The Master Craftsman’s Fury

“I’ve paid, so I can use it, right?”

“Th-This, is, a th-thousand gold?”

“How much is it normally?”

The guard kept glancing back and forth between me, the money pouch, and his fallen comrade.

He spoke in a trembling voice.

“F-Fifty gold, sir.”

“Damn these bastards. Only fifty gold, and they put on such a show? The rest is for snacks.”

I feigned spitting on the ground, then, pulling Nocturne along, I entered.

Of course, I didn’t actually spit. I don’t know how to. In a game, it doesn’t just fly out dramatically like in a movie. It just dribbles out awkwardly, then plops to the ground.

Ugh, how embarrassing.

“S-Sir Haut, I know you’re an important person, but is this really okay? They’re guards, after all. Public officials.”

“If we’re talking about that, I’m a noble, a knight with a medal of merit. Besides, I paid twenty times the price to get in. What are they going to do about it?”

Look.

They aren’t even following us in.

Inside, a massive blast furnace, a forge, large marble workbenches, and anvils were all neatly arranged.

The only problem was that a middle-aged man was currently using them.

“Who are you people? Surely you heard that I was using this?”

“We paid the usage fee to enter—ah. Please, continue your work, sir.”

“How dare you! Do you even know who I am?!”

‘Normally, even if they’re just an NPC, I’d treat them decently. But I’m not in the mood for that right now.’

Since I didn’t remember him, he was definitely not a named NPC. The useful crafting-type named NPC in this blacksmith’s shop was a large, muscular elder, not this scrawny, toothpick-like middle-aged man.

Ignoring the man’s shouts, I took a spot at a workbench and asked Nocturne.

“What’s your main weapon?”

“How dare a mere novice not know me, a certified master craftsman!”

“A one-handed sword? A dagger? Or do you prefer something with an ambiguous length?”

“You bastard—!”

Clang—!

Something hit the back of my head. Then, something clattered and rolled away.

It was the head of a forging hammer. In the man’s hand remained only the handle, a broken wooden stick without its head.

‘Haa. Why is everyone like this? Why are they doing this to me?’

‘This is strange. It’s all strange. Everything is so weird! What is this?’

I grabbed the hand of the man, who was recoiling in surprise, and dragged him towards an anvil.

“Wait! What are you doing!?”

“Choose the type of weapon you want to use. If it’s too hard, I’ll pull out a few samples for you after I deal with this.”

“N-No, don’t! Whatever it is, Sir Haut, please stop!”

“I’ll be quick. I won’t kill you.”

The man struggled to break free, screaming curses, but his words didn’t register. I wasn’t in the right state of mind.

‘I don’t even know why I’m so angry. Is it really worth getting this annoyed over a mere NPC picking a fight?’

‘But then again, why should I hold back?’

I pulled a crafting hammer from my inventory. It was a basic item with no special options, slightly smaller than a forging hammer.

I placed the man’s hand on the anvil and gripped the hammer.

“Don’t! I was wrong! Please, please, not my hand—!”

“I’m not killing you. What’s the problem?”

Though I offered a bright smile, the man’s face turned ashen. He collapsed, sobbing uncontrollably, still struggling to escape.

Thump, thump, crunch—clang—!

With each strike, it sounded like pounding meat. Bones shattered, piercing through the flesh.

Expressionless, I continued to hammer the man’s hand, pulverizing it.

“Sir Haut!!”

“Stop. Don’t come closer.”

Nocturne, who had been rushing towards me, froze. I merely turned my head and spoke to him.

“Don’t interfere. This will be over quickly. Because right now, I feel like I could smash your head in too.”

Crunch, squish, splat, splat, thwack.

The anvil resonated with the impact. Shrieks of agony filled the air.

I pulverized it until it was completely mashed, leaving no trace. Then, I kicked the man who was about to pass out and splashed him with water using magic, forcing him awake.

The man clawed at the back of my hand, trying to get me to release him, but left no marks.

‘Right, it’s fine. Look. It’s nothing, isn’t it?’

This time, I took a potion from my inventory and poured it over the minced flesh that had been his hand.

Crunch—

Bone fragments reassembled, and flesh knitted together, returning to its original state.

“I told you it was fine.”

‘See? This is a game. So it’s fine.’

The man’s hand was back to normal. I picked up the hammer again.

The man clung to my trouser leg with one hand, pleading.

“Save me, please save me. Just save me, please?”

“Why do you keep making me repeat myself? I said I won’t kill you.”

I repeated the act three more times. Pulverizing it, restoring it, then pulverizing it and restoring it again.

I used potions lavishly, so the man couldn’t even pass out. He seemed to have called the guards, but perhaps because I paid so much, they didn’t come in.

Finally, I used a potion to restore the man’s hand one last time, then released him.

“Why won’t you listen? I don’t want to get angry.”

The man couldn’t even speak properly. He wailed like an animal, crawling away to escape.

I cleaned the surroundings with magic, then smiled at Nocturne, who had been waiting.

“Have you thought about it? What kind of weapon do you want to use?”

“Th-That, just now…”

“Don’t talk about it. I’m not in the mood to listen today.”

Nocturne’s face was deathly pale. His hands trembled uncontrollably.

‘Why is he like this? You’re my comrade, aren’t you? I ordered you to stop, but if I attacked, you should have joined in.’

‘If I got angry, you should have reacted with me. But why are you trembling so much? What’s the problem? How long will it be a problem?’

‘I don’t know. Let’s not think about it.’

I pulled out all sorts of one-handed swords from my inventory and floated them before Nocturne.

“If it’s difficult, just pick one. I’ll make something similar for you.”

‘What’s wrong? What are you scared of?’

‘I don’t really understand.’

‘It’s fine. It’s nothing.’

My mood improved somewhat as I crafted the weapons. Though enchantments and intricate detailing were still far off, the swords themselves turned out well.

For Jack and Faust’s swords, I blended glass stone and mithril to create transparent blades. I then engraved some of Hamman’s patterns and prayers into them, so the engravings would glow within the blade.

Nocturne’s sword had a somewhat ambiguous blade length, about the length of a forearm, and was slightly curved. The design was meant to catch and tear flesh if scraped with the tip.

‘Now that I think about it, I should probably boost agility or strength too. Making the length a bit ambiguous meant it ended up being a one-handed sword.’

[ 「Moon Shadow」 — One-Handed Sword / Legendary ]

[Damage 25 / Weight 5 / Value 3000 / Durability 100(100)]

[Description: Crafted using dark iron and fragments of the night sky. Finished with obsidian powder and inlaid with moon shard fragments for decoration.]

[A weapon forged by a master craftsman. Created in a special location.]

[Additional Effects: 20% chance of instant death on stealth attack / Stealth attack power increased by 50% / Target Bleeding effect / Can attack ethereal beings (special material) / Normal attack critical hit chance increased by 20% / Attack power increased by 10% when used in darkness.]

[Crafted item. Creator: ‘I Want to Bang Faust’.]

The jet-black blade had a smooth surface, yet it reflected no light. Being a dagger, the guard was shallow and narrow, and the hilt was inlaid with moon shards as decoration.

The scabbard was similarly adorned.

“What do you think? Do you like it?”

“This, why doesn’t the blade reflect light?”

“Because it’s made with dark iron and fragments of the night. It’s good for stealth attacks. No need to apply cheap dyes, right?”

While not all do, some high-ranking assassin NPCs in the game apply something to their blades. This is to prevent light reflection. But applying it reduces durability, which isn’t cool.

‘If I’m going to use it, it has to look stylish.’

“For now, try using it a few times as a test. After that, we’ll proceed with enchantments and detailing. If it doesn’t feel right in your hand, tell me immediately; I’ll fix it or make you a completely new one. Oh, and be careful not to cut yourself. It has a bleeding effect, so the blood won’t stop.”

“Honestly, I’m not sure if I should really be using this. It looks dangerous, doesn’t it?”

“It would be dangerous for ordinary NPCs, wouldn’t it? Even a graze causes unstoppable bleeding, leading to death, and a direct hit means instant death.”

“Given my profession, it’s not like I’ve never killed anyone. But I don’t, uh, kill them that easily.”

‘I don’t know why this kid is so talkative.’

I placed the new dagger I had forged into Nocturne’s hand.

“You’re not even a good-aligned character, so why are you talking so much? Anyway, I won’t ask you to kill human NPCs. I can do it in one hit, so why would I make you do it?”

Among companion NPCs, some good-aligned ones refuse actions that go against their alignment. Things like killing people or stealing. They might even nag me if I do such things. But Nocturne is evil-aligned, isn’t he? Unhesitant in committing evil deeds, even trying to kill me at first.

Despite being evil-aligned, Nocturne tried to stop or dissuade my actions. He even expressed reluctance about killing other NPCs just now.

I spread my arms wide and smiled.

“Are you scared? Do you wish I weren’t here? Do you want to kill me?”

He remained silent.

‘Of course. There are no specific keywords for that.’

Nocturne simply stood there, trembling with the sword in his hand.

[Logout].

[Cannot execute. Check quest.]

‘It’s true, something is strange. The system status is a mess. But it hasn’t completely disappeared, has it?’

‘Basic functions like the inventory work. Teleportation is impossible, but skills themselves are usable. The bizarrely high sensory level can be explained by previous limit settings.’

‘What? It’s nothing serious, then.’

“Want to try killing me? Skipping two or three hours would be a waste, but today, I somehow don’t feel like doing anything.”

‘Why that face? Why are you so deathly pale? You look like you’re about to cry, don’t you? It seems your emotional script was richer than I imagined.’

Still, there was no reaction. I lowered my arms and tidied up the surroundings.

“What do you want for lunch? If it’s hard to choose, want to try something unique? There’s a place nearby that makes excellent offal dishes.”

“Ugh—!!”

He suddenly gagged. Nocturne immediately bent over, retching into the air.

‘What is it? Was he not feeling well? I would have just let him rest, then. Seems like I brought him along for nothing.’

Just then, a commotion erupted near the entrance.