Chapter 4: Chapter 4- Upgrading the Soulbound Sword
Hugh turned the sword around in his hands once more. "You forged this yesterday?"
Leo replied proudly, "Yes. First thing I forged in this world."
Hugh’s eyes moved along the sword’s edge, its hilt, and spine.
His eyes narrowed in disbelief. "A novice blacksmith shouldn’t be able to forge this."
He set the sword down. "But you broke the sky yesterday, so I guess you do have some talent."
Leo just smiled and said nothing.
Hugh scratched his beard while studying him. "I’m Hugh. Head of this smithy and the only high-level blacksmith in town. I’ve been working in this forge for forty years now."
Hugh eyed the recipe book with disdain. "This book." He picked it up with two fingers like he didn’t even want to touch it. "It’s trash. Utterly trash. If you follow it, you’ll end up making junks. Where the hell did you even get it?" Hugh grunted.
"Guild rewards."
"The guild... Of course. Hmph. Fine. I’ll give you some real blueprints. But you have to work first."
Saying that, Hugh looked at the messy pile of ores he had been putting off, leaving them to grow more unmanaged by the day. So he gave the sorting work to Leo.
"Sort that stock. Separate them by purity. Let’s see if you can actually tell the difference between ore quality. Since you have some skill and experience in blacksmithing, this task shouldn’t be too difficult."
Leo was happy to get the blueprint, so he agreed quickly.
Forge-Sight easily scanned through everything and effortlessly differentiated high- and low-quality ores. The sorting job still took him roughly two hours. All the while, Hugh kept hammering away at steel, stealing glances in Leo’s direction from time to time, pretending he wasn’t watching at all.
The last piece of ore was placed, and the disorganized pile had become three clean rows. Leo straightened up and rolled his shoulders.
Hugh walked over, checked the neatly stacked ores from one end to the other, and nodded in satisfaction.
He reached across the counter and handed Leo a worn-out parchment.
[Blueprint Acquired: Iron Longsword (Master’s Notes)]
Tier: Common
Materials: Iron Ore x2, Coal x1
Base Quality: Normal (may be improved with better materials or skills) Hand-annotated.
Detailed corrections. +10% base quality when followed precisely.
The difference could be seen at a glance.
The recipe book was literally just a list of materials required for forging.
But this blueprint included vivid descriptions, diagrams, and breakdowns, along with personal notes from various blacksmiths.
"Widen the tang by 2mm if using soft iron." "Quench at cherry red, not brighter." Corner angle requirements. Edge thickness tolerances.
The important points were all marked out clearly.
Notes were scrawled in five different inks, layered over what looked like decades of use.
After going through it, Leo tucked both books into his inventory.
Leo lit the forge.
For the first sword, he followed the blueprint to the letter.
No Mythic class skill. No talent perks. No Forge-Sight and no Eternal Flame.
He struck the hammer according to the instructions and quenched it at the exact time mentioned in the blueprint.
After a while, he finally completed the sword.
[Ding!]
[Forging Complete]
Iron Longsword
Quality: Normal
Tier: Common
Damage: 7-11
Durability: 45/45
The result was a normal sword.
Leo looked at the sword, which turned out just as he had expected. It’s decent. I’ll keep it.
Before he could grab the sword, Hugh came over, picked it up, and gave it a few swings.
"You can follow the instructions. I’ll give you that," Hugh said, tapping the blade with his fingers.
"But the sword you forged yesterday was a lot better. Significantly better."
He met Leo’s eyes. "This is a good sword, but you can’t just copy everything down to the letter. If you want to progress further, you need to feel the passion, feel the metal." Hugh paused and spoke with a fierce gaze. "Show me what you can really do."
Keeping Hugh’s words in mind, he started working on the second sword.
He chose a piece of high-purity iron ore from the sorted stock. As he pumped the bellows, the flames roared higher. Secretly, he drew upon the Eternal Flame, weaving it into the coals without a sound.
The fire simply felt hotter; nobody would notice anything more.
The ore softened almost instantly.
He placed the glowing metal on the anvil.
Activating Forge-Sight. Every flaw — impurities, micro-fractures, and uneven densities — appeared like glowing targets mapped out in his vision. Guided by the skill, he brought the hammer down with precision, striking exactly where the metal needed it most.
Tanggg. Tangggg.
This time, the hammering rhythm was smooth and didn’t sound as mechanical as it had sounded previously. Leo adjusted his grip from time to time, doing his best to strike in response to the feedback from the metal.
Memories of his father resurfaced in his mind, telling him: You don’t force it, you ask it.
The sword had taken shape.
After quenching, hammering out the minor details, and sharpening, he attached the handle and leather grip. Then the sword was ready.
[Ding!]
[Forging Complete: Iron Longsword]
Quality: Flawless
Tier: Uncommon
Damage: 14-19
Durability: 55/55
Special: Forged with Eternal Flame. Lightweight — reduces stamina cost by 10%.
The quality was flawless this time.
He showed the flawless sword to Hugh. Hugh picked it up and turned it in his hands for a whole minute.
Hugh was shocked internally but didn’t show it on his face. This brat really managed to forge a flawless sword on his second try after some advice. Is this brat really that talented?
"You learned fast, and it seems like you have a solid foundation. Where’d you learn blacksmithing?"
Hugh tried to probe Leo.
"My father taught me," Leo said. "He always used to nag me to feel the metal and see where it wanted to go."
Hugh noticed that Leo was using the past tense whenever he talked about his father. He raised a brow and wanted to ask, but decided against it.
"Sounds like a good man and a good blacksmith."
After giving the sword a few swings, he finally put it down. "You’ve got natural hands, a solid foundation, and decent talent. But don’t let that go to your head — talent without experience is just a fast way to make expensive mistakes."
"I understand." Leo nodded. He looked at his soulbound sword on his waist.
"I want to try upgrading my sword."
Hugh raised an eyebrow. He opened his mouth and tried to say something, but ultimately just nodded and went back to his own work.
Leo brought out his soulbound sword and set it on the anvil. He chose a piece of pure ore and fused it directly into the blade.
This time, he directly summoned the Eternal Flame, activating both Forge-Sight and Hyperfocus at the same time.
He had wanted to try this combination from the moment he got his hands on these skills.
The moment he turned on his skills, the world he perceived changed.
His vision narrowed down to the forge. Everything else ceased to exist.
The noises and clattering in the air disappeared.
There was only the blade, the eternal fire, and the flaws he was seeing in the blade through his new vision.
His hammer came down with never-before-seen precision.
The eternal fire surged further.
Rhythmic hammering continued.
Clang. Clang. Clang.
The fire in the forge responded to him, surging wildly as the Eternal Flame took over. Leo remained in his trance, hammering away.
CLANG. CLANG. CLANG.
The flames grew out of control. Streams of golden flame rolled across the ceiling. The entire smithy seemed to be on fire.
Hugh was scared shitless.
"Brat!"
Hugh’s voice roared through the smithy. He was backing towards the door, one hand raised against the heat.
"Control your fire before you burn this smithy down to the ground! I have kept this place standing for fucking forty years. If you torch this place, I swear to every god that exists that..."
Leo didn’t hear a word.
Hugh stood there, not knowing whether to laugh or cry.
His jaw clenched tightly in anger. He took a step towards Leo.
But he stopped in his tracks. This kid is deep in a trance, a state that you can’t enter even if you try for thousands of years. The kid’s still hammering with eyes half closed in that eerie rhythm.
Should I stop him or let it continue. Hugh was in a dilemma.
Just as he was about to intervene and stop Leo, the fire died down.
Leo snapped out of his trance. Sweat dripped profusely, making his clothes entirely wet while he gasped for breath.
Hyperfocus had taken a heavy toll on his body.
He looked down at the blade he was forging.
The dark metal sword now had gray veins of molten gold running from the hilt to the tip.
The sword was finally completed.
[Ding!]
[Forging Complete]
[Ember-Touched Longsword]
Quality: Masterwork
Tier: Rare
Damage: 28-36
Durability: ∞
Special: +8 Fire Damage on hit 15% chance to ignite on critical hit (8s burn)
Soulbound (Leo Stone)
Name inscribed by System: Ember-Touched Sword.
Leo sheathed the completed blade and turned to face Hugh, who was shocked and, for some reason, sweating even more than he was.
His expression was caught between anger and awe.
"You brat!" Hugh gritted his teeth, face bright red. "You nearly burned my smithy down!"
Leo looked at the scorched walls and blackened cross beams. His ears turned red.
"S... sorry."
Hugh stared at him with a fierce gaze for a long moment. Then he let out a breath through his gritted teeth.
"Never mind, the forge is still standing." He crossed his arms.
"But you’d better keep that fire under control, boy. It’s special... and it will catch others’ covetous eyes. Be careful."
"And that forging was quite good. If I have to say it, it’s the best one I’ve seen in many years."
Truly apologetic, Leo left the flawless sword with Hugh as compensation. He took only a common sword and his own blade, knowing he had already used up most of the ore in Hugh’s smithy for free and nearly burned the place down.
"Oh! And one more thing."
Hugh’s voice stopped him.
"There’s talk about the sky cracking. People are searching for the person responsible. They want to find you. Some want to recruit you. Others....... not so much. Be careful."
Leo held his gaze.
"Thank you."
He stepped out into the streets.
He made his way to the inn as the day turned over in his mind. Forging two swords, upgrading my personal sword. A great day. I haven’t had day like this in years.
A notification panel popped up:
[Ding!]
[Hidden Quest Reminder]
Memory of the First Fire.
Trace the source of the primordial resonance.
Objective: Investigate the ruined forge west of Ironhaven.
Reward: ???
It was the hidden quest again.
This was the third time this quest had surfaced.
It was quite persistent, practically urging him to go there as soon as possible. But he dismissed it for now; he had a lot going on already and would go once he sorted out his immediate issues.
Soon, he muttered silently.
"LOGOUT"
Leo’s vision returned and he found himself back at the counter of the smithy. He had logged into the game in the morning and now it was already night. Leo decided to sleep the night in the smithy. It was already late, and he didn’t want to walk all the way to his apartment.
Leo was satisfied with the day’s work, so he slept soundly without any anxiety.
Next Morning,
Leo sat behind the counter as usual, brewed himself a coffee, and browsed through his phone. The news was getting stranger and stranger by the day.
MYTH ONLINE DECLARED A "SOVEREIGN DIGITAL ENTITY" BY THREE COUNTRIES
SCIENTISTS CONFIRM: NO KNOWN TECHNOLOGY CAN CREATE MYTH ONLINE
Leo put away his phone and walked around the smithy. Flashes of memories of his dad and the smithy spun in his mind. He glanced at the cold forge. Lately it felt like he was saying goodbye to the forge every time he walked in.
He had earned some money, but that was far from enough.
He came back to the counter and leaned back in the chair.
"CONNECT."
His body dissolved into a flash of light, and he found himself in the inn where he had logged out.
Leo checked his status. His HP, MP, and Stamina were all full.
He rolled his shoulders and thought about what to do today.
Let’s do some quests and check my fighting prowess. He had a Mythic-rank class and some weird fighting skills which he never had chance to use.
He made his way to the Adventurer’s Guild.
The Adventurer’s Guild was a two-story stone building with a wooden board outside the gate, bearing the words "Adventurer’s Guild" written in large, calligraphic script. The ink in the calligraphy showed it had been repainted many times throughout the years.
The previous registrar building where he picked a class was just a branch of the Adventurer’s Guild. This main building was an eye-opener.
Leo asked around and made his way to the quest board. The board was packed with quests like gathering herbs, collecting raw materials, and hunting beasts. The quests were ranked from Novice to Hero level.
Leo scanned the board and his gaze fixed on the quest at the bottom.
[Quest: Wolf Slaying — Westwood Road]
Rank: F
Objective: Eliminate Iron Ridge Wolves (0/8)
Location: Westwood Road, 2 km west of Ironhaven
Reward: 30 Silver, 50 XP
Note: Recent attacks on supply caravans. The wolves are emboldened by something.
He tore the quest form from the board.
