The next few days went by in a similar fashion. Every day I worked from dawn until dusk in that barren courtyard. The outside world took a backseat as I engrossed myself in smithing.

During this period, Gem used up all the furs I had given her. And, using the funds acquired from selling her work, purchased treated leather and hides from the market. She would proudly show me her work at the end of the day and had even made me a blacksmithing apron after noticing my clothes getting worn out. I honestly hadn't payed attention to my clothes, but there were burn marks on almost every square inch of them.

The guys at the shop had slowly started stocking their shelves and my items took up 1/5th of the total space. I thought that they would give out the items to their guild members first, but they actually took my advice to give them out based on contributions to the guild. Their guild members also have a 10% discount in their shop, so the members can buy them if they really want the items. The rest of their store is filled with monster drops and other crafted goods.

The shop was altered to include three counters and an open floor design. The largest counter at the back was for general crafted items and included goods such as leather clothing, food, potions, and crystals.

Crystals have multiple uses, but by far the most popular were the teleportation crystals, which came in three types distinguishable by colour. White crystals teleported the player to the most recent town they have visited. Orange crystals require the player to set a target location at their feet and will teleport the player to that specific location. Lastly, purple crystals open a gateway that many players can pass through. These were determined after trial and error.

Of course there are the standard colours of crystal: blue, red, and green. These are for mana, vitality, and stamina respectively. They are a cheaper option, but are less effective than their respective potions.

On the left is a counter for monster drops. They buy and sell the drops from players and require everyone in the guild to contribute to this stock. Though, of course they reimburse their members for the items in the form of money and contribution points. I don’t know how that works, but it is what they have set up.

And finally, on the right is a counter for armour and weapons. They also offer repairs for badly damaged items, but since it is free experience I gladly accepted this. And of course I receive the money directly for this service rather than going through the shop.

The prices are based off standard values, but obviously less than the Sacred Order’s overpriced goods. Over the course of four days of smithing, in addition to the weapons from the first day, I have made: 20 daggers, 17 Short swords, 2 pickaxes, 3 hatchets, 3 rapiers, 6 longswords, 5 maces, 1 spear, and 2 broadswords. For armour I made 10 helms, 6 square shields, and 2 cuirasses. This has garnered me 619xp. One more full day and I can reach level 2.

Compared to the real world, this production rate is completely unrealistic; however, I am not complaining.

Darkbond had informed me that they plan on opening today and would like me to be there for that moment. They had nailed posters against anything they could around town and paid a good sum to advertise in the city square. Since they plan on opening in the afternoon, I will still have plenty of time to make a few more items.

I have been trying to make a variety of items based off of the system's standard weapons and armours. Thanks to this, my personal skill has improved exponentially and I am able to hammer out daggers and swords with ease. I have been struggling more with the armours, but thankfully it is a one size fits all with the system's assistance. So far I have only made the simplest of armours, but due to copper being a softer metal, I am able to make them without too much trouble.

Once more I set up my anvil and forge outside in the courtyard. Over time I have seen more players utilize their spaces in the courtyard and occasionally they will come up to me and request items. However, I just tell them to visit the shop when it opens. There should still be a few freelance blacksmiths not gobbled up by the big guilds around. But as expected, with 500,000 players all requiring equipment, the demand far outweighs the supply.

Even my wares are pitiful in comparison to the demand of one small guild's shop.

The morning goes by fast as I make short swords like an assembly line. Since they are the quickest to make, I want to get as much done before the opening as I can. In an hour I manage to get up to 10 swords finished due to the system's assistance. However, at this rate my supply of copper bars is rapidly dwindling.

Soon I will be able to get on par with those other smiths at bronze tier.

A slow trickle of bronze items have made their way onto the market over the last couple days. I imagine it is more difficult to work with bronze compared to copper. That, combined with human greed, is probably the reason for the supply being as pitiful as it is. I assume a lot of smiths are already level two since I had a late start and am already nearing 960xp.

The sword I am working on next is different from ones I have previously made. Using what I have learnt from making all those swords, I pour all my knowledge and experience into making a custom weapon. The sizing is based on a female user and will have a blade length of 40 inches.

Starting with two copper bars, I fusing them together and begin the task of folding the metal. After folding the metal 3 times and hammering out impurities I am left with a large solid chunk of metal. Now the drawing out process begins as I repeatedly flatten and elongate the metal. What I am left with is a rough outline of a blade around 40” long. Slowly I form an edge on the slender blade, narrowing as it reaches the tip.

Since a rapier is meant for thrusting rather than slashing, too narrow of a blade is unnecessary and even the area near the hilt does not need to be sharpened. I design a false edge on one side of the blade and put the true edge on the other. This will coincide with the knuckle guard’s orientation. I then work on quenching and tempering the blade to a desirable level.

Having formed the blade, I get to work on designing a hilt. I cannot make anything too elaborate with my little bit of skill, but I am able to at least make a simplistic design that will do its job. I start out with a narrow wooden block and drill a hole large enough to fit snug over the tang. The tang is otherwise known as the back portion of the blade that extends and connects with the handle. With this I carve out grips for the hand and sand the piece until it is satisfactorily smooth.

“Quinn!” A voice comes from behind me while I am in the middle of working on the rapier. “It’s almost time for opening.”

“I’ll be out once I finish this sword.”

“Don’t be too long.” The source of the voice disappears into the building.

Back to work.

Next, is the knuckle protector and I make a dome shape out of bending and twisting pieces of metal that extends out of the crossbar. The rapiers I have made in the past were not as complex as this, nor had I put as much care and attention into it. The knuckle guard extends in a arc and I have placed another hole on the end of it to slip of the tang before the pommel is added.

The pommel is the last part to be made. This is a solid circular ball with a hole for the tang that is attached a the end of the hilt to provide a counterbalance for the blade. I secure everything to the tang with rivets and work on grinding the blade on a whetstone until it is sharp. This whole process takes me an hour, whereas in the real world it would take a few days.

Notification Do you wish to adjust Copper Rapier to system specifications Yes No

I select [No] for the first time. My custom design already looks better than those system assisted blades.

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

I am hoping that it turns out to be a success considering I spend an entire hour on it. The amount of experience I gained from it was 55, so I am on par with what I could have made from an hour of smithing short swords.

Notification What do you wish to name this custom design?

“Soul Rapier”

It may sound like a name from a fantasy name generator, but that’s what i’ve come up with.

Soul Rapier Strength 25 >>>>>>> Pierce 18 Attack Speed 1.3 Slash 7 Durability 200 Crush 0

Having finished the rapier, I gather up the 15 swords I had made this morning. The amount of experience I need for level 2 is almost negligible at this time. One or two more swords should do it, but I'll hold off on it until the shop is open.

The shop has now become packed with players.

The advertising has done its job and not surprisingly the busiest counter is for my items. What will these guys do when I am unavailable. I have no doubt they will run out of my five days worth of equipment on the first day. Perhaps even in the first hour. However, that will bring me good money.

I may have missed the precise moment of opening, but that is not so important.

I try to make my way over to the smithing counter, but am met with resistance by the customers.

"Hey watch it!"

"Back of the line buddy."

"No cutting!"

I ignore them and continue to the counter. Before I could get there a rather large player steps out to block my way. He folds his arms across his chest in an intimidating manner and plants his feet firmly on the ground.

"Little fishy should wait his turn." His face reveals a toothy grin.

"Everyone please wait your turn. We are selling a maximum of one piece of equipment per player at this times." A voice calls out from behind the counter. "Otherwise we will not be able to accommodate everyone."

"You heard the man." A man dressed in piecemeal leather armour standing right behind me yells out. "Back of the line."

Ahh, misunderstandings can be a pain. I could explain to them that I am the blacksmith, but that would draw unwanted attention to myself.

At this moment the guild member behind the counter recognizes my face. It turns out he was the one to win the mini tournament they had a few days ago, Swiftcrest.

"Quinn! What are you doing over there? I was waiting for you." He beckons me over with a smile.

The surrounding players have looks of shock. How were they supposed to know this random guy they thought was trying to cut in line actually knew the guy at the counter. I give a smug smile as I walk past them.

"You missed the best part." Swiftcrest speaks to me in a low voice. "When the doors opened, they all rushed over here once they saw the swords on display."

"Haha, that would have been interesting to see. Oh, I've got some more blades to sell." I hand him over all the blade I made this morning, with the exception of the rapier, using the trade menu.

"You're a lifesaver! These are going to sell out immediately. We've had to restrict sales to one item per customer because of the demand.”

"Haha, These should help you last at least for the customers already in the shop."

The next customer queues up at the table. He looks to be 16 years old and is wearing a thin leather armour. His hair is in a mess and he looks like he has not had it easy.

"Umm. I would like a short sword please."

The Swiftcrest pulls out one of my copper short swords and places is on the counter.

"That will be 50 Tor."

"Wow that's cheap! Those bastards at the Sacred Order are charging double that for the same sword."

100 Tor for a single copper sword. I can make ten of them in an hour. That is 1000 Tor per hour! I am standing there dumbfounded. It was a given that they would charge more, but this amount is just too much.

"We have our own private blacksmith who over the last five days has been working from dawn until dusk."

I hope he doesn't expect that rate to continue. I still need to work on my own levelling and I had also promised Gem I would help her. So far she has been content with staying in town, but I won't force her to stay here for too long. Thankfully, now that I can afford the teleport crystals, which cost 1 silver each, I can skip the travel component and save time.

I stay behind the counter until I see a familiar face walk through the entrance.

Gem stops near the door and scans the shop until our eyes meet. She puts on a big smile and makes her way over to where I am. Today she is wearing a simple white and pale blue summer dress and is wearing her hair down. I notice more than a few males turning their heads as she passes, but she pays them no heed.

“Quinn!” Her gentle voice rings through the air, greeting my ears. “I was in the area and I thought I would come see your store.”

“What do you think of it so far?” I lightly smile.

“Mmm.” She puts a finger to her lips in thought. “Needs a woman’s touch.”

“What did you have in mind?”

“Here.” Gem opens up a trade window. “Just a few things I’ve been working on.”

I am shocked to say the least. The items within the trade window consist of 10 full sets of leather armours along with random assorted pieces of armour.

“These... Are you want to sell these?”

“Mhmm!” She nods.

“That shouldn’t be a problem. I’ll add them to the shop’s stock.”

I hit the accept button on the trade menu and then open up the shop’s interface. Since I am an important contributor to the shop, I have been given special privileges to access the shop’s inventory. Some items are on display for the customers to see; however, most items are kept within the shop’s inventory for safe keeping. This is separate from the lock box which only a few people have access to. I could have done this for the swords as well, but oh well.

I place all but one breastplate into the shop’s inventory. I want to attempt making a studded leather variant of this breastplate.

“I’m going to do an experiment on this breastplate, is that alright with you? I’ll pay for it regardless.”

“You aren’t going to do anything weird are you?” She looks at me with a sarcastic suspicion.

“Not at all.” I wave my hands in a gesture of denial. “I’m going to attempt to make a studded leather.”

“Is that so.” She pauses. “Alright, but one condition.”

“Condition?”

“Mhmm!” She smiles brightly, “I get to watch you work.”

While we are busy chatting away, the shop suddenly becomes quiet.

The silence reminds me of a predator check, but instead of the noise resuming, it remains quiet. I turn my head towards the doorway and see the source of the problem.

Five men are standing there blocking the door. Four are dressed in full copper armour while the man in the middle is wearing bronze. Red armbands embroidered with that familiar golden symbol sit upon their left upper arms.

They all exhibit provocative and arrogant postures as their eyes sweep through the shop.