He hammered.
The imperfections were disappearing.
He was close.
'Stop!'
A voice suddenly appeared in his mind.
It shook his head and snapped him out of the daze.
'Stop hammering or you'll die!'
Finn finally noticed the anvil, the heat from the forge, the dwarf looking at him in trepidation and anticipation, and…
The tiredness.
He lost the strength in his muscles.
The hammer slipped out his grips.
Finn fell to the ground.
He could not move.
His breathing was irregular and laborious.
His body was screaming in pain.
"Sigh, that's expected. You just hammered the sword for five hours, there is no way your body is okay."
The dwarf picked him up like a rice sack and placed him on the chair.
Finn was horrified.
He had been in trance, hammering nonstop, for hours, and nearly died from exhaustion.
The voice saved him.
'That voice… it's the same voice I heard in the morning.'
The dwarf picked up the sword.
He called out to Finn.
"It's a nice sword, kid. But we aren't done."
The dwarf was grinning from ear to ear.
Almost as if he had found a treasure.
"You are tired. I can complete the smithing in your place. Want me to do it?"
His eyes twinkled while he waited for Finn's answer.
Finn was exhausted.
He could barely keep his eyes open.
Finn stared at the incomplete sword.
It was his first sword.
He could rest or struggle to complete the sword.
It was an easy choice.
"I… I'll do it."
"Good! Good! Good!" The dwarf looked ready to jump from happiness. "Come, temper the sword. It shouldn't take too much out of you."
He passed the tongs to Finn.
Finn held them with trembling hands.
It was not hard.
His daily life was more difficult.
He was not hungry, he was not worrying about having no money.
He was just tired, it was temporary, it would disappear after a rest.
So,
It was not hard.
Finn reheated the sword to a low temperature, then soaked it in oil to cool it down.
The tempering process was easy.
It just needed his constant attention and he could barely stand due to mental and physical exhaustion.
After taking the sword out of the oil, he placed it on the table.
The dwarf picked the blade and inspected it.
"It's a good blade. You can rest now."
There were still a lot of things to be done to complete the sword.
Polishing the blade, coating it to protect it from rust, adding a handle guard.
All of these could be completed later.
The main body of the sword was finished.
Finn smiled.
The dwarf passed him the sword.
"Inspect it."
He nodded.
[Sword (Incomplete)]
[Grade: Rare]
[Level: 10]
[Attack Power: 110-150]
The dwarf patted his back happily.
"You've exceeded my expectations, brat! Just add the finishing touch and you will easily get 5 gold coins for this sword."
[Your understanding of the sword has increased, Absolute Sword Dao +3%; +150% damage when using a sword to attack.]
[Training Quest: Completed]
[Hidden Condition Achieved: Create a Common-grade or higher weapon.]
[Reward will be upgraded.]
[Reward: Blacksmith Khan's recommendation letter.]
Finn ignored the system messages.
He ignored the exhaustion.
He asked,
"Five Gold coins? How much gold coins would an Epic-grade sword sell for?"
The news of an Epic-grade sword selling for 50,000$ was trending.
The ratio between dollars and gold coins was unclear.
His sword was only a Rare-grade sword.
It would not sell for much, but it should be something.
Finn waited for the dwarf's answer.
His heart hammered against his chest.
The dwarf's answer was going to kill or revive his future.
"An Epic-grade sword? Let's see, a Lvl.10 sword of that caliber will sell for 2000 gold coins."
"Oh"
Finn did the math.
His sword would sell for 1,250$.
'That's low. Very low.'
He could not create swords to do business and earn money.
A single sword took five hours to forge. It left him exhausted.
The materials were not free. This time was an exception because it was an exam. He would need to buy materials if wanted to do business.
Above all, he was a student.
Five or Six hours was the maximum he could play Infinite Realm.
Weekdays like today were few and they would not help him by him.
This business idea was a dud.
It was not profitable.
The dwarf noticed Finn's grave expression.
He sat on the chair and spoke while wiping his sweat,
"I'm not sure though. The best weapon we had in our shop was a Lvl. 1 Epic-grade sword that we sold for 5 gold coins. A Lvl. 1 and Lvl. 10 swords are worlds apart."
Finn nodded.
However, he noticed something.
The Epic-grade trending sword on the internet…
Its Level was not mentioned.
Could it be that it was the Lvl. 1 Epic-grade sword sold by the dwarf?
No way, right…?
Finn decided to confirm the answer.
"The sword. Was it sold yesterday?"
"How did you know?"
"What happened to the one who brought the sword?"
"I think they bartered it with another traveler."
Bartered.
'They must've exchanged the money in real life for the sword inside the game.'
'The dwarf doesn't know what happened outside, so he thinks it's a barter.'
Finn's throat burned.
"So my sword is at the same level as the sword you sold?"
"Why are you asking stupid questions? Yes, it is!"
The dwarf huffed in anger and threw the used towel at Finn.
Finn did not dodge.
He fell to the ground when the towel hit him.
As he stared at the roof, a small laugh escaped his lips.
Soon he was laughing in tears.
"50,000$! Hahahaha! I'm rich! I'm rich! I'm rich!"
He sat up and stared at the dwarf.
"Help me find a customer to sell the sword. And please teach me about—"
"No"
The dwarf cut him off mid-sentence.
"I won't allow you to sell your sword newbie."