Except the time for sleeping and eating, Parukuru had been living in middle of battle. It had been ages since he returned to Espo City. His return was because his beloved giant axe was seriously damaged.
Parukuru the berserk warrior thought about the intense battle from two days ago.
Fighting Hydra was the greatest challenge yet in his life.
For three straight days of bloody battle through the day and night, in the end, with an Enlightenment, Parukuru managed to slice off all nine of its head. However, the acid blast from the monster made his axe lose its proper functionality.
With a little bit of hope, he went to see a dwarf who is a comrade of his. However, even the dwarf said it was impossible to repair the axe.
‘In the end, going to the Espo City is the only way.’
The blacksmith shop in Espo City was managed by Parkers, the god of blacksmith himself.
Thinking that Parkers, with his godly skill that surpassed humans, could restore his beloved weapon back to its former glory, Parukuru returned to the city.
However…
“What? The shop is closed?”
“That’s right. Parkers, the god of blacksmiths and also a brother of Mumnus the great, hasn’t been running the shop since five years ago.”
“Huh… How could this be… Can you tell me why?”
“He didn’t tell us exactly why… I think there is a trouble in the world that he is looking after. He is currently at a lower dimension.”
Surprised, Parukuru asked back,
“What, he is in the lower dimension?”
“Yes… It seems like you haven’t been in the Espo City for quite some time?”
“For about 20 years… So, did he say anything about when he will be back?”
Having heard what Parukuru said, the apprentice said with an apologetic face,
“He said he will be gone for at least 10 years.”
“This can’t be…”
Parukuru looked at the apprentice with a desperate look.
Wondering if the shop’s apprentices could repair the axe, he showed them the axe, but they all shook their heads.
Parukuru left the shop empty handed.
He sighed deep.
“Huuuu.”
He opened his dimensional expansion bag and brought out his spare axes.
He didn’t like any of them.
If he fought a giant beast like Hydra with any of these, it felt like he would be fighting with bare fists before he got to slice off the fourth head.
‘The old saying about masters not being picky about the tools? What a load of bullcrap.’
It wasn’t like using a superior weapon was going to increase one’s ability by a huge margin.
However, there were so many who passed away after using wishy washy fitting weapons and not being able to show their true strength.
So, to a berserker like Parukuru, a good weapon was like one’s life itself.
He took heavy steps and dragged himself to the auction building.
He didn’t bother with where the street vendors were.
He knew that weapons there would be only on par with his spare axes.
‘Ugh, even so, I don’t think the auction will have the item I need either.’
Exquisite weapons were short in supply, and more exquisite weapons were even rarer. It was obvious.
Parukuru won’t be agonizing over this in the first place if there were plenty of weapons that were up to his standard.
Parukuru entered the auction building’s door as he prayed to the God Powell.
‘Please, let there be a quality axe!’
Perhaps it was in response to his prayer.
As soon as he turned his head, he saw an axe flowing with red-color polish.
Like a mesmerized man, Parukuru walked to the front of it.
‘This is… good. It’s not bad.’
Parukuru felt it as soon as he saw the axe.
Its sharp edge, its heavy weight.
It had violent aura that said it would split everything in half.
It was an axe that was made for a berserker like himself.
Parukuru’s gaze quickly moved down.
It was to look at the weapon’s spec in detail.
[Examined item: Crimson Executioner]
Beyond the level of a renowned blacksmith, this item is speculated to be created by the hands of a master.
Upon examination, it was found that the axe lightens the body of the wielder, enabling quicker continuous attacks. Also, the axe’s power increases as it gets stained with blood.
Comprehensive rating: B
* Caution – It causes the user to be in berserker mode. If you believe you are not at the height to handle this yet, we recommend that you do not use this weapon (It is highly likely that you will not be able to bring out the full potential of the weapon.).
‘B rating… It’s even better than the axe I had been using!’
The axe he had been using had C+ rating. Although it seemed low, that was because the examiner was a god, not a human being. It was a pretty good weapon for human’s standards.
However, this weapon in front of him broke through that lofty standard and got a B rating.
‘Also, its attributes are made for me!’
Parukuru quickly looked at the auction end date and the bid price.
It was as expected. Because it was a rare axe with superior quality, the bid was quite high.
‘But I must have this axe.’
Parukuru, with pride, entered his bid.
He entered a value that was over twice the highest bid.
Money was of no use to him, so he had been just letting it pile up until now. He invested all of that money here.
However, he didn’t think it was a waste at all.
Just thinking about wielding that axe and slicing monsters with it made his blood flow rapidly.
Parukuru, who was in middle of letting his wings of imagination go wild, heard people mumbling nearby.
He turned to look, and there were a lot of people in the auction building.
‘What is this? Is there more items that are useful here?’
With his curiosity spiked, he got past the people to look.
After checking a few more items, he could see why there were so many people here.
‘There was another B rating item. Surprising…’
Things like this happened once in a while.
Famous blacksmiths occasionally created many weapons after having a sudden inspiration and place them on the auction.
Such occasions were rare, so many people came to the auction after hearing rumors when many superb items got listed for auction.
Like others, Parukuru watched the other items.
It was always a joy to look at weapons created by hands of masters who poured in great materials and god-like focus. He was happy to walk around the building and examine them all.
The very last item he saw was the bow.
There were significantly more people there to watch it, so Parukuru raised his expectations.
His eyes quickly moved to the examination result note.
‘There are so many people here. Just how amazing is this bow…’
Having confirmed the rating, Purukuru froze in silence.
The A rating.
The A rating was absolutely impossible for humans to achieve. Only the greatest talents among the dwarfs rarely produced an A rating weapons.
Even Parkers, the god of blacksmiths, acknowledged the quality of items that received A ratings. It means that there was no doubt that this weapon’s quality was top notch.
“It’s been ages since I saw an A rating bow.”
“I know. Gosh. If I had the money, I would buy it…”
“You got no money. Just settle for watching it.”
“By the way, these items… They were all brought in by the same person?”
“That’s what I’ve heard. I think he is here for an errand from his master…”
“With God Parkers gone for the time being, we were short on equipment, but maybe we will have a breather from now on…”
Ignoring what other people were saying, Parukuru was unable to get his eyes off from the bow. High-elves near him were also lost in looking at the bow.
Just to earn some money to pay for the information, Vulcan listed his four grand rate items and one legendary rate item.
The impact from these items were more than Vulcan anticipated.
* * *
With the items sold, Vulcan received the payment and left the building.
With a surprised look, Vulcan counted the money.
643,000 Aus.
It was huge, far beyond what Vulcan expected.
‘I don’t think I’ll have to worry about the fee for the information… But, are grand rate and legendary rate items this rare?’
Although Vulcan found it strange, it was actually obvious here.
So far, Vulcan was sponsored by Jake with equipment that Jake had been collecting for several hundred years and kept without using all that time. In addition to that, with the SYSTEM and quest rewards, Vulcan had been using only the best equipment.
All this time, Vulcan never knew what it felt to lack equipment. To him, items with grand rate or legendary rate were something that he could obtain with luck. However, to other people, that was not the case.
To other people, literally, a grand rate was something rare as the rating indicated, and a legendary rate was even rarer, at a legendary level.
It was hard for other people to come by at such items.
This experience made Vulcan realize again the SYSTEM possessed incredible perks.
‘On top of this, I’m the only Player here. So… If I wanted to, I could become rich here easily.’
Of course, Vulcan had no desire to do so.
It was convenient to be rich. However, his goal was beating Act 2 as quickly and safely as possible.
He was not interested in wasting time in item farming and selling.
However, there were a few that couldn’t leave Vulcan alone.
“Excuse me… Pardon me, but are you the one that sold this axe at the auction?”
The man was over 10 ft.
He was a muscular man that looked like he could kick an elephant as if the elephant was just a soccer ball.
[Parukuru, Berserker with the blood of giant mixed within]
[721Lv]
“That’s right. What is it?”
“Excuse me… About all items you listed this time… I’ve heard that it was your master that crafted all of them.”
“Ah, that.”
Vulcan had been lying about it all this time, so he couldn’t stop it now.
Having heard what Vulcan said, Parukuru said with respectful voice,
“If it is not too much trouble, will it be all right if I asked about your master’s name and place of his residence? He’s craftsmanship is incredible… I would like to go introduce myself. Also, there will be a time when the axe would need repairs, so… Please.”
“Um… I’m sorry. My master doesn’t like dealing with others… Please understand.”
To start with, there was no master or blacksmith. Vulcan roughly responded again.
Vulcan was worried the man might insist on asking about where the blacksmith was. However, Parukuru left without doing so.
“Is that so… I understand. Please tell your master that I’ll think of this axe as if it was a part of me.”
“Yes, I will.”
‘There is no master.’
Vulcan was able to make Parukuru leave.
However, he was not the end of this.
Now, several people swarmed at Vulcan and asked about his master.
“Excuse me, will you be coming to the auction again?”
“Is your master a dwarf? Or a High-elf?”
“Please, tell me when you will be coming to the auction again. Next time, I’ll definitely come after collecting enough money!”
“Uh… We don’t have anything scheduled exactly, so… That’ll be all.”
Vulcan quickly left the scene.
It looked like he was going to have to tell them about the name of his imaginary master, his area of expertise, place of residence and even make promises for more trade if he stayed here longer.
‘Phew… I think I’ll wear a mask when I come to the auction next time.’
On a narrow street with nobody around, Vulcan thought about what happened, and there was one more man trying to talk to him.
‘I didn’t think someone would follow me all the way here.’
With uninterested look, Vulcan said,
“I’m sorry, but I can’t tell you anything about my master.”
“Ah, I’m sorry. It looks like you were pestered a lot.”
“Well then…”
“Wait, before you go, please take this.”
Vulcan accepted what the man handed to him.
It was a palm-sized flyer. It had information and location about a general store in Espo City.
“What is this?”
“It is a general store managed by my master. He is very interested in superior weapons, so… If you are interested in selling another A rate weapon later, can you please stop by here first? We will give you proper price for it.”
‘Ah, now that I’m looking at him, I see he is the man that bought the legendary rate bow.”
Although he was at a low level, he purchased a bow with 750 level limit. Vulcan thought it was strange, but it seemed that it was actually by the request from his master.
‘Well, one day, I’ll run out of Filder’s potions, so maybe I should accept it for now?’
Finished with his thought, Vulcan said to the man,
“I will think about it. What’s the name of the shop?”
“Thank you. If you look at the paper, it is shown there. Here, on this side.”
Vulcan looked at the paper again.
He didn’t look all that carefully last time, so he didn’t see it then. This time, he could see the name.
“Forwaru… Forwaru General Store… It sounds familiar somehow…’
“Ah!”
Vulcan shouted out loud.
It seemed the shop’s manager was someone that Vulcan knew.
‘Mr. Jake’s master’s name is… Forwaru, isn’t that right?’