Skill Creation in the Fantasy World

Standing at the door of the shop, Felix looked inside and turned towards a person who had called out to him.

"Hmm? Wait- you are..."

There was a smell of hot metal and burning coal present in the air; and within the dimly lit shop, a robust man wearing loose clothes held a hammer in his hand with a metal glowing red on his anvil.

Felix looked deeply at the man, whose figure and voice reminded him of someone and muttered unsurely.

"....Bellard?"

The man touched his face, remembering he didn't have his mask and gave a wry smile as he nodded.

"Umm, yeah, Phantom. It's me."

The two of them then turned quiet, not knowing what to say.

Sir Graham glanced between them strangely and clapped his hands to break the awareness.

"Well, it's great that you two know each other, saves my time. Phantom, you can get your work done here with his help, so I'll take my leave. Also, my place is always open for you."

He grinned and left the shop, not interfering between the two of them.

The men then looked at each other before Felix inquired.

"I didn't expect you to be a blacksmith, Bellard. Is this your shop?"

Bellard waved his hand in denial and replied quickly.

"No, I'm just a blacksmith apprentice here. The owner is inside. Do you want me to call him for you?"

"Yeah, I'll appreciate that.", Felix nodded.

Bellard kept his hammer aside and entered a different room, leaving Felix alone as he glanced around at the shop.

From the entrance where he stood, there were swords and various kinds of weapons placed on all four sides of the shop.

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On the left corner, there was a counter, and on the right corner, there were a few anvils where Bellard was previously working on some metal.

A few seconds later, Bellard walked out with a stout man with bulging muscles following behind.

"Sir, this is Phantom. And Phantom, this is my master, Sir Reegan."

The man showed no expression and walked behind the counter before taking his seat as he gestured with his hand.

"Well, Phantom is it? What can I do for you?", he asked professionally, with a kind of attitude that didn't suit someone from the black market.

Felix acted calmly and placed his shortsword on the counter, telling his request.

"Is it possible for you to upgrade my shortsword to a higher grade? Its power is too weak in my recent battles, and I don't want to buy a new weapon."

Reagan held the shortsword and inspected it with his deep eyes before nodding as he replied.

"Hmm, this is a High Uncommon weapon. I can work on this one, but the highest grade I can upgrade it to is Low Rare Grade weapon."

Felix's eyes lit up in joy, knowing his shortsword could be upgraded, and he rapidly asked.

"How long will it be for you to upgrade it? Also, what's the cost? Can you upgrade it to a higher grade? Like Epic Grade?"

Felix had seen an Epic grade weapon before, which were the gloves Sir Graham had used while fighting Rank 4 monsters.

Reegan blinked at the boy's questions and answered calmly without any change in his professional attitude as he placed the sword back on the counter.

"The time can vary depending on the price paid, but the average time will be four days. And the cost for upgrading this shortsword will be 80k tahl. As for upgrading it to a higher grade? It'll require extraordinary materials, which I currently do not have and are very difficult to find."

Felix contemplated what the man said and shook his head as he requested again.

"Low Rare grade is fine for now, but I can't wait for four more days. Can I get it done by tomorrow?"

Reegan held his chin and thought for some time before nodding as he stated.

"That's possible, but as I have many customers who want me to quickly work on their weapons, the cost of delivering your weapon tomorrow can reach 140k. Is that okay with you?"

Felix hissed at the rise of the price, but there was no way he could wait for four days as the guild wars were only two days later.

'What should I do?'

While thinking about his options, he remembered the Exclusive card given by Mr.Dealer and took it out in hopes.

"How about now?", he placed the card on the counter.

"This...."

The man widened his eyes in surprise and nodded in understanding as he glanced at his apprentice on the side.

"Hmm, with the Exclusive card of the Underworld, you can get a forty percent discount. So the new price will be 84k for delivering your upgraded shortsword tomorrow. Is that fine?"

Felix nodded and smiled, pushing forward his weapon towards the man.

"Please take care of my shortsword then."

Reegan nodded and took the weapon, handing it to Bellard as he took out a note.

"Well then, what kind of upgrade would you like to have in your weapon?", he asked politely.

Felix had his eyes lit up as he didn't think he could even request such things.

Then, without wasting any time, he started mentioning his requests and thoughts on the way he wanted his weapon to be upgraded.

Sometime later, Felix walked out of the shop with a happy smile, with Bellard a step away as they conversed.

"That Reegan person is your master? He seems like a professional unlike any other shopkeepers around here."

"Yes, he is a professional. I've learned a lot from him.", Bellard replied with respect for his master.

They stopped outside the door, with Bellard still in his reserved attitude that Felix thought was from the influence of his master.

"I've got some work to do now, so I'll be leaving. Take care, Bellard.", he waved and left.

Bellard waved back and returned to the shop, his mood turning complicated as he knew he was going to face some trouble.

*****

Felix arrived back at the Twilight Chaos building after some time.

He entered inside and saw Miss Elsa tending to her work at the reception desk and wondered what to tell her about his disappearance for a few days.

As he walked past her desk, hoping to go unnoticed, she suddenly jumped up from her seat and grabbed his shoulder in a flash.

"Don't you have something to say to me?", she asked while staring at him with a gentle smile.

Felix started sweating from the look in her eyes and quickly blurted out the reason he had cooked up.

"I...I was busy with shopping, yeah. I wanted to buy a new weapon and...umm also new clothes."

Elsa shook her head and gave a slight twist to Felix's ear, scoffing at him.

"You're still lying to me? I already knew that you were out hunting monsters, but what I'm asking is something else."

Her eyes sparkled as she patted him and smiled seductively.

"You didn't tell me you had advanced to the first rank. I wouldn't have known about it if Steve didn't slip his tongue. Congratulations, Felix! Now you can participate in the war and also go out of the city without any trouble."

Felix widened his eyes in realisation and nodded as he sighed.

"Ah thanks Miss Elsa, I just didn't get the chance to tell you. I went to hunt some monsters after advancing to check out my new strength."

Elsa smirked and folded her hands, giving him a sly look.

"See? Now you're telling the truth. Don't think you can fool me. There won't be a next time. I'll punish you if you lie to me again."

Felix nodded quickly, not angering this lady whom Steve and the others had shown a terrified expression when mentioning her 'punishment'.

The two of them conversed for a while, with Elsa giving him some instructions and pointers with further cultivation now that he was at Rank 1.

Felix wholeheartedly listened to her, as what Sir Graham had taught him these five days was completely incomprehensible.

After a brief discussion, he took his leave as she had work to do and went to his room.

Entering inside, he first took a long and warm bath before coming out and wearing some cozy clothes.

Jumping on the bed in tiredness of the hunting journey, Felix glanced at the ceiling and turned serious.

'Now that I'm all alone, It's time to create some new skills.....'