Chương 107

Grid stood in front of the anvil, wiping his face with a dirty towel. The heavy, depressing atmosphere in the smithy was completely gone.

"Alright," Grid said, holding his hand out.

"Let me see the gear." Rudra unequipped his Staff of the Fire Lord and his Obsidian Drake Leather Gloves, placing them on the anvil. Grid inspected the bone staff first. He stared at the deep, jagged crack running down the center, then checked the fraying seams on the pitch-black leather gloves. His face twisted in disbelief.

"Are you crazy?!" Grid yelled, pointing at the staff.

"The durability is practically zero! What did you do, try to smash a mountain with this? Do you know how much a normal blacksmith would charge to fix Unique and Legendary items in this state? It's basically dust!"

"I hit a lot of things," Rudra smiled.

"Can you fix it or not?" Grid scoffed.

"Don't insult me. I'm Pagma's Successor. Stand back." Grid picked up his blacksmithing hammer. The moment his hand gripped the handle, the annoying, whiny attitude vanished entirely. He stopped complaining and stared at the cracked bone. Clang. Clang. He started hitting the staff. There were no flashy lights or dramatic movements. It was just steady, heavy work. He turned the staff over, hitting the fractured edges until they smoothed out, blending the broken bone back together.

Faint blue sparks flew off the anvil. Within twenty minutes, Grid set his hammer down, wiping sweat from his forehead.

"Done," Grid said proudly. Rudra picked up the Staff of the Fire Lord. The deep crack was completely gone. The bone was smooth, and the fiery glow emanating from the core was bright again. He slipped the gloves back on; the leather was tight and seamless.

"Wow," Rudra grinned, gripping the staff.

"You didn't lose a single point of max durability. Nice job." Grid puffed out his chest, his ego instantly inflating at the praise.

"Of course! When you finally gather some decent materials, bring them to me. I'll forge you a custom staff that makes this bone stick look like a twig."

"It's a deal," Rudra said. He swiped his hand in the air.

"Accept my friend request." Grid's eyes widened. A system prompt floated in front of him. The undisputed 1st Ranker in the entire game was sending him a friend request. Grid grinned widely, thinking about how much of a flex this would be, and hit accept. Rudra opened his new friend list. [Grid - Level 95] Rudra blinked. He swiped the window away, genuinely confused.

"Hey, Grid," Rudra asked bluntly.

"Why are you only Level 95?" This content has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere. Grid flinched. His proud posture instantly deflated. He glared at Rudra defensively.

"So what? It's hard to level up!"

"But you have a legendary class," Rudra pointed out.

"Piaro recognized your sword dances. You fought off an ambush by a Yatan Servant. You should easily be over Level 200 by now. Are you just slacking off?" Grid's face turned bright red.

"I don't slack off! I grinded for months! But getting a Legendary class comes with a massive penalty. The stupid game completely reset my level back to 1 when I opened the class book!" Rudra froze.

"Wait. It reset you to Level 1?"

"Yes!" Grid complained bitterly.

"I lost all my stats! It wasn't fair!" Rudra's mind instantly started racing at lightning speed. Grid was a Legend. He was standing right here, completely relaxed and only Level 95. If Rudra challenged him to a quick duel right now and won, he would instantly clear Phase 5 of the Staff Saint quest. He would become a full-fledged Saint today. But if acquiring a Legendary class resets a player to Level 1... If I become a Saint today, I drop back to Level 1, Rudra realized, a cold sweat breaking out on his neck.

He quickly opened his ranking board. Kraugel was sitting at Rank 2, grinding relentlessly. If Rudra reset to Level 1 right now, Kraugel would easily hit Level 300 first. That meant Kraugel would steal the [Pioneer] title. Rudra would lose his massive 10% global experience boost, his 10% discovery bonus, and his access to the Tower of Wisdom.

"Yeah, absolutely not," Rudra muttered to himself.

"I am not losing my EXP buff." He decided right then to put a pin in his class quest. Beating up Grid could wait until he officially secured Level 300 and locked in his pioneer rewards.

"That's a tough penalty," Rudra said smoothly, completely burying his internal panic.

"But anyway, let's talk about your stolen shield." Grid's face instantly twisted in anger again.

"That old thief! I still haven't found a single clue about where he went!"

"You said a girl with a large spear was chasing him, right?" Rudra asked. Grid nodded.

"Yeah. She had silver hair and wore some fancy white armor. She looked like a holy knight or something." Piaro, who had been leaning quietly against the wall, finally spoke up.

"Silver hair and a large spear," Piaro noted, his sharp eyes narrowing.

"That is Isabel. She is one of Rebecca's Daughters. They are the absolute strongest weapons of the Church of Light." Grid gasped.

"The Rebecca Church has my shield?!"

"If she was chasing the thief, then yes," Piaro explained calmly.

"The Divine Shield is a holy relic. The Church would never let it remain in the hands of a dark mage or an outsider. But retrieving it will be difficult. Pope Drevigo currently leads the Church. He is deeply corrupt and notoriously greedy. He will not simply hand over a priceless relic just because you claim you made it." Grid pulled his hair in frustration.

"So what do I do?! Do I have to fight the Pope?!"

"We fight the Pope," Rudra corrected, resting his repaired staff on his shoulder. Grid looked at him in shock.

"You're going to help me raid the Vatican?"

"Of course," Rudra smiled.

"You fixed my gear, and we're friends now. But I need one specific favor from you in return once the raid is over." Grid crossed his arms defensively.

"What kind of favor?"

"Don't worry about it yet," Rudra laughed.

"First, we actually have to get strong enough to survive fighting a corrupt Pope and his holy knights. We are severely under-leveled for a raid of that scale." Rudra turned to Piaro.

"Piaro, I need to hit Level 300 as fast as humanly possible. Where is the most efficient, monster-dense hunting ground in this kingdom?" Piaro didn't even hesitate. The Great Swordsman pointed a finger toward the west.

"Reidan," Piaro stated flatly.

"It is a massive desert city on the western border. The environment is a brutal, barren wasteland. Because the desert rapidly drains stamina and health, the monsters there have mutated to become incredibly resilient and aggressive. It is a death trap for ordinary soldiers."

"A desert death trap full of high-level monsters," Rudra grinned widely.

"Sounds like the perfect place to grind."