Chapter 355: Blacksmith Mentor + Apprentice

In the industrial district of Metropolis-D, a youngster was hurriedly carrying a half-naked blacksmith in a princess carry.

"We're almost outside! Hang on. There will be some fresh air soon!" The wannabe hero reassured the man he was saving.

Yet, this damsel in distress was frowning, weakly struggling, as he tried to free himself­. The blacksmith still had a bet ongoing! If only his state was better, he would have been able to protest!

The youngster finally managed to bring his mentor outside their shop. Yes, outside. The poor middle-aged man was now enduring the shame of his life.

The few bystanders gasped as they saw how little he was wearing. Some even nudged their friends, laughingly pointing at him, taking pictures.

"Master, are you alright?!" He gently fed him healing pills.

The worried voice of his apprentice felt so goddamn irritating at that moment! He didn't realize his mistake at all as he kept him here for the whole world to see.

The man slowly recuperated enough to rise shakily. Then the first thing he did upon having regained control of his body was to peer at his disciple's kind face. Then he ever so gently raised his hand…and bitchslapped the son of a bitch!

The youngster's skin rippled under the impact, with him recoiling a bit. He couldn't help but be perplexed. What was happening to his mentor? Had the heat fried his brain?!

"You fool! Why the heck did you meddle in my business?! Do you think this is funny?!"

"Master….if you're talking about how the people are looking at you, then just ignore their gazes. They're idiots that don't know who you are." He reassured his teacher.

"Hell no, I was having a challenge inside! Why did you pointlessly meddle! Now this will be considered my loss!" He fumed

"Challenge? What? No, you were inside, and you were training as usual! You overstayed and—" even till now, the youth had no clue what he had done.

That's when Josh couldn't help but chuckle:

"Well, that still makes it my win, no matter if you wanted to leave or not. Still, don't take it to heart. You would have lost eventually." He teased.

It's only then that the youngster saw the duo of Josh and Markus. They had obviously just exited the forge. He couldn't help but stare at them as if they had teleported there.

"W-what?! When did you guys appear?!"

The blacksmith was pissed, but he was a man of his word.

"Fine, I'll make a weapon for you. Just tell me what kind you want, and I'll do my best to work on it right now." He grumbled.

"Master, you can't! Your ailment is about to flare out! You can't do it! You have to keep training. It's the only way you'll survive!" The youth cried out.

The two bystanders were stunned as the youth vehemently begged the middle-aged man to reconsider. But he sternly denied him: "It doesn't matter. I said I would, and I fucking will!"

That's when Markus chimed in:

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"Josh, it seems he's not fit for work. Let's go." He simply declared, worry in his voice.

What was the relationship between the two? Also, wasn't he going to offer him any help as the head of Metropolis-D?

But then he saw the mixed emotions in his eyes. He was saddened yet resolved. Then again, that blacksmith seemed stubborn enough not to accept help.

Seeing that it wasn't working, the youth turned to Josh:

"Please reconsider! He's at a critical moment and—"

"Shut up, kid!!" The blacksmith interrupted.

"No, let him speak. You need to make me a weapon to the best of your abilities. This includes telling me about any potential health issue that could affect the work done." Josh argued.

"The art he's practicing makes it so that he can absorb flames to become stronger and boost his blacksmithing effectiveness. But there's a downside to it. This technique cannot be stopped. He can either keep leveling it up or die."

"Die?!"

"The body becomes full of fire element until it starts to break down. To survive further, he needs to increase his fire resistance. That's the only way this works!"

Josh couldn't help but suck in a cold breath. This was utter madness! Practicing this technique was akin to swaggering near Hiroshima to get a third arm to work faster. Sure it sounded cool and all— until it freaking killed you!

"I see. Let's make another deal then…." Josh uttered with the youngster showing hope.

In the background, the middle-aged wanted to protest, but he was promptly ignored by everyone involved. Hell, Markus even gagged him so he would stop trying to dig his own grave. The two were friends, right?

"…Look, I just need someone to craft or enchant me a powerful morphing weapon. If you can refer me to the best blacksmith for the job, then we'll be good." Josh proposed.

He expected the youngster to be relieved. After all, this wouldn't be too hard a job, right? But his reaction was quite odd. His mouth opened wide in surprise. It was as if he had heard something impossible.

He even mumbled a low: "Holy shit!"

Josh couldn't help but frown. What was happening right now? Was this an unexpectedly complex request or something? Hell, all of the parties involved showed strange expressions.

"Are you sure that's what you want? Weren't you just using that because you didn't have anything better?" Markus asked carefully.

"Naw? I legit have stronger weapons, but they don't even come close in versatility." Josh plainly stated.

His fighting style revolved around using the best tool for the job. Ever since tasting the freedom of having a weapon able to cater to his whims, he couldn't easily go back to a regular one.

That's when the blacksmith apprentice began laughing. It was a boisterous and pure laugh, one that was so hearty that it sent him coughing after a while.

"What did I miss?" Josh asked, perplexed.

"Brother, I'm the one that designed, crafted, and sold all the morphing weapons in existence in this world." The youngster dropped this bomb.

"What?!"

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How was this possible? One guy had done it all? As much as he remembered, Dario hadn't mentioned anything about that.

"Oh, there actually are some "crafted" by others, but they all use a basic part I made, one that makes it all possible." He explained, with pride filling his voice.

That would explain it. This was probably a blacksmith thing. It wouldn't be known as long as one didn't ask in detail about the exact process.

"That's great then! How about you make me one then? The debt your master owes me will be null then." Josh happily said.

But that's when the blacksmith finally freed himself from Markus's grasp as he stared at him directly.

"Kid, you can't accept this. For Markus to bring this man over it means he's not a regular guy. I had specifically told him not to bring anyone. You can't afford to make a fool out of him."

He then turned toward Josh with resolve:

"No matter what happens to me in the future, I can still work right now. Don't worry and just leave the production to me. You won't be disappointed!"

By the side, Markus couldn't help but shake his head, deploring how ridiculous the blacksmith sounded right now. He had brought Josh here precisely because he didn't know anyone more easygoing than him— in his odd way.

He would always cause trouble, but he didn't believe that any of it was ever intentional. He was a good man at heart, or so he believed. The man was actually his brother, and he had wanted to help him indirectly by letting them meet.

"So, why can't he just make me a morphing weapon?" Josh asked, confused.

"It's way too weak. At some point, it is bound to fail you, and there is no way that he will be able to account for that mistake. That will kill his career as a blacksmith!" The middle-aged man explained.

So he was looking out for the youngster, eh? He was worried Josh was a bigshot that would be dissatisfied with the work and possibly complain. True, this could quickly become a stain on someone's budding career.

It could be as easy as:

1. Ranker weapon breaks during a raid

2. Party almost wipes

3. Ranker colleagues complain at the local bar while drunk

4. A journalist picks the story up and makes an article about the shady blacksmith that made a dangerous weapon

5. The youngster would be condemned to mediocrity for a long time.

Was it too grim of an outlook? For sure! Still, Josh could understand the reasoning. It wasn't like it was that unlikely either. But that's when the youngster chimed in.

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"Sir, let me craft it! I actually theorized a way to create a new morphing weapon. One that not only will be way more powerful than the last one but that will also be upgradeable!"

Josh felt like this was music to his ears. Upgradeable?! Was such a thing even possible?! How fucking amazing!

The mentor interrupted once again:

"Don't listen to him! His theoretical weapon would cost way too much to craft, it wouldn't be worth it! Plus, the ever-changing aspect of it wouldn't allow Class bonuses to apply to its mastery!"

"Mastery?" How was this a thing?

"The memories of the heroes of old will never include such a niche and odd weapon. It will actually interfere with one's ability to wield it!" He said.

How interesting. Why should he care about that? The more he heard about it and the more it seemed perfect for him!

"You said that it's expensive, right? How expensive are we talking about?" Josh asked.

"It would require the rarest of ingredients that can only be found at auctions. More than a million Credits! Only a fool would ever spend so much for it!" The blacksmith explained.

That's when Josh turned to the crestfallen youngster.

The more the guy's mentor spoke, the more he realized how much he had ignored in his excitement. He was 100% right.

He was just like that. He was a creator, one that just enjoyed the process of creating. Theory crafting the perfect possible material combination was the ultimate pleasure to him. But as he listened, he realized how little sense this all made.

He was even ashamed for even proposing it in the first place. The man wanted an excellent weapon, and there he was, selling him pipe dreams while forgetting to talk about the insane downsides.

The youngster felt ashamed of himself at this moment. He had to stay grounded in reality. His master was right. What was the point of the most OP theoretical weapon if it was too crazy ever to be realized?!

"Sorry, I got overexcited and—" He bowed to apologize.

"What are you talking about? Stop wasting my time already…."

He felt profound shame. It was so damn true.

"…Stop wasting my time, and let's go to the nearest auction. It's just one million Credits, right? No big deal."

At that moment, all parties involved choked, even Markus, who had brought him in the first place.

Just one million Credits?! Let's go to the auction?! No Big deal?! What the actual fuck!

Josh was already signaling the youngster to hurry up. Was this a dream? A shellshocked apprentice blacksmith began lifelessly leading the way…

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[A/N] There we go! Auction mini-arc incoming. This is a staple haha! All that fuss...what's the point! Let's just buy it all!

Creator's Thought

What's the point of accumulating money if one never uses it? What seemed like an utter waste to everyone else involved actually sounded like a great investment to me. After all, money was just piling up in my account thanks to D.L. It was pretty much a Credits printing machine. If it could help me Climb it was worth it 100%!

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