West Street was slightly narrower than the main street, but it was just as lively.
Matthew’s Blacksmith Shop was easy to find; the rhythmic clanging of hammers could be heard from a distance. Inside the open storefront, the furnace glowed a fiery red, sending waves of heat carrying the scent of coal and metal onto the street.
A wooden sign hung at the shop’s entrance, crudely carved with the image of an anvil.
The interior was quite spacious. Several shirtless men were working up a sweat at their anvils, while racks along the walls were filled with longswords, short axes, and spearheads, alongside stacks of leather and chainmail armor.
Three or four people dressed as adventurers were browsing the wares, haggling with the shop assistant behind the counter.
It was a busy and ordinary scene.
Just as Bai Xuan was about to step inside, a booming voice exploded from the side: “Hey! I see you again!”
He turned to see a stout figure striding out of a nearby alley.
A thick, reddish-brown beard was braided into several strands, adorned with small metal rings that jingled with every step.
Dust and a few grease stains covered his half-plate armor, and the handle of the battleaxe at his waist showed significant wear.
It was Barend, the dwarf who had been arguing with the human blacksmith at the town gate yesterday and had insisted on dragging Bai Xuan in to mediate.
The dwarf walked up, looking up at Bai Xuan and grinning to reveal teeth slightly yellowed by tobacco. “It’s fate! Are you here to buy gear in this dump too?”
His voice was so loud that it drew glances from two customers inside the shop.
Bai Xuan nodded slightly. “I wanted to see if the craftsmanship here is any good.”
“Iron forged by humans!”
Barend waved his hand dismissively, his beard shaking along with the motion. “It’s fine for dealing with goblins or forest wolves!”
“But if you’re planning to crawl into a dark hole like Glay Dungeon, or if you’re going to scrap with something actually troublesome, the junk here won’t last a few hits!”
His tone was filled with the characteristic pride dwarves had for their own smithing skills.
Bai Xuan looked at the busy scene at the shop entrance, then back at Barend. “If that’s the case, why are you here?”
A hint of embarrassment flashed across Barend’s rugged face.
He coughed twice and leaned in, lowering his voice, though it still wasn't particularly quiet. “Cough... well, I had a bit of a spat with an old fellow from the clan, and for now... well, I can’t quite bring myself to go back.”
“The human shops here are just barely enough to manage some repairs.”
As he spoke, he suddenly twitched his nose. His eyes, hidden beneath bushy brows, instantly lit up like a miner who had discovered a treasure.
He leaned closer to Bai Xuan, sniffing carefully, and even walked half a circle around him.
“Wait,” he stopped, his expression turning serious. “On you... there’s the scent of some good materials!”
“It’s not ordinary rust or the smell of raw steel... is it high-grade ore? Or refined metal that’s already been forged?”
Bai Xuan felt a jolt in his heart, but his expression remained unchanged. “You can smell that?”
“Of course!”
Barend proudly slapped his thick chest, producing a dull thud. “A dwarf’s nose is meant for identifying ore veins! Even through your pack and leather pouches, I can’t tell exactly what it is,”
“But this scent... it’s definitely top-tier stuff! Kid, bringing such precious materials to a shop that can only produce common goods is simply...”
He searched for the right words. “It’s like selling mithril as scrap iron!”
He enthusiastically reached out to pat Bai Xuan’s shoulder.
Due to the height difference, he could only barely reach, making the gesture look somewhat comical. “Come, come! Don’t waste your good materials here! I’ll take you to see a real master of the forge!”
“Mora’s skill, I tell you, in all of Blackcreek Town... no, all the human blacksmiths in the surrounding territories combined couldn't match a single hammer handle of hers!”
“And the price?” Bai Xuan asked the most critical question.
Barend scrutinized Bai Xuan again, from his neat clothes and aura to the leather pouches at his waist, which looked ordinary but were made of sturdy material.
His eyes grew brighter and brighter. “For someone like you who knows your stuff and has the materials, the price will definitely be worth it!”
“Good skill and good materials make a good weapon; you surely understand that! Can you really afford to skimp on the gear that saves your life?”
Bai Xuan weighed his options quickly. He truly did need a top-tier artisan.
Although Barend had a rough personality, his obsession with craftsmanship standards yesterday showed he had a straightforward and principled side.
In a strange place like Blackcreek Town, having another potential connection, especially one related to smithing, was by no means a bad thing.
He glanced at the mass-produced weapons inside Matthew’s Blacksmith Shop.
Then he looked at the genuine eagerness in Barend’s eyes, along with a faint, strange hint of craftiness, and finally nodded. “Lead the way.”
“Haha! That’s more like it!”
Barend was overjoyed. He turned and started walking with his short legs, yet his pace was remarkably fast. “Follow me! I guarantee it’ll be worth the trip!”
Leaving the busy West Street, Barend led Bai Xuan into an alleyway that was gradually becoming deserted.
The dwarf was clearly a chatterbox; his mouth almost never stopped.
“Where are you from? The North? I heard there are ancient ore veins under the permafrost there, is that true?”
“You’re here in Blackcreek Town for Glay Dungeon, right? Out of every ten new faces that have arrived lately, eight of them are here for that place. I don’t know what’s down there that’s so alluring.”
“What kind of weapon do you need? A longsword? A battleaxe? You look like a caster to me, but the way you walk and the calluses on your hands... tsk, you’ve got a bit of a warrior’s vibe too. How interesting!”
Bai Xuan mostly gave vague responses, primarily listening to him speak.
Barend didn't mind and continued talking to himself.
“Mora’s skill is truly beyond reproach! Have you heard of the Iron Rank adventure team ‘Silver Heart’?”
“The plate armor their captain wears, which can withstand a heavy blow from an ogre, was forged by Mora in her earlier years! It still looks as good as new!”
At the mention of an ogre, Bai Xuan’s pace faltered for a moment before he regained his composure and continued following.
But his mind was far from calm; he still clearly remembered that Level 6 ogre. Even with his current strength, he would likely struggle to survive a single blow from it.
Yet the armor forged by this Mora could actually withstand it. It seemed she truly had the skill!
Barend didn't notice Bai Xuan’s reaction and continued rambling.
“However, she’s very picky about materials. She won’t even look at ordinary refined steel or iron ingots.”
“Lately... she seems to have taken on a difficult job, so her mood might be exceptionally foul... just bear with it later.” At this point, Barend himself shrunk his neck slightly.
The street grew narrower, and resilient weeds sprouted from the cracks in the stone pavement.
The air seemed to grow hotter, and a rhythmic, heavy thumping could be heard faintly in the distance, like the heartbeat of the earth.
Rounding a corner, Bai Xuan saw a thick chimney rising above the surrounding rooftops, emitting a faint trail of gray smoke.
“Almost there!” Barend pointed toward the end of the alley.
There stood a single-story stone building. The walls had been blackened to a deep brownish-black by years of furnace smoke, and the windows were small and fitted with thick glass.
A heavy-looking wooden door was tightly shut. On the iron sign above the door, dwarven script was engraved, with a translation in the common human tongue below it: “The Fire God’s Forge.”
In the bottom right corner of the sign was an inconspicuous small symbol—a crossed hammer and sword surrounded by a ring of strange runes.
The front of the shop was quiet, forming a sharp contrast with the bustle of Matthew’s Blacksmith Shop.
“She welcomes normal business, but if it’s a request for custom forging, Mora only takes three types of jobs.”
Rate on N.U.
