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Mystic iron was the most basic forging material, perfect for practice. Until he improved his forging skills, Charles didn\'t dare to use the Nine Nether Gold Scales or Sacred Bone—if he failed to forge with those, he might just cry.

He placed some firewood into the makeshift furnace he had built in the dirt, then worked the bellows. With a series of crackling sounds, the mystic iron he had placed inside gradually began to glow red.

Once heated, mystic iron becomes soft, making it the perfect time to forge it into any desired shape.

Clang, clang, clang, clang... The rhythmic and powerful sound of hammering echoed through the valley as Charles pounded the palm-sized piece of mystic iron into an iron sheet.

An hour later, the sheet had taken shape, vaguely resembling an armguard.

"It\'s done!"

With a crisp sizzle, the armguard was quenched in a bucket of water, releasing a cloud of steam. As the temperature cooled, Charles held up his perfectly crafted piece with a proud grin, admiring his handiwork.

"You think something like this can be called armor?" Just as Charles was basking in his pride, a voice suddenly echoed from the entrance of the cave.

Before he could react, a small stone shot towards him, striking the armguard in his hand.

Crack!

Charles\'s "masterpiece" instantly shattered into pieces on the ground.

Annoyed, he looked towards the entrance of the valley. When he saw that it was Joshua, Charles froze for a moment. Recalling Joshua\'s earlier words, he couldn\'t help but feel a bit deflated. "So, what do you think I should do?"

Joshua slowly approached Charles, his voice cold as ice. "A piece of iron that hasn\'t even had its impurities removed doesn\'t deserve to be called forged metal. And anything made from such trash can only be called garbage!"

"Uh... cough..."

"Your words are just as sharp as your looks..." Charles couldn\'t help but mutter under his breath.

"Hmm?"

A fierce glare from Joshua\'s jet-black serpentine eyes made Charles quickly shut his mouth. Although he wasn\'t sure what Joshua\'s intentions were, it seemed... he might be an expert in forging?

Without wasting time, Charles quickly offered up the best food and wine he had. "Senior, could you teach me?"

Joshua glanced at the wine and meat in Charles\'s hands, hesitated for a moment, then finally picked up the hammer lying on the ground. "You work the bellows. Watch my forging technique carefully, and listen to what I say. Remember, I\'m only going to show you once!"

Seeing Charles nodding eagerly, Joshua sighed in exasperation. Just a while ago, the princess had been obsessively practicing cooking, and he\'d developed a psychological aversion to food...

Might as well teach him, as repayment for the meal—though Joshua doubted Charles would actually learn anything.

Joshua casually pulled a piece of red-hot mystic iron from the furnace and placed it on the anvil. He raised the hammer in his right hand, striking a pose that reminded Charles of the Greek statues from his previous life:

"There are three crucial aspects of forging: the forging hammer, heat control, and forging technique. A good forging hammer is rare to come by, but heat control and technique can be improved through diligent practice..."

Clang!

With a loud bang, sparks flew from the mystic iron as Joshua brought the hammer down with tremendous force. Each swing of the hammer was powerful and deliberate, yet, astonishingly, Joshua showed no signs of strain—even without using elemental power.

"Every forging material in the world has impurities. If the impurities aren\'t removed, the material is nothing but trash.

And brute force alone is useless in forging—you have to learn how to use the hammer\'s rebound off the material to conserve energy..." Even while completing another round of forging and returning the mystic iron to the furnace to reheat, Joshua still managed to share his forging insights with Charles, his effortless demeanor leaving Charles in awe.

Two hours later, Joshua had repeated the forging process forty-nine times, transforming the original basin-sized piece of mystic iron into something the size of a palm, and eventually, as small as an egg...

What astonished Charles the most was that he could see the quality of the material improving before his eyes!

[mystic iron] [Gray Quality]

[mystic iron] [White Quality]

[mystic iron] [Green Quality]

...

Finally, after the mystic iron had been reduced to a small piece about the size of a block of wood, Joshua stopped. After quenching it, he tossed a still-warm metal sphere to Charles.

Eighty-one rounds! Joshua had pounded it with full force for eighty-one rounds!

Staring at the now slightly translucent material in his hand, which the system displayed as mystic iron [Orange Quality], Charles\'s jaw nearly hit the floor.

Joshua had actually transformed a piece of common gray-quality material into orange-quality just through his forging skills! If Charles could learn this technique, he\'d never lack high-quality materials again!

Seeing the look of envy in Charles\'s eyes, Joshua couldn\'t help but smirk. "That ice and fire supreme spear of yours must have cost you a pretty penny, huh? But to me, it\'s just trash. Back when I commanded the palace guards, this kind of thing would\'ve been thrown to the cooks and kitchen staff..."

The ice and fire supreme spear was a blue-quality weapon, the highest-grade weapon in Lsengard! Charles had spent 100 silver coins to buy it!

But Joshua called it trash, something fit only for cooks and kitchen staff?!

Charles was so shocked he almost cried, realizing how little he knew of the world. He looked at Joshua with pure admiration. "Joshua, Senior, Master! Could you forge a weapon for me? I don\'t need much—just make it gold-quality!"

Joshua had just taken a sip of the beast meat stew Charles had cooked when he heard Charles\'s request and nearly spit it out: Gold-quality! Did this kid think gold-quality weapons were as common as cabbages on the ground?

However, having already boasted, it was a bit awkward to flatly refuse. "Kid, forging a gold-quality weapon takes a lot of time, and the materials required—do you even have them?"

Seeing the disappointment in Charles\'s expression, Joshua gave him a reassuring pat on the shoulder. "No need to feel down. I can teach you the skills."

"If you master what I teach you, forging gold-quality equipment yourself won\'t be a problem. What I just showed you was my signature skill, the [Eighty-One Hammer Technique]. Next, I\'ll teach you how to control the heat..."

...

The night passed in silence, with the moon rising and setting, and the first light of dawn breaking in the east.

The clang of hammering echoed through the valley all night long.

Charles couldn\'t quite remember when exactly Joshua had left in the middle of the night. After demonstrating once, Joshua had handed the reins over to Charles. As Charles brought his hammer down, sparks flew from the red-hot piece of mystic iron, dislodging a small amount of impurities.

Following Joshua\'s instructions, Charles noticed that after a round of hammering, the material became more translucent and slightly smaller.

Splash, splash, splash—

As water splashed in the quenching bucket, Charles looked at the mystic iron, now reduced to half its original size, and felt a deep sense of accomplishment.

"This [Eighty-One Hammer Technique] is really something. Even as a beginner, I managed to raise the quality of mystic iron to white. Once I get the hang of this, I\'ll be rolling in wealth!" Charles chuckled to himself.

In his past life, Charles had been a businessman with a sharp mind for commerce—he could see opportunities in everything.

If he took these high-grade materials to the weapon shops or auction houses in Lsengard, he could surely make a tidy profit!

"With my current skill level, completely removing impurities from the material is still a bit challenging. Over the next couple of days, I\'ll keep practicing the [Eighty-One Hammer Technique] while searching for the beast core needed to forge the Nine Netherworld Armband," Charles thought to himself.

After soaking in the tub for a while and changing into clean clothes, Charles left the cave and headed toward the wooden cabin by the pond. He had already taken some miracle drugs to resist the serpent poison and was relieved to find that there was no trace of the purple poison mist in the area this time.

The cabin looked like it had been recently repaired, likely Joshua\'s work from the night before.

Charles knocked on the door, and after hearing Aria\'s response, he stepped inside.

Today, Aria was wearing a light green chiffon dress. Perhaps due to her life in the desert, she seemed particularly fond of this type of attire. Her waist-length, silky hair was tied at the waist with a matching light green ribbon. Her long eyelashes fluttered slightly, resembling the delicate wings of a butterfly.

Aria was happily engrossed in her cooking, humming softly to herself. When she saw Charles, she smiled and greeted him, "Take a seat, I\'ve prepared breakfast for you. Don\'t worry, nothing\'s burnt this time."

That last comment made Charles\'s face twitch as he remembered yesterday\'s "fish soup." It seemed that after a good night\'s rest, Aria\'s mood had improved significantly. Seeing her so cheerful, Charles felt a sense of relief.

"Please don\'t start crying again, or this cabin that was just repaired might end up in pieces again," Charles joked, glancing at the tiny figure of Joshua on a hill a few hundred meters away.

Aria covered her mouth with a laugh and gently pushed a plate of pastries toward Charles. Her eyes sparkled with a soft light, full of anticipation.

Charles took a bite. Despite being a person with a discerning palate, he couldn\'t help but give a thumbs up. "Delicious!"

Who would\'ve thought this little girl\'s cooking skills would improve so quickly?

"Really?" Aria propped her chin in her hand, watching Charles quietly as he tasted the food.

Seeing that Aria was doing well, Charles felt it was time to say goodbye. He handed her a small gift box. "I\'ll be heading back to Lsengard in two days. I bought this in Lsengard as a little souvenir. I hope you don\'t mind."

Charles had initially thought of exchanging phone numbers with Aria, but from what he had observed, the serpent people, being a relatively secluded and traditional group, didn\'t seem to use phones.

When Aria heard that Charles was leaving, she seemed momentarily dazed. Then, with a hint of excitement, she carefully opened the gift Charles had prepared.

Inside was a small, delicate jade pendant, a deep green in color.

Upon seeing the pendant, Aria\'s hand flew to her mouth in surprise, her fair face flushing all the way to her ears. Her shy expression left Charles feeling a bit flustered. "Is... is something wrong? Do you not like the style of the pendant?"

Aria took a deep breath to calm herself, then looked at Charles with astonishment. "You\'re the first friend I\'ve ever made, Charles. I\'ll cherish this gift!"

Aria accepted the jade pendant, then softly reminded Charles, "In our serpent tribe, jade pendants are gifts exchanged only between couples. So, in the future, be careful not to give this kind of gift to just any other girl."

Thud!

The half-eaten pastry in Charles\'s hand dropped onto the table as he scratched his head awkwardly, finally understanding why Aria had blushed. But despite having a lot of items in his storage space, this was the only thing remotely suitable as a gift for a girl. He couldn\'t exactly say:

"Aria, here\'s 10 kilograms of resurrecting serpent meat as my parting gift!"

"Aria, this 1000 milliliters of steel-spiked hedgehog blood—don\'t be offended!"

The images were too ridiculous for Charles to even imagine...

Fortunately, Aria accepted the gift in the end. Otherwise, the situation would have been unbearably awkward. After quickly finishing his breakfast, Charles waved at Aria as if making a hasty escape. "I\'m leaving tomorrow! Heading to the valley for some training first!"

Just as Charles stepped out of the cabin, he heard Aria\'s voice from behind him. "Charles, I have a gift for you too."

His foot, mid-stride, froze in midair...