"Tsk, such a strong smell of alcohol."
Following the customer's request, Noah entered the forge inside the blacksmith shop and found a sword.
There was just one tiny problem.
The customer said they had delivered the sword here the day before yesterday and today was the agreed-upon day for retrieval.
But no matter how you looked at it, this sword hadn't undergone any repairs at all!
Two distinct scratches were clearly visible on the blade.
After appraising it, Noah realized these were marks left by a monster's claws in the Dungeon.
It was a double-edged straight sword, with not only rolled edges on both sides but also small chips along the cutting surfaces.
Moreover, the hilt was loose and wobbly, not even properly fitted together.
Honestly, taking such garbage into the Dungeon was practically asking for an early death.
Really..... on his first day at work, he had to handle such a troublesome job.
"Please wait a moment."
After calming the increasingly impatient customer, Noah turned and ducked into the forge.
He quickly appraised all the tools on the workbench and then began working with the unfamiliar equipment.
Repairing this type of weapon didn't require much skill—it all came down to one word: grinding.
Weapons were essentially consumable items.
Especially swords made from cheap materials with crude craftsmanship—their performance would decline after just a few battles, and they could easily be destroyed if not handled carefully.
Because of the scratches, Noah also repolished the sword.
As for the hilt, he directly removed it and replaced it with a new one, carefully wrapping the original hilt to return it to the sword's owner.
After repairing the sword, Noah gripped the hilt and, somewhat theatrically, held the sword level.
Of course, this was actually to test the weapon's balance in practice, not just for show.
A top-heavy weapon would disrupt the user's balance, creating openings, while a hilt-heavy weapon would be difficult to swing, rendering even the sharpest blade ineffective.
Huh? strange.
The hilt he had remade felt somewhat different in his grip.
Somehow, it felt as if it wasn't the first time he had held a sword like this...
Noah looked at the sword in his hand and almost instinctively, sliced it toward a piece of wood nearby.
The freshly sharpened blade was terrifyingly sharp, cutting through the wood with almost no resistance.
"Hmm, it feels different from cutting through bone."
After this remark, Noah suddenly froze.
'Wait.'
'Bone?'
'Did I just say bone?'
Looking at the severed wood and then at the sword in his hand, Noah suddenly realized something.
That swing just now wasn't something someone who had never fought with a sword could execute.
Moreover, the moment the blade cut through the wood, he could actually sense the difference between wood and bone, even though he had never used a sword to cut bone before.
'Could this be...'
'The effect of Truth Seeker?'
(During the process of repairing weapons, one could gain insights from the experiences of the weapon's users and grow.)
"So fascinating!"
Noah's first reaction was fascination.
'So this is what it feels like to wield a sword in battle.'
'It really does stir the heart, doesn't it?'
"Sir, your sword."
"You're too slow! Hand it over quickly!"
Among adventurers, hot-tempered individuals made up the majority.
In fact, if you weren't like that, you'd be at a significant disadvantage among adventurers.
For the vast majority of people, adventurers were far from a noble profession.
While those at the top of Orario might enjoy some semblance of prestige, low-ranking adventurers treated such notions as utter nonsense.
Adventuring was merely their means of survival—high risk, high reward.
As long as they could earn money, they could be despicable or vicious.
Through "Linguistic Contact," the man's level was no secret to him.
Level 1.
Like him, he was a bottom-tier adventurer.
However, this man had likely accumulated a certain amount of ability values, making his attributes vastly superior to his own, which were all zeros.
The insights gained from the sword made him realize that this man had experienced his fair share of brutal battles.
Surviving until today required considerable tenacity.
Perhaps in another six months, he would successfully advance to become a Level 2 upper-tier adventurer.
"Hey, kid, why are you staring at me? It's creeping me out. Stop it!"
The man shuddered inexplicably under Noah's gaze.
In front of Noah, he felt as if he were completely exposed.
"Tch, not bad. Tell the guy inside I'll be back again."
The sword's owner left the payment.
750 valis.
Noah stared at the pitiful few coins, thinking the amount was almost half of what he had expected.
Part of it must have been a deposit.
The total should have been 1,500 valis.
The sword itself was probably worth around 12,000 valis.
The adventuring profession was clearly not as glamorous as the bards made it out to be.
A sword worth 12,000 valis was undoubtedly bottom-of-the-barrel in Orario—plainly speaking, cheap goods.
Even spending 1,500 valis on repairs instead of upgrading to better equipment indicated that the rewards from adventuring weren't enough to justify such an expense.
Risking their lives, but not fully committing.
What kind of adventure was that?
Though, he supposed he wasn't in any position to judge others.
Still, he seemed to have gained some understanding of why over half the people in Orario remained stuck at Level 1 for life.
And so, Noah spent the entire day at the blacksmith shop.
During that time, he helped several Level 1 low-tier adventurers repair their equipment.
Some of the gear was of even poorer quality than the sword from the morning, while others were slightly better.
In the process, he gained insights into swordsmanship, spear techniques, and even the use of a scythe.
The weirder the weapon, the quicker the death.
The scythe's owner, in his opinion, clearly had the appearance of someone destined to die young.
By sunset, the blacksmith shop's owner still hadn't returned.
Noah had no choice but to tidy up the tools, close the shop, and return to the Familia.
...
Knock, knock.
"Lady Hephaestus, may I have a moment?"
Throughout the day, the effects of Truth Seeker had successfully triggered several times.
Thus, he wanted his goddess to update his status and see exactly what level of effect this skill had brought.