Chapter 52 The First Forging
Pill wagged its tail, looking at its owner with a smug expression.
William, on the other hand, found the sight of this dog quite amusing.
Pill's innate skill turned out to be fur attack, where it could shoot out all its fur to harm enemies. In the apocalyptic world, some animals possessed such abilities, and this skill was even given a fancy name, "Fine Needle Thread."
But no matter what it was called, it couldn't change the fact that Pill ended up bald after using this skill.
Well, at least it wouldn't need a bath this time. A simple wipe-down would do.
Suppressing his complaints about this skill, William checked the power of Fine Needle Thread and found it quite impressive. Countless yellow fur on Pill became extremely rigid, partially embedded in the body of a mixer truck. Even if Pill turned into a bald dog, one undeniable fact was that if William were suddenly faced with this move, he'd probably end up like a hedgehog.
William muttered, "Considering its effectiveness, I forgive you for looking ugly."
Running his hand over Pill's rough skin, William could sense its fatigue after using its innate skill. It seemed that shedding required quite a bit of its energy.
After another quick check of the construction site, William and the now hairless Pill found nothing strange and left the area. They were getting close to the most crucial part of today's plan.
Upon returning to his house, William saw Natalie and Lucy, who had just entered but lay in blood. Their newfound strength, equipped with powerful abilities for protection and basic immunity to viruses, had boosted their confidence. Natalie, who had been already bold by nature, took Lucy, who was still somewhat apprehensive, straight to the streets to kill zombies.
However, lacking prior combat experience and being new One-Star Evolvers, they hardly controlled their power and inefficiently hunted zombies. They barely avoided being surrounded and eaten by zombies several times. By the time they made it back to their shelter, they were both injured, and the number of magic crystals they had collected was as minimal as dozens.
"I told you! Killing these monsters isn't that difficult. Now that we've evolved, a simple stick can easily smash a zombie to pieces. What are you still afraid of?"
Natalie, experiencing her first solo zombie hunt, was clearly excited and chatty.
"You're being too cocky!" Lucy retorted, wiping the dirt off her face and hands with a towel, and gave Natalie a disapproving look.
Natalie replied, "Experience is vital. I'm bound to feel pain and disgust."
Lucy shouted, "Damn it!"
After hours of fighting together, the two women had noticeably become intimate, more like friends now.
Seeing William return, Natalie eagerly presented the collected First-level Magic Crystals, awaiting his praise. Even Lucy couldn't help but look a bit proud.
Lucy had roamed a few nearby streets earlier, completely dispelling any unrealistic fantasies she had harbored. She now saw the broken world with her own eyes and finally accepted the arrival of the apocalypse.
While William praised them, his admiration was more for their adaptation to the apocalyptic world than for the small amount of First-level Magic Crystals. After all, only those who adapted to this new world would survive longer, and his investment in them would pay off.
As Lucy observed the bald Pill, her eyes welled up with tears of pity, while Natalie had tears of joy. William then took out two Ape-Turtle-Croc eggs, told them to bake one, and left again amidst the their astonished gazes.
The two women had been quite effective in clearing the surrounding zombies. With only a few scattered ones wandering downstairs, they found the ground, however, was littered with numerous zombie corpses. Their crystals in their forehead were removed.
William didn't go far; he simply searched for a while and found an abandoned car nearby.
Forging the Moonlit Blade required a large amount of metal, and the cars scattered on the streets were the best materials available.
Placing his hand on the car, William activated the Forging Skill of the Honorable Craftsman. Immediately, he received a prompt in his mind, displaying the silver weapon pattern of the Moonlit Blade. The entire blade lit up from top to bottom in sequence, indicating that all required materials were present and the forging could commence with a success rate of fifty percent.
William then tried adding the existing white chopping knife, which was allowed, and increased the success rate from fifty percent to eighty percent.
It seemed that having a similar finished product as a reference could enhance the success rate of forging.
After adding the chopping knife, William began the forging process with half of an Ape-Turtle-Croc claw and all of its teeth, along with a Second-Level Magic Crystal as the energy source.
The car dissolved visibly fast, akin to sugar melting in a pot, turning into a viscous liquid that covered the white chopping knife. The claws and teeth of the Ape-Turtle Croc then melted into the liquid one by one.
Catalyzed by the Second-Level Magic Crystal, the large blob of liquid gradually shrank, revealing the blade. However, the blade looked ethereal and kept changing shape.
After a while, a silver light shimmered. A weapon with a silver glow fell into William's hand when the light dimmed.
"Moonlit Blade (M): Base Sharpness 10. Base Toughness 5. Attribute 1: Sharpness +10, Attribute 2: Strength +3."
William held the silver blade affectionately.
The base sharpness of 10 was marked on the pattern, while the toughness seemed to have become a base attribute from the previous fusion with mutated bark. The increase in sharpness and strength was likely due to the Ape-Turtle-Croc teeth and claws.
He took out the remaining Ape-Turtle-Croc claw, only to find out that it couldn't be enchanted. It seemed that adding materials during forging was equivalent to enchanting, and the effect was probably better than post-production enchanting.
Compared to the previous white chopping knife, this one had a more streamlined design. Most importantly, its power had significantly increased.
With a casual swing, he used the Moonlit Blade to slice a nearby metal lamppost into pieces effortlessly.
William also felt a sense of power when using the blade, indicating the effect of the Attribute 2.
Running his fingers over the ancient language emblem on the hilt, William smiled with satisfaction.
The successful first forging gave William great confidence. Seeing his forging proficiency increase by twenty-five points in one go, he knew that with a few more attempts, he would master this professional skill.
Putting away the blade, William then took out the Ape-Turtle-Croc back armor and the arm shield he had obtained earlier to strengthen them. The gray arm shield was immediately upgraded to a white-grade item, now long enough to cover a hand and half an arm. The bite marks from the Ape-Turtle Croc now were replaced by intricate patterns.
