Training the body, honing swordsmanship, and measuring talent. They took pride in their talent until they were sent to the agricultural fields. Then they had a taste of hell. The training that was so severe that it changed common sense seemed to be torture.
Still, they endured it. It was a patience that was possible because they learned from the steadfastness of the ground that embraced the crops that changed every season. It was only by seeking instructions in nature, exercising with the farmers, and following the knight’s principles that they felt the evolution of their talent. It wasn’t until they showed worthy swordsmanship and indomitable faith that they could make a pledge of loyalty. As such, the process of becoming a knight of the Overgeared Kingdom was very difficult. It was only when they had formally completed training as a farmer and knight under Piaro and Asmophel that they could dream of qualifying.
“Gulp.”
The Overgeared Knights Division. The strongest knights division that could form a double wall with the Red Knights of the Empire were so nervous that they gulped. They felt greater pressure than when they fought the war against the Gauss Kingdom or against the great demons.
The senior knight Royman spoke again, “Maintain your tension but don’t be afraid. Fear will cause you to shrink back from the flames.”
“Yes!” The knights responded powerfully and set up their shields. Currently, they were surrounding Grid’s smithy. This was because Grid was making a new sword.
The knights vividly remembered that day a long time ago. On the day when the Fire Dragon Sword was born under Grid’s hands, the huge smithy exploded. It was speculated that even the hot furnace couldn’t withstand the internal heat from the Fire Dragon Sword. After the incident on that day, Administrator Rabbit rebuilt the smithy so it was more majestic and sturdy.
‘It might not be enough.’ Rabbit wasn’t very relieved. He had been serving Grid for nearly 20 years and had seen that Grid’s growth never stopped. ‘His Majesty’s blacksmithing technique should’ve evolved even further. This time, the entire district might explode, not just the smithy.’
If he was asked about the correlation between the development of the blacksmithing techniques and explosions, he would be forced to keep his mouth shut. There was quite a backlash against the fact that half of the knights’ power and 80% of the magicians’ power was used to prepare for the aftermath of this explosion.
However, Rabbit insisted and people couldn’t stop him. Even if it was only 1%, the possibility of there being an explosion in the aftermath of Grid’s new sword being created meant Rabbit couldn’t be stopped. It was the duty of the bureaucrats to protect the nation’s property and people.
Ttang!
In this state where tight tension was maintained, Grid’s hammering was faintly heard. It was already a sound that didn’t stop for three days and nights.
“It will end soon.” The magic tower’s master, Laella, failed to decline Rabbit’s request and had to dispatch the magicians. She muttered to herself as she sat on the terrace of a cafe near the smithy, drinking coffee. Grid would soon be forced to log out due to the limit on connection time. Based on Grid’s pattern, the production of the new sword would soon come to an end. The average time that Grid took to create a new sword was three days.
“We can finally see the finished product.”
Peak Sword sat opposite Laella and laughed as he drank persimmon punch. What type of effect would Grid’s new sword boast? He was filled with expectation and had already been excited for a few hours.
They were laid back, unlike Rabbit. They weren’t concerned about an explosion occurring. The explosion that occurred when making the Fire Dragon Sword was the result of the powerful internal heat from the Fire Dragon Sword. Grid wasn’t creating a weapon of fire beyond the Fire Dragon Sword, so that wouldn’t happen.
‘The weapon that Grid makes this time should be a wind or ice one.’
Peak Sword wanted Grid to make a wind attribute type weapon. The versatility of wind attribute weapons that assisted in ranged attacks and acceleration was demonstrated in this year’s National Competition. Many people were impressed by the appearance of the ranker, Oasis, who was part of Ares’ army and who actively used the wind. Oasis was one of the best rookies at this year’s National Competition.
‘He didn’t even use the Undefeated King’s Swordsmanship.’ It seemed he had no intention of showing the world his true worth yet. Few people seemed to know that Oasis was related to the Undefeated King except for the Overgeared Guild. ‘Even so, he won two silver medals and finished in the top 32 in PvP.’
Oasis’ personal skills were great and the power of the sword that controlled the wind was outstanding. The US media attached the title of ‘New Hope’ to him.
‘He has enough qualifications… well, he is a bit worse than Coke.’
Even if Oasis used the Undefeated King’s Swordsmanship, he was slightly inferior to Coke. Peak Sword thought this, but it was true that he was uneasy. According to the information acquired by the Overgeared Shadows, Oasis had currently acquired up to 70,000 Army Swordsmanship. It was a bit pitiful compared to Grid who could use the 300,000 Army Swordsmanship, but that was a story when compared to Grid. Everyone was equal before Grid. Anyone was a novice when compared to Grid.
“Huh?” Laella made a flustered sound as Peak Sword’s thoughts were drifting.
“What is it?”
“Grid had to log out.”
“What?” Peak Sword opened his friends list and frowned. Grid wasn’t connected as Laella had said.
“Perhaps it is the worst result…”
“It seems so…”
Three days. In terms of time, Grid should’ve completed the creation of a new sword. He didn’t experiment with the performance but logged out silently… it could only be interpreted as a failure. There was an uproar in the guild chat window.
-Did Grid log out?
–Don’t tell me…What should we do about Grid…
Grid was still bitter about the secret techniques. Now that even the production of the new sword failed, the Overgeared members were very worried. The entire Overgeared Guild had the atmosphere of a house of mourning.
***
[A glass of soju with chicken feet?]
“I’m tired, but I can’t drink…”
Shin Youngwoo logged out and frowned. It was because the message sent by Peak Sword that didn’t contain any emoticons. He was stuck all day in the smithy without logging out. His mental fatigue was very serious. He was very hungry, but…
First, he had to sleep. Youngwoo threw his body on the bed and slept.
***
The next day.
“Watch your mouths,” Lauel once again reminded the members once it was almost time for Grid to log in. “The person who brings up the new sword in front of His Majesty… I will throw you into Cokro dungeon no matter the reason.”
Hell Gao now appeared with seven fire stones. In order to safely raid him, Grid or all the Overgeared Guild’s raid teams had to be dispatched. Throwing someone there meant killing them. The Overgeared members heard Lauel’s voice and realized he was sincere, causing them to seriously answer in the guild chat window. They were determined to never bring up stories related to crafting items. At this moment—
[The guild master ‘Grid’ has connected.]
This notification window appeared in front of all the Overgeared Guild members. Regas greeted him in an energetic manner.
–Welcome!Let’s have an exciting time today!
Killing intent appeared in Lauel’s eyes. “Faker, move out.”
What? Exciting? ‘Excit’~ing? At this point, wasn’t it almost a rebellion?
A whisper arrived in front of Faker who was trembling.
-I sent Regas to Cokro Island.He looked a bit wronged, but he obediently went into the warp gate.
“Did you see him enter the dungeon?”
-Yes.
“Thank you. Tell your subordinates to keep a good watch.”
Just as Lauel’s upset mood died down, Vantner’s message followed.
-Oh~?Grid is here?Have you been to the gumiho nest on the East Continent?I had a wonderful outing there yesterday…
“Faker.”
–Vantner has already been secured.I am sending him to Cokro Island right now.
–Ack!What is this?What is the matter with this jerk Faker?Hey, you crazy…
“Sigh…”
He dared to say the word ‘wonderful’ in front of Grid. He didn’t have much sense…
Lauel was sighing when new information was delivered to Lauel.
“His Majesty isn’t leaving the smithy.”
“……”
In the Overgeared Kingdom, Grid’s smithy was a divine land. After Khan’s death, no one could step into this divine land without Grid’s permission. Thus, they could only observe. Lauel and the Overgeared members could only cheer for and protect Grid from a distance as he worked in the smithy.
***
Grid had been in the smithy for six days. He still didn’t appear today. The mission of the Overgeared knights and magicians to minimize the damage of the explosion instead changed to Grid’s escort mission. In the midst of their anxiety and worry—
Ttang…
Hammering was heard. Then the worst notification window appeared.
[The guild master ‘Grid’ has logged out.]
The worries of the Overgeared members deepened.
“It is a failure again…”
“This is a really big problem.”
A blacksmith could disassemble items. After the disassembly, the materials used for making the item could be extracted. However, every time it was extracted, the amount of material was reduced or the quality was lowered. Grid had already failed twice in the production of the new sword and was likely to have lost a considerable amount of material.
It wouldn’t matter if the material was the breaths. The rewards that the Overgeared members got from the National Competition were the breaths so there was a lot to give to Grid. Then if it was something other than the breaths… the situation would be terrible.
“We really can’t do anything to help?”
The Overgeared members continued to wait in Lauel’s office. If there was anything Grid needed, then they would run to obtain it. However, they couldn’t help Grid. The ingredient for the new sword was the moon night iron. It couldn’t even be obtained by Grid…
[The guild master ‘Grid’ has logged out.]
Another three days passed. As always, Grid who was stuck in the smithy ended the connection. The morale of the Overgeared members and the entire Overgeared Kingdom dropped to the ground. Grid was the center and pillar of the Overgeared Kingdom. The moment rumors that something changed about him started so spread, the people were shaken.
Time passed by helplessly. Ten days and then a fortnight passed. It was the time for the season to change.
[Overgeared God Grid’s divine object has appeared.]
Then a world message appeared.
[The myth of the Overgeared God is strengthened.]
[All stats of the Overgeared God Church’s believers will permanently increase by 10 and the penalties incurred when wearing items will be slightly reduced.]
“…I’m tired.”
A sword lit up the smithy in the darkness of the night. It was a sword that emitted a cold light like the snow reflecting moonlight. The sword was made from the moon night iron that had been smelted and tempered for over half a month. There was nothing it couldn’t cut. In other words, it was called ‘Falling Moon’ in the sense that it could even cut the moon. Most myth rated items were named by the system. It was severely unpleasant from Grid’s perspective.
“I was going to name it the Scorched Earth Sword…”
[A myth rated item is produced, permanently increasing all stats by 30!]
[Reputation throughout the continent will rise by 1,000.]
[The faith of the Overgeared God Church followers and all the blacksmiths in the world has deepened.]
[Some of the restrictions on a god’s authority will be lifted as people deepen their faith in you.]
[The usage of the reputation points has increased.]
[The sun carriage is now available along with the golden carriage. The sun carriage is a mobile store run by Venice, the god of money.]
“Huhu.”
Normal players frequently used the golden carriage because they could purchase good consumables and items. However, Grid made items using his own power. The consumables were provided by Reidan’s alchemy facility. The golden carriage was just meaningless for Grid. He only purchased the ‘Sweet Candy’ that could only be purchased five times per account.
It meant he had more than 230,000 reputation points to play with. A new store was now available.
A deep smile appeared on Grid’s face as he summoned the sun carriage to confirm the list of items sold. The pain of spending 23 days to produce the new sword and the complaint over the new sword’s name had disappeared.
