Chapter 67 - First Crafting

Rynold pulled the [Hammer of the Worthwhile] and used it.

However, he actually lacked the necessary attribute points to have it Mana Bonded to him. Feeling embarrassed about it, Rynold put 5 points directly to Strength and confirmed the Mana Bond.

Emitting a low light, the hammer shone and changed form. From its original appearance of anciency, the Mana Bond made the hammer into something less ancient. The Mana lines and engravings appear to be a lot more apparent and the rust also cleared up.

Rynold, satisfied with how it turned out, started to get to work.

Even though there were some options available to him as soon as he approached the workstation, the Crafting Menu gave him too many options to count. As a beginner, Rynold decided that it might be best to get started on something easy and fit for his level.

With that, Rynold chose to make a small dagger. It was simple and easy to make, especially if this dagger didn't need Mana lines or any sort of special material.

He grabbed a piece of steel and started to get to work.

Like he's been taught before by Phrystol and the instructions that the Crafting Menu had given him, his steps were clear to achieve his goal. First things first, Rynold started to heat the ingot.

This time around, there wasn't any need to completely melt the metal in any way, but this technique's emphasis was to shape the metal into a dagger.

With ample heat and great patience, Rynold's hammer started to ding.

Every strike into the steel shaped it with great malleability. Whether it was the heat or his hammer, or quite possibly both, the smithing process was as easy as breaking eggs. Each ding of hammer against metal removed the impurities at the same time strengthened the metal itself.

Rynold repeated the process over and over until he made the steel flat enough to be made into a dagger. Next up, he moved to the whetstone and started sharpening.

Phrystol was observing the young man from the side and noticed that, even though Rynold's technique was rather crude and simple, he had great potential. At the same time, the amount of concentration and focus that Rynold was showing was an indication of respect for the craft.

The sound of metal grinding against the whetstone as Rynold continuously and repeatedly did the same motion to smoothen the metal into an edge. His focus proportional to the strength he's putting in, Rynold's actions were repetitive as if he were in a trance.

Each strike and each slide of the metal against the whetstone contributed to how the dagger would turn out. In a few moments, Rynold stood up and moved to a different table. He placed the blade that had a nice look into it and grabbed some wood and leather to complete the weapon.

The grip was as important as any part of the weapon and Rynold soon started to get to work on it.

It wasn't in his wheelhouse, to say the least. Tailoring and woodworking was a bit of a shot away from metalworking but Rynold proceeded on.

He didn't have the same knack for any of the other two practices as he had with smithing, but he at least could do the basic things. Rynold carved out a shape of the pommel from the wood and slid it into the dull end of the dagger. After that, he wrapped the leather onto the wood pommel and tied it into place.

[Crafting Complete!]

[Calculating Results...]

The windows popped up and Rynold felt somewhat anxious about the results.

[Calculation Completed.]

Rynold grabbed the dagger and started to inspect it.

===

[Simple Steel Dagger]

Bladed Iron-Tier Weapon

Durability: 125/125

Attack Power +18

A one-sided dagger that emphasizes simplicity.

===

Rynold, in all honesty, didn't really know what else to expect of that. He hoped that the dagger would turn out to be something uber-powerful but, then again, that expectation would be otherworldly.

It was a simple dagger. The name of the damn thing was a hundred percent accurate. So, Rynold was somewhat disappointed but it was not really something he could complain about. After all, he did want to give it a simple shot.

Phrystol saw that Rynold had finished and inspected the dagger as well.

"Impressive," Phrystol nodded while studying the dagger intensely, "the dagger is simple but well-made. It's not a weapon that can be used in battle, directly, however..."

Rynold looked at Phrystol with complete disbelief. Well-made seems to be an overestimation in his mind. "Carry on," he urged the elf to continue the statement.

"However, it is still fine craftsmanship especially someone who has never made a single weapon in his life. Furthermore, it isn't boosted by Mana whatsoever. I truly believe that you, My Lord, have great potential."

"But what do you mean the dagger being well-made?" Rynold asked, his curiosity was peaking.

Phrystol set down the dagger gently as if with respect for any form of craftsmanship. He then respectfully turned to Rynold and calmly explained.

"My Lord, any sort of weapon or equipment has tiers to them. I believe that you have encountered this before, yes?"

Rynold nodded in confirmation.

Phrystol then continued, "These tiers have a lot more to it than simple labeling. The tiers are divided into Bronze, Iron, Silver, Fine-Gold, Dark-Gold, Platinum, Diamond, Epic, Legendary, and Divine. Each tier more powerful than the last.

This dagger that you have made, My Lord, is a weapon of beauty. A weapon with no influence of Mana is, at best, Bronze tier. Your dagger is Iron, a true testament to your skill, My Lord."

"But it's still useless, yeah?" Rynold contradicted Phrystol's statement.

The elf's mouth formed into a smile and politely said, "yes, My Lord. Unfortunately, its effectiveness is something left to be desired. However, it speaks volumes of your craftsmanship."

Rynold sighed. It was a good try and the results, according to Phrystol, were good. Even though Rynold was skeptical of what the elf meant by "good," the main point is that he had made something he can be proud of.

With that, he grabbed the dagger and placed it into his inventory.

"Oh yeah," Rynold remembered, "Phrystol. How long until the workshop will be finished?"

Phrystol checked the time and estimated an answer. "It should be finished by tomorrow morning, My Lord. I shall see to it personally that we would complete it on time."

Rynold nodded in satisfaction, "Thanks for all of this, Phrystol. I really appreciate it."

The two then shook hands and left the workshop. Because of all the work that he put in on the dagger, Rynold felt hungry and decided to grab the other two guys for a bite to eat.

Both X and Rynold left the forge area after bidding goodbye to Phrystol. They then boarded his personal floating platform and went straight towards the Rogue Elves Division where Oliver was currently stationed at.

Thanks to the platform being top tier, Rynold and X soon reached their desired location and alighted.

'The Rogue Elves Divison, huh?'

Rynold looked up and down the building. Architecturally, the building appeared to be one of those modern concrete buildings but instead of concrete, it was made of enchanted wood.

"Wait here," Rynold said to his Mech Knight as he headed on inside. Hard to believe that this was an important division that ensures the safety of the tree because the interior was a complete mess.

He opened the door to the mess hall and it appeared more like a very basic guild hall from popular games. What's more, is that everybody seemed to be drunk as if they were pirates on a feast. Truly unbelievable that this place housed the people who were meant to defend the Tree.

None of the drunk elves actually noticed that Rynold entered their headquarters just like that. His goal wasn't to cause any harm anyway but to find Oliver who was nowhere in sight.

Rynold continued to walk around to find his friend only to come out empty-handed.

Oliver was nowhere to be seen and Rynold didn't really have anybody to ask. Furthermore, what bothered him was that a single person was keeping an eye on him.

Perhaps the guy was just too drunk to notice that he was creeping the hell out of Rynold or maybe he was completely aware. Regardless, Rynold didn't want to stick around and find out.

Knowing that Oliver wasn't there Rynold decided to get the hell out of dodge before he would cause any sort of trouble. Unfortunately for him, though, somebody came up to him.

She was an elf that was completely out of it because of how drunk she was. Rynold didn't want to be impolite and push her to the ground instead listened to what she had to say.

Well, he tried to anyway.

The elf girl split out words that didn't make any sense. They were probably more syllables than words at that point. Rynold tried to figure out what she said but his thoughts were cut short.

Because the elf girl suddenly puked all over him.