Wizard starting from shoeing donkeys

Chapter 63 – 62 Barbarians and the Shield Maiden

County Town is the stronghold of the Habus Earl Family, and Cleya’s brothers should all be in County Town as well.

Now is clearly not the right time to head to County Town in search of a high-level blacksmith shop.

Rein immediately dismissed the idea of going to County Town, as it was most important for him to focus on raising his blacksmith profession level.

He turned to Boris and said, “Uncle Boris, today I’d like to learn about weapon sharpening…”

“Sure, come on!” Boris agreed without hesitation, as it didn’t matter whether Rein learned tempering or sharpening first since he had already paid the tuition fees.

Ever since acquiring the Fine Steel Greatsword, Rein had decided to learn weapon sharpening first and leave the tempering for later.

Because to maintain a weapon in good condition, maintenance is important, and sharpening is a crucial part of weapon maintenance.

Quickly, Boris brought Rein to the open space behind the blacksmith shop.

There lay several whetstones of different sizes, strewn haphazardly around.

“These are all oilstones used for sharpening knives, but why do you think they’re called oilstones? Take a guess, Rein.” Boris said with a smile, pointing at a large stone about the height of an average person’s thigh.

The stone’s top surface showed a fine concave curve from repeated use.

“Could it be related to oil?” Rein pondered briefly before guessing.

Boris picked up a single-hand sword that was waiting to be sharpened, and sat down on a wooden stool in front of the oilstone, seemingly preparing to demonstrate for Rein.

“You’re basically correct. It’s called an oilstone because before using it, you have to drop a bit of oil on its surface,” Boris revealed the answer.

He then took a small iron pot, poured a little oil onto the top surface of the oilstone, and scraped it a few times with the blade to spread it evenly.

“The main purpose of applying oil is to reduce friction,” he explained.

“Ho ho!”

Boris gripped the sword hilt with his right hand and pressed his fingers on the sword’s spine with his other hand as he began the sharpening process.

“After finishing the sharpening, the metallic particles from the blade or edge will remain on the oil, allowing them to be easily wiped off with a cloth, which is very convenient,” Boris explained while demonstrating.

The whole set of actions was not difficult.

Rein watched attentively, and as soon as Boris finished demonstrating, he immediately began to try it himself.

It didn’t take long for Rein to find the knack, and system prompts soon appeared:

“You have sharpened a weapon, gaining insight!”

“You have learned a new skill—Weapon Sharpening”

“Your Skill Weapon Sharpening has improved, Experience +1”

….

“You focus on weapon sharpening for ten minutes, Blacksmith Professional Experience Points +1”

Beneath the blacksmith panel, alongside existing icons such as repairing donkey hooves, nailing horseshoes, and stoking bellows, a new icon had been added.

This new icon, situated above the icons like repairing donkey hooves, featured an oblong whetstone with a short sword on top, clearly depicting a weapon-sharpening scene, vivid and lifelike.

Another important point was that Rein discovered the blacksmith professional experience provided by weapon sharpening was higher than that from ‘Ore Identification’.

In about an hour he could gain approximately 5 profession experience points.

This made Rein very excited!

The reason seemed to be because weapon sharpening required precise vision, strong hand strength, and constant concentration.

Fortunately, Rein’s Constitution, Strength, and Spirit attributes had all increased significantly recently.

So, even though sharpening weapons was exhausting, Rein was still able to persevere for a long time.

One…

Two…

…

So, Rein, whose heart was set on leveling up his Blacksmith occupation, worked tirelessly through the entire morning sharpening weapons without taking any rest at all.

He cleared out nearly half of the pile of weapons laid out on the ground, needing to be sharpened.

He didn’t even spare the kitchen knives!

As noon approached, Rein wiped the large sweat droplets from his forehead and let out a long sigh before finally taking a break from his work.

Glancing at his panel, his Blacksmith profession level had successfully reached Blacksmith lv1 (76/100).

This gave Rein a thrill of satisfaction, a sense that hard work indeed pays off!

Rein’s work efficiency even brought a beaming smile to Boris, who was watching from a distance.

“Rein, won’t you consider coming to work for me? I’ll pay you extra!”

“…..”

After declining Boris the Blacksmith’s offer again, Rein got up and headed home.

Not long after Rein left the blacksmith shop, heavy hoofbeats suddenly echoed from the main road behind him in the little town.

The somewhat heavy sound of these hoofbeats immediately caught the attention of the townspeople on the road, who turned their heads to look.

Rein was no exception and turned to look as well, only to see a group of five people riding tall warhorses approaching from the north.

After entering the town, the group slowed down, allowing Rein to get a clear view of their features.

The leader was a burly man with a full beard; although he rode an exceptionally tall black warhorse, his feet were only twenty to thirty centimeters from the ground, looking as if an adult was riding a pony.

Rein understood that the illusion was due to the man’s towering stature.

This couldn’t help but astound him!

That height must be over two meters three!

The man wore a horned helmet and thick leather armor, studded with sharp spikes on its surface.

Besides his shoulders and torso, his limbs were mostly exposed, apparently to maintain flexibility during combat.

His arm muscles bulged, and the muscles on his thighs were terrifying, each like protruding rocks, a clear indication that he was a fierce warrior of strength.

The most eye-catching feature was the huge single-bladed axes hanging on either side of his horse, one on each side.

As the group drew closer, the town’s residents stepped aside, looking at them with a mix of awe and reverence.

And Rein was in the perfect position to notice further details about them.

He saw the crescent shape of the axe head, almost as wide as a door at its widest point before tapering towards both ends, the axe itself being about a meter long, with the round metal handle nearly half a meter.

These were heavy and sharp heavy weapons—the ‘Moon Blade Battle Axes’!

Encountering such a massive ‘giant’ paired with heavy axes, it was no wonder that even the sturdy black warhorse was struggling to carry the load.

The black horse snorted fiercely, and in this slightly chilly late autumn, two columns of steam visibly rose intermittently.

The people following were also dressed in a similar wild style to the ‘giant’, each strong, imposing, and fierce in stature.

Wait! That’s not right, the last one was actually a young girl, about eighteen or nineteen!

Although she wore similar clothes, her physique was much more delicate.

Mounted on her horse, Rein could still roughly estimate her height to be between one meter seventy and one meter eighty.

Indeed, much more ‘delicate’.

Behind her was an exceedingly exaggerated round shield, the shield’s diameter well exceeding one meter, making the ‘delicate’ girl appear even tinier.

The shield seemed to be made of some kind of thick wood, with a protruding iron disc about the size of a palm at the center and a narrow band of iron wrapped around the edges to tighten it.

There was also a long-handled battle axe hanging on the side of the horse, but it was clearly two sizes smaller than the ‘giant’s’ axe and unlike the crescent-shaped blade, it was a common lumberjack axe design.

Could this actually be a very rare female shield-bearer?

This turn of events left Rein curious, and he couldn’t help but take a few more glances at her.