Chapter 61: Evolving Weapon

After what it seemed like the time to brew a coffee, both of them stopped while staring intently at the finished sword. Their expressions were one of an elation and satisfaction.

The sword was emitting bright radiance. Even though it was lacking in luster compared to Dreg's Twin Night, the difference wasn't that great. One had to understand that Dreg's Twin Night was a Rare Weapon. An existence that could be considered as the best at the current stage of the game.

Ragna silently exclaimed in his heart, 'When would I be able to reach such height?'

At first, Ragna only decided to take blacksmithing as his second profession because of the prospect. After trying it himself, he found that blacksmithing was rather pleasing to do and could be treated as some sort of refreshment.

But after seeing Silver and the mysterious man's 'performance', his desire to advance further in this path increased.

"It seems like your skill is still intact," Silver snickered.

"What can I say? It's hard being such a talented person. Even my grandfather is in awe with my talent" The man laughed. From the looks of it, they were already close to each other.

In this era, blacksmithing had become a form of artistry. Most of the weapons and tools could be created using machinery. Only elite families were still paying attention toward it.

"Unfortunately, it still hasn't reached Rare rank," Silver said with slightly dejected expression.

"It's alright. It's still at the early phase of the game. If someone could make a Rare-ranked weapon now, that would be heaven-defying. Not to mention that this sword is already quite close to reaching the next rank," The man consoled.

"Yeah, you're right," Silver looked at her surroundings and noticed Ragna's presence, "Ragna? How long have you been there? Isn't it too early for you to come out from that useless quest?"

"Sorry, I got fascinated by the sight of your smithing process," Ragna said with an apologetic expression, "Today's expedition got halted early. Players are being ordered to stand guard inside the base or the city. I have nothing to do and I decided to visit you earlier."

"Plus, I think I have something that would interest you," Ragna tossed a material from his bag that was dropped by the Demon Leader.

"This... it's Red Demon's horn! For the Horn to be this large, its rank must've been quite high." She quickly gave Ragna a look, "Where did you get it? This city's Red Demon Invasion quest hasn't been triggered and you already got a high-quality material?"

"It's just luck," Ragna shrugged it off by not telling the truth.

Silver gave Ragna a questioning look, but soon her eyes couldn't hide the excitement hidden within. She quickly turned around to face the man she had been working together with.

"Little Gold, quick, look! This is a high-quality material from a Red Demon Leader. I thought we would run out of material after finishing that weapon, now that we have this, we could create another weapon!"

"Well, that's great. But don't you think that it's still too early for you to think about that? That man over there should want something from you" Gold reminded.

"Oh right. But don't worry, he's my apprentice that I've spoken of," She turned toward Ragna, "Ragna, this is Little Gold, I've known him since I was little and we both have the same hobby which is smithing."

"Oh, and don't try to extort me. Give me a fair price!" She gave Ragna a fierce look.

Ragna got a slight shudder when he saw Silver's threatening look. This sister, it's not me who's threatening you. It's you who's threatening me!

"Hi Gold, nice to meet you. That was an excellent skill and performance" Ragna said politely.

"Thank you Ragna, I've been very curious about you. Anyway, sell us the material. We'll definitely buy it as long as you don't go overboard." Gold had a smile on his face. He looked calm despite his previous fierce look when smithing. It seemed like people could really change depending on the situations.

"It's alright. I'm giving it as a gift. I haven't had a chance to repaid anything to Silver. She has taught me a lot."

"Wait, no! I can't accept that. It's too precious. Don't tell me that you don't know how much this thing is worth of?" Silver refused.

Silver pondered for a bit before saying, "Well how about this, I'll exchange that material for a weapon that suited you. I know that you are using a Fist-type weapon. That kind of weapon must be quite hard to find considering the number of its user. This is something that I created while trying to make a different type of weapon. Its grade is just uncommon but its quality is quite high among its peer." Silver quickly tossed a gauntlet toward Ragna. It has a silvery luster and Silver's brand on it.

In Maya, weapon's drop rates would be linked to the number of its user. If there're a lot of sword user, then the drop-rate of sword would be higher than another type of weapon. Fist-type weapons were still not that popular.

"Wait, I don't nee-"

Ragna caught the gauntlet. Even though its grade is just Uncommon, its options were quite good. Especially because of the added option from Silver's personal brand. Although this kind of weapon wouldn't create an uproar, it would still be coveted by many.

However, he had no use of this weapon. He already had his Ancient Blood Gloves that could be evolved further by absorbing another Sentinel's essence. Or so he thought.

Suddenly, the Ancient Blood Gloves in his hand brightened. Ragna felt that the gloves' temperature were raising. The gauntlet in his hand was suddenly covered in blood-red color. It quickly melted into a red liquid which was immediately absorbed by the Ancient Blood Gloves.

Everyone was dumbfounded with the sudden development. Even Ragna himself was not excluded.

Ding!

Your Ancient Blood Glove has consumed another weapon's essence!

An increase in stats will be given.

Because the weapon is of Uncommon rank, there will be a slight increase in the absorbed stats.

Because this is the first time you absorbed an Uncommon-ranked weapon, another additional stats will be given.

The next time you absorbed a weapon of the same rank, the absorption rate will be reduced.

Ding!

Ancient Blood Gloves (Weapon, Two-Handed) (Ragna)

Attack : 99-100 -> 103-104

Magic Attack : 99-100 -> 103-104

Unique Effect: Blood Consuming.

Can consume another weapon with the same type. Cannot be done repeatedly.

Unique Characteristic: Blood Evolution

Automatically consume a sentinel essence in inventory to evolve.

Damage +10% While fighting against stronger or higher leveled opponent (s).

The weapon's attack increased!

Ragna couldn't hide the excitement on his face. Now that you mention it, there was actually an option in his Ancient Blood Gloves to consume another weapon of the same type. He had been quite busy these days and never had a chance to experiment with it.

The increase in damage might not seem much, but he could just keep consuming another weapon until it reached a heaven-defying state.

"Silver! Do you have another Fist-type weapon? Give me as many as you have, I'll pay for it later" Ragna hurriedly asked Silver.

Silver was still in a daze, "Uh... I think I have three more. The quality is worse, though," She quickly gave Ragna all of the Fist-type weapons in her possession.

Ragna grabbed all the weapon. Two of them were of Common-grade, while the last one was of Uncommon-grade. He quickly absorbed all of them into his Ancient Blood Gloves.

Ding!

Your Ancient Blood Glove has consumed another weapon's essence!

An increase in stats will be given.

Ancient Blood Gloves (Weapon, Two-Handed) (Ragna)

Attack : 103-104 -> 105-106

Magic Attack : 103-104 -> 105-106

...

The rate of improvement was clearly lower than before. It seemed like he couldn't just mindlessly absorb everything. However, it's still a great direction of development for him.

"Do... Don't tell me that weapon is an evolving weapon? One that can improve by eating another weapon?" Gold was the first one who recovered from the stupor.

"I just noticed it too. I thought that the evolution's requirement is more difficult, but it actually is this simple"

"Damn, where the hell did you get this kind of weapon? You sure have a godlike luck having acquired this weapon," Silver shouted.

Ragna just smiled apologetically, even he himself didn't really understand where that 'place' was.

"Is it personally bound?" Gold asked. It seemed like he's quite knowledgeable about this stuff.

"Yeah, this weapon is personally bound to me. It can't be dropped or gifted to other people," Ragna explained.

Gold heaved a sigh of relief. "It's good that it's personally bound to you. There will be no end of people who would chase after you if this information got out. The worth of an evolving weapon is immense in every game." He explained to Ragna everything he knew about evolving weapon.

At first, Ragna was a bit cautious in front of Gold. But now, it seemed like this guy is quite trustworthy. At least, for now.

After a short discussion, Ragna left the Blacksmith Associaton. He had to cancel today's training because he needed to experiment with the Gloves' consuming ability. Not to mention that Silver and Gold were also quite busy because of the material Ragna brought.

...

At a mountain range far from the city.

A female white knight could be seen fighting monsters with levels above hers. Even the weakest of the mobs was level 42.

The knight had a slender and delicate body but the presence she emitted was no joke. She exuded the aura of a swordmaster.

The blood from the monsters dyed the ground red, but she was unscathed as her armor still retained its pure whiteness.

The place was desolate as most of the players were busy fighting inside the Astral Realm. It seemed like she had her own reason not to join.

Suddenly, she heard a notification from the system. It was a call.

"Arisa, I think I've found him. He has an evolving weapon similar to what you said"

Her brows slightly trembled, she opened her mouth saying, "Great, keep observing him. I need to know the situation and the background better" Her voice was melodious to the point of enchanting.

"Alright"

"And... Gold, one more thing"

"Yeah?"

"I think we need to speed things up. This is progressing faster than I thought" The female knight said, her expression was one of uncertainty.