Dimension Beta

The night and the following school day passed by in a blur. After school, Tom ate quickly and logged back into Beta at his usual spot. This time, he set out for the Eastern District to find the blacksmith Pablo had told him about.

Tom easily located the bridge Pablo mentioned, but he didn't see a blacksmith anywhere nearby. Confused, he searched for other bridges but found none in the Eastern District.

After asking a few passersby, he understood why he couldn't find it earlier. The blacksmith shop was not a traditional forge. It was just a small, nondescript house. Upon entering, Tom found a door leading to the backyard, where a cellar entrance lay hidden.

Tom hesitated for a moment, unsure if he was in the right place or about to trespass. Summoning his courage, he opened the cellar door and descended. The sound of hammering on metal reached his ears as he went deeper, and the temperature grew noticeably warmer.

At the bottom of the stairs, he entered a large room, roughly 40 square meters in size. Facing away from him was a man working at an anvil, hammering horseshoes with rhythmic precision.

What immediately caught Tom's attention was that the blacksmith was only a few centimeters taller than himself.

"Excuse me?" Tom said hesitantly.

Without turning or even looking at him, the man responded, "What do you want, kid?"

"I was sent here in search of a weapon," Tom said.

"I don't make weapons anymore," the man replied curtly, continuing to hammer away.

Now that Tom was closer, he realized the man wasn't crafting a weapon at all. He was forging horseshoes.

"Uh... I'm not sure if I'm exactly looking for a weapon... at least, I don't think so," Tom stammered.

"What do you want, kid? Stop wasting my time."

"Well, Pablo told me you might be able to help me with something," Tom replied.

The man stopped hammering at the mention of Pablo's name. For the first time since the conversation started, he turned to inspect Tom. After a few seconds, he turned back to his work and resumed hammering.

Unsure of what to do, Tom stayed rooted in place, wondering if the smith would help him or not.

"Don't just stand there like a statue. If you want me to craft something for you, help me out first," the smith said abruptly.

Tom quickly stepped forward. "What can I do for you, Mr...?"

"Stahl," the man replied.

"Alright, Mr. Stahl. What do you need me to do?"

"See that forge over there? Keep it running hot by adding coal from the pile next to it."

Tom did as instructed and started shoveling coal into the forge.

"Now, feed the iron ore into the other opening," Stahl instructed.

Tom began alternating between shoveling coal and adding ore. The process took about 20 minutes before Stahl finally walked over. He placed a stone mold in front of the forge, pulled a lever, and the molten metal started flowing into the mold.

From the mold, 20 horseshoes took shape. Stahl inspected them with a satisfied look and then turned his attention back to Tom.

"You've got two minutes. What do you want?"

Tom thought Stahl's abruptness was a bit intense. "Pablo mentioned you could help me craft a weapon suitable for a brawler."

Stahl raised an eyebrow but quickly composed himself.

"Alright. I can give you two options. First, leave me 10,000 gold coins, and I'll craft you something using materials I can find on the market. Don't expect anything special if I use standard materials.

"Second, I have a task for you. About an hour's walk from here, there's a cave filled with kobolds. If you go deep enough into their tunnels, you'll find a mining area with high-quality ores. Sneak in or fight your way through and bring back some of the ore. Three or four pieces should be enough."

A quest window appeared before Tom, but before he could even look at it, he interrupted. "Do you mean these ores?" He reached into his spatial pouch and poured out its contents in front of Stahl.

Deciding to trust the smith, Tom revealed his pouch. Since Pablo had recommended him, Tom didn't think Stahl was the type to take advantage of him.

"What do you..." Stahl started but stopped mid-sentence when he saw the pile of ore spilling out. For a moment, he was speechless.

"Did you rob the entire mine, kid?" Stahl said with a hearty laugh. "Not bad. With these, I could craft you two weapons. One for each hand."

Tom was ecstatic to hear this. "I have a question about payment. How about I leave you all the ore, and you keep 50 percent of its value? Deduct the crafting costs from the remaining 50 percent and give me back whatever is left the next time we meet."

Tom knew he was likely overpaying but wanted to build a good relationship with the smith, hoping Stahl might put extra effort into crafting high-quality weapons.

Stahl considered the offer for a moment but shook his head. "Let's make it 30/70… 30 for me and the rest for you. I'd feel bad taking that much from you."

"Deal," Tom said happily, shaking the smith's hand.

"One more thing, kid. What kind of weapons are you aiming for? What do you want to specialize in?"

Tom hadn't expected such a specific question but already knew the answer.

"I want to excel against a single strong enemy and similar challenges."

"Good choice. Come back next Friday. They'll be ready by then."

Tom's quest log updated, and the previous task to gather ore disappeared, replaced with a new quest:

[Class Quest Update] Wait one week for Stahl to craft your weapons. Return on Friday to pick them up.

With nothing left to do but wait, Tom left the smithy and headed for a new leveling area.

The tactic he had used with the kobolds likely wouldn't work a second time. He had read in the forums that such strategies could only be used once before monsters adapted. Besides, he still felt uneasy after hearing the horn that had roused all the kobolds from their sleep.

A week passed since Tom's visit to the smith. During that time, not much happened apart from his steadily rising level.

Tom proudly opened his interface to check his progress:

[Name: Tom Stein]

[Race: Human]

[Class: Brawler]

[Level: 31]

[Health Points: 1610/1610]

[Mana: 200/200]

[Vitality: 151]

[Strength: 151]

[Dexterity: 91]

[Intelligence: 31]

[Wisdom: 31]

[Level 10 Skills: Beginner Brawler's Stance, Punching Fury]

There was one day left before the agreed meeting with Stahl. At school, Tom and Felix had planned to meet up to hunt monsters together.

Despite Tom killing monsters daily from midday until evening, and completing his daily quest at Pablo's, Felix had already reached level 38.

This was the difference between players who were power-leveled and those who weren't. Still, Felix only leveled for about two hours a day, during which he killed 150–200 monsters. It was nearly double what Tom managed in a day. Felix had initially wanted to help power-level Tom, but when he learned Tom had reached level 31 on his own, he suggested they tackle a dungeon together.

After meeting at the agreed spot in Beta, Tom immediately asked, "So, where are we headed, bro?"

"I've got some insider information, hehe. Just follow me. I know the perfect spot for us," Felix replied confidently.

Tom could only smile and follow him, but as they retraced paths that felt all too familiar to Tom, he realized they were heading toward the kobold dungeon. Unlike his previous venture, however, they entered through a different entrance.

"Aren't the monsters here a bit weak for us?" Tom asked after they had been in the cave for a few minutes.

"Tsk, tsk… Patience, my young pupil," Felix teased.

"This dungeon had a new chamber discovered just a few days ago. It was thought that the mining area on the lower level had the strongest monsters, but apparently, there's a place even deeper where the monsters range from level 30 to 40."

"Isn't that a bit high?" Tom asked nervously. He still couldn't shake the uneasy feeling that crept over him as he remembered his last encounter in the dungeon.

"Don't worry. I read on the forums that the really strong monsters are further inside. Besides, the loot on this level is said to be unmatched by any other leveling area nearby."

"Really? What kind of loot are we talking about?" Tom asked, his curiosity piqued. He had already killed plenty of kobolds, but what could those deeper down possibly drop that he hadn't seen before?

"I read that some of them carry magical artifacts. If we're lucky, we might even find a spatial pouch. You've probably heard of those," Felix explained.

Tom nodded nervously. The memory of his last encounter in this dungeon flashed vividly in his mind.

Looks like this won't just be a casual stroll, Tom thought as he followed Felix further into the cave.