Level Up Monster

Chapter 43

"…Yes pardon . "

Currently on The Orc's Forge. Although it was referred to as a 'workshop', it was no different from an arsenal. It was decided that the ground floor of the building with a shop located on the top floor would be converted into a cafe.

It is suspected that customers for the Alchemy House or the arsenal waiting with nothing better to do, might make use of the cafe facilities.

Hazeline's idea was right on the money.

Right now, it was time for midday, when the Knights would be busy in the middle of the Monster hunt. However, there was a large crowd of Knights filling the cafe at the moment.

Although there were no instantly known Knights who had a top Mid Tier rank or higher, it was, too many people here that you would call a true combat force for Order – like the lowly Mid Tier Knights and Mid Tier Knights. On a rough head count, there seem to be over 80 here.

Indeed, it was still in the early days, but Hazeline felt that this business would become more successful than the initial estimates. He closed his eyes and listened to the surrounding conversation for a minute or two.

"Wow .. Many Knights are here. And check their crests. Oh, are they from Raven?"

Each Knight Order has a unique emblem emblazoned with the symbol of each organization. These emblems served as identification to indicate which Knight belonged to the Order.

"You're right. The competition is fiercer than I thought. Hey, I can't imagine that I have to go through an interview first before I'm allowed to buy a gun, you know?"

A female Knight uttered a complaint that did not sound like a complaint while sipping her coffee.

"But isn't that okay? I mean, I can get a day off work by saying, 'if I want to be the owner of an Orc weapon, I need to do an interview'."

"Fu-hut-chan. You're correct. I also didn't imagine I'd get this afternoon, just like that."

"really. By the way, uh ... of course this Blacksmith is very skilled, but this means that our weapons are also very trashy, right?"

The two of them waited for the interview upstairs, Blacksmith Orc.

It's a bit strange to do an interview first if someone wants to buy a product, but inevitably. In any case, demand far exceeded supply. So the employee had to persuade the Knights by saying 'Take it as an interview to become a gun owner'.

That was how much fame the Blacksmith Orc had gained among the Knights thanks to the recent blacksmith tournament. They believed that, right now he might be a rookie who appeared like a meteor, but in the future, he would definitely become the biggest star that would light up the sky.

"Mid Tier Knight, Master Joo Ji-Hyuk?"

An employee emerged from the back door of the cafe and called out Knight's name.

"Yes, it's me!"

A male Knight immediately stood up and shouted loudly. His emblem showed that he was from the Dawn Knights Order.

"It's your turn now, sir."

"Yes!"

A man named Joo Ji-Hyuk follows a female employee.

Wuoooong

The posture of Joo Ji-Hyuk riding the elevator looks rather uncomfortable.

Although he did not feel anything special or something like that in the elevator, the slight tremor he felt made him seem expensive to him. His heart was pounding too.

To a Knight, his weapon was akin to a lover he could spend their entire life with. It was hard to find a weapon that was very suitable to the user to the point of wanting to use it for the rest of one's life. And if found, securing it also requires a lot of sacrifice. Because it was natural for him to be tense like this …

Thinking like this, Joo Ji-Hyuk works hard to pull himself together.

Tting

Before he knew it, the elevator arrived upstairs and opened the door.

"…"

Gulp.

He reflexively swallowed his saliva. After looking at the interior. Nothing flashy here. Instead, only cold, gray wallpaper plastered all over the place. However, they gave a strange feeling of intense pressure to her, making her shoulders shrivel slightly.

The Knight, who was completely unaware that Kim Sae-Jin had imprinted a special attribute on these wallpapers, was completely unaware, could not help but admire the scale of the difference that the Orc Blacksmith seemed to possess and began to move his legs.

And Joo Ji-Hyuk, while looking around, found a certain plaque. And his eyes almost popped out of their sockets in surprise.

The sparkling gold letters engraved on the plaque read…

'The Orc's Forge, affiliated with the Society, The Monster. '

"Please follow me . "

Joo Ji-Hyuk wakes up from a stunned state with his mouth agape as he stares at the plaque, as the female employee talks to him.

"Ah yes!"

He followed the employee and immediately, before realizing it, he was at the doorstep of the 'Manager' office'. Undoubtedly, the famous Iron Marks will be waiting for him there …

"Please note, the interview will be conducted not by the Blacksmith, but the chairman of the Society."

"…Oh sure…"

Chairman of the Society means Middle Level Hunter, Kim Sae-Jin. Although he is only a Hunter, Joo Ji-Hyuk hears that this man is now someone who should not be ignored. That person cannot be underestimated at all.

"Please, you can go right ahead."

Joo Ji-Hyuk nodded, and clasped the doorknob to the Manager's office.

*

"If I were to become the new owner of the weapon made by Sir Orc the Iron-Savvy, I'd be very sure of treating him better than anyone. I'll do careful treatment at least three times a day …"

The affiliated Knight Dawn Knight Order, Joo Ji-Hyuk, sounded like he was conducting an interview with his life on the phone. His face was extremely tense, his posture was very upright, when he looked at the person in front.

"… Is that true? Then ... Can you tell me what kind of weapon you use the most?"

Here, Manager's office, an unexpected interview is taking place at this time.

The interviewer, of course, Kim Sae-Jin – and the interviewees who had passed before were many Mid-low Knight Mid Tier.

Those who were considered upper Mid Tier knights who were busy with social status and faces to guard, only sent in the form of a single request per person, but the ones with sincere needs ended up sending some – but the Knights with lower ranks actually came to visit the arsenal personally.

"Yes .. I mainly use two-handed swords, among them 'Zweihander'. I don't know if it's hard to make this type of weapon, or the skill of the weapons experts who made it for me is still lacking, or participating once in the Fissure Exploration, the sword finally broke. "

Those were words that clearly showed the reality of the current weapons drought.

When one has little ability, he prefers to choose – professions like Knights or – Magicians who look cool and make a lot of money, rather than daring to go down a dangerous path in the path of a blacksmith.

Even back then, the Knights treated the blacksmith with contempt until about five years ago, which made some blacksmiths who were there to get out of the trade altogether. Though, they began to show humility at this time after realizing the urgency of the current situation.

"There was a time, when the sword broke in the middle of the Fissure Exploration and caused me a lot of trouble."

"Oh, is that true? By the way, if it was Zweihander, it would probably cost a lot of money."

The Zweihander was a large sword held by both hands, displaying a ferocious outer appearance. If this person was chosen as the new owner for the weapon, then it would definitely be a tough challenge for Sae-Jin who had a sufficient amount of Mana for the job.

"Ah, no, it's okay! I realized the cost when I chose it. I don't mean to brag, but our Knight Order has a loan system that happens to be well organized and quite reasonable, so …. Ahaha! "

Even the laughter emanating from this young man, who resembled a simple and honest young man from a rural farm, sounded sincere and pure.

Sae-Jin chuckles as well, and tells Knight that he understands so he has to go back and wait for the good news.

"Oh, and please, don't get discouraged. As you've guessed, there are too many Knights asking for weapons, so it's impossible to satisfy all of them …"

"I understand! Since I'm looking for weapons to use for the rest of my life, of course I have to try again even if I don't make them first."

As a Mid Tier ranked Knight, he would achieve so much and kick so many*s, but this fellow remained humble until the very end as he came out.

And when one Knight left, with no time for a break, the female employee came to the office and confirmed her next booking.

Sae-Jin does a quick check on the amount of time she can spend as a human.

About two hours. Thinking that he could do 20 more interviews, he told her to let the next person in.

Even though he was busy, he strangely felt rather great at the moment.

*

Although the name Orc Blacksmith has not been added to the list of members for the Society, rumors started from the completely shocked Knights who personally went and visited the Forc Orc and saw the plaque there – and started telling the other Knights about it .

"But it's a relief, isn't it? Because Miss Kim Yu-Rin we have a relationship with the chairman of the Institution."

"… Uh?"

Currently, they were in the conference room of the Raven Knight Order Team, which Kim Yu-Rin was a key member of – and it was a period of rest after the meeting that lasted for one hour.

The knights talked about this and it was to relieve stress when, suddenly, the arrows of attention were directed towards Kim Yu-Rin.

"You're absolutely right. We have it, right? What a relief – heads of other Orders should have taken pains on how to make good and smooth contact, or so I heard. Oh, right, Miss Yu-Rin? My weapon a little … "

A female Knight, while making a wilfully pitiful expression, unsheathed a long sword with nicks here and there on her blade.

"…"

He sheathed his weapon after Kim Yu-Rin looked at him with an expression of disbelief, but her hope was still correct.

"… I'll have dinner with that guy later, so I'll ask, okay?"

"Well, really?"

"Oi!" (Kim Soo - Gyeom)

"…"

While the other Knights chat with lifestyle, Kim Soo-Gyeom is the only exception. His expression remained sour as if there was something he was dissatisfied with.

"… Fhup. Miss Yu-Rin, I think this person is jealous that you are going to go to dinner with another man. How dare a Midhorn greenhorn, and a wet boy behind the ears like you are watching us Highest Level Knights …? "

"No, no, that's not true !!"

The female knight spoke teasingly after accurately deciphering her mood; kim Soo-Gyeom then denied everything by waving both of her hands this and that, while her face was dyed red entirely.

"… That's enough with that mockery. There's more, and Soo-Gyeom's face might blow wide open, you know. Plus, don't just rely on me and you guys go there first yourself. It's not like a weapon that can be made overnight or something … "

"Eiii .. How can I go and visit a rookie Blacksmith when I rank above Mid Tier? Of course, if he can make me a High Quality product that will withstand my Mana output, then sure, I will go there and get down on my knees – but, it is not only related to me, the pride of the entire Raven Knight Order is at stake here. "

The female knight stopped talking for a while and narrowed her eyebrows. It seemed like he was annoyed by just thinking about this matter.

"It can't be done, unless it's like Miss Yu-Rin met socially with the workshop boss or whatever – I mean, if somehow the story leaked to SNS, then a * sholes at Dawn and Goryeo might start underestimating us. Like, the 'Upper Intermediate Level Knight Yi Hye-Rin, ran out to meet the debutant blacksmith with his bare feet because of his weapon trash' or things like that. "

"You …. Fu-woo."

That's the kind of behavior that makes the blacksmith's numbers decline at first …

Kim Yu-Rin did not spit out the words above.

It was because what the female Knight said was also not entirely accurate. Indeed, it became a common occurrence for Dawn members who enjoyed the power to openly fight with them.

A Knight from the famous Dawn Order in the entertainment industry caused a heated controversy by provoking Raven with a selfie taken on the inside of the Dawn Order building and uploading the image with the hashtag #BestKnightsOrderInKorea.

And although there is no physical evidence, there are almost certainly part-time busy posting comments on various SNS and portal sites.

In this environment, the possibility of poisonous rumors spreading was extremely high, if the Mid Tier Knight was seen visiting the blacksmith's arsenal that made its debut less than half a year ago.

Although there was only a difference of one word, the strength and position of the upper Mid Tier was much greater than that of the Mid Tier. If Mid Tiers were seen as a regular fighting force, then one could say that the upper Mid Tiers were the true core of that power.

Of course, there were cases like Knights looking for blacksmiths in the past. But that was when the blacksmith in question was a craftsman or master, and when the Knights went there to receive a complete weapon.

No matter how famous the Orc Blacksmith had become, he was not a handyman but a novice. And the real reason why so much attention was given to him was because of his uncertain promise that he would make a minimum of two weapons every month.

So, Knight Yi Hye-Rin's worries were absurd.

In a way, this was a battle of pride – stood proud until the people in the upper Fajr of Mid Tier started visiting the first blacksmiths.

Obviously those were all useless things, but that was what the Knights did.

"Whatever the case may be, don't expect too much. I can't ask for much either, you know."

"Of course ~"

"All right, let's start that meeting again."

"Ah-aht !! But only ten minutes ?!"

"You're noisy."

*

The passive skill, 'Water Ruler', proved to be very useful.

"Oooooh, really get warm."

The only mistake with it is that it uses it on practical matters only.

Sae-Jin touches the surface of the filled water in the bath and changes its temperature, so it is the perfect warmth for her body.

This was one of the passive skill abilities of the 'Water Ruler' level, 'depending on the level, the host can manipulate the water at will'.

The temperature of the water changed in an instant, of course.

For now, all he could do was boil a kettle for a cup of coffee, cook ramen or as now, get ready for a bath, but … he had a feeling that as long as his skill level was high enough, there would be many ways to utilize this skill.

"Oww yes ~"

He slowly lowered himself in the bathtub with a satisfied expression. Then he thought about the Form of a 'Giant Sea Monster'.

'… Should I change it now?'

It was good and all that his Monster Form increased by one, but since it didn't sound cool, he had delayed checking it out until now. But today, he felt fine, perhaps as well.

"… Hm."

Finally deciding on that, he turned into a Sea Monster Shape.

There were no fireworks displays or special lights that went out. Only, his height suddenly decreased, and scales grew on his skin like feathers.

"…."

After transforming into the so-called Weak Sea Monster, Sae-Jin astonishedly gazes at the mirror mounted on the ceiling.

'… What is it ?! Is this even a monster ?! '

Calling it a Monster.

Inside that pair of enormous, round eyes was a lot of water, and all over his body were white and soft scales covering him. Thanks to that, her snow-white-like body looked useless and cute.

In other words.. . she looked entirely like a baby harp seal except, with horns on her head.

An adorable animal that can arouse one's protective instinct just from its appearance alone.

No matter what, this is not a monster.

'…'

Unknowingly, Sae-Jin rubs her own cheeks.

Her cheeks, full and swirling, looked extremely adorable.

"Kking ?!"

The sound that came out of his mouth even resembled a puppy.

'What the fuck?!'

Of course, he suffered a full-blown panic attack at that moment.