Meeting An Expert Blacksmith— Smith Smithies

"So... where are we going next?"

Before Albrecht could answer, he already stepped into the Zecian Portal and came out the other side. He was then greeted by a huge marketplace which was in shambles.

It was a weird scene since all of them who were present were just cleaning up. No one was alarmed, but rather they accepted the destruction as if it were part of their daily lives.

Yulie and the others were shocked, and they expectantly stared at Albrecht so he would ask what was going on. Fortunately, Albrecht found a passers-by and grabbed him by the arm. "What happened here?" He asked out of curiosity.

"Oh, the Zecian Portal appeared in the middle of the marketplace. That's why everyone's scrambling about. Don't worry though, no one was hurt nor killed for that matter. Our shop's been hit pretty badly. Good thing our wares weren't damaged." The man responded. "In any case, here's my calling card. I figured it would be nice to have some connections here and there. Please accept it and spread the word."

Nodding his head once, Albrecht deliberately accepted the calling card. In bold letters, it read 'Smith Smithies Smithshop. All your equipment needs!'

"It's a pretty catchy name, right? In any case, see you around. Give me a call once you get yourself some fine materials. I'll make you a weapon or an armor at a discount." Smith Smithies clicked his tongue before he waved his hand.

As he did so, Albrecht immediately used his 'Eye of Judgment' skill to see who this Smith Smithies guy was. To his surprise, his stats were through the roof.

[Skill: Hand of Hephaestus (S-rank, Exclusive)— Passive Skill. With the dexterous hands of the epitome of forging, increases the success rate of reforge by 100%. Can boost a weapon's effectiveness by 20-30%. Can create any weapon as long as there's a reference.]

Albrecht's eyes almost popped out of his sockets when he saw such an overpowered skill. He badly wanted to record it in his Akashic Records of Space and Time if possible. After all, if he could get two legendary weapons and wield them, he'd be unstoppable.

There were already a lot of weapons that came to mind when Albrecht tapped into the memories of the other Albrechts. Adding to that, thanks to their memories and the System, he had plenty of references so he could just pull one weapon out from memory and replicate it in reality. It was truly a godsend skill.

"Where are we going next?" Theresa asked once again, but Albrecht raised his hand to get their attention before he started walking forward.

In most cases, the System would automatically give him a notification if a unique skill could be recorded in the Akashic Records of Space and Time or not. But right now, there weren't any heads up. Albrecht was actually expecting a window to pop up in front of him, but nothing happened.

He wanted to ask the System what he could do to get that skill, but right now, he wanted to personally figure out how to activate that skill record by the System.

It would've been easy if he just looked into the memories of the other Albrechts, but this time, he wanted to solve it himself. After that, he would get some hints from the other Albrechts.

Without hesitation, Albrecht approached Smith Smithies. Now that he thought about it, the name was pretty weird, but then again, both his first and last names were pretty common, so he didn't bother thinking about the weird combination of his name.

Theresa, Sheila, Yukina, and Yulie all trailed behind Albrecht. They had no idea what prompted him to follow the guy he talked to, but they didn't ask any questions. After all, everything would explain itself when the opportune time comes, and with Albrecht being a straightforward kind of guy, that time of truth would come sooner rather than later.

As for Smith Smithies, he instantly noticed that Albrecht was approaching him. A smile appeared on his face before he muttered something under his breath. For a brief moment, there was a creepy expression on his face, but that instantly shifted into a hospitable one in a snap of a finger.

One moment, he was manically smiling, and then the next, he wore the warmest of smiles before he turned around to greet Albrecht while clasping his hands together. The moment he introduced himself, he actually expected Albrecht to approach him again, that's why he wasn't at all that surprised.

Seeing him walk towards him also proved the fact that he could use some sort of clairvoyance skill, and this was the reason why Smith Smithies was grinning. After all, only those adventurers who were pretty high-leveled could use that kind of skill.

"You, Sam Smithies, right?" Albrecht asked although he already knew the answer. "I've seen what was written on the calling card and upon further inspection, I'm interested."

"Oh, a customer! Or should I say... a client?" Smith Smithies rubbed his hands together before extending it towards Albrecht. "In any case, allow me to formally introduce myself. I'm Smith Smithies of the Smith Smithies Smithshop."

It was a tongue twister of an introduction but Albrecht didn't think about it. In response, he extended his hands as well. "I'm Albrecht Stein." He casually said. "So, like? Can I look at your creations? Or would that be a bother?" He asked since it was clear that Smith Smithies was running here and there to fix their spot in the First Outerlayer.

After all, it was badly damaged by the appearance of the Zecian Portal that led to the Seventh Outerlayer.

"No, not really, you're more than welcome to view all of them. Also..." At this point, Smith Smithies caught a glance of the tag that Albrecht wore. He almost choked on his own saliva when he realized that Albrecht actually wore a Bronze Tag.

Eh?!

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—

There was a huge pause before Smith Smithies cleared his throat. Although it was clear that Albrecht was a low-level adventurer, that fact didn't deter Smith from welcoming him and taking him in as a customer. "Please follow me, our main branch's nearby." He beckoned after clearing his throat.

He couldn't tell what to make of Albrecht, but even then, he continued indulding his request. 'Who knows, he might just be hiding his real identity... or maybe he could be a good investment someday.' Or so that's what Smith thought to himself.