Bone Cleaver

As the hobgoblin turned to ash and left behind its loot, Alden quickly rushed to collect what he earned.

"This loot is sure to be good."

After all, at this stage of the game, a hobgoblin was supposed to be virtually undefeatable.

Immediately, Alden's eyes widened. Among the loot that dropped, the very same cleaver that the hobgoblin used could be found!

Quickly, he appraised the item.

-[Bone Cleaver]-

Rarity: Uncommon

Requirement: Lv. 3 Warrior

Description: Although its craftmanship is of low quality, its materials and savage design make it an effective weapon.

Usage: 2-handed sword. +4 ATK.

-[Close]-

'A shame...' Alden thought.

He didn't have much hope in the first place, but the weapon couldn't be equipped by a Creator. In fact, Creators didn't have weapons specific to them. Unless the weapon held no class requirement, Alden couldn't use it.

But, an uncommon weapon would definitely sell for quite a bit at this stage. Most people were still making the transition from trashy weaponry to common weaponry.

"Wait...! I need to stop thinking from the perspective of a combat class!"

Although he wouldn't be able to do it perfectly, it shouldn't be an issue for him to replicate such a crude weapon! Even if he ended up with the recipe for a common weapon, it'd still result in a large amount of profit!

Maybe he could even alter it and create a weapon he could equip!

Finally, Alden found a clear path to riches. 'The heat-resistant armor is nice and all, but with a weapon too... everyone can guarantee a dungeon clear!'

Damage dealers and tanks would both need to be suitably powerful to clear a dungeon. 'I was able to only because I'm simply... better.'

No one else had parry at the moment, and no one else had a large stock of common recovery potions either. Sure, a powerful guild could acquire those things quickly.

But, Alden's main customers would be the solo players and non-guild players anyway.

With that thought, he picked up the rest of the loot and rushed back to the city. Silently, he thought, 'I really need to procure return scrolls.'

-

Alden was already at the blacksmith's shop. The sign board was basic, and there was practically nothing of interest. While most players came for quests, prospective blacksmiths came to borrow the space.

When he walked in, the apprentice blacksmith managing the place looked at Alden, "Are you here to help or craft?" 

Players were much more likely to attempt forging than alchemy, simply because alchemy involved math and chemistry, so obviously, other players already came to practice. The forge was even three times as large as Sherica's lab and shop combined.

"Here to craft," Alden replied simply.

The apprentice blacksmith sighed, and said, "20 coppers for an hour, use any unmanned station."

'The NPC seems... troubled,' Alden noted, but handed over 20 copper and went to find a station.

Even if an NPC was troubled, it didn't necessarily mean there would be a good quest. Alden had his own problems to worry about, and many players came through today, none finding any irregularities.

As soon as he found an empty station, Alden sat on a wooden chair next to a furnace, anvil, tools, and many other tools for rookie blacksmiths. Realms had a somewhat realistic forging system, so players who knew how to use these facilities ahead of time had a clear advantage.

Alden quickly retrieved the materials he would need. Before anything else, he needed to craft his original heat-resistant armor.

'I need it to be unique to the guardian class... that'll allow me to increase its defensive abilities...'

In order to make an item class-specific, he just needed to forge it in a way that the system decided which class could use it. For a Guardian's armor, he'd need to make it a bit thicker, and heavier.

For each piece of the armor, he needed to create an alloy consisting of red-snake scales and iron. 'Most people at this stage would use scales for leatherwork, without realizing that monster scales could indeed be used in forging items...'

That's why plenty of heat-resistant cloth and leather armor came out quickly in the past.

Alden quickly upped the furnace temperature, and made a crude alloy, mixing 5 parts red scales and 5 parts iron. 

He repeated this process before he had enough of the alloy to craft the armor. It was red, yet metallic. Then, Alden also made some typical iron ingots.

'I have to thank those goblins for dropping such a large amount of materials...'

Soon, Alden was crafting the first set of armor.

After hammering, reheating, and cooling the first piece, it was complete. Alden received a notification.

System: "You've crafted an original item! Forging Proficiency +100!"

System: "What would you like to call this item?"

Alden ruminated over the name, looked at the item, and decided. "Red Dragon Helmet."

It was a normal plate-armor helmet, without a visor, but the edges had a red trim. That was the heat-resistant alloy he created. It definitely wasn't worthy of the name "Red Dragon," but a big name would find a bigger audience. 'At least I think so...'

System: "Red Dragon Helmet created! Displaying attributes!"

-[Red Dragon Helmet]-

Rarity: Uncommon

Requirement: Lv. 3 Guardian

Description: Forged by Initiate Blacksmith "Faceless." With red-snake scales as a material, this helmet was created to contain natural heat-resistant capabilities.

Usage: Heat Resistance +5%. VIT +1.

-[Close]-

Alden was very satisfied with this helmet. Helmets provided the lowest boost in stats, but this was still rather impressive.

With that thought, Alden went on to craft the other pieces. Although he failed a few times, wasting materials, in the end, he was able to complete a set!

The common red dragon set equipment even experienced an upgrade after the system recognized it as a set. Alden was simply shocked when we took another look at the helmet's attributes.

-[Red Dragon Helmet]-

Rarity: Uncommon

Requirement: Lv. 3 Guardian

Description: Forged by Initiate Blacksmith "Faceless." With red-snake scales as a material, this helmet was created to contain natural heat-resistant capabilities.

Usage: Heat Resistance +5%. +1 VIT.

Additional Skill: "Red Dragon Set"

Skill Description: When the player has 3 Red Dragon set equipment equipped, their heat resistance is increased by 50%. This effect can only be applied once.

-[Close]-

Every item in the set gained the new "Red Dragon Set" skill! With this, even the worst tank could cruise through any level 5 and lower fire-based team dungeon, let alone the Serpent Nest!

Alden also experienced a promotion to Apprentice Blacksmith, but he wasn't the first to do so.

After producing the first set successfully, Alden continued producing Red Dragon sets until he was out of materials. He made sure to carve his insignia on each one, a mask without a face. 

"15 sets... was all I could make. I'm sure my success rate would be higher with the naga scales, but a lot of alchemy recipes use those..." 

With the set equipment out of the way, Alden prepared to craft his next item. He took out the Bone Cleaver he earned from defeating the hobgoblin.

'I need to make a replica...'

Even though the apprentice blacksmith didn't have bones, he had iron. So, Alden quickly forged a sword of a similar shape and density. He needed wood for the handle, so Alden picked up the woodwork profession while crafting it.

In Realms Online, replicas were actually frowned upon. Unless someone made a replica of a legendary item, no one would care about it. But at this stage of the game, where any and all common equipment was sought after, an uncommon item's replica would do well.

Soon, a complete cleaver was in front of him. It still had to cool, but it was done. 'I seem to have more forging talent than alchemy talent...'

Not one of his items today had the "trashy" rarity!

System: "You've crafted an uncommon item's replica! Forging Proficiency +25!"

-[Bone Cleaver (replica)]-

Rarity: Common

Requirement: Lv. 2 Warrior

Description: Forged by Initiate Blacksmith "Faceless." An attempt at replicating the uncommon "Bone Cleaver." It substitutes the original bone-crafted blade for iron.

Usage: 2-handed sword. +3 ATK.

-[Close]-

Alden continued to craft Bone Cleavers, even buying materials from the blacksmith to make 15 total. With this, he'd have just enough to sell items to 15 different teams.

Only 3 more teams bought from his forum post. Clearly, the method for defeating the Serpent Nest dungeon leaked. The large guilds definitely sent members to other towns to buy heat-resistance potions.

'If I don't sell the items now, it won't have as much as an impact.'

Alden rushed to the auction house and set up a sale.

Every 30 minutes, 3 of his Red Dragon sets and 3 of his Bone Cleavers would sell. The base price was an astonishing 50 copper for the cleaver and 1 silver for the set equipment!

'Just enough so that the top parties can buy both once.'