Mornings like always without ingots to smelt were nothing to write home about. The only saving grace was that the new breakfast like dinner was also better. I patiently waited till 12 o’clock, and then headed to the Senior Disciple area. From there, I was guided by Tagon downstairs into a large basement.

Standing there was... Santa?

“This is Grandmaster Clauson. He is the leader of this Blacksmithing Guild so make sure to show ya’r respect!” warned Tagon.

I knew it! Santa!

The Grandmaster was literally an old chubby man with a long white beard and looked exactly of what one would think of Santa Claus... except shorter.

“Yes sir!” I responded.

Now I wonder what kind of presents Santa will have for me… I promise I behaved very well… though I technically did murder someone… but he was a bad guy! Definitely!

Shortly after, we came over to the Grandmaster.

“So this little missy is the winner of the competition now is it?” Grandmaster Clauson inquired.

“Yes, Grandmaster” replied Tagon.

He then took a hard look at me causing me to tense up due to the pressure. Remembering the warning I get my act together.

“My name is Shiro, I greet Grandmaster Claus! It is an honor!” I said while slightly bowing down to show respect.

When I see Tagon frown, I suddenly remembered I was in another world, and for all I know bowing down is not a sign of respect but a form on insult so I begin to inwardly panic. Only then did it hit me... Oops! I said Claus instead of Clauson!

Luckily it did not seem like the Grandmaster cared one way or the other.

“Shiro ha? It is always nice to see new young talent. So what would ya like to be made for ya’r commission?” asked Grandmaster Clauson.

I thought about this for quite some time, and came up with one conclusion. That I will get my dagger fixed and remade into a Arm-Blade Katar. Why an Arm-Blade Katar? Simple, an Arm-Blade Katar still counts as a Dagger so my [Dagger Mastery] still works, but now I can free up my hands. This means that I can use a spear at the same time, or use attacks like [Claw Swipe] as well. Throwing things also becomes more convenient. I can even use potions without having to put away my weapon.

There are not too many people who specialize at virtually everything, so this kind of combat style only works for me.

“I would like to remake this into an Arm-Blade Katar focused on agility, while still having some other stats” I replied while taking out my [Ancient Mithril Dagger]

“This is?!?!” Tagon interjected in shock, then got himself together and continued “The rules were pretty clear that you are only allowed to use your own materials!”

I quickly try to refute his claim.

“B-But this is-”

“No excuses! The rules are set in place for a reason! No exceptions!” Tagon interrupted.

Tagon did not seem like he would relent or even listen to me at all!

“It’s ok” said Grandmaster Clauson.

“Are ya sure Grandmaster? We should not bend the rules as it would set a bad precident” Tagon cautioned.

“The dagger in question rightfully belongs to the little missy. According to my intuition, the little missy had it even before coming here” Grandmaster Clauson explained.

Intuition? Is that some sort of skill? Though I didn’t get any notification of getting any skill… hmmm...

“If… the Grandmaster say so...” Tagon relented and then left the premises.

Grandmaster Clauson then took the dagger off my hands and began inspecting it.

“By the looks of things... this dagger came from a Dungeon... Though... this dagger in question seems to be quite old… Us smiths have always been dreaming about replicatin’ the abilities of a dungeon in our smithing. Sadly to say, we are still far far away… hmmm… strange… my intuition is telling me that I have seen a person smith a dagger in the past in similar style… But... I don’t remember anyone producing a dagger of this quality… not to mention, the notion in itself would be quite ridiculous as no mortal could smith something like this to begin with… I must be getting old...” Grandmaster Clauson murmured to seemingly himself.

While I would love to hear some more philosophy… can we get down to smithing cause my time is kind of ticking! And I’m sure you have plenty of presents for me! Of course I can’t actually say that…

“I look forward to the Grandmaster’s teaching!” I interjected hoping to kick start the lessons.

“Ah! Yes, sorry about that little missy, lets get started” Grandmaster Clauson replied.

The Grandmaster went towards the forge, and began to smelt down the dagger and reforge it. After about 15 minutes, I got my first blue box!

Your skill [NP][Smelting] has become Level 8

Congratulations! You have completed the class quest [Creationist: Improve your production skills]

+25 PER has been attained

Class quest [Creationist:Improve your production skills], has been reset.

When he was done smelting and reforging the dagger into an ingot, he then began smithing it. I looked for about half an hour but the process was way over my head...

Your skill [NP][Blacksmithing] has become Level 7

Only then did some insight begin to seep in… But still it seemed like a pretty complex process regardless… to get more information I activated [All-Observing-Eyes].

“Those eyes..” murmured Grandmaster Clauson.

“Eyes?” I reflexively responded.

“Your eyes… it is as if they have seen all things in this world...” Grandmaster Clauson followed up.

“Hii?!?!” I quickly deactivate my skill… ”I-I don’t know what ya mean..” I add, playing ignorant while sweating profusely.

“Don’t worry little missy, I won’t tell anyone that ya have a Unique Skill. I happen to have one myself actually, so ya’r secret is safe with me… My [Discerning-Eyes-Of-Inuition] let me see things no one else can see. They are very convenient, as they let me know things I normally would not know. But at same time, to get these eyes I had to pay a terrible price. It is sad to know one young as ya’rself had to go through similar circumstances to attain something like that...”

From then on he told a story about his past as he continued smithing. I paid careful attention to his work, but at same time listened in on the story, interested how others could have attained Unique Skills. 20 years ago, he was a smith for his party of 10. They ventured into a dungeon and ended up being trapped in an endless maze. Out of the 10, 6 of them died from the endless onslaught of monsters. When they were at wits end and trapped in a dead end, his Unique Skill awakened, and they managed to find a secret passage outside the maze.

It was a pretty sad story and a harsh reminder how strength is the only way one can live in this world… another hour has passed and only then did another blue box appear.

Your skill [NP][Blacksmithing] has become Level 8

From that point on, my insight into mithril expanded tremendously. While there were still many parts I did not understand just from looking, Grandmaster Clauson luckily helped fill in a lot of it.

Finally, 3 hours have passed and for whatever reason, I did not get any skills… Somehow I get the feeling that this was the limit of his [Blacksmithing], but I should still have gotten some class skills right? Though no luck at all… Was there not enough time maybe?

As I was pondering, Grandmaster Clauson finished the arm-blade katar and brought it before me.

“I did my best to insure the weapon is usable to ya, but even then using such a powerful blade has limits. Now then let me add some finishing touches… I am not a specialist in this, but it should bring no harm. ” said Grandmaster Clauson.

You have acquired a new skill [NP][Rune Crafting] Level 1

I took a look at the final product.

Wind-Tempered Mithril Arm-Blade Katar of Minor Agility

An average quality katar made out of mithril, reforged from an Ancient Mithril Dagger while minimizing the loss to quality. It is tempered with the power of the wind.

+50 AGI +25 STR +25 VIT +20 DEX +15 INT +15 WIS +700 ATK

[Wind Blade] Surround the blade with wind magical energy doing magical damage to those cut by it ( 50 Magic Power per minute )

[Passive] Absorb magic power around your surroundings ( 1 Magic Power per minute )

Bonus: +10 AGI

Magic Power: 100/1000

Rune Crafting:

Mana Storage: 0/25

Restrictions:

Minimum Level:

Level 15 - Penalty: 50% reduction in stats

Level 30 - Penalty: 10% reduction in stats

Level 35 - Bonus: +5 AGI

Level 40 - Bonus: +10 AGI

Level 50 - Bonus: +20 AGI

Owner Restriction: Shiro

Benefit: +10 AGI | Penalty: 90% reduction in stats

[Made by Clauson Angersmith]

Durability: 12500/12500

Quality 5.7310/10.0000

“...”

HOLY SHIT!

Someone pinch me... I am not dreaming right? It is hard to imagine that the dagger I had all along had that much potential… Though thinking about it logically, considering Mithril is above Holy-Steel, that should have been a given to an extent… What is even more terrifying is that technically speaking, it should have been better as a dagger, so one can only imagine what kind of abilities it truly had prior to being damaged.

Though I wonder… How long does it take for mithril to be damaged in the first place? Anyways, lets get to that later.

“Thank you very much Grandmaster Clauson!” I exclaimed.

“I hope it will serves ya well, and that ya have learned a lot from all this. Though somehow, my intuition tells me ya learned more than I can imagine. Ho ho ho” laughed Santa… err… I mean Grandmaster Clauson.

“Yes! I learned quite a lot, thank you very much!” I replied with sincere gratitude.

I really did... not only did I get 2 level increases in [Blacksmithing] and a level increase in [Smelting], I also learned a lot about Mithril. I also learned that there are limits set to how powerful items can be. The total item stats can not exceed 3X your base stats. Also, a single item can not give more stats than your current level * 5 + 10. If you go above those numbers, unless the item for special reason exceeds the limit or is a special item such as a blacksmithing hammer, you will have a huge strain on your [Mental]. Lastly, I learned that powerful items can be limited through multiple minimum level restriction options to give more flexibility.

I really wish I got some of his class skills though, but even so, I got quite a lot from all this.

“Ya’r time is up, lets go!” yelled Tagon as he came from upstairs.

“Yes sir!” I replied.

I take one last bow towards Grandmaster Clauson, aka Santa Claus and make my way out back to the Intermediate Disciple area.

Since there is still 3 hours left till the exhibition market, lets get some smelting going!

In that 3 hours, I somehow managed to smelt out 30 [Iron Ingots]! I am not sure how, but I think the skill that helps with the making of steel has an indirect effect on smelting iron, since it is a component of steel. Though I don’t get the feeling that it helps with the actual smithing of iron.

After I wrapped up, I headed for the market. My goal this time around is to see if I can sell that [Steel Dagger]. While it is nothing special, since it is made using my personal materials, I can set my own price and sell it at a discount. Then sell my better ones at competitive prices.

I arrive at the market and sit down on the floor. With my mantle covering my head and special usage of [Blend Stealth] to cover only parts of my body, I do my best to cover up that I am a beastkin. Since discrimination still exists here in this country, it is best to limit all possibilities of losing customers. I then activate [Voice Manipulation] to make my voice louder and at same time more manly. Who knows how many people here might discriminate based on gender as well…

“COME NOW COME ALL! STEEL DAGGER SELLING FOR 25% DISCOUNT! ONLY 3 GOLD!” I yell to the best of my ability.

I then wait patiently with excitement… I mean 3 gold… Even if I have to part with 70% of it to the guild, that is still 90 silver coins in my pocket! It almost makes all my efforts up to now seem meaningless…

…

Half an hour passed but no one stopped by… strange… are they maybe underestimating me because I am young or something? Lets try this again.

“STEEL DAGGER ONLY 3 GOLD! QUALITY GUARANTEED OR YOUR MONEY BACK!” I yelled.

People walked by and took peeks now and then, but no one bothering picking up the dagger at all… strange…

I tried for the entire 2 hours and not one person even bothered to look my way… Can they see through my disguise? No I don’t think that is the case… Is it maybe because I only have 1 dagger and it looks odd? Add in my disguise and maybe it just looks a bit shady?

I pondered through dinner and into bed but could not think of anything… Maybe I’ll try smithing some above average stuff tomorrow and see how things go.