[Your persistence has increased. The amount of ATTACK attributes you will receive when you ascend to the next level will be higher].

Kaizen’s pickaxe moved repeatedly, and he received the same notification while climbing the mountain a few more times.

As he became more and more familiar with the technique of mining with his bare hands and with <Telekinesis>, the durability of the pickaxe fell further. It was an old pickaxe, so that was to be expected.

Before he could notice, the sun was breaking through, and the glow of it was entering the beginning of the cave’s interior, as well as the calm morning wind.

The same miners from the previous day came to work and were astonished to see Kaizen.

“That guy stayed here all night?”

“Wow! He has tremendous stamina!”

“I wonder if he’s okay, spending the whole night in a cave must not be something good for the mental state.”

“What?! Guys, look at that amount of iron ores! That must be a record!”

“Fuck! Yesterday, he didn’t even know how to hold the pickaxe properly… How did his mining skills improve overnight?”

These men had no idea, but during that night, Kaizen experienced the critical state several times, trying to minimize the time he was spending mining. The punishment for pushing the stamina level beyond the limit is HP loss, and Kaizen exceeded this limit many times and needed to spend almost all of his food to regain his status. He had a bitter taste for breaking his agreement with himself about not spending all of his food on just that. However, he overcame this crisis and managed 103 iron ores by lunchtime, choosing not to continue as he ran out of food.

The miners watched him leave the mine, staggering with almost no strength left.

“He is… impressive. I have to admit that.”

“Haven’t you seen him somewhere, too?”

“I’ve never seen him, but if he keeps up that great spirit, he’s sure to succeed at whatever he wants to do.”

The miners who had ignored Kaizen yesterday now recognized him. Kaizen could hear some of the conversations about him and be happy to have his efforts recognized by someone. This was a valuable experience that he only had a few times in his life until this moment.

Going down the mountain was easier than going up for Kaizen, even though he was carrying a heavy bag of iron ores. He managed to keep only ¼ of the iron ore he had mined in his inventory, so the only way he could carry the rest was by hand. However, from one day to the next, Kaizen’s stamina apparently grew since he didn’t get tired at any point on the way to the smithy.

As Kaizen dragged the heavy sack of iron ores toward the smithy, it seemed that all the residents of the small village at the foot of the mountain stared at him.

The day before, none of them even looked at Kaizen as if he was someone invisible, but now the look on their faces was totally different.

‘It seems that it is not really common to carry this amount of iron ores around here.’

Kaizen still had one task left in the area, and since he didn’t want to waste too much time, he headed for the smithy as fast as he could.

As he approached the building that looked like a large wooden shed, he saw from afar a fat man with a mustache so large and thick that it looked like a mouse sewn under his nose.

“Oh, I’m sorry about yesterday, miner. I reflected overnight and realized that my behavior was disrespectful to you yesterday.” Said the man, bowing his head respectfully. He smooths as a pig, clearly lying.

Kaizen frowned, not understanding what the NPC was talking about, but to him, it didn’t matter what the reason for the apology was, this was an opportunity.

“Yes, yes, I can forgive you, as long as you buy all the iron ores I want to sell. What do you think?”

The mustachioed man was startled by the proposal, taking two steps back. Then he sighed and began to negotiate.

“All right, all right, miner. Will you sell all that bag you carry with you?”

“Definitely not.” Kaizen lifted the bag and placed it between him and the NPC. “I have 76 pieces of iron here, I will sell only 53, give me your price for them.”

The man’s eyes widened. “You mined 76 iron ores in a single night? That is impressive, miner. However, I’m sure the picks you bought yesterday helped you a lot, am I right? Of course, I am. Well, how about 10 bronze coins for each ore?”

The economy of Rise Online is entirely supported by three types of coins: bronze coins, silver coins, and gold coins. It’s the basic, simple, typical stuff of any medieval-style MMORPG.

The lowest value coins are obviously bronze coins, continuing in order of rarity and value with silver coins and last, and most valuable, gold coins.

When a player manages to collect 100 bronze coins, he can go to a Noble Bank and exchange them for 1 silver coin. That’s right, 100 shiny bronze coins equal one measly silver coin. The same process can be applied when you accumulate 100 silver coins and can exchange them for 1 gold coin.

Whenever Kaizen remembered these details, he was confident that he was lucky to have found Therkara and that her mission had already given him 100 silver coins.

However, even with 80 silver coins remaining after the previous day’s purchases, Kaizen still wanted more, that is, if he agreed to sell each iron ore for only 10 bronze coins, he would leave the region at a great loss.

Faced with the NPC’s offer, Kaizen smiled with debauchery. “You want me to forgive you, and then you make such a stupid offer like that? What are you thinking?”

Kaizen had already understood that the owner of the smithy was sorry for charging such a high price for those simple items he had bought the day before. Still, Kaizen would have no pity. He dropped the bag of iron ores on the ground, making a clatter, and then he inflated his chest at the short, fat man, making him shiver with intimidation.

“60 bronze coins is a fair amount for trying to take advantage of my innocence yesterday, isn’t it?” inquired Kaizen.

“Y-yes! Y-you’re right, I’m sorry, miner!”

After the deal with the smithy owner was concluded, Kaizen left the village with a broad and disturbing smile, carrying only a much smaller bag of iron ores over his right shoulder. He looked delighted, and he really should be because he earned 31 silver coins in this transaction, much more than he had expected.

After Kaizen returned to Medullar Forge, Therkara Ironstone had a stunned expression as he handed over the bag containing the 50 iron ores.

“What? Have you returned?” she asked. Her expectations were that Kaizen would take at least three days.

“I guess you won’t be able to call me a rookie anymore.”

Therkara checked the number and condition of the iron ores, then shook her head with a contented smile. “Hahaha! You are more hardworking than I expected, you’re not a rookie. You have talent, Kaizen. To have someone like you wanting to become a blacksmith… all the blacksmiths on the continent should be rejoicing. Thank you for giving me the honor of teaching you.”𝞸𝐕𝐋xt.𝗰𝒪𝔪

At that moment, a notification informed Kaizen of the mission’s success.

*PING*

[You have completed the mission ‘A Blacksmith’s First Task].

[Reputation in Draka Village increased by 100.]

[Affinity with Therkara Ironstone increased by 200.]

…

Edited by: DrHitsuji

If you want to see original illustrations of Rise Online characters, consider helping me on pa treon: Pa treon.com/NandoFalske

More character images in:

https:///bpqq9u4gS8

Like it? Add to library!

Don’t forget to vote with Powerstone to support the book if you like it…