When Kaizen told Zahir about how his trip to the Howling Cliff went, the dwarf was awestruck as he held an iron hammer in his right hand. Zahir initially planned to just hear about Kaizen’s trip while repairing his armor, but the story became so interesting that he soon forgot about it what he was doing.

[The Mission ‘Visit to the Howling Cliff’ has been completed].

[You gained +500 XP.]

[You gained +1 Class Point.]

Kaizen smiled as he saw the system screens appear before his eyes.

“No, no. You can only be lying. I won’t believe you… You left here less than two days ago, and there’s no way this all happened so fast.” The dwarf uttered and crossed his arms like a tantrum child.

“It doesn’t matter to me whether you believe me or not. I only told you because you said you wanted to know.” replied Kaizen while looking curiously at a table full of tools from the dwarf’s forge. ‘And also because I had to complete this hidden mission.’

Realizing he was being overly rude to Kaizen, Zahir put his haughtiness aside for a minute and began trying to explain himself.

“Kaizen, I didn’t say this because I don’t trust your words, but it’s a little hard to believe everything you’ve told me.”

“You don’t believe that I killed mutant creatures, found a beautiful girl that I extorted to make her give me a mutant weapon for helping her, and that the Mantis of the Steel Claws were not very strong?”

Zahir energetically nodded.

,m “Then again, you don’t believe the part that I finished a mythical creature that was struck by lightning, right? Sheeeesh! Your life must be boring, man.”

“Do you even understand how absurd these things you claim to have done are? A mythical creature is extremely rare… Yes, if there is one place in the vicinity that a mythical creature could be inhabiting, that place is the Howling Cliffs. However, just that you’re saying that you killed the mythical creature is something as absurd as saying that I will be declared King of Tretidian tomorrow. Look at me, I am a dwarf, so it is literally impossible for me to become King of a human kingdom.”

‘Hehe! This guy would be very surprised if I said I conducted the lightning that struck the Centaur.’ Kaizen thought and suddenly had an idea. “Zahir, what if there is a way for me to prove to you that I really did all of this, especially the mythical creature part?”

“Prove it? What do you have in mind? Ah! If you’re thinking of dragging me into the Howling Cliffs, I’m out!” The blacksmith denied with his hands and started walking away from the player.

𝒐𝑣𝑙xt.𝔠𝑶𝑚

Kaizen opened his inventory and pulled out the Guardian’s Elmo. “Look at this.”

When Zahir turned only half a body to look back, he stared at the strange helmet Kaizen was holding and was very curious.

“What is that?” He asked, moving closer.

“Examine it yourself, and if you know anything about it, tell me about it. I want to find out too.” said Kaizen, holding out the Guardian’s Elm to the dwarf.

“Are you sure?”

“Yes, as incredible as it sounds, I trust you.”

“Okay, so excuse me.” Zahir put on his left eye monocle, picked up the item, and examined it closely. “That’s… interesting.”

Zahir was instigated despite his dozens of years of experience in the blacksmithing business. He had seen countless spears, shields, armor, helmets, and all kinds of items that a blacksmith was capable of producing. However, he had never seen anything like this helmet outside the books.

Despite being an NPC, Zahir still had the profession of blacksmithing, so he could see the statistics screen of any item, like Kaizen and the other players.

Naturally, Zahir read the helmet’s name, then read its description. The fact that this object had a Druid origin was clear to the dwarf from the moment he touched it, feeling its unique material. But the confirmation of this ancient origin by the item’s description merged with its nature, i.e., classification was like a punch in the dwarf’s stomach. Dwarves were world-renowned for being able to produce the best possible items, but Druids became very famous for also producing relics that could withstand the passing of hundreds of years better than metal weapons and armor.

“This is an Epic Rank Druid helmet, Kaizen! That’s amazing, did you know!?”

“Yes, I suspected.” Psyker said. “Do you know some things about these guys, the Druids?”

“Do I know? The Druids are almost rivals to the Dwarves in the history of the world…. We Dwarves believe that the items we forge are like animals, people, or monsters. Everything that has a birthdate must die someday. It’s a simple concept that motivates us to produce the best items, regardless of what time will do to them or who will use them.”

Zahir gestured as he explained.

“Druids are different. They believe that the best weapons last hundreds or even thousands of years. For example, to them, the true strength of armor is not in how many combats it can withstand, how many blades slash it can withstand, but rather about how long the armor will hold out… Now, if I wanted an item that would last forever, I would make a stone sword, wouldn’t I! HAHAHAHA!”

“Hehe! That makes sense, but that doesn’t explain why this helmet is so good. Don’t get me wrong, this helmet may indeed be very old, and that’s fine… I just want to understand how great and rare this is, so I’ll be able to make a fair price on it when I sell it.”

“If you want to know better about this thing, look for a damn druid or an elf. They will know how to explain better what this is about. I hate these things. Get it out of my establishment.”

“I’ll be right out, I promise… But before you return to repairing the scratches on my armor, I have something to ask you.”

“Okay, okay. Ask your question.” Zahir said, crossing his arms and facing Kaizen.

“Zahir, have you ever heard of the Ironstone Blacksmith Family?”

…

Edited by: DrHitsuji

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