Chapter 28: Promotion! Profession - Blacksmith
Chapter 28: Promotion! Profession - Blacksmith
Boris placed a half-meter-long iron rod into the fire to heat it up. When the center turned white-hot, he took it out, brushed off the impurities, and then quenched it in water, a process known as tempering, which Rayn was familiar with from his past life, making the iron rod even harder.
Soon, through repeated forging and heating, the iron rod gradually took on a crescent shape.
As Rayn entered, Drus, who was operating the bellows, greeted him enthusiastically, "Rayn! You're here to help again. Do you want to keep working the bellows?"
Rayn smiled and said, "Drus, sorry, but I might not be able to work the bellows today!"
Amid Drus' surprised gaze, Rayn walked up to Boris and pointed at the horseshoe he was forging, "Uncle Boris, I want to learn this. How much does it cost?"
Blacksmith Boris looked at Rayn in surprise, "Rayn, do you have money? You're not my formal apprentice. If you just want to learn horseshoe forging, the fee is not low. Even though you've helped me for free, I can't give you a discount."
Upon hearing this, Rayn couldn't help but mutter to himself, confirming the rumors—Boris was indeed quite stingy despite his decent blacksmithing skills, they say, they are quite stingy!
"Of course, Uncle Boris, how much is the fee to learn horseshoe forging?"
"I'll teach you for a month, and it's 12 silver coins. If you don't learn it by then, there's nothing I can do, but I won't refund the fee."
The surrounding blacksmith apprentices exchanged glances upon hearing this price, seemingly implying that Rayn was in for a disappointment.
After all, this price was too high for most people, let alone Rayn, who came from a not-so-wealthy background.
Rayn was speechless.
This price!
Just for a month, and no guarantee of mastery!
In Glintstone Town, the monthly income of an average adult male was around 2 to 3 silver coins.
The currency system of the Dragon Empire was similar to that of Rayn's past life in Britain, with 1 gold coin equaling 12 silver coins, 1 silver coin equaling 20 shillings, 1 shilling equaling 12 pennies, and 1 penny having the purchasing power of a pound of rye bread.
Despite the cost, Rayn knew he had to learn.
He pretended to be heartbroken, took out an imperial gold coin from his pocket, and handed it to the slightly surprised Boris, saying, "Deal, Uncle Boris!"
"My family has enrolled me in the servant training at the Habsburg Manor, aiming for a blacksmith apprenticeship. So, they've given me some money to learn the common blacksmithing skills," Rayn explained, half-truthfully, justifying the source of the money.
"It seems Old Rayn has high hopes for you. Keep it up, kid! Don't be like my good-for-nothing son, who's always hanging around in the county city and is now nowhere to be found!" Boris suddenly patted Rayn's shoulder, expressing his sentiment.
This made Rayn see Boris in a slightly different light; even though he was stingy, he had a father's desire for his son's success.
"Come, Rayn, give me a hand!" Boris said, handing Rayn a heavy blacksmith's hammer.
As Rayn gripped the hammer Boris had given him, a row of system prompts suddenly appeared, causing Rayn to freeze momentarily.
[Ding! Host has come into contact with the Blacksmith Apprentice advancement medium - Blacksmith's Hammer!]
[Blacksmith advancement prerequisites: 1. Blacksmith Apprentice level 3 maxed out; 2. Strength and Constitution of 6 points or higher; 3. Forge ten qualified blacksmith products. Current conditions are not met! Blacksmith advancement failed!]
Rayn was overjoyed. The key to advancing from Blacksmith Apprentice to Blacksmith was right here!
"Rayn! What are you staring at? Get to work!"
Rayn quickly snapped out of his daze and started helping with the forging.
At the beginning of his training, Rayn only needed to complete one process, which was to strike a U-shaped iron bar to create a groove.
After the iron bar, which would be used as a horseshoe, was shaped into a crescent, the subsequent steps required two people to work together.
Blacksmith Boris held the iron bar with his left hand, reheating it, while his right hand wielded a sharp tool resembling an axe, swiftly moving along the bar.
Rayn, in rhythm with Boris, swung the hammer with force, striking the slightly wider top of the "axe," which had a relatively narrower blade. With each powerful blow, a long groove was imprinted on the hot iron bar.
The purpose of this horseshoe groove was to accommodate dirt from the ground, enhancing the horse's traction.
Although Boris charged a hefty fee, his teaching attitude was commendable. He guided Rayn on the timing of his strikes while also explaining the entire process of horseshoe forging.
Rayn benefited greatly from this.
Before long, the system prompted again:
[You have forged a horseshoe, and your understanding has improved!]
[You have learned a new skill - Horseshoe Forging!]
[Your Horseshoe Forging skill has improved. Experience Points +2]
[Your focus on horseshoe forging has increased your Blacksmith Apprentice Experience Points by +5]
Evidently, after participating in horseshoe forging, Rayn's Blacksmith Apprentice experience skyrocketed, far surpassing the previous bellows work.
This might be the essence of 'pay-to-win'!
Meanwhile, one by one, qualified horseshoes were forged by Rayn and Boris.
Unfortunately, it seemed that the system did not recognize these horseshoes as Rayn's work, probably because most of the process was completed by Blacksmith Boris.
Naturally, this didn't meet the requirement of forging ten qualified blacksmith products.
Rayn felt a bit disappointed.
He still wanted to advance to the Blacksmith rank as quickly as possible.
However, aside from horseshoes, what else could he learn quickly?
Ah, he had an idea!
It was the horseshoe nails! These were relatively simpler to make, and logically, horseshoe nails should also be considered blacksmith products.
Rayn remembered a proverb from his previous life: "For want of a horseshoe nail, a horseshoe was lost; for want of a horseshoe, a horse was lost; for want of a horse, a rider was lost; for want of a rider, a king was lost; for want of a king, a battle was lost; for want of a battle, an empire was lost."
Thus, despite their small size, horseshoe nails were equally important.
During a break, Rayn approached Blacksmith Boris and expressed his desire to learn horseshoe nail forging first.
Although Boris found it odd that Rayn was so keen on learning horseshoe nail forging instead of the more crucial horseshoe, he quickly agreed after a moment's thought.
After all, horseshoe nail forging was part of Rayn's tuition. Since the horseshoe would need to be used with the nails, the order of learning didn't matter!
Rayn calmed his excitement and began forging horseshoe nails earnestly, following Blacksmith Boris's instructions.
Initially, the nails Rayn forged were crooked and unusable, but gradually, he started producing qualified ones! As Rayn had predicted, the system recognized the horseshoe nails as valid blacksmith products.
Rayn's heart filled with joy, and he felt invigorated, swinging the hammer vigorously as he forged the nails, sweat pouring down his face.
Beside him, Blacksmith Boris looked on with a puzzled expression at Rayn's enthusiastic forging, shaking his head and muttering, "What a peculiar fellow!"
Finally, before lunch, Rayn achieved both goals.
Any Qualified Blacksmith Product (10/10), Achieved!
Blacksmith Apprentice Level 3 (500/500), Max Level Achieved!
(End of Chapter)
Chapter end
Report
