Players' NPC Big Daddy

[Blaze/Black Beast]

Level: 31 (7)

Profession: Soul Suppressing Knight (Incomplete) Level 5 / Great Sword Master Level 15 / Fighting Master Level 10 / Night Watcher Level 1

Power: 125/0+80+45+0

Agility: 95/0+40+55+0

Intelligence: 56/0+20+36+0

Faith: 100/100+0+0+0

Skill

*Lethal Execution? / *Danger Perception C / *Poison Resistance A / *Fire Resistance A / Butterfly Dance D / Bee Sting Fist D / Strangulation E / Forest Blessing D / Constellation Power F / Low-level Contract F / Translation E / Soul Capture F / Soul Seed F / Adrenaline F

Magic: ???

Equipment

Weapon: Twisted Evil God’s Name/Sword

Head: None

Upper Body: None

Waist: None

Lower Body: None

Accessory: ???

————————————————

”Say, I suffered so much, yet I didn’t get any stronger at all.”

”Didn’t you get a weapon?” the chicken said, sitting on Blaze’s forehead in an egg-incubating posture. She couldn’t see the Blessing panel in Blaze’s eyes, but she didn’t mind, spreading her wings to preen her feathers.

”That’s what I was supposed to get anyway. What I wanted was an extra reward, something like, ’Since you’ve worked so hard, here’s a little more for you.’”

”Since you’ve worked so hard, I’ll give you a little extra reward.” Audrey pushed the door open and entered. Blaze immediately sprang up from the bed.

”There’s no need, Ms. Audrey! I am a down-to-earth man!”

Audrey rolled her eyes at him, both annoyed and amused, and waved him over.

”Master Hade wants you to find him as soon as you wake up.”

”I’ll go right now.”

At the Fire Rabbit Forging House, Hade was drinking, looking as though he had been waiting for a long time.

”Yo, kid, you’re here.” Hade pointed toward the center of the Forging House with the wine bottle pinched between two fingers. ”Hurry up and take back the Monster you created. With that guy over there, we can’t properly welcome any customers.”

Blaze looked in the direction Hade pointed. Reborn in a completely new form, the Twisted Greatsword stood tall in the center of the Forging House, radiating a terrifying heat wave that kept everyone at bay.

Blaze stepped forward. As if sensing someone approaching, the Twisted Greatsword reacted like a feral cat with its fur bristling, releasing an even more horrifying wave of heat. The sound of hissing snakes seemed to mingle within the scorching air. On Blaze’s Armor, the marks left behind from the fire poison Erosion glowed, resonating from afar with the fiery waves unleashed by the Twisted Greatsword.

Instantly, the Twisted Greatsword withdrew all its fiery waves and obediently allowed Blaze to grasp it.

”It’s become quite beautiful.”

Blaze stroked the former break on the Twisted Greatsword. The hideous scar had transformed into a slithering eight-headed snake. Tiny streams of fire continuously crawled up the blade from the handguard, turning into sparks that sputtered out at the tip of the sword.

”Kid, about the suffering you went through, I have no explanations to offer.”

”Master Hade, you don’t need to...” Blaze subconsciously tried to console him, but he was met with Hade’s completely serious expression.

”Because it wasn’t my fault. Considering you handled the aftermath, I won’t ask you to compensate for the Destruction damages to the Forging House this time.”

”Then can I ask, is it normal for Yamata to pop out during the forging process?” Blaze put away the Twisted Greatsword. If Hade’s answer was yes, he would truly have to drop to his knees in awe.

Having experienced extracting a Memory and forging a Skill once himself, he deeply understood just how difficult it was to battle a Monster’s soul within the Flame. And Hade had likely gone through this countless times.

”That only happens if the material Monster isn’t entirely dead. That’s why I usually only take on equipment Enhancement jobs after the Monster has been defeated.”

Hade picked up the Griffin Feather on the forging anvil. In life, this Monster was at least Level 65. If it suddenly popped out while he was wholeheartedly forging, it would be pure agony.

”After a Monster is defeated by a Blessed, the vast majority of its soul is absorbed. The remaining soul scatters and lodges into its remains, which are the dropped items. Extracting a Memory to create a Skill is essentially utilizing the Soul Fragments within those drops, combining them with the metal’s Memory to recreate the Monster’s Skill.”

”Since the original body is gone, these Soul Fragments themselves pose no real threat anymore. But a ’Snake’ is different,” Hade crossed his arms, showing a look of taboo and wariness. ”Snakes are creatures that slumber in the winter and awaken in the spring. Even if their bodies die, their souls merely fall into a deep sleep. As long as they come into contact with the Flame symbolizing Life, they will awaken and experience a resurrection. Not to mention Yamata, who bears the name of a God.”

”Logically speaking, the Foreigner should have used Divine Wine to plunge the giant snake’s soul into eternal intoxication. However, that Foreigner named Flying Brick...”

Hade revealed an expression caught between tears and laughter.

”He fought Yamata in a one-on-one frontal duel. With peerless violence, he twisted off seven of the snake’s heads, and finally, he actually used a Chef’s Skill to chop Yamata into eight pieces.”

”Then didn’t he already defeat Yamata and absorb the vast majority of its soul?” Blaze found it strange, but he quickly realized the answer. ”A Blessed can absorb about seventy or eighty percent of a soul. Since Yamata has eight heads, it wouldn’t matter if its soul was divided into eight parts.”

”Yamata’s only remain is that tailbone sword in Flying Brick’s hands—Ama no Murakumo. Naturally, the rest of the soul is trapped inside it.”

”Normally, that Foreigner should have offered the sword to Amaterasu, letting Amaterasu perform a Purification on all of the snake’s soul within it. But looking at it now...” Hade threw his hands up; the implication was self-evident.

Mr. Flying Brick hadn’t gone to do it at all. How could he just abandon a quest halfway through!

”I-it’s probably because offering it to Amaterasu is simply too difficult. Even a Foreigner like him wouldn’t be able to finish it in a short time,” Blaze said.

”Probably.” Hade shrugged. He took a heavy swig of wine, exhaled a puff of white smoke, and then asked abruptly, ”Kid, have you ever considered becoming a Blacksmith?”

”...I think I did once.” Blaze tilted his head up in thought. He seemed to have had that idea in the past, but he could no longer remember the reason why.

”The Blacksmith is a crafting Profession, you know.”

A normal Profession gained Experience Value by absorbing Monster souls, but exceptions existed. Non-combat Professions acquired special Experience Value by engaging in related manufacturing work. For example, a Farmer through farming, a Chef through cooking, and a Blacksmith through forging iron.

Most importantly, this special Experience Value could also be used to level up other Professions.

Of course, there was no such thing as a free lunch in this world. To obtain a crafting Profession, one had to inherit it directly from someone who already possessed it.

”My level was obtained entirely through being a Blacksmith. The Professions and Skills I’ve learned are all meant to amplify my Power for better forging.”

”With your aptitude, you might just steadily reach Level 99 in less than a year and go challenge the Breakthrough Limit.”