5 Earning XP

Anarchy entered the workshop, and as soon as he was inside, the smell of fire and iron and the Dwarves' stinky sweat assaulted his nostrils.

As though it wasn't enough, the temperature inside the workshop was higher than the outside, even though it was the front part where the byproducts were displayed.

Anarchy could only imagine how stuffy and hot it would be if he were to work at the forging place of this workshop.

But since that was his goal, he should be able to adapt to the environment.

As he was amazed by the displays in the workshop, a Dwarf approached him with a frown.

"Oi! What's keepin' ye rooted there? Be ye a customer or what?"

Surprised, Anarchy turned around only to find a grumpy-looking Dwarf. Unlike the other Dwarves he had seen on the road earlier, this one was bulky as hell.

The grumpy-looking Dwarf had scars all over his right arm, as though telling people he was a retired war veteran who now enjoyed making things instead of fighting. He also wore an eyepatch like a pirate.

Anarchy thought for a while before speaking with an imitated accent, "I be lookin' for a job, sir!"

As soon as he finished speaking, Anarchy felt bitter mentally. That was a terrible accent. He could have said it normally, like the other Dwarves he passed on the way here.

"Hahaha! Ye've got a right peculiar tongue, lad! But don't be thinkin' ye can fool one on ol'me."

The grumpy-looking Dwarf patted Anarchy's shoulder as he laughed. Or rather than a pat, it was more like a slam.

His hand was around Anarchy. The Dwarf pulled him by the shoulder as if Anarchy was a comrade.

"Anyway, lad. What be the story behind ye wantin' to work in this forge? Do ye possess the mettle to face the iron and fire?"

Anarchy thought for a moment.

He had some experience in forging from the games he had been playing all this time. He had even crafted a legendary item once. But that was thanks to the game's class system and his character stats.

That said, even though he wasn't a blacksmith, nor did he have the stats to support him making the best gear, Anarchy still had the knowledge, if not a basic, of how to forge an iron.

But is that enough? What if the forging mechanics of this game are different from the rest?

'Watch and learn. Everything is possible as long as I have the skill system.'

Escaping from the Dwarf's clutch, Anarchy said:

"I know the basics of forging and wish to learn more under your guidance," he paused to speak in an accent, hoping to gain more favorability from the grumpy Dwarf. "Aye, dreamin' of becomin' the stuff of legends, a master of blacksmith!"

The grumpy Dwarf laughed again, clearly impressed by Anarchy's attempt to imitate his way of speaking.

"Quite the ambitious lad, ain't ye? Yet, I'm afraid I can't be takin' ye on as a worker. How 'bout tryin' yer hand at an apprenticeship instead?"

"Apprenticeship?"

"Aye. Ye'll be workin' alongside the other blacksmiths in this forge, but there won't be any coin in yer pocket. Instead, consider the know-how ye gain as yer compensation. What be yer thoughts on that, lad?"

Of course, Anarchy accepted that. That was too good of an offer to be ignored.

His apprenticeship began immediately the moment he accepted the offer. And so, the grumpy Dwarf, who (unsurprisingly) turned out to be the workshop owner, led Anarchy to the forging place in the basement.

As Anarchy already expected, the forging place was a hotter place than the front part of the workshop. Not to mention, it was underground.

He examined the place and wondered where the smoke and steam escaped in this enclosed space.

As far as his eyes could see, he didn't find any ventilation installed anywhere. So he thought there must be magic that came into play. And the longer he stayed there, Anarchy noticed his body's temperature cooled when he felt as though he was burned alive.

"Surprised, eh?" The grumpy Dwarf smirked. "That be the work of the device we crafted together with them pointy-eared folk."

'Pointy-eared? The Elves?'

Now, that was fascinating.

In many other titles, if not mostly, they always wrote a setting where Elf and Dwarf never get along despite their past camaraderie, where The Big Three united to fight against a demon army.

The timeline of the players' arrival in those game worlds was to be said to have taken place after hundreds of years of said lore.

What those games failed to impress their players was in the lore aspect. All of them would turn out to be insignificant to the storyline. In other words, they neglected the depth of their worlds.

'Well, it's not like the players care about the lore.'

Indeed. Most players never cared about the lore because even if somebody were to go deep into the game lore, they would find nothing but an already existing concept.

So, it was quite good to find Elf and Dwarf in Pandemonium didn't harbor those hateful feelings toward each other.

'Maybe... I won't know until I find it out. Though that won't be my priority.'

Anarchy had his priority set: farming XP through crafting and producing gears, if possible the high-quality ones, as it would give him more XPs. And while he was at it, he would invest XP to learn some crafting skills.

However, before he could worry about how much XP he would get from producing gear, he should be more focused on the process.

And there's this question he should ask himself: Can he make even low-quality gear? Because if not, the XP he would earn was only a bit.

Just as the support—his copy explained, combat isn't the only way to earn XP in this game. Players can earn it from crafting and many other ways, such as stealing items and escaping somewhere no one can find them.

The amount of XP received is based on the relative difficulty of the action taken compared to Anarchy's current player status.

Let's say a player who hasn't earned any XP at all picks up a craft. Then, compared to someone with boosted stats and tons of skills, that beginner will earn way more XP.

Obviously, succeeding in crafting items will give more XP than failing, so in that respect, when taking up a craft, it is most efficient to raise your success rate as much as possible.

Having only 30 XP after creating his character, Anarchy was considered a "Beginner" by the system.

In that sense, if he could craft an item on his first try at work, the system would surely shower him with XP.

Unfortunately, as an intern, Anarchy's job in the workshop was only to observe, if not whetting failure products.

The system considered his action relatively "easy." At most, that would get him 5 XP. At least he still earned XP, albeit a few.

If he had invested some XP into stats and skills, nothing would come for him by doing so.

Although Anarchy earned only 5 XP for each item he whetted, he didn't give up on his goal. Then, after having finished ten items, he finally unlocked the <Blacksmith > skill tree under the <Utility > category.

Without hesitation, Anarchy used 20 XP to unlock the first skill of <Blacksmith > without reading the description.

<Sharpening >

That was a rookie mistake.