Chapter 36 : Refiner (2)

"Of course I want to!"

The female receptionist chuckled a bit when she saw Ragna's resolute answer, 'This fellow is a bit amusing, should I just.. Well, let's do that'

"Okay then, I'll introduce you to one of our best blacksmith here", contrary to what she said, her body didn't move. She just stood there as if waiting for Ragna's response.

Ragna was a bit puzzled when he saw the female receptionist, "Uhh sister.. you said you wanted to introduce me to someone. Then why aren't we moving.."

"Tsk, tsk, can't you see that you are currently standing in front of 'the best blacksmith' I mentioned before?", the female receptionist clicked her tongue.

Ragna's jaw nearly dropped when he heard that, "Don... Don't tell me that you are..."

"Now that I think of it, we haven't introduced each other yet. My name is White Silver, you can call me Silver. I am a genuine Blacksmith who work at this place, the only player in this city who have reached the Intermediate level in Blacksmithing Skill", Silver replied haughtily. She couldn't help but laugh happily when she saw Ragna's change in expression.

"You must have thought that I'm an NPC. Well, it was my intention so that was an appropriate reaction hehe"

Ragna was baffled with the sudden development, "But.. why?"

"I've had enough with people asking me to make an equipment for them. But, I was quite bored spending all days next to the furnace back there. That's why I sometimes go out to interact as a receptionist", she shrugged her shoulders and pointed at the door behind him, "Come on in, let's get inside before someone notices me"

With Silver leading him, Ragna immediately followed behind. His mind was in tatters because of what Silver did. Also, there was the matter regarding his 2nd Job. He thought that his job's purpose was to solely refine Blood Essences from monsters. But, it turned out that his second job had many secrets which he hadn't been able to uncover.

One has to take in mind that, just by being able to refine essences, could make his second job quite decent. By also being able to learn other profession's exclusive skills such as Blacksmithing, pushed its usefulness to the top. Ragna couldn't wait to see what kind of other profession's skills that he could learn.

While he was lost in thought, Silver asked him with a question, "Hey, I haven't known your name yet. Also, what's the matter with your second job? Where did you get it?", she asked.

Ragna quickly replied, "You can call me Ragna", He answered vaguely, "About my second job... I too, don't know how I got it. Maybe it was related to one of my adventure back then"

Seeing that Ragna wouldn't answer her question, Silver didn't probe further. She quickly led Ragna to one of the smithing room the place had. As one of the biggest in the city, naturally, it had many rooms that could accommodate the process.

The room was dark but the furnace blazed with fire, illuminating the whole room while also increasing its temperature. Ragna could feel his surrounding burned with considerable heat. To be able to stay in this place for a long time required someone to have a minimum level of willpower. As for Ragna, his willpower had been tested by the terrifying test from Blood Master.

Silver turned toward Ragna, while pointing toward one of the hammers and anvils and said, "A blacksmith need to have a minimum amount of power and concentration. I want you to hit the anvil for at least a hundred times. Whether or not you'll be accepted as our disciple will depend on your result"

"Hitting it for a hundred times will make you pass the test and I'll personally introduce you to one of the NPCs here. But, if you could hit it for three hundred times then I'll accept you as my own disciple!"

"You should understand what kind of opportunity it is, right? Currently, my Blacksmithing Skill may be lower than those NPCs, but you should understand how terrifying my potential is to be able to reach this level in less than a month"

"In a year... No! In a few months, I'll reach the peak of Advanced level. When that time comes, those old people will beg to their knees asking me to be their master instead!", Silver said everything with great confidence. One could say that she was a bit arrogant, but there wasn't the slightest bit of doubt in her words. She had the ability and talent to do so.

Ragna nodded at Silver's words. He knew that everything that she said was true. To be able to reach the Intermediate level in less than a month meant that she had terrifying talent in Blacksmithing. Having her as his master was infinitely better than the normal blacksmith.

He walked toward the huge hammer. Grabbing it up, he could feel that it was quite heavy. Everyone wouldn't have any problem lifting it a few times, but to be able to swing it for hundreds of times was an amazing feat.

"You may begin", Silver's voice resounded inside the dim room.

Ragna swung his hammer toward the anvil in front of him. When the hammer hit the anvil, it produced a clashing sound of metal hitting metal.

Clang!

He felt a stinging pain in his wrist, it was the recoil!

Clang!

Clang!

Nevertheless, he didn't stop. Heck, he didn't even frown. His expression remained the same, determined and resolute.

Ragna kept hitting the hammer without stop, after a bit more than twenty hits, Silver's voice could be heard.

"Ten", Her voice was indifferent.

Ragna abruptly stopped the task when he heard that. He turned toward Silver's side with a puzzled look and asked, "Wasn't it twenty-something?"

"You didn't hit it hard enough. Some also missed the mark", she looked straight toward Ragna's eyes. While smiling, she said, "Now you stopped. That means you need to start again from zero"

Ragna's expression changed when he heard the harsh requirement, but his surprised look didn't even remain for a second. His eyes were blazing with determination as he wordlessly turned his gaze back toward the anvil while smiling.

You want to challenge me?

Bring it on!