Before reaching the Forging Life Guild, Kaito first went to the bank vault to retrieve all the items he had deposited. Among them were the Flint Steel Core Fragments that he had previously purchased. The NPC stall, which had been responsible for collecting materials for him, had already been transferred to his second uncle. Now, his second uncle was the one in charge of that stall because Kaito was busy with too many things to manage it himself.
Back when Kaito was still running it, he often didn't have the time to clear out the materials bought by the NPC, and this would cause the stall's inventory to fill up completely. Once that happened, even if there were funds available, the NPC wasn't able to purchase anything else. That was why, after handing over the management of Genesis inside the game, he also passed the stall to his second uncle, even giving him some funds to run it.
Now that Genesis was earning its own income through lifestyle players, Kaito no longer needed to provide extra funds. And now his second uncle didn't just purchase the materials Kaito asked for, he also bought other useful items that could be used by Genesis's life skill players. Over time, other players had also discovered how to set up NPC stalls, so it wasn't unique to Kaito anymore. Still, because Kaito's stall had been around long before the others, it held an advantage.
Even though the prices offered by the NPC were the same as the market rate, his stall remained more popular because of his first-mover advantage. Players trusted it and were used to selling their goods there. For that reason, his stall was more famous than the newer ones, and many players often tried to contact the NPC to find out who the owner was. They wanted to buy the stall's location from him.
Because Kaito had rented the stall's location for a long period of time and had done so while remaining anonymous, other players could only try their luck directly with the NPC. But even though the NPC had low intelligence, it still followed its instructions strictly. One of those instructions was never to reveal the identity of the stall's owner. Because of this, the NPC ignored every attempt from players to pry for information and simply focused on purchasing materials as usual.
Thanks to that, no one could take the stall away from Kaito, no matter how much they offered. Even the stall registrar couldn't interfere with stalls that were already rented out. And with Kaito's current situation, he had no shortage of money. There was simply no reason for him to give up such a profitable position.
After collecting the items, Kaito then moved on to the Forging Guild's Intermediate Forging room. The first thing he did was take out the Whisper Flame and place it on the pedestal reserved for the forging flames. The normal forging fire disappeared and was replaced by the pale, flickering Whisper Flame.
With steady, practiced precision, Kaito then pulled out the Flint Steel Core Fragments and began feeding them into the Whisper Flame one by one. Each fragment went through the process of elemental refinement inside the flame. Some of them successfully turned into Flint Steel Cores, while the others broke apart and crumbled into ash.
His hands moved mechanically, repeating the process over and over, placing one fragment after another into the flame. The refined Flint Steel Cores were exactly what he needed they were the main requirement for forging whetstones. That was the reason Kaito was taking the time to refine them now.
Bit by bit, the pile of fragments grew smaller, while the number of finished Flint Steel Cores increased. The rest turned to ash, but Kaito didn't mind. This was just part of the process. He continued working steadily, preparing everything he needed for the next stage of forging.
Kaito had previously taken out one hundred fragments of Flint Steel Cores. After passing them through elemental refining in the Whisper Flame, only sixty-three of them remained as usable Flint Steel Cores. The rest had turned into ash. This was about a sixty percent success rate.
Even so, the results were more than worth it. The price difference between a single fragment and a refined core was ten times higher. Just from this refining process alone, Kaito had already earned a huge profit. And if he were to forge these cores into whetstones, he would once again increase his earnings further.
With that in mind, he decided to begin. The recipe for the whetstone had come from a rare drop. He had obtained it after killing the Wraith General inside the Misty Palace dungeon. Until now, he hadn't learned it. So Kaito retrieved the recipe scroll from his inventory and activated it.
A system prompt appeared before him:
Do you want to learn the Advanced Whetstone Recipe?
[Yes] [No]
Without hesitation, Kaito clicked Yes. The recipe in his hand dissolved into small motes of light that floated toward his body and vanished. Instantly, the new recipe was added to his forging panel.
Kaito wasted no time. He began his first attempt at forging whetstones. He placed a Flint Steel Core into the Whisper Flame, letting it heat until it glowed red. Then, he gripped the intermediate hammer that came with renting the intermediate forging room. With steady swings, he began to hammer the core into shape.
After several strikes, a system notification popped up:
Congratulations on forging [Advanced Whetstone]. Proficiency +1. Experience +200.
For most beginner forgers, this would have been a great gain. But for Kaito, who had already advanced to an Intermediate Forging Apprentice, the reward felt small. To advance further into the rank of Advanced Forging Apprentice, he needed a total of three thousand proficiency points. Compared to that requirement, one point at a time felt like nothing. Still, Kaito wasn't discouraged. He knew that with persistence, he would reach his goal sooner or later.
Once the process was complete, he picked up the item he had just crafted and activated his observation skill to check its properties. The details appeared clearly:
[Advanced Whetstone]
(Consumable)
Effect:
Increases the durability of equipment up to level 20 by 8–12 points.
Increases damage dealt by 3% for 30 minutes.
Remaining Uses: 3.
Kaito nodded with satisfaction. It was exactly as he expected. The advanced whetstone was different from normal whetstones, it was not only useful for maintaining equipment durability but also gave a small, yet meaningful, damage boost. For players in the game, such an item would be extremely popular.
He set the whetstone aside carefully. This was just the beginning. As long as he continued forging and refining, he would build up proficiency, experience, and profit all at once.
Kaito continued forging the advanced whetstones one after another. By the time he had used up all sixty-three of the Flint Steel Cores he had refined earlier, he had successfully crafted forty-eight advanced whetstones.
Such a high success rate, especially considering it was his first time forging this recipe, wasn't just luck. It was the result of the different success-rate boosts he had prepared. The Codex of Ember Steel gave him a steady advantage, while the Whisper Flame further increased his chances of success. On top of that, the Intermediate Forging Room he had rented also added its own bonus. Together, these factors allowed him to achieve an unusually high yield of advanced whetstones.
Once this batch was complete, Kaito didn't stop. He continued feeding more Flint Steel Core Fragments into the Whisper Flame, refining them into cores, and then forging them into whetstones. The process repeated again and again refine, heat, hammer, forge. His movements were steady, practiced, and efficient, as though his hands were already accustomed to the rhythm.
After repeating the cycle many times, the results piled up. By the end, Kaito had forged a total of two hundred and forty-two advanced whetstones. At the same time, the large supply of Flint Steel Core Fragments he had brought with him was completely used up.
When he finally paused, Kaito realized that the extra hour he had planned to stay in the game had already passed. Without wasting more time, he packed up his finished items and walked out of the Forging Life Guild.