Dark Fairy Tale: Tyrant, Conquered Cinderella at the Beginning

Chapter 44 A True Masterpiece!

[Your craftsmen have accumulated a vast amount of forging experience through long-term work. The host can come to the forge at any time to collect it!]. [Would the host like to receive the forging experience?].

“Forging experience? What does it do? Tell me more,” Richard asked curiously.

[Forging experience can enhance the host’s personal forging skills. As the master of the forge, the forging experience you gain is the combined experience of all the craftsmen in the forge!].

Oh, really? That’s good news.

Richard’s interest was immediately piqued.

Initially, he was worried about whether these people could craft his extraordinary weapon properly, but now he didn’t have to worry anymore.

Once he accepted the experience, his forging skills would undoubtedly be the best in the entire forge, and he could do the crafting himself.

Fortunately, the task he previously assigned them was only to smelt these two materials, not to forge them.

The materials should still be available.

With this in mind, Richard silently thought, “Receive the experience.”

In the next moment, a mysterious sensation surged through his mind and body.

[Congratulations, host, you have gained the abilities of an Advanced Blacksmith!]. [The advanced blacksmith will automatically unlock the corresponding blueprints!].

Following the system’s prompt, Richard’s mind was suddenly filled with countless forging techniques and metal formulas.

Standing at the entrance of the forge, Richard paused for a few seconds as he absorbed all the experience.

At that moment, he felt as if he had genuinely acquired decades of forging experience and skill.

Just by listening to the clanging sounds around him, he could tell if one craftsman’s hammer was not forceful enough or if another’s strike needed to shift one centimeter to the right for a better result.

This was the knowledge and insight brought to him by the level-up in his abilities.

Richard then entered the forge.

His gaze shifted to the furnace, where the copper and magic steel still showed no signs of change. Even though they were melting, they remained distinct from each other, and he frowned slightly.

At that moment, the head blacksmith saw Richard approach and immediately stepped forward, kneeling on the ground:

“Forgive us, my lord! We tried many methods, but we could not fuse the copper and magic steel together. Please, my lord, punish us!”

“Stand up!” Richard said with a smile. “I asked you to try simply to explore more possibilities. It doesn’t matter if you couldn’t do it. I’ll handle it from here.”

The head blacksmith was surprised.

Is the lord going to do it himself? It seems impossible.

If the lord had a solution, why let them struggle for so long in the first place?

Could it be that the lord remembered something he learned in the big cities?

While the head blacksmith was lost in his chaotic thoughts, Richard had already taken over the task.

He knew these blacksmiths were, at most, capable of making farm tools. Even if they gradually learned better techniques with the help of the system’s building boost, their current skills weren’t enough to forge extraordinary equipment. This task had to be done by him.

Richard took off his armor and, using his newly acquired forging skills, began the process.

Since the materials had already been softened, his goal now was to fuse them completely.

He aimed to combine the flexibility of the copper with the rigidity of the magic steel, achieving a balance between hardness and toughness that would prevent the weapon from breaking while remaining sharp.

Fusing the two materials required some special techniques.

Richard glanced around, quickly grabbed a container, and began preparing a mixture called “clay slurry.”

This clay slurry was different from others, made from plant ash derived from the leaves of Treants.

“Bring the magic moonstone over!” Richard instructed the head blacksmith nearby.

Upon hearing this, the blacksmith quickly turned around to fetch the item.

After preparing the clay slurry, he knew it was only the first step. Even this slurry couldn’t yet merge the two materials.

When Richard received the magic moonstone, he immediately began processing it.

The so-called moonstone was actually borax.

It was called magic moonstone because the borax had absorbed the aura of extraordinary plant creatures over a long period, giving it special properties.

Once the processed magic moonstone powder was added to the clay slurry, it was finally ready.

This mixture, consisting of both plant ash and magic moonstone powder, contained extraordinary elements.

During the forging process, he repeatedly poured the slurry over the metals, hammered them, doused them, and hammered them again, allowing the two materials to gradually fuse into one.

As Richard hammered away, the blacksmiths watched in amazement. They saw the two metals remaining intact and even beginning to merge under Richard’s strikes, a sight that left them in awe.

Moreover, they noticed that Richard’s technique was clearly far beyond that of a novice, even surpassing their own skills by a large margin.

The blacksmith was utterly convinced.

He couldn’t believe there existed such a genius in this world who seemed to have knowledge and skill inherently.

Richard’s left hand, which held the tongs, seemed locked in place, unwavering with each hammer strike, ensuring that the material received the perfect force.

Each turn and fold of the metal was done with such precision, as if his hands were guided by invisible molds in the air, without the slightest deviation in position.

Just this level of detail alone convinced the old blacksmith that he could never match such skill in his lifetime.

Yet, even so, the old blacksmith learned a lot from Richard’s technique.

And as the old blacksmith’s skills improved, it created a positive feedback loop that further enhanced Richard’s own experience, much to his surprise.

So, he took a moment to instruct, “Have everyone come over to watch and learn!”

The old blacksmith, delighted, immediately called everyone over.

[Blacksmith experience +3!]. [Blacksmith experience +5!]. [Blacksmith experience +1!]. […].

As the crowd gathered, Richard’s experience continued to grow, making him even more excited as he worked.

Finally, after folding the materials thousands of times, Richard altered his technique, ceasing to pour the clay slurry over the metals.

The change in his method immediately revealed a new approach to everyone.

His hammering began to slow down, with different strengths and angles applied to various points, striking with the precision of a machine yet with the rhythm and speed of a storm.

The sounds of his strikes created a symphony of sorts, at times as gentle as a flowing stream, at times as intense as a raging storm.

Then, with a final blow that served as the grand crescendo of the symphony, all sounds came to an abrupt halt!

The world seemed to fall into complete silence!

Richard stopped his movements.

The onlookers stared at the finished product in Richard’s hands, utterly stunned!