A stillness spreads throughout the shop. Those who just moments ago were talking and laughing now have expressions of fear and hostility. One of the reasons Subestimar’s shop is projected to be successful is due to the sheer quantity of people on the Sacred Order’s blacklist.

There may be other open shops linked to separate guilds, even ones selling weapons and armour, but the customer base remains vast due to the demand.

At a glance it is blatant that these five players are unwelcome, but by the look in their eyes it is clear they are oblivious to the atmosphere.

The leader is the first to make a move. His bronze armour ignites jealousy and envy from players as he struts over in my direction. Rather than him having a red armband, he wears an embellished red cape with a bronze pauldron over his left shoulder. This bronze was decorated with minute fanciful designs and the cape was made of a high quality fabric that only a level 2 tailor can work with.

He must be high up in the guild to be dressed like that. So far, all I have dealt with were the one dimensional cannon fodder, but now I have seen a pompous officer rank. By themselves, these officials are not worth mentioning, yet the frightening part is they go around unchallenged.

Having seized that early advantage while I was outside of town, they have effectively cut off any threatening resistance. The second largest guild, Shadowguard, has less than half the members Sacred Order does and only works to protect their own guild members.

As he walks up to the counter, one low level player is unfortunate enough not move away in time. The leader swiftly knocks this player to the ground; however, as this is a safe zone, no damage is dealt. He continues on as if nothing happened, and proceeds to walk up to the counter unchallenged before looking at the items on display.

Since I was talking with Gem, my position is off to the side when he approaches. When his gaze reaches Gem and I, he lingers for a moment before returning his attention to Swiftcrest behind the counter.

“You’ve got quite the assortment of items here. I wonder what the blacksmith who crafted these fine items name might be.” He poses his question in a rhetoric.

Swiftcrest unconsciously drifts his eyes over in my direction. I give him a glare indicating to keep quiet.

"I'm sorry, but our blacksmith wishes to remain unknown at this time."

"Oh?" The leader apparently notices Swiftcrest's eye movement.

He doesn't make it apparent, but I catch his subtle movements. I have been exposed, but if I were to leave at this time then it would be directly admitting it.

"That's a shame. I was looking forward to talking with him." He says in a long drawn out voice. "I would like to purchase your entire inventory of items. Of course, I will pay in full."

“Pu-purchase the entire inventory?"

"That is correct.” He says with a sneer on his face. “There's no problem with that is there?"

“I-I’m sorry,” Swiftcrest’s voice quivers. “But, I can only sell one item per customer."

I don't blame him for being nervous. The eerily calmness in the leader's voice is unnerving.

"One per customer?” The man then raises his voice. “But, how will you manage to satisfy all these precious customers?" His arm fans over the crown behind him as if to illustrate his point.

“Th-that is..."

"Surely they came here with the intent to buy weapons and armour to protect themselves."

"That's true, but..."

"So you're saying you will let them go back with empty hands?"

"That's not..."

"Have you not planned ahead and obtained a large stock of items?"

"We have..."

"And you planned on running a store?"

This is getting overbearing. With each sentence his voice raises and his grandeur increases. He begins making over exaggerated mocking gestures before finally stoping when everyone in the shop’s attention is on him.

"Inform your blacksmith that the Sacred Order welcomes him at any time." He shifts his gaze in my direction and smiles. "His profit will be at least double what it is staying here."

He flutters his cape in an over exaggerated twirl as he turns toward the door. Sure enough, in the centre of that cape is a crescent moon engulfing a cross embroidered in golden thread. Even higher ranked officers must have a golden trim as well. They sure know how to flaunt their status.

The rest of their members, still standing near the door, allow the leader to pass through and proceed to follow him out of the shop. The atmosphere in the store suddenly becomes lighter, as if a weight was taken off our shoulders. It is clear that everyone here has some grievance with the Sacred Order and are relieved they are gone. Those Sacred Order sympathizers would be less likely to peruse this unaffiliated shop.

As if on cue, the shop becomes lively again and people carry on with their purchases, but an awkwardness still lingers in the air. Gem and I stay in the shop for another 10 minutes before deciding to leave. Despite only being able to sell one item per player, the armaments have already disappeared and the counter was subsequently closed. The number of customers had dwindled from the initial rush, and there were quite a few disappointed faces among those who remained.

It’s just a small time shop. What do you expect?

I show Gem out to the courtyard where my equipment is laid out. It is now the mid afternoon and the sun has been hidden by the buildings. Occasionally, a breeze will blow through and take away the stagnant air, but those are few and far between.

“This is quite the setup you have here.” Gem says while looking at the courtyard.

I didn’t expect to be showing this disorderly mess to a girl. Despite having access to an inventory, I have everything spread out on the dirt. In a corner is a pile of failed works built up over the past few days. In it are pieces of metal in various shapes and sizes, but I plan on melting them down into bars when I get the chance.

If I had put those in my inventory, they would have taken up a slot each and my inventory is not unlimited. Not everything goes as planned and lots of experiments are needed before coming out with a finished product.

On either side of the forge is my stack of copper bars and coal. Both stacks have decreased a lot since I started and I will need to restock soon. It’s a blessing I don’t have to worry about getting lung cancer dealing with all this coal.

“Sorry about the mess.” I say with a touch of embarrassment. “I wasn’t expecting you today.”

“Don’t worry about it. I prefer it this way anyways.” She must have noticed my embarrassment and is trying to be considerate. “It shows the realities, rather than a facade.”

“So, what would you like to see me make?”

“Umm.” She pauses to think. “How about a long sword.”

“Alright, you can be my assistant.”

“Fuee?”

What are you? A little girl in a bird costume?

“Ahem. First you will need an apron to avoid ruining your dress.” I quickly realize I don’t have a spare. “Here, have mine.”

She puts the dirty apron on over her clothes and I cannot help but notice that the ties around her waist accentuate her curves. She now has a look of determination in her eyes. Gone is the naive girl and in her place is hard working woman.

“We’ll start by heating up the forge. . .”

As I am working on the sword, I take her through my step by step process explaining as I go. She occasionally asks questions, some of which even I do not know the answers to. She is like a sponge soaking up all the information despite not being able to do the actual work.

This process takes longer than a normal sword would, but I am going for a custom design rather than a system assisted one. That, on top of explaining my actions, leaves us working for an hour.

“. . . Now we sharpen the blade using the whetstone. This part is important, because you don’t want to grind down too much metal. Yet, you also want to smoothen out the hammer marks on the blade.”

I show her how I use the whetstone to sharpen the sword, and then allow her to use the whetstone on her copper dagger for practice. If an weapon’s durability is above 10% then the player can perform maintenance on it to repair some durability. Obviously, this does not get the item to 100%, but at least it will allow it to last longer.

Notification Do you wish to adjust Copper Long Sword to system specifications? Yes No

Since the purpose was to make a custom design, I select [No].

Notification You have selected (No). The sword’s stats will be based on your craftsmanship.

I gained 63 experience from making this sword.

Notification What do you wish to name this custom design?

“Gem’s Long Sword”

Gem seems surprised at the name I chose, but I feel it is a fitting name since she helped make it.

Without warning tiny fireworks explode above my head. The sound is bearable despite the close proximity, but it still took us by surprise. They consist of all of the colours of a rainbow and last for 10 seconds before disappearing.

Congratulations You have reached: Blacksmithing Level 2

You can now work with Bronze.

You can now make Studded and Plated leather armour.

Your efficiency working with Copper has increased.

Quality of custom Copper designs has increased.

You are currently the 16th player to achieve Blacksmithing Level 2. No rewards will be given.

"What was that?" Gem asks, bewildered.

"I just reached level 2 blacksmithing."

"Congratulations!" She looks happier than I am.

Making the sword was exhausting work, but she does not look phased by it at all. Well, perhaps that's because I was the one actually making it.

"Thanks, now I can work with bronze and make studded armours." It's a good thing I got the level before attempting to make it. I take a look at the sword’s stats and see it exceeds that of a normal long sword.

Gem's Long Sword

Strength 31 >>>>>>> Pierce 14 Attack Speed 0.8 Slash 17 Durability 210 Crush 0

"Before I forget." I hold the sword we just made. "This is for you."

I pass her the blade.

"But," She gets flustered and tries to push it back into my hands. "You were the one to make it."

"Yes, and I'm giving it to you." I insist. Pushing it back into her hands. "Do you not wish to accept my gift?" I try to play the guilt card.

"I'm an archer though." She refutes.

"Even though I named it after you?" I say with a false disappointed tone.

"Fine." She gives in and equips the blade. "But, you have to teach me."

"Deal." Satisfied, I pick a piece of tin ore and copper ore from my inventory and place them within the forge. Gem starts swinging the sword at random in the background.

I raise the temperature by adding more coal, but the metals don't form an alloy. I wonder what I am doing wrong when a message pops up. There sure have been a lot of those within the last 5 minutes.

Notification Creation Failed. Unable to forge bronze in current forge.

"Ugh"

Gem stops what she is doing and looks over at me questioningly.

"It looks like I need a better forge to make bronze. This small thing is only good for copper." I feel dejected after learning this. I need to either find a way to upgrade this forge, or spend the money to find a new one.

My wallow in self pity is cut short when I hear an angelic voice.

"I have an idea." Gem interjects. "Why not use the Prancing Mare’s forge?"

She states this as a matter of fact. How was I supposed to know there was a forge at an inn. Ahh Gem, what would I do without you.

----

“Wow!”

I stand looking at a massive forge located around the back of the Prancing Mare in an enclosed courtyard. it is impossible to notice from the guest area of the inn and can only be accessed through the main building.

“Can I really use this?”

“Mhmm.” Gem nods. “Lady Alenia said it was fine as long as you cleaned up afterwards.”

With this, I will be able to make at least up to level four metals. Perhaps even higher. I don’t even have to use my own anvil, because everything I could need is here. Besides the main forge, there is a smaller one designed of the same material for use in smaller quantities. This is the forge I will be using.

Next to it are two anvils of different sizes. The smaller of the two would be around 200 pounds for use in lower level equipment, and the larger of the two, at an estimated 500 pounds, would be for higher level, labour intensive equipment. There are also vices, quench tubs, and an array of hand tools such as hammers, tongs, chisels, punches, files and hacksaws.

I am so engrossed with the equipment that Gem gives off a laugh before leaving.

The rest of the day was spent experimenting with variants of Bronze using different ratios of ores. I eventually settled with a 9:1 ratio of copper to tin to create a satisfactory alloy.

After settling down with a full meal and a pint of beer I am ready to end the day.