Commanding Wind and Cloud

Qian Jin started to feel that this weird virtual gaming world wasn’t useless.

Every one of the hundreds of life skills had their own features. Qian Jin was dizzy after just looking through them. He couldn’t make up his mind.

At this time, the System Wizard’s voice sounded again.

“My recommendation is to learn smelting and forging first.”

“Why?”

“From the system scan, you have great potential for both Strength and Endurance. Both smelting and forging are the best ways to improve these two attributes early on. You could increase both attributes to 40 in a short time, and once that happens, you would probably be able to start the actual game.”

“Wait…do you mean that I can’t start the game right now?” Qian Jin felt something was wrong as he listened.

“Yes, the data from the scan indicates that the toughness of your body is far lower than normal. You must go through exercises before you can proceed with the actual game.”

“The toughness of my body is far lower than normal…” This sentence sounded awkward. Qian Jin repeated the sentence to himself several times and suddenly realized, “Doesn’t it just mean that I’m deformed?”

Qian Jin was mad, but he also found that funny. Although he was born with deformed spiritual power and couldn’t become a mage, he had good talent as a warrior. He had successfully passed the entrance exam for the Warrior Branch and got accepted into Oakland Academy. Moreover, just after a month of training, Instructor Rodriguez had complimented him numerous times and said he would have a bright future as a warrior.

He wasn’t sure why he would be considered abnormally weak in this virtual world.

“I’m not sure if Instructor Rodriguez would receive the same comment here…” Qian Jin thought as he pushed open the Blacksmith Shop’s door.

The Blacksmith Shop was quite deserted; it wasn’t anything close to what Qian Jin had imagined. There was neither a raging fire nor any scattering sparks. An elder blacksmith was lying against an anvil and smoking a pipe. He coughed irregularly; it sounded like someone was working a broken bellows. Qian Jin felt bad for him just listening to the sound.

As Qian Jin fully opened the door, the old man slowly opened his cloudy eyes and said, “I’m not starting up my forge today. If you want anything made, come back tomorrow.”

He bumped into a wall; the old Qian Jin would immediately turn around and never come back.

Thanks to the “extremely ugly looking student” incident, Qian Jin’s strength didn’t improve. However, he became more shameless and stopped caring about what other people said. The old blacksmith didn’t give him too much respect, but Qian Jin still had a smile on his face as he replied, “I didn’t come here to buy an item. I’m here to learn blacksmithing.”

“Oh?” Qian Jin thought he would get rejected right away; however, after the old blacksmith heard this, his cloudy eyes suddenly turned clear. He stopped smoking and stared at Qian Jin intensely for a long time. Then, he shook his head and said in pity, “I would have never thought that someone from the young generation would still be willing to learn the art of blacksmithing. Unfortunately, son, you are too weak. You are not a good fit for this job. I have been a blacksmith for my entire life, and I know how hard and tough being a blacksmith is. With your current condition, you wouldn’t even last a day. It would be better if you go and learn some other skills…”

“Too weak?” When the System Wizard told Qian Jin that his body was weaker than normal, he didn’t really believe it. Now, after the old blacksmith had said the same thing, he felt that there might be some truth to the wizard’s words. However, he didn’t react negatively. He quickly responded, “If you are willing to teach me, I am able to endure through anything!”

“Oh really? If you can endure through anything…” The old blacksmith closed his cloudy eyes, leaned against the anvil listlessly, and started to smoke out of his pipe again. Smoke soon filled the room, and light, rustling sounds came from the pipe as the tobacco burned. After god knows how long, the old blacksmith opened his eyes again and pointed at a corner with his pipe. “Pick up that hammer on the corner and bring it to me.”

“Okay!”

Qian Jin walked to the corner and was about to pick up the iron hammer that was about half the height of a man.

Unfortunately, the weight of the hammer was far beyond Qian Jin’s expectation. He was a Level 3 Warrior, so it would be easy for him to pick up items that were two to three hundred pounds. But currently, despite exerting all his effort, he could barely lift the handle of the hammer. It would be an impossible task to actually pick up the hammer.

The hammer had to be at least a thousand pounds in Qian Jin’s estimation.

A blacksmith working with a thousand-pound hammer? It was unheard of!

However, Qian Jin was very stubborn. He knew that he was born with a deformed and incomplete spiritual power, but he never stopped meditating. He believed that one day, he would feel the existence of the magic elements and become a mage.

He couldn’t pick up the thousand-pound hammer, but that didn’t mean that he would give up.

He clenched his teeth, and the veins on his head bulged. He shouted as he grabbed the handle of the hammer and pulled upwards fiercely. An ear-piercing noise echoed out; Qian Jin had actually managed to drag the thousand-pound hammer a few inches.

He couldn’t pick it up, but why couldn’t he drag it? Although a few inches wasn’t significant, it was enough for Qian Jin.

The old blacksmith was still sucking on his pipe, but an unnoticeable expression of approval flashed across his face.

It only took Qian Jin a few steps to get to the corner, but it took him at least two hours to drag the thousand-pound hammer back. He had fully experienced the difference between a thousand-pound hammer and a two to three hundred-pound hammer.

Qian Jin collapsed onto the floor after he dragged the hammer to the old blacksmith. He felt the same as when he just arrived at Oakland Academy and Instructor Rodriguez ordered him to run around the academy fifty laps. The last bit of strength in his body had been sucked away; he could only see colorful lights flashing in his eyes. He only heard “buzzing” noises and nothing else…

Qian Jin sat up on the floor and slowly straightened his legs. He took deep breaths as if he was about to die. There wasn’t a single blacksmith in Oakland City that used a hammer like this to forge. He wasn’t sure if it was because the city was too small and remote that there weren’t any talented blacksmiths, or if blacksmiths who used such hammers even existed in real life.

After a while, the old blacksmith slowly moved the pipe away from his mouth.

“From today on, you are my, Old Blake’s, apprentice.” After he said that, he bent his back and picked up the thousand-pound hammer. The hammer that took Qian Jin two hours to move became a handy tool in the old blacksmith’s hand. It moved easily in Old Blake’s hand as if it wasn’t a thousand-pound hammer that could smash people into a paste, but rather a feather duster.

He randomly grabbed a piece of pig iron beside the anvil and threw it into the forge and said, “Light it up.”