The New Gate

After saying goodbye to Milt and Filma, Shin went to a different forge than yesterday.

Kluck and Jayf said they wanted to visit another forge as well, so Shin decided to meet them and ask them about the cursed weapons.

Even the cursed weapons that were common in the game did not appear in this world for no reason.

The place Shin went for was one of the eight testing grounds. It was the place where Jayf and Kluck told him that there was a candidate for the championship.

It looked like the same structure as the building Shin had worked in, and it was almost the same size.

When he told the guard waiting outside that he was a participant in the Blacksmithing Division and that he had already finished his piece, he was asked to show his participant’s card.

It seemed that the card he received at check-in would serve as his participant’s card.

Shin pretended to take it out of his inner pocket, which was in his item box, and handed it over.

When the guard brought a palm-sized stone close to it, the stone glowed faintly, and a pattern resembling a crossed sword and hammer appeared on the card.

“All right, you can come through.”

Entering the building, Shin was greeted by heat and high-pitched sounds.

There were no empty furnaces and everyone was working.

If they were supposed to be potential winners, it was possible that they had finished their work yesterday, like Shin and Jayf, but that did not seem to be the case.

Jayf and Kluck had already arrived, and they were staring at the middle-aged man swinging his hammer.

(His method of hammering is similar to mine, but this…)

Every time the man swung his hammer, there was a faint clang. It was a sound that was distinctly different from other blacksmiths, as if he was hitting iron with something softer than iron.

Shin focused his attention on the man’s hammer.

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Just like Shin, the hammer was covered in magic power. However, the amount was different.

It was clear that there was an excessive amount of magic power clinging to the hammer. When it was struck, the magic power was transferred to the iron. If it were Shin, most of it would have soaked into the material.

However, the man’s magic power didn’t seem to have penetrated the iron very much. Only a small amount had penetrated compared to the magic that had been struck.

(I see. He’s on the verge of using the same method as me.)

He was probably hammering like that because he couldn’t penetrate as fast as Shin.

It took time, but it would be a good product. When Shin saw the man swinging his hammer, he was convinced.

“Who is that man?”

“He’s one of the few people on the continent who can make Mythology-grade weapons. I can’t believe I got to see him work like this.”

Shin asked Kluck in a low voice, and Kluck replied excitedly.

Shin agreed that if he could do that kind of hammering, he could do that much.

The work itself seemed to be nearing its end, and the sword was already roughly shaped. He predicted that the finished product would be something rare, close to legendary grade.

As soon as the man finished his work, Shin and the others left the forge. Several other visitors came out of the forge. They all seemed to be there for the same reason.

“Do you two have plans for the rest of the day? There’s something I’d like to talk to you about…”

“No, nothing in particular today.”

“Me too.”

When Shin asked, Kluck and Jayf both shook their heads.

“Um, don’t you have plans, Sir Jayf?”

“I don’t mind. This gathering will be just fine without me. My intuition tells me that what Sir Shin has to say is more important.”

Jayf was unfazed by Kluck’s remark, perhaps sensing that they were about to have a serious discussion.

When Shin told them that it was something he didn’t want anyone to hear, they decided to go to the shop they had visited yesterday.

“So, what do you mean by talk? You don’t want to talk about blacksmithing, do you?”

Jayf said right after he was led to the back room of the shop.

Shin nodded and materialized a dagger from an item card.

“First, I want you to look at it with an open mind.. What do you think of it?”

Jayf took the dagger Shin handed him and stared intently at the blade.

Kluck stared at it as well.

After a few tense minutes, Jayf looked away from the blade and handed the dagger to Kluck.

But Kluck shook his head and refused. He had a look on his face that said he had already seen all there was to see.

“I wonder. It’s probably of a quality that a low-level adventurer would have. The materials aren’t very good either.”

“But that makes up for it by keeping the price low. As a first weapon for a novice adventurer, it’s probably above average.”

The two shared Shin’s opinion. It was a little better than a cheap mass-produced weapon. 

But that was not what they should discuss now. Just like the longsword from yesterday, the dagger had a hint of a half-baked curse on it.

“Sir Shin, was this originally a cursed weapon?”

“Why do you think so?”

“I felt a tingling sensation in my hand and a strange sensation coming from the core of the blade. It was similar to the characteristics of a weapon that had not been completely freed from a curse.”

Wondering if that was what it felt like, Shin looked back at the dagger Jayf was holding.

“I bought this from someone who had a stall on a corner of the main street. The first thing I noticed was a different item, but it was in almost the same condition. I sensed something was wrong, so I took a look and realized it was a curse. It was like a weak curse before it took shape. My friend with keen senses said that such items are not uncommon.”

Shin spoke about the longsword incident.

“I thought it was just weapons, but cursed items too?”

“As far as I’ve seen, none of the weapons were made with any malice. None of them have much effect if you don’t care about them. That’s the kind of item they are. However…”

Jayf continued what Shin was about to say.

“It is highly effective. Can’t we rule out the possibility that a fully formed cursed weapon has gotten mixed in?”

“Yes. I was thinking that maybe the reason why there are so many people going wild with weapons is because they’ve been affected by the curse.”

Shin prefaced his words by saying that it was a possibility.

“Have you two seen anything like that?”

“I haven’t really looked at the weapons in the stalls. Besides, it would be hard to notice something strange without concentrating like Sir Shin.”

“I agree.”

It seemed that even Jayf and the others would have a hard time seeing through it. Shin also noticed something strange by chance, so he told them not to worry about it.

“If you see something strange, be careful. That’s all I wanted to tell you. There are many things we don’t know about curses, so all I can say is to be careful with the tools you use.”

“No, that’s enough. Thanks for the valuable information. I’ll be careful.”

“That’s right. From what you said, Sir Shin, it’s possible that they are mixed in with everyday items.”

They didn’t know what caused this. But if they knew that such things exist, they could at least be on guard.

Shin didn’t want the curse to affect Jayf and Kluck, whom he had been lucky enough to meet.

After saying goodbye to Kluck and Jayf, Shin didn’t feel like going to see other blacksmiths’ competition, so he looked around the town to see if there were any weapons with strong curses.

In the end, however, he did not find anything like that, and the next day came.

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