The adventurer at the bottom is fantasizing again.

Am I really suited to be a warrior?

Lorraine felt a strange mix of grief and indignation. The scenes of him summoning lightning and flames to destroy the world seemed to shatter like bubbles.

No... there's still a chance.

He still remembered what Haif had said about the "Sword Singer," the Eternal Forest, right? Wait for me!

Don't get too excited yet.

Haifu felt he needed to teach the kid a lesson, to put him at ease and prevent him from rushing off to his doom.

"Being able to use it and being proficient are two different things. Right now, you can only execute these three sword techniques. You are still a long way from being able to use them in actual combat."

He then returned to the tavern, retrieved two wooden swords, and tossed one of them to Lorraine.

"Come on, now that you know how to exert your strength, practice in battle. Attack me with your swords. If you can hit me even once, your food expenses for this month will be waived," he said.

"good!"

Lorraine also felt a surge of fighting spirit; he wanted to know how far he was from becoming a fully-fledged warrior without using magic.

The two walked slowly forward and stood facing each other.

"Let's begin—"

"Holy crap!"

Before Haif could finish speaking, Lorraine drew her sword.

He pushed off with his right foot and swept towards Haif's left side at the fastest speed he could muster.

The blade made a short, sharp whistling sound as it cut through the air, but Haifu still managed to block it with his own sword. The force transmitted through the unsharpened blade, making his palms feel numb.

"You little rascal! You're pretty fast, but you stepped forward half an inch too far, and your center of gravity shifted!"

Lorraine gritted his teeth and used the recoil to pull the sword back. He spun the blade and aimed at Hef's wrist, slashing down again.

Haifu frowned, raised his longsword to meet the attack, and blocked the sword in mid-air with just one hand.

"If you fail to utilize the sword momentum properly, forcing it back will be too slow."

Lorraine pressed the sword down hard with both hands. Hef was much stronger than Sauron, and the wooden sword made a creaking sound and even began to deform, but the two swords remained motionless in mid-air.

"This old man's strength must be at least 15 or 16 points to be able to block my sword so easily..." Lorraine thought to herself.

Seeing Haifu's posture, he suddenly had a flash of inspiration, and pushed Haifu forward with his shoulder, causing Haifu to fall backward.

"You'd better catch this upward thrust!" he shouted.

The wooden sword was pulled away from mid-air, but instead of continuing the final strike of the combo, it was simply swept horizontally.

Haifu didn't even block; he simply took a step back. The tip of the sword grazed his chest as he laughed.

"A mere trick, how dare you show off your amateur skills in front of me!"

Then he twisted his wrist, flicking the wooden sword upwards. Lorraine felt a tremendous force coming from his hand, and the sword almost flew out of his grasp.

"Huh?"

Haif was surprised. He had thought he could knock Lorraine's sword away, but he didn't expect the kid to be so strong.

"Not bad strength, and quite agile in combat, but too little experience," he commented. "Let's try again!"

......

Sunrise and sunset, time flies.

Lorraine immersed herself in practice, training in swordsmanship under Hef's guidance every morning, eating a nutritious meal prepared by Aunt Martha at noon, and then sparring with Piper in the afternoon.

Although he still failed to meet Haifu at that time, he still waived the food expenses for the two of them.

Thanks to Lorraine's tireless efforts, the combo attack became visibly smoother, and three slashes could now be controlled within about two seconds.

The system also provided a prompt: [Combo Slash → Beginner]

However, the "beginner" level of the skill never turned into "proficiency." He took the opportunity to ask Haif, and the answer he received was as follows:

"Only by controlling the timing of the three strikes to within one and a half seconds can one be considered to have just mastered them and be able to use them in battle."

Although he hasn't quite reached the level of proficiency yet, his sword practice these past few days has deepened his understanding of swordsmanship, and he's finally no longer relying on instinct to wield the sword.

One morning, as Lorraine brandished her fourth wooden sword, she suddenly realized that she hadn't sold the spoils she had brought back yet.

"It should be a rather rare material. It seems to contain the power of fire. You can ask Horton; maybe he knows about it."

Hef took the dragon bloodstone from Lorraine, but after examining it for a long time, he still couldn't figure it out.

So he had no choice but to drag his aching body to Horton's blacksmith shop, and also get rid of that big package of stuff from before.

Horton touched his bald head, picked up the irregular stone that shimmered with a dark red light, examined it carefully in the sunlight, and after a while said:

"This is a piece of solidified red dragon blood. Under some complex conditions, it will crystallize. Where did you get it?"

Never mind, just pretend I didn't ask. I have a dwarven recipe here; you can grind this stuff up and reforge it with metal.

If it's a weapon, it can inflict burn damage; armor, on the other hand, will significantly increase fire resistance.

After discussing it for a while, the two decided to enchant Piper's new hammer.

After all, Lorraine had already taken two magical items from the spoils, either of which was worth as much as the Dragonblood Stone.

Even if Piper isn't a petty person, as the beneficiary, he would definitely have to consider it; a balance of interests is beneficial for the long-term development of the relationship.

Besides, he doesn't lack such attack methods himself. The short guy has only been hitting with a hammer so far, which is really a bit of a shame.

Horton took the warhammer from Piper, looked it over, and slowly began to speak:

"Enchanting this weapon will cost at least fifty gold coins, thirty of which is a deposit. You can give me the rest after it's finished. We'll also need some materials to activate and stabilize the power in the dragon blood. I'll write you a list."

Lorraine stared in disbelief, exclaiming, "So expensive!"

He knew that anything related to magic was expensive, but he never expected it to be this expensive; the labor cost alone was fifty gold coins!

Even after collecting the bounties from the Dragon Shield Guards and the Scale Warlocks, he only had a little over 23 gold coins. Piper, on the other hand, was even poorer; even if the two of them were together, they couldn't scrape together that much money.

Horton nodded his shiny bald head and patiently explained to them:

"Enchanting is a very delicate job; it's not just about grinding something into powder and sprinkling it on. You have to remelt the weapon and then hammer it together with new materials."

If anything goes wrong during the process, the weapons and materials will be destroyed. Therefore, this fifty gold coins is not only a labor fee, but also my guarantee. If I damage anything, I will compensate you five times the labor fee, as is customary.

"Aren't you going to go bankrupt like this?"

Lorraine asked in surprise.

Five times the labor cost, that's 250 gold coins!?

Horton chuckled, crossed his arms, and said proudly, "You think just anyone can do this business? I dare say, out of all the blacksmiths in the North, no more than thirty would dare to take it on."