Chapter 81

Boom!
[You have successfully crafted a steel shield].
“Done!”
Ming Hu put down his hammer, picked up the steel shield on his workbench, opened his inventory, and started walking toward Nerfai.
“Hmm? You’re done already?”
As Ming Hu approached, Nerpai asked.
“Yes.”
In response to Nerfai’s question, Ming Hu put down the steel shield he was carrying and began to pull out the sword, armor, and shield he had stored in his inventory.
“Here, set of 10.”
“Huh. That’s fast.”
At Ming Hu’s words, Nerfai stepped forward and began to inspect the sword, armor, and shield that Ming Hu had crafted, one after the other. After examining each and every one of them, Nerfai looked at Ming Hu with a mixture of surprise and bewilderment.
“All good, thank you.”
[You have completed the quest].
[Helioca’s notoriety increased by 100].
When the completion message appeared, along with a merit badge, Ming Hu looked at Nerfai with a smile.
“What should I make this time?”
“Well…”
Nerfai thought for a moment at Ming Hu’s words. He glanced back and forth between Ming Hu and the basic set he had created, and then spoke.
“50 basic sets.”
<Imperial Palace Forge Armor B
The Imperial Forge is currently busy making armor to supply the frontier. Nerfai wants you to make 50 basic sets of iron swords, iron armor, and steel shields. Make 50 Basic Sets and bring them to Nerfai.
[Iron Sword: 0 / 50]
[armor: 0 / 50].
[Steel Shield: 0 / 50]
Difficulty Level: D
Quest Reward: Helioca Merit +600
"I'll be right back."
[You have accepted the quest].
Ming Hu walked over to his workbench and opened his character window. He wanted to check the merit he had just received as a quest reward.
Name: Ming Hu
Nationality : Helioca [Empire]
Age: 22 Occupation: Blood Knight/Strong Smith
Reputation: 105000 Merit: 100
Level: 230
Life: 1548950
Mana: 6420
Blood power: 759
Strength : 75930 [7593(+1090)] Dexterity : 165 Constitution : 607(+500) Intelligence : 10 Wisdom : 311
Dexterity: 201
Bonus stats: 710
"I'll save up and buy some temps.
It was still only 100, but at this rate, it would soon be thousands and tens of thousands. Ming Hu decided to use his accumulated merit to purchase the item.
"Was the exchange in front of the imperial palace?
He couldn't remember exactly where it was. Figuring that he wouldn't have to go there right away and could find it later, Ming Hu dismissed the location of the exchange and opened the crafting window.
* * * * *
Bam, bam, bam, bam, bam!
Thompson, the court blacksmith, was hard at work hammering and forging an iron sword.
"I'll just do it one more time."
Thompson was a pretty good blacksmith. His armor wasn't of the highest quality, but he was faster than anyone else here. At least, he was until he came along.
Peek
Thompson looked at the workbench next to him. On the workbench was a piece of steel that had never been quenched.
Boom!
Then I heard a loud bang. It wasn't the sound of something exploding. It was the sound of a hammer. Thompson looked over to the workbench next to him. There was no more steel there. An iron sword loomed over it. A single hammer blow had created an iron sword.
"What the…?
I didn't understand. It made no sense to him. A single blow of the hammer could turn unquenched steel into an iron sword? Thompson watched him do this common sense nonsense.
"Did I mention Minghu?
Thompson, the blacksmith who walked in today and was immediately assigned to the best workbench, was dumbfounded at first when Ming Hu was assigned to a better workbench than he was, but the moment he saw what Ming Hu was creating, he quickly dismissed the idea.
Boom!
Once again, there was a roar. This time, it was iron armor. Thompson stared at the armor on Ming Hu's workbench.
"Huh…
I just laughed in vain.
"How can they make that so fast?
While you make one, they make dozens. And that's not all.
'It's not like the quality of the mugu is going down…'
Nor is the quality of their armor inferior. Their leader, Nerfai, acknowledged this, though he did not confirm it himself.
"Hey, Thompson, aren't you working?"
Just then, Thompson heard Nerfai's rant in his ear.
"I'm in!"
Thompson chuckled at Nerfai's tirade, turned away from Ming Hu, and resumed hammering.
* * * * *
"Good job."
[You have completed the quest].
[Helioca's notoriety increased by 600].
As Nerfai finished speaking, a quest completion message and a merit increase message appeared. Ming Hu smiled at the message and looked at Nerfai.
"What do we need to build now?"
"I don't have to build anything anymore."
"What?"
Ming Hu couldn't help but be a little perplexed by Nerfai's words. No need to make them? What does that mean?
"You don't have to make it and bring it to me."
Ming Hu shook his head slightly at Nerfai's next words, but Nerfai was not finished.
"Make it and go straight to the warehouse."
As Nerfai finished speaking, the quest appeared.
<Nerfai's Recognition
Nerfai has recognized your skill. You no longer need to take your armor to Nerfai for inspection. With so much armor to supply the frontier, there's no time to rest, so get to work and help the Empire! [Quest will be immediately canceled if you are fired].
Difficulty Level: D
Quest Reward: Helioca Merit
"I see."
[You have accepted the quest].
After accepting the quest, Ming Hu returned to his workbench. He opened the quest window again to see the quest.
"Does every time I put it in the warehouse, my credit goes up?
The quest doesn't specify exactly how to increase your merit, but from what Nerfai told me, it seems like every time you put a crafted armor in the warehouse, it increases your merit.
"How high will it climb?
I was excited to see how high it would go.
"It's all different, right?
Presumably, different types of armor would have different levels of merit. It's unlikely that the materials required would be the same.
"I'll have to experiment.
There's no need to craft equipment that gives less merit. Ming Hu decided to start by crafting an Iron Sword, Iron Armor, and a Steel Shield to see what would give him the most Merit, so he opened the crafting window.
Sigh
He chose an iron sword and reached out to forge it. But a sudden thought made Ming Hu stop in his tracks as he reached for the forge.
'But… I see that the basic set is an iron sword, iron armor, and a steel shield. I'm guessing there are others.'
Obviously, the iron sword, iron armor, and steel shield were the basic set. Basic is exactly what it sounds like.
"There's also the silent railroad.
On top of that, there was also a railroad tracks in the stockpile. It wouldn't be in the material warehouse for nothing. There must be higher-end equipment made of iron, not steel. And they would give you more credit than iron swords, iron armor, and steel shields.
Sigh
Ming Hu looked to the side.
"You said Thompson, didn't you?
Bam, bam, bam, bam, bam!
Thompson was hammering hard. Ming Hu watched Thompson work hard and waited for him to finish hammering.
"Whoa!"
And then Thompson exhaled as he finished hammering.
"That Thompson blacksmith."
"…?"
Thompson looked at Ming Hu, scratching his head as Ming Hu called out to him. Thompson had a look on his face that said, "Why did you call me?" and seeing that look, Ming Hu immediately opened his mouth to speak.
"Do you have any other types of armor that you craft besides iron swords, iron armor, and steel shields?"
"Grrrr, of course."
Thompson let out his trademark chuckle and nodded. And then he said.
"You can make whatever you want with the materials in the Material Depot, as long as it's a sword, spear, axe, mace, armor, shield, bow, or crossbow."
"What?"
Thompson's response was a bit puzzling to Ming Hu, who asked, "You mean I can just build what I want to build?
"I think you're asking because of the basic set, but those are literally the basics, and if you can make something better than that, feel free to do so."
"There's also a molten iron in the supply closet."
"Right now it's quantity over quality, so we're just making them out of easier-to-handle steel rather than harder-to-handle cast iron, and it's better to make them out of cast iron."
"Ah. So, like you said, I can make whatever I want with the materials in the material warehouse?"
"That's right!"
"Thank you."
Ming Hu smiled at Thompson's words, turned back to the crafting window, and slowly began to see what he could build. It was then. Nerfai's voice came to Minghu's ears.
"Hey, Crime, what brings you here?"