Spending My Retirement In A Game

Eisen left the Inn and made his way down the spiraling roads of Melroe toward the production-district, where one would find the mine, smithy, tailor, and many other production-related buildings.

Since he knew most about it, Eisen decided to first go to the Smithy in order to learn blacksmithing.

After looking around for a short while, he found the place he was looking for, "Dwarf’s Delight".

When he first heard about the name of the smithy, he thought Morrom, who he asked about the best place to learn Blacksmithing the night before, misunderstood him, since that store rather sounded more like a brothel than anything else.

However, when Morrom explained the reason for the shop’s name, Eisen understood and actually began appreciating their sense of naming. The owner of Dwarf’s Delight, Denmir Dimhide, chose the name for his shop by remembering back onto the times when the Dwarves first established themselves amongst the races of the world. Back then, the Dwarves settled down in deep mountain ranges like the Mountain range near Melroe, and due to their fundamental bodily strength, they began mining the ores that they found in said mountain ranges.

Since back then the danger of monsters was even greater than nowadays, they made weapons and armor out of the metals they managed to extract from the ores. They fine-tuned their craft to the point that any weapon made by a Dwarf was instantly worth many times a weapon of the same quality made by any other race.

Therefore, any and every Dwarf found pride in these treasures made by their people, and as such Blacksmithing became the Dwarf’s Delight.

Eisen entered the shop filled to the brim with many different weapons and armors and looked for the counter among the mess.

"Ah, hello there! How can I help you, sir?" A young woman yelled out the moment she laid eyes on Eisen since before then she was sitting by the counter half-asleep from lack of customers. From the looks of it, she seemed to be a human. While the majority of people in Melroe were Dwarves, every once in a while Eisen did walk past some people of other races, like elves, humans or even the occasional beast-person.

"Hello there, young lady. Would Denmir Dimhide be available right now?" He asked with a bright, excited smile. It’s been a whole two years since he last worked in a smithy, and he couldn’t wait to be able to do so again.

The girl tilted her head at the request she hadn’t expected but quickly nods her head. "Yeah, he’s in the back. Erm, why do you want to see him?" She asked with a little bit of suspicion and curiosity while she began looking Eisen up and down.

Simply and swiftly, Eisen told her why he was there. There was no reason to unnecessarily stretch this out after all. "I’m here to learn Blacksmithing from him." He replied with a smile.

"A-Ah, of course..." She stood up from her chair and walked through the heavy back door. Immediately after she opened it up, Eisen was able to hear the sound of hammers hitting against hot metal, a sound that nearly made his heart skip a beat.

Eisen waited for a few minutes and looked at the items that were displayed all around. From what he could tell, they seemed to be pretty high quality, although lacking in some aspects. But that could just be from his perspective since he has been working in this profession for nearly all his life.

Soon enough, the door from the back swung open and a sweaty dwarf wearing a leather-apron stepped through. "Alright, what bastard thinks he can learn from me?" He exclaimed and looked around the shop until he laid his eyes on Eisen who was walking around the place to Appraise every item he could see, nearly bringing his skill-level to 100.

After noticing him ask that, Eisen stepped up to the dwarf and introduced himself while holding his hand forward. "That’s me. You must be Denmir Dimhide, then. My name is Eisen."

Denmir looked Eisen up and down and returned the handshake, then sighed out loud. "Ye the old man Belrim told me about? The Giant-Dwarf Halfling that got his experience stolen?"

With a big grin showing his pearly white teeth, Eisen nodded his head to affirm what Denmir just said. Confused what these two men were talking about, the girl that was sitting at the counter just before is staring at them in confusion. Ignoring her completely, the Dwarven Blacksmith crossed his arms in a somewhat smug manner. "And why did ya come ’ere of all places?"

"I just feel like this is what I should be doing. The moment I stepped in here, my heart has been beating like crazy. I may not remember what my life was all about, but I’m sure I was pursuing the crafts." Eisen answered while scratching his beard nostalgically. In response, Denmir sighed and walked back to the door leading to the smithy, turning to Eisen and waving his hand at him to follow.

"Fine, come along. If Belrim hadn’t told me about ya, ye can bet I would have thrown ya outta here already. And ya don’t seem too bad, old man."

With a smile on his face, Eisen followed Denmir to the back and into the smithy. The dwarf led him across multiple forges at which a few different smiths were working on a number of weapons, as well as younger men, probably apprentices from the looks of it, working on finishing the items the smiths make.

"Alright, old man. I’m guessin’ ye don’t have the Blacksmithing skill yet?" Denmir asked, and after a nod from Eisen sighed out loud and shook his head. "Then come over ’ere. Let’s start with somethin’ simple so ye can at least get the skill, and then we’ll see what ye can do." The Dwarf explained and walked over to an unoccupied forge whose coals are already being heated up by an apprentice using bellows.

"Ye know what a Striker does?" While Denmir was preparing for a seemingly bigger project, he turned to Eisen and asked him something actually pretty basic, so of course, he knew. A Striker is someone, usually an apprentice to the smith at work, who has the task of hitting at a large piece of metal as according to the smith’s instruction using a large sledgehammer. Usually, this is done because the item is too big, heavy and unhandy for the smith to handle alone.

In modern times, the task of a Striker is substituted through a trip hammer, a large and heavy powered hammer that would automatically strike down onto the metal. Even though that’s the case, in Eisen’s younger days, his father still relied on traditional practices rather than modern and had Eisen act as a Striker as soon as he was properly able to accurately give a heavy blow with a sledgehammer.

But since he can’t just go and say that since Denmir might become suspicious of how this man that supposedly lost his memories knows this, he shook his head and asked Denmir to explain.

"It ain’t that hard, old man. We’re makin’ a pretty big greatsword. I was already workin’ on it before you got ’ere and already got the general shape together. I’ll heat it up now and then after I get it out, I’ll just hold it on the anvil. Ye’ll be grabbing that sledgehammer over there, and I’ll tap the spot where I want you to hit with my hammer, got it? All you need to do is strike that exact spot as hard as ye can until I tell ya to stop."

[New Quest - Blacksmith Tutorial]

[Description] After requesting Denmir Dimhide to teach you how to Blacksmith, he told you to act as his striker during the making of a greatsword. Follow his instructions to the best of your abilities.

[Reward] Blacksmith Skill; Experience

[Failure] Denmir will refuse to teach you any further

[Time Limit - Until Denmir’s patience runs out or the sword is finished]

Immediately after Denmir finished his explanation, Eisen got a new quest that seemed simple enough to complete. Then, the dwarf placed a huge, very roughly sword-shaped piece of metal, probably about one and a half meters long and a good 30 centimeters broad, into the forge to heat it up. Eisen immediately noticed that the strength of this man was completely inhuman, since a piece of metal this size should not be lifted by a man that’s just barely taller than it.

After about three to four minutes, the metal’s center began glowing in a bright orange color, showing Denmir and Eisen that it’s the exact right temperature to shape.

Quickly, Denmir hurried over to a big anvil, probably the one with the biggest surface area in the whole smithy as far as Eisen could tell, and placed the hot metal on it, holding onto it with his tongs, even getting help from another apprentice to stabilize it.

"Now come ’ere, will ya?" Denmir yelled and Eisen grabbed the sledgehammer behind him excitedly.

Slowly, Denmir tapped his hammer onto the hot metal, and Eisen struck the sledgehammer down onto the exact part. He feared that with a body whose speed and strength he wasn’t used to, especially after not working in a smithy for a long time, he would mess up slightly. Sure enough, he did hit slightly off-mark, frustrating him greatly. But since Denmir figured that Eisen couldn’t Strike for him perfectly on his first try, he had him hit an area where small mistakes don’t matter too much.

However, while his aim was a little bit off, the metal gave in more after one hit than Eisen was used to. Could that be because this was a game? Eisen may love it, but it can get hard or boring for a novice to strike the same spot for hours on end.

Eisen took a deep breath and closed his eyes, concentrating on the sledgehammer in his hands. He felt the weight of it and imagined the wood in his hand connect to the metal at the top. In his mind, the hammer took shape and became an extension of his body.

That was when he felt a sudden heat on the inside of his body, the same feeling back when Morrom released his Racial skills. Eisen thought that if he wanted to get back in touch with his tools, he truly had to become one with it. With that thought, the heat in his body continued to spread, and just like before it felt like hot water filling out every part of him. The only difference was that it didn’t stop at his fingertips, but flowed into the sledgehammer he was holding.

It was then that something unexpected happened.

[You feel your Mana flow through you. +1 WIS]

[Tool Connection Skill Learned]

[Name - Tool Connection]

[Rank - 0][Level - 1]

[Description] When connected to a certain tool, it is possible to extract the most out of it, raising one’s effect on the material depending on the strength of the connection.

[Effect] Effects will depend on the tool. Inspect connected tool for further information.

Eisen grinned broadly at this sudden notification since he seemingly did something right.

"Oi, old man, ya gone senile? When did I tell ya ye can stop?" Denmir yelled and kept hitting the same spot with his hammer to get Eisen’s attention.

"Sorry, Denmir. I was just in thought." Still smiling brightly at the combined happiness of finally working again together with the skill-unlock, Eisen looked down at the soon-to-be Sword and began striking again.

Just this time, he hit at exactly the spot where Denmir wanted him to, as he swiftly, accurately and strongly shaped the hot Iron.

After about twenty minutes, the mass of Iron turned into even more of a sword-shape, albeit a very simple one. It’s what one would expect when thinking of a sword. The center-part was the thickest, and it slanted down at the sides where the edge would be. The main-part was completely parallel, while the tip came together in a slight, thin pyramid shape.

Because of the work-efficiency, the Sword was ready to be finished after only an hour, much quicker than Denmir expected. He carried the sword over to a large tub filled with water and cooled the still hot sword down cool enough to be handled by hand.

"Doyle, get Brouman and have ’im help ya with the finishin’. Ye know the drill; first grind the edge properly and then polish it." Denmir told Doyle, the apprentice that helped stabilize the greatsword.

After that, he turned back to Eisen and crossed his arms, frowning at the old man. "Alright, and now ye’re gonna tell me what you did with that sledgehammer."

Eisen responded by scratching his beard and closing his eyes to think. "Ah, do you mean the connection thing? After my first strike missed, I simply felt frustrated and wanted to do it right after that. So I concentrated on making the sledgehammer part of my body and got a new skill." He explained simply.

Hearing Eisen says this, Denmir ripped his eyes open and stared at him in disbelief.

"Ye’re telling me that ya got the Tool Connection skill just from that?" He asked as a hint of curiosity entered his eyes.

"Yeah, is it not supposed to be that easy?" Eisen asked confused and the Dwarf in front of him simply sighed and shook his head. "No, no it isn’t! I spent a whole week trying to connect with the hammer I had used every single day for a whole year! And ye can just stand there and do it in a few seconds?!" Denmir yelled out in a mix of anger and excitement.

"Seems like yer soul still remembers what ye’ve been doin’ your whole life. I never expected to be able to teach Blacksmithing to someone who was obviously a master in the past, haha!"

With a loud laugh, Denmir showed the first smile that Eisen had seen from him until then, and the Quest was finished.

[Quest Successful - Blacksmith Tutorial]

[Description] After requesting Denmir Dimhide to teach you how to Blacksmith, he told you to act as his striker during the making of a greatsword. Follow his instructions to the best of your abilities.

[Reward] Blacksmith Skill; Experience

[Failure] Denmir will refuse to teach you any further

[Time Limit - Until Denmir’s patience runs out or the sword is finished]

[Bonus] Significant rise in Reputation with Denmir Dimhide; Unlimited access to Dwarf’s Delight’s Smithy; Bonus Experience; Class Change Opportunity

[You have earned 500 Experience]

[You are now Level 4]

[Blacksmith Skill Learned]