My front door leads to a comic strip

One month later.

Central Continent.

A cold wind blew through the alleyway.

In a corner of the street, in front of a dwarf blacksmith shop.

A dwarf, carrying an iron hammer, leaned slightly forward, squinting at the ore in Gu Yuan's hand, a solemn expression on his face.

He recognized the type of ore, his Adam's apple bobbed, and he slowly exhaled, his voice tinged with a hint of weariness as he spoke:

"My esteemed guest, you have certainly presented me with a rather difficult problem."

"Forging a magic sword? I've been in the blacksmithing business for over a hundred years, and this is only the second time I've heard of such a request."

As the dwarf spoke, a feeling of being in another world welled up in his heart.

After all, the lifespan of an ordinary dwarf is only around three hundred years, and this hundred-plus years or so accounts for almost a third of his life.

Unlike the dwarves, Gu Yuan was solely focused on forging the magic sword. He retrieved the ore and slowly pressed for an answer:

"So, were you successful the first time? I came to you precisely because I heard that your technology is the best."

It was worth the month he spent finding the right place.

But if the chances of success are low, then they will have no choice but to continue deeper into the central continent to find a blacksmith with even more skillful techniques.

The dwarf raised his head and slammed the hammer on his shoulder onto the ground.

Boom!

A hint of calm confidence flashed in his usually placid eyes: "What do you think, sir? Since you've said my technique is the best, then the first time was naturally a success."

"However, this will take some time... about a month."

As the dwarf spoke, he turned and glanced at the busy apprentices in the shop.

The clanging of blacksmithing echoed incessantly, and a faint wave of heat washed over him. He carefully chose his words and continued:

"This month is for preparation. As a guest, you may not be aware that the number of injured mercenaries has increased significantly recently."

"I'm not entirely sure what happened; perhaps it's some kind of monster causing trouble outside the city. In any case, I can only continue working once things have calmed down."

Forging a magic sword is no easy task; it requires an extremely long time and a high degree of concentration, and the hammering cannot be stopped throughout the entire process.

If an accident occurs, such as a monster siege, wasting materials is a minor issue; ruining the reputation or even losing one's life would be a real loss.

Gu Yuan nodded in understanding, but he still subconsciously wondered if other blacksmiths could take over the job.

The dwarf seemed to read his mind, turned around, waved his hand, and walked steadily into the shop, saying as he did so:

"Come with me, sir. I know what you're thinking."

"But in fact, no one here can forge the Demon Sword except me."

"You don't need to worry about the time taking too long. I have plenty of alternatives here, feel free to take a look."

He pointed to the many swords and shields hanging on the wall, his eyes filled with pride.

Gu Yuan frowned and paused for a moment.

Unsure whether the other party was telling the truth or not, all he could do was step forward and scrutinize them before asking:

"An alternative? How does it compare to the original?"

"I can't wait a month. Is there a way to speed up the acquisition of the magic sword?"

Gu Yuan never forgot that magic was his primary goal; the magic sword was merely a preliminary experience to hone his skills.

If the map hadn't been beyond the usable distance and become useless, he wouldn't have stayed here temporarily.

Milie Alde has gone to a nearby guild to buy a new map and will be back in about ten minutes.

"..."

Upon hearing this, the dwarf abruptly stopped in his tracks.

He slowly turned around, a hint of helplessness creeping into his previously calm expression, and sighed softly.

However, since the customer is always right, after thinking for a moment, all I could say was, "There are ways, however..."

As he spoke, he looked Gu Yuan up and down, as if he were assessing the other party's financial resources.

But when his gaze fell on the sword at Gu Yuan's waist, his brows furrowed sharply, and then a dazzling light flashed in his eyes, as if he had discovered a rare treasure.

He couldn't help but take a step forward, inwardly marveling—what kind of weapon is this? It's unbelievable…

"But what?" Gu Yuan raised his eyebrows in confusion.

The next second, noticing the other person's movement, a knowing glint flashed in his eyes.

"Ahem." He coughed lightly, clenching his fist, trying to draw the other person's attention back: "What, are you interested in my weapon?"

He shook the scabbard, producing an alluring "clattering" sound.

"Just tell me, what conditions are needed to speed up the acquisition of the Demon Sword?"

This is undoubtedly a blatant inducement.

The dwarf snapped out of his daze, a slightly embarrassed expression on his face.

"...Excuse me." He bowed slightly to express his apology, then solemnly said, "The condition is simple: just find the molten stone in the volcano."

"These stones can accelerate the fusion of magic. Under normal circumstances, only seven stones are needed to reduce the forging time from several weeks to a few days."

"I have some for sale here, but they're quite expensive..."

At this point, he changed the subject, staring intently at Gu Yuan: "My esteemed guest, to be honest, I have a request."

"If you'd like to lend me this weapon for a few days to observe it, I'll give you these fusion stones for free as compensation. What do you say?"

This was the most sincere offer he could think of.

For an experienced blacksmith like him, only by observing the works of masters can he grasp the essence of their techniques and thus improve his own blacksmithing skills.

Even if it's a business that loses money.

"..."

Gu Yuan remained silent and did not answer immediately. He subconsciously turned his head to look at the ore sales area, a thoughtful look flashing in his eyes.

Giving it away for free? Priced at thirty gold coins each, it's definitely not cheap.

But then I remembered the price of the Demon Sealing Mine—in the original story, a fist-sized piece could buy a villa—and I felt relieved.

"How many days do you plan to borrow it?"

Gu Yuan reminded him at the right time,

"Let me make it clear beforehand, my weapon is no ordinary weapon, you may not be able to figure out what's going on."

After all, this weapon is an industrial product, and even a legendary blacksmith from a thousand years ago might not be able to understand its secrets even after looking at it for a long time.

It's better to talk things out beforehand than to regret it later.

The dwarf, however, refused to believe it. He patted his broad chest and said with absolute certainty, "It's alright, I trust my eyesight!"

—Having lived for so many years, what kind of weapon haven't I seen?

Seeing this, Gu Yuan could only let him go. As for what would happen if he lost his weapon after borrowing it? He didn't only have this one knife…

He exhaled, and just as the two were about to make their deal, Gu Yuan slowly drew his weapon.

On the other side, Miliald held a new map, her brows furrowed, lost in deep thought.