier guilds to come after him. But why would such guilds, who usually raise their own staff, want an average player?

Yes. In the eyes of these guilds who stood at the peak, Blue Flame's ability to forge Mid-tier Mortal rank equipment that was just at market standard was average. Being at the top, these guilds wouldn't want to fill in their ranks with average men. Even if they wanted, they could just make an announcement and countless players would troop in to register. Why would they go out of their way to recruit one?

(AN: Annoncement in Author's section)