Tens of times?
That’s way too exaggerated!
“Star metal possesses extreme toughness and hardness. It’s an excellent material for sharp weapons such as daggers, knight’s longswords, bastard swords, or dual-handed greatswords.”
“Of course, weapons made purely of star metal are prohibitively expensive, even nobles are reluctant to waste so much.”
“A more common practice is to mix it with other materials, which can enhance weapon performance while reducing costs.”
“To identify star metal, first consider the weight: star metal is about twice as heavy as other iron ores of the same size. Second, look at the fracture surface, where tiny metallic grains sparkle under the light, just like stars in the sky.”
“This is also the origin of the name ‘star metal’.”
“…..”
Well, although Boris was only a small-town blacksmith, he was quite proficient in some aspects of forging, at least in terms of identifying and working with star metal, Rein thought Boris’s research was quite thorough.
Suddenly, Rein sharply noticed several system prompts that were a bit different:
[You have learned to identify ores, enhancing your understanding!]
[Your skill ‘Ore Identification’ has improved, experience +17]
[You learned to identify the special meteorite ore, blacksmith profession experience points +5]
….
Hey! Are there such benefits as well?
This couldn’t help but delight Rein.
Rein realized that once he got the hang of identifying special ores, he could quickly increase his blacksmith profession experience.
“It seems I’ve mastered another quick way to improve!”
This made Rein look forward to Boris’s next presentation on special ores.
However, just as Rein was staring at Boris with eager eyes, he heard Boris say, “Let’s go take a look at the metal ingots after smelting.”
This immediately made Rein ask, “Uncle Boris, haven’t you only talked about one special ore? What about the others?”
Blacksmith Boris’s face turned slightly red as he said, “You rascal, think about it. How could my ordinary blacksmith shop have so many special ores! This piece of star metal is my only treasure!”
This instantly left Rein extremely disappointed!
Just when he had seen a way to quickly increase his blacksmith profession experience, it turned out that Boris had no other special ores.
Disappointment was evident on Rein’s face.
“Cough… Rein, if you want to learn to identify other special ores, you’ll have to go to the large blacksmith shops in County Town, erm… Of course, the blacksmith shops in the manor castles definitely also have a good stock of special ores.”
“Hey, Uncle Boris, I know about the blacksmith shops in the manor, but why do they have a good stock of special ores?” Rein couldn’t help but ask curiously.
“Haha, the equipment of the castle guards and the knights is often crafted by the blacksmith shops within the manor, so what do you think, do they have special ores?” Boris couldn’t help laughing.
So that’s how it is!
Rein suddenly realized. Nobles, as the ruling class in this world, naturally gathered all the good things to themselves.
Especially such special ores that can effectively improve the equipment of their knights, the more, the better, and no one would consider it too much.
In that case, the blacksmith shop within the manor is the first choice.
After all, County Town is too far, and without a horse to travel, it would take a whole day to go back and forth.
Perhaps after the page boy training starts, I could ask Master Baal for some guidance on identifying special ores, even if I have to offer some compensation. But relative to the rise in Blacksmith Professional Experience Points, that would be insignificant.
By evening, when Rein left the blacksmith shop, his Blacksmith Profession Level had reached Blacksmith lv1 (23/100). The speed of gaining experience in ore identification was slightly higher than horseshoe forging, but only marginally so.
This was thanks to that special piece of ore. Otherwise, the contribution of ore identification to the Professional Experience of a Blacksmith wouldn’t be as great as that from forging horseshoes.
On the way home, Rein turned into a pie shop and bought a large pie that he had eaten earlier at noon.
Thus, at the dinner table, Rein couldn’t escape being nagged by his ever thrifty mother, “Rein, next time you want a pie, just bring your own meat and dough for baking. That way, you can save at least 3 pennies!”
Rein, however, sneakily winked at little Bo He, who was happily eating, causing her to giggle nonstop.
Anna also ate a small piece of pie with her head lowered, smiling without a word.
Seeing this, mother Emma took another look at her son and couldn’t help shaking her head helplessly.
Lately, her son was getting more and more ideas!
That night, with the muscle soreness greatly alleviated, Rein returned to his room and started practicing the Giant Bear Breathing Technique for a while.
However, because the black tung oil was stored with Chief Maid Shadia,
Without the aid of black tung oil, although Rein practiced hard and sweated profusely, the effectiveness of the Giant Bear Breathing Technique practice was greatly reduced.
[You have practiced the Giant Bear Breathing Technique, and your insight has improved!]
[Your skill Giant Bear Breathing Technique has improved, Experience +1]
….
[Giant Bear Breathing Techniquelv2 (37/300)]
Since his body had not fully recovered, and he couldn’t overexert himself, Rein soon stopped practicing.
“Tomorrow is Saturday. By my calculations, I’ll probably have to wait until next Monday, after Sunday, to possibly resume the page boy training,” Rein thought to himself.
“It seems I need to make a trip back to Habsburg Manor tomorrow to get a bottle of black tung oil from Chief Maid Shadia.”
….
The next morning.
When Rein went to Habsburg Manor to find Chief Maid Shadia, he noticed that the manor’s defensive preparations had noticeably improved.
Soon, Rein found Chief Maid Shadia, who still wore her usual impassive, somewhat solemn expression, dressed in the black maid outfit that represented a higher-ranking servant.
From her demeanor, it seemed the Chief Maid hadn’t rested well in the past few days, looking slightly tired.
Shadia, seeing Rein, showed a rare smile on her poker face, but the next second it was gone, and she asked, “Rein, you’ve come for the black tung oil, haven’t you?”
“Yes, Chief Maid Shadia,” Rein responded with a smile in return.
Shadia nodded, “I thought you might be coming to see me. When the page boy training will resume is still undecided, Knight Lloyd is worried that the jackalwolves from last time might have a pack nearby.”
“By the way, come with me, I’ve stored the black tung oil in my own room.”
“Hmm!”
Rein followed Shadia, entering the castle, and the two navigated the long stone corridors, turning left and right. Shortly, he followed the Chief Maid to a room on the first floor of the castle.
As Shadia was opening the door, Rein faintly heard from the other end of the corridor a “ting ting tang tang” noise.
This sound was all too familiar to him — it was the sound of a hammer striking an anvil!