Infinite Realm

While an uproar has risen among the guilds over the appearance of the Rigged Steel long-swords with the name [Generic], the creator behind them as well as the mastermind behind this great plot, was currently engrossed in his work.

Sato planned to build up some popularity as well as a foundation for a customer base with his remaining time in Riverdale town. It should be known that the longer he remained there, the more time he wasted. After all, Sato was currently level 15 and there was no opportunity for him to improve his skills here. He might be a local tyrant with his current ability but if he remains in town forever, he would eventually get surpassed massively by the other players. Rather than let them catch up to him, it was better for Sato to maintain the level gap.

But since Sato had plans for the future, which was largely tied with his blacksmithing subclass, he had to make sure that he built a customer base as early as possible. Also, having all that knowledge learnt from the Hall's library without putting it to good use was the same as having flour but not making bread out of it[1].

'To grow my career as a blacksmith, I need to develop a specialty. As for now, the Rigged Steel long-swords are okay but still not good enough.'

The problem with the Rigged Steel long-sword laid in the fact that the quality was not enough to attract the attention of elite gamers and expert figures. However, this couldn't be helped.

Sato wasn't at the stage where he could forge Upper-tier Mortal rank weapons as if they were street cabbages. Even if he were to give a shot at making one, unless he used a lot of 3 stat materials and maybe one 4 star material in the mix, Sato wouldn't be able to pull it off. However, the quality might even be below market standard or roughly on par with it. Nonetheless, this was a dumb move. Even a child could see that such an investment wasn't worth taking, after all, 4-star materials could be used in making a level 25 Rare-Steel rank weapon with the most basic necessary forging skills. So why should they be used for a measly level 5 Upper-tier Mortal rank weapon?

'In that case, I have to change my target market.'

Since Sato was currently incapable of making weapons for expert-level players, he decided to focus on those on the lower rung; the average players.

The current mainstream level of players was between level 5-8, mostly because of the sudden influx of new players in recent days. If considering those who started out early alone, then the average level of players was at level 6-8. Sato's works were suitable for players at that level and this was why the swords had made a commotion once they were put on sale.

'Making another weapon is a bit futile since, apart from the mages, most players use the sword. If I start making defensive equipment, that would be better.' Sato thought as he began browsing through the blueprints in the Blacksmith guild.

Compared to weapons, defensive equipment was more valuable and rarer than the former. Even a few experts who might have an Upper-tier Mortal rank weapon would only wield Mid-tier Mortal rank defensive equipment. This made them 'golden eggs' that every player wanted to have but the cost of doing so was immense. If Sato was able to forge these 'golden eggs', he would be the 'golden goose' that every guild desired; a money-printing machine. Sadly, Sato had no intention of joining any guild and just wanted to make some cash.

'If I also sell defensive equipment with short swords, I should pretty much have created my brand.'

Thinking of a scene where almost all the players in town used his works, a small smile spread across Sato's lips.

"Alright then. Time to make a choice."

Waking up from his imaginations, Sato began browsing the available blueprints in the blacksmithing guild's library. Actually, if Sato wanted something better, he could borrow the blueprints in the Hall's library since the final products were much better in terms of quality and ability when compared to the ones here. However, most of them were above his current ability so it was pointless to search for a suitable blueprint there.

After spending more than 10 minutes looking through the various blueprints for defensive equipment, Sato finally set his eyes on one of them. Actually, Sato had selected two blueprints; one being a blueprint for a shield while the other for a chest plate. Sato eventually settled on the chest plate even though it was more difficult to produce. This was because when compared to a shield, a chest plate had a larger market than a shield.

Steel armours were used by most of the physical classes, except for the [Assassin], whereas shields were only used by [Paladins] and [Guardians]. It was obvious from the start which one would make more money and build a larger customer base.

"Time to get busy."

According to the original plan, the team would have to wait for Xue Yan to recover back to her peak condition before they would take on the Kobold King. In Sato's calculations, this would take up to 24 hours in real life. In other words, he had 48 hours in the IR to get accustomed to forging the chest plate and achieving a productive success rate as well as close to standard quality too.

"This will be a long period."

. . .

. . .

. . .

At the Middle region's 10th floor, the place where all the chaos and havoc began as well as the current lair of the Kobold King, a huge mountain that almost peaked to the ceiling stood right at the centre of the floor. The weird thing about this mountain was the fact that it wasn't here the previous time Sato and the others had made it this far.

At the top of the mountain, a sinister black fog had covered the peak of the mountain, blocking it from view. Even though the lighting in Black Grill's Cave was dim, the black fog was pitch black, almost like the epitome of darkness. Even in this dark environment, it was standing out due to its extreme nature.

If that wasn't creepy enough, an eerie cackle suddenly escaped the black fog. It sounded faint but carried with it a ghostly and blood-curdling sensation. Though faint, it was still strong and maintained the same pitch even after spreading far and wide. In the end, even the kobolds who were far out suddenly froze in their footsteps as they heard it.

The eldritch cackle went on for 4 seconds before it finally disappeared without a trace. The kobolds below could finally stretch out their limbs but surprisingly, none of them did. On the contrary, they all remained stuck in their positions. No, they weren't still; they were trembling. They were shivering all over as if they had just encountered a terrifying demon from the abyss....and this included the Kobold King.

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