The heat of the forge in Barian was no longer an adversary to Arthur; it was an extension of his own pulse.
As he stood before the anvil, the air shimmering with the violent orange glow of the furnace, the system interface flickered with a new challenge.
[Quest: Mineral Smelting]
Difficulty: E
Description: Smelt the Jaffa ore to perfection.
Reward: Exp +80, 300g of Smelted Jaffa.
Smith, the village blacksmith, stood by with his arms crossed, his face a mask of concern. "Don't be discouraged if you fail, lad. It looks easy when I do it, but Jaffa is a temperamental mistress. One degree too high and you ruin the batch."
Arthur didn't reply. He couldn't. His vision was already being overtaken by the divine geometry of Pagma's Apprentice.
As Arthur placed his feet on the bellows, translucent arrows manifested in the air, pointing to specific spots on the leather pump. It wasn't just a guide; it was a rhythmic metronome.
Following the blinking prompts, Arthur pumped with a precision that made the furnace roar to life in five minutes—a feat that usually took Smith ten.
Then, a new information flooded his vision.
[Pagma's Apprentice is sensitive to changes in temperature.]
[Current Temperature: 700°C... 850°C... 950°C...]
Arthur hovered his hand over the heat. He didn't need a thermometer. He could feel the vibration of the thermal energy in his marrow.
Iron required 1,150°C, but Jaffa—the fickle, precious metal—reached its peak purity at exactly 1,000°C.
The moment the notification read 1,000°C, Arthur stopped. The Jaffa began to melt, turning into a liquid orange sun.
Guided by the translucent arrows, he filtered the impurities with a grace that bordered on the supernatural.
Smith, watching from the side, began to cough violently, his eyes bulging. "H-Heok! How... how are you so skilled? Is this really your first time?"
"It is," Arthur said, his eyes fixed on the molten glow.
Smith looked as if he had seen a ghost.
"Ridiculous... you have talent that defies representation. A man with no experience is better than his teacher. Are you... are you the reincarnation of Pagma?"
Arthur's heart gave a small, proud thrum. I am not his reincarnation, Smith. I am his Apprentice.
[Quest Success!]
Reward: 80 Exp, 300 grams of Jaffa.
Smith, now treating Arthur with the reverence one might show a visiting saint, poured the molten Jaffa into the iron base, mixing them at a ratio of 1:12. Arthur watched the process with a predatory focus.
The moment the first arrowhead was completed, the system roared.
[Understanding of the Jaffa Arrow is now at 100%.]
[You have learned the production method for the Jaffa Arrow.]
"Can you make it?" Smith asked, his voice filled with newfound respect.
"Yes."
Smith laughed, though there was a hint of warning in it. "Confidence is good, but balance is everything. The feathers, the shaft, the tip—if one is off by a hair, it's just a fancy stick. Can you really do it after only watching once?"
"I can."
[Quest: Create a Jaffa Arrow]
Difficulty: D
Clear Condition: Produce 100 Jaffa Arrows.
Reward: Affinity MAX, Exp +300, 50 Jaffa Arrows.
Smith offered 100 pre-made shafts, but Arthur waved them away.
"I appreciate the courtesy, but if I'm to be a master, I must make the shafts myself. I won't always have you to lean on, Smith."
Smith's eyes widened, then he nodded slowly. "I see. You have the hunger of a true craftsman."
Arthur opened his List of Items Production Methods booklet. He didn't just look at the pictures; he memorized the cellular structure of the wood described in the text.
He started with the shafts. He seared the branches to straighten them, cut the U-grooves with the precision of a diamond cutter, and pasted the feathers with a steady hand. His Dexterity—though still low at 10—was being bolstered by the hidden correction effects of his Second Class.
"This isn't the work of a novice," Smith whispered as he watched the 100th shaft pile up. "Your eyes... they see the finished product before the wood is even cut."
Then came the arrowheads. Arthur melted the iron and Jaffa, but instead of stopping where Smith did, he pushed further. He took the scorched wire and plunged it into the water.
Chiiiik!
"Quenching?" Smith frowned. "Why would you quench an arrowhead? It makes the metal brittle. It'll shatter against armor instead of piercing it."
"Not if I use tempering as well," Arthur replied, his face illuminated by the forge fire.
He spent the next several hours in a rhythmic hell of heat and hammers. He reheated the quenched wire, hammering it repeatedly to decrease the brittleness while maintaining the hardness. It was grueling, repetitive labor that would have made any other player quit out of sheer boredom.
But Arthur felt the Persistence stat rising.
[The Blacksmith's Patience skill has been activated.]
[Concentration, stamina, and defense will rise to the extremes for one hour.]
The fatigue evaporated. Arthur became a machine. He wasn't just making a consumable; he was creating art.
("Well done, kid. This item will be a holy relic for archers,") the booming voice of Madra echoed in his mind, surprising Arthur. Even the Undefeated King, a man of war, recognized the beauty of a perfectly forged weapon.
As the final arrow was quenched, the air in the smithy seemed to vibrate. The system didn't just give a standard notification; it sang.
[Special Jaffa Arrow]
Rating: Epic
Attack Power: 35~42
Special Feature: Ignores a portion of enemy defense.
[An Epic rated item was produced!]
[All stats have permanently risen by +4.]
[Reputation across the continent +80.]
Smith stared at the arrow, his knees nearly giving out. "E-Epic? An arrow? Arrows are normal! They've always been normal! I've made them for decades, and they are always normal!"
The old man looked at his own work—the "Normal" arrows he had spent his life making—and then at Arthur's glowing masterpiece. He looked broken, an indescribable emptiness filling his eyes.
"Smith," Arthur said, his voice soft but firm.
"Yeah?"
"Do you know why arrows are always normal? Because people treat them like trash. They call them 'consumables.' Because they are meant to be lost, no one puts their soul into the hammer. I broke the norm because I gave this 'disposable' item the same respect I would give a King's sword."
Smith looked at the arrow again. He saw the tempering lines. He saw the perfect balance of the feathers. Slowly, a bright, genuine smile returned to his face.
"Reincarnation... you truly are Pagma's reincarnation. This is the first time I have ever seen an arrow and called it beautiful."
[Affinity with Smith has reached MAX.]
Arthur leaned against the anvil, wiping the soot from his forehead. His stats had jumped by 4 points across the board—a massive gain for a few hours of labor. But more importantly, he had his bait.
The Tzedakah Guild, led by the "Red-maned" Jishuka, were the most elite archer-centric guild in the game. They were currently scouring the continent for high-tier arrows to maintain their dominance.
By creating an Epic-rated Jaffa Arrow with 42 attack power—comparable to a mid-level sword—Arthur had effectively lit a signal fire that would be seen across the world.
'One arrow is better than a level 20 hand weapon,' Arthur thought, looking at the bundle of 100 Special Jaffa Arrows. 'Jishuka won't just want these. She'll need them. And when she finds out the man who made them is also the Disciple of the Undefeated King... the Tzedakah Guild won't just be my allies. They'll be my army.'
Arthur closed his eyes for a moment, the heat of the forge still warming his skin. He was a transmigrator who knew every turn of the plot, but as he felt the weight of the Epic arrows in his hand, he realized that he was just following a script, that dampen his mood more than anything.