Dwarven Blacksmith

Walking out from the Teleportation Hall, Noah then flew in the city opening his Explorer Map. He found the location of a large stone brick made building and got off near it.

The building had a medieval aesthetic with a cloth banner blowing in the wind saying, Dwarven Blacksmith Association.

Noah pushed the wooden door open and entered, he walked to the reception that had a short and wide man sitting. He had a thick beard and was dressed like a Viking.

"I want to meet the best Blacksmith here," Noah said knocking on the counter.

"Everyone always does, it'll cost 10 gold for an appointment," The dwarf answered used to the situation. Everyone that came here always wanted to meet the best blacksmith but after hearing the price they would start to reconsider.

Taking the gold out Noah put it in front, the dwarf slid towards himself 'finally a rich human' he thought, "He's free now, follow the signs to the head office."

The office was on the back of the building, knocking on the door he was told to enter. The room was brown with yellow flame-like crystals for lighting. A dwarf had walked in from one of the side doors and stood behind a table.

The dwarf inspected Noah, he easily noticed all the E Class equipment and two D Class weapons. Taking another look at the Flintlock recognising its craftsmanship, he then turned to look at Noah. His hand waving for Noah to come closer he spoke in a deep voice, "I'm Albert, the Head Blacksmith here, why did you want to meet me?"

Noah took out the Black Estoc and placed it on the table in front of the dwarf, "I want to reforge this sword to a D Class weapon."

He had found put about this place on the forum on earth. It was the best Blacksmith shop in the current world. It sold a range of items from F Class to E Class. However its popularity soared when people noticed a D Class weapon on display. The weapon showed the ability of the blacksmiths here, so it had become the place everyone wanted a weapon from.

Sadly, the prices were just as high as the quality of the products. For now, other than the members of the big guilds no one else could afford anything.

As for Noah, he had more than enough money saved up from doing B Class dungeons. Now that he had changed to better equipment, the last thing he needed to upgrade was the Black Estoc.

The sword was the first E Class weapon he had gotten and it had been equipped by him since then. Many other E Class swords had dropped that had better attributes but he hadn't switched to them. The main reason was that he liked Corrupting Wound and after using it for so long he didn't want to abandon it.

For A class dungeons, he would need it to be D Class at least. The reason he chose to reforge it instead of forging a new sword was that he liked the Corrupting Wound and Armour Break it had.

The dwarf picked the sword up, holding it with both hands, he even cut himself with the bade at his fingertips. The wound on his finger had black smoke coming off, rubbing his fingers together the corruption was erased.

Noah watched the situation wide-eyed, that was the first time he had seen corrupting wound come off so easily. Even the cut had instantly healed. This dwarf was probably one of the strongest people he had met.

Till he had met quite a few people who were residents from the Eternal Battlefield. A few had left an impression, the elven crafter, the gun shop owner and now this dwarf. All three of them had a different aura compared to everyone else he had seen.

Having a feel for the blade, Albert nodded in understanding, "A good sword, you've used it well and brought out all its worth in fights. The main material is an arachnid's limb of the curse element, that's something you don't see every day."

Putting the sword down the dwarf looked at Noah, "Its craftsmanship is basic but the curse energy in the material was enough to push it to E Class. I can already tell your one of those lucky people who hog all the good drops from dungeons."

The dwarf pulled out a hammer and hit the sword with it. The sword had cracks spread out from where it was hit. Seeing the distress in Noah's Face the Blacksmith laughed, "Boy stop panicking, all I did was break the effect of your Sword Mastery Skill on it. The sword is fine."

The sword had cracks form all over it like a spider web. The cracks connected and a thin black layer shattered off.

It revealed the Black Estoc, the sword that looked almost brand new had worn out instantly as if it had been used for tens of thousands of fights. Its blade scratched, chipped and jagged. The blade had spots of decolouration and deformation as if it had melted and cooled. The tip of the blade had been curved by constant use turning completely blunt.

"This is the actual state of your sword. No one really tells you but the main effect of Mastery Skills is to maintain a weapon at its peak condition when equipped. I'm sure you wondered why your blade never dulled, it was the mana in your body constantly sharpening it, keeping it at its peak condition." Albert spoke as he worked on analysing the sword.

"I've unequipped the sword a few times, but it didn't change in appearance like this," Taking the sword from the dwarf he also saw how dull the blade had gotten.

"It takes time for the Mastery Skill to wear off after you unequip a weapon. This is why people don't notice it. Only around a month later of unequipping a weapon will the mana on it run out and completely disconnect from you. If you equip it again it'll change back, so you don't need to worry." Albert then said, "If I remove most of the material off of it and refine it to a solid core with curse energy, I could use that as a base for a D Class weapon. It'll have a similar shape and attribute ratio. You'll just need to provide materials."

"What do you need? I'll get it for you." For materials, he would check if he already have them and if he didn't he would grind for them just like he had done for the Ancient Magic Wood Flintlock.

Shaking his head the Albert said, "Show me what you have first, then I'll tell you if I need anything. We aren't following some fixed recipe, I just need materials that have certain characteristics to upgrade the sword. With the variety of materials that can drop in the Eternal Battlefield, it'll impossible for me to just give you a list of useable materials."

"I don't have anything on me, I'll have to go get them."

"It's fine, go and get them for me to see, bring everything for me to see."