BXBX NOVEL Chapter 168 - 167
Handing over the two swords he had had made for Clarisa, Marcus had a proud expression on his face as he asked Thabon to look them over.
Thabon for his part looked quite surprised to see the quality of Marcus\' work and immediately noticed the system\'s mark on the two blades.
\'Impeccable, I cannot believe that she made these after just the one week of advanced training. A monster is all I can say, to get the system\'s approval on your first weapon after learning the secrets of forging is unheard of. She must have but her heart and soul into the crafting of these blades to make them as good as they are.\'
Thabon who looked thoroughly impressed inspected every detail of the two swords for a good fifteen minutes before handing them back to Marcus and saying, "Truly impressive Irene, your level of talent and skill are rare to say the least. Even I would have to give it my all to make something better without using higher quality materials. With this you are now either the fourth of fifth best forgemaster in this forge and within the top twenty or thirty in the city."
Hearing Thabon\'s genuine praise, Marcus could not help but have a big smile on his face although when he heard the ranking Thabon had given him Marcus was quite surprised.
To be within the top thirty or twenty forgemasters within a city this large seemed practically impossible to Marcus. Marcus figured that there were somewhere between fifteen and twenty million people within the capital city that was as large as some of the biggest cities on Earth. There must have been thousands of forges throughout the city so Marcus never imagined that he could be that close to the top.
Thabon seeing the confused expression on Marcus\' face began laughing before saying, "I can tell you think my evaluation of your skill seems a bit off right. But let me ask you this, how many people do you think within this entire city know the secrets of the forge? There are maybe even only fifty, that is how closely guarded the secrets are especially the use of celestial platinum. In fact, even in my Blazegram forge, only you, Gurrom, my other apprentice, one other who learned from their own master, and of course myself know."
With a look of realization Marcus understood now how far he had come. Most people did not want to go out risking their lives fighting so the majority of people were not very high level, but at a certain point no matter how long you trained a skill, without a high enough level you would reach a bottleneck.
"So now you understand how spectacular you are, you have a great deal of talent and the amount of effort and spirt you throw into your work is second to none, so be proud of your accomplishments. Now then is this all you wanted to show me or is there something else?"
Remembering the other reason he was here, Marcus began taking out the bronze weapons and armor he had forged.
"I was hoping that you could make some extra space in the shop for these items I have made. I am a little tight on money right now so it would be a big help for me."
Nodding his head, Thabon walked over and appraised Marcus\' goods, fining them to be above average for the materials and enchantments used, but they were still nothing special like the swords Marcus had just shown him.
"Yeah, I can make some room for you in a good spot since you have become one of my disciples. Though we can only show around a fourth of them at a time so until the first batch sell the others will have to wait in the warehouse. Ah, but what about those swords, did you want me to help you fins a buyer for them. With their quality I can guaranty at least eight thousand gold for the pair but probably more if I can find a rich noble family with an heir that has a talent with lightning magic."
Gulping loudly hearing how valuable the swords he had recently made were really worth, Marcus could not help but imagine the pile of golf he could get for them.
In the creation of the two swords Marcus had used around fifteen hundred gold worth of materials although it would have been more had he paid full price for the talon of the thunderbird, the profit margin was still quite good.
However, Marcus could only shake his head and say, "Sorry I made these personally for a friend, so I will not be selling them, but I will try to get some higher quality goods made within the next month."
Sighing with a slight look of disappointment Thabon responded saying, "It definitely would have raised your prestige if you sold these, but I get it, I have made items for my friends in the past and I never would have sold them for any amount of money."
A smile creeped over Marcus\' face as he looked at his understanding master who while draconian in his training, has really supported him.
"Well thank you for your praise, but I guess now I will go drop these off at the front along with the two commissions I have completed and then head on my way."
However, as Marcus was walking away a look of remembrance appeared on Thabon\'s face as he stopped Marcus from leaving quite yet.
"Wait Irene, there is something else I need to tell you. But first could you go and get Gurrom since it pertains to both of you."
Nodding his head, Marcus went and found Gurrom in his private room currently resting after working hard on the piece of armor he was currently forging.
"Hey Gurrom, master wants to see both of us to discuss something so if you would come back with me to his room?"
Gurrom turning his head over looked at Marcus with a smile before saying, "Irene it is good to see you again, I heard what happened during you trip to that mine. So now you know what kind of hell hole that place is."
Shivering slightly, Marcus affirmed Gurrom\'s notion about the place\'s horror and the two started up a quick conversation before heading over to Thabon.
"How does it feel to know how to really forge, it is invigorating right."
"Yeah, there is so much more to do and explore now. I had never even thought of grinding down parts of monsters to enhance the properties of metals."
"Yep, the path of the forge is boundless, there is always something new to discover."
After talking for a couple of minutes catching each other up on what they had been working on, the two of them went to Thabon\'s room to hear what he had to say.
Sitting down in front of him, Thabon looked at both Marcus and Gurrom with a serious gaze before saying, "I assume you both know about the kingdom meeting that happens every year during the summer when the nobles of the kingdom come together to discuss the goings on of the kingdom and decide how to allocate resources and personnel."
Both Marcus and Gurrom gave acknowledging nods as Thabon waited for their reply.
"Good at the same time there are often other events that go on, such as high-profile auctions, which the two of you may want to check out for rare materials. However, the main reason I want to talk to you is about the fighting tournament for those under the age of fifty that is held every three years right before the meeting."
Thabon then gave a pause waiting to see if either Marcus or Gurrom had any questions or comments but after a few moments of silence continued with his explanation.
"This year is going to be special as it is the fiftieth time that this tournament will be held in the kingdom, and the royal family has already stated the rewards for those ranking high this year will be far greater than they have in the past. In fact, my friend Aria who you know as well Irene, personally told me to invite the two of you and tell you about the rewards you could get. I believe she wants to bring either or both of you into the spotlight since neither of you are greatly well known in the kingdom\'s main circles. It is a shrewd tactic to try and raise the standing of the kingdom by showing off your talents, but the rewards are quite good so I figured I would discuss it with you. Now if either of you want to back out before hearing the possible rewards to avoid any temptation I would understand."
Thinking it over Marcus had been doing his best to stay lowkey and while he was known in some circles the reputation of his estate was still managing to keep most people from approaching him, but if he showed off just how strong he had become Marcus was not certain how much attention he would get.
However, from the way Thabon was talking, Marcus figured the rewards must be quite lucrative.
Responding once he had weighed the pros and cons Marcus said, "I would like to hear the rewards, I do not care for any of the politics of the kingdom but getting supplies is necessary for me to continue advancing my skills."
Hearing Marcus respond Gurrom quickly decided to stay as well, and Thabon nodded ready to tell them what they could get by participating in the tournament.
"Very, well. Allow me to tell you what you could get. Fist though know that only if you rank in the top sixteen will you get anything, but the two of you are strong so it might be possible with some luck. Now then should you rank, the lowest reward will be five thousand gold coins, though I doubt that maters much to either of you. The real rewards come if you can place in the quarter finals or higher. If either of you can get in the top eight you will be able to receive a large number of high quality mithril ingots as well as magic cores and materials from a number of rare magic beasts and high tier monsters. After that I was told if either of you make it to the semi-finals the kingdom would reward you with five ingots of adamantine as well as materials from level fifty or higher beasts and monsters.. Now if you win, I was told that they would reward you with an ingot of amethros along with the lower rewards."