Only I’m the solo player

Chapter 50 – A Vessel to Hold One’s Heart

—–CROW—– 

Having completely monopolized the resources of all the floors I’ve cleared so far, I have more gold than I know what to do with.

The kind of funds that will never run dry, no matter how much I pour into item enhancements, or how many potions and White Troll meat I buy.

Even store-bought Dark Elf equipment is quite high-quality and expensive, but in the end, it’s still 7th-floor equipment.

With the gold I’ve accumulated, I could buy hundreds of these items.

“What? What? Is this some kind of human joke?  You want to buy all the weapons in my shop?”

The Dark Elf blacksmith didn’t take my words literally, treating them as some kind of metaphor or joke.

I didn’t expect her to take it seriously either.  I just said it because I wanted to say it once.

But that doesn’t mean it’s a joke.  I opened my inventory and pressed the gold drop button.

– *Clink, clink, clink!*

A massive amount of gold coins poured out like sand. The blacksmith stared blankly at it.

“You have a large item box, huh? But, what, are these all really gold coins?”

“Yeah.”

“Has human alchemy advanced to the point where you can mass-produce gold coins? Or what, are you some kind of royalty?”

The short Dark Elf blacksmith chuckled in disbelief.  So, is she selling them or not?

“I was going to choose a good weapon for you because you looked cute, but what you’re doing isn’t cute at all. Well, I’ll sell them.”

The blacksmith grumbled and took the weapons hanging on the wall, lining them up in front of me.

[Ebony Steel Blade]

Attack Power + 58 (Slashing)

Critical Hit Damage: x 2.5

Durability 850/850

Enhancement Attempts Remaining: 15

Looking at the options, it’s definitely excellent for a store-bought item.  Especially the durability, which is very high, as I wanted.

And while the base stats other than durability aren’t that great, the maximum number of enhancement attempts is overwhelmingly high at 15.

If I add a lot of [Sharpness] enhancements, the attack power will surpass even some low-level Unique weapons.

“This is amazing.”

They say in the open community that a warrior who has a full set of Dark Elf Ebony equipment on lower floors isn’t called a Warrior-bro.

Of course, if you have the financial power to equip yourself with a full set of these, you wouldn’t have become a warrior in the first place, so it’s just a teasing remark.

Anyway, there’s a reason why they say that. These are totally pay-to-win items.

“I’ll buy them all.”

“You’re really buying them all?”

I paid the blacksmith and equipped the [Ebony Steel Blade].

One of the reasons I like low-level store-bought equipment is its characteristically simple design.

High-level Unique equipment mostly has unique designs, which can sometimes be inconvenient to handle.

But these Ebony weapons have a clean and sophisticated design, and the center of gravity and balance fit perfectly in my hand.

Just in terms of usability, it’s comparable to the [Steel Straight Sword] with its simple design, which I prefer the most.

I made the right choice choosing the Dark Elf faction. I should change all my equipment to Dark Elf gear.

And for that, I’ll need enhancements, of course.

“You want me to enhance all these dozens of weapons? Even if I use all the materials in my shop, I won’t be able to.”

I opened my inventory and showed the enhancement materials to the dumbfounded Dark Elf blacksmith.

“Oh dear, my back is going to break today.”

The blacksmith sighed and picked up her hammer.

**

Grumbling, the blacksmith accepted the materials and moved to the workbench.

I wondered if I had to verbally specify the enhancement options one by one, but fortunately, a system window appeared.

The materials used, of course, to the maximum limit, and the options added, naturally, all [Durability].

“You want to increase the durability even more?  Are you planning to dig a mountain or something with this?”

Since I’m replacing my usual store-bought set with these, it’s natural to focus on durability.

The blacksmith diligently enhanced the weapons, even while saying she didn’t understand.  Watching her work was quite entertaining.

– *Clang! Clang! Clang!*

She put in the materials, operated the bellows and furnace, and diligently hammered away on the anvil with all her might.

It’s not much different from other blacksmith NPCs, so you might wonder what’s so entertaining about watching it.

But here’s the important point: all Dark Elves have great bodies. This blacksmith, although short, has a large chest.

Since she works in front of a fire, her clothes are quite light, and… every time she hammers diligently, um, they jiggle.

I’m watching a live version of [Short-Stacked Busty Dark Elf’s 200% Serious Hammering], one of the immortal memes on the open community.

“There, it’s done again.  Here you go.”

The blacksmith finished the enhancements much faster than other NPCs and handed me the weapons one by one.

“But what are you going to do with so many weapons that are just sturdy?  I can’t even imagine.”

“I like sturdy weapons.”

“Aren’t they a bit too sturdy? And why do you need dozens of them?”

I was going to ignore her because it was too bothersome to explain, but I gave a brief explanation, thinking it might lower her favorability.

I told her that weapons that are too strong hinder my skill development, and I need several spares because I use multiple weapons simultaneously.

Then the blacksmith put down a finished weapon and asked, as if she didn’t understand,

“How roughly do you use your weapons that you need to carry so many spares?”

“I’m a bit strong, so they break easily when I fight.”

“Oh, really? Do weapons break that easily just because you’re strong? Show me the equipment you usually use.”

The blacksmith gives off the vibe of an elderly village elder. I showed her my weapons without much thought.

Both my favorite store-bought set and the full set of equipment I occasionally use.

The blacksmith looked at my equipment, making sounds like “Huh” and “Tsk, tsk,” and then put on a stern expression.

“Human, this isn’t the weapons’ fault, it’s yours.”

And then she started nagging.

**

Come to think of it, Dark Elves, like elves in other works of fiction, are a very long-lived race.

Humans live at most 100 years, but that’s still the prime of youth for elves.

Perhaps because of that, the short Dark Elf blacksmith scolded me in a very condescending tone.

“My goodness, when you die, the weapons you broke will come to greet you and curse you out.  And you blame the weapons?”

She said she could tell just by looking at the chipped blades how roughly I handled them.  It’s clear as day to her, a blacksmith.

The blacksmith insisted that only beasts handle weapons like this and asked since when humans became so barbaric.

Most of my combat techniques, excluding throwing, come from Lizardmen, so it’s natural that I handle them like a beast.

“Anyway, I can’t just leave this be.  I have to intervene, even if it’s just for the sake of the weapons I gave you.”

Anyway, the blacksmith said so, went inside the blacksmith, and came out with a piece of paper.

She was scribbling something with a pen, but I couldn’t read it at all. It must be written in the Dark Elf language.

“Go find someone named Lizmel and show him this letter. If you say it’s from Erwen, he’ll understand.”

“Who is that?”

“He’s my relative.  He’s still young, but his swordsmanship is top-notch.  If you show him the letter, he’ll teach you swordsmanship with all his heart.”

My eyes widened.  Teaching swordsmanship, isn’t that one of the reasons I chose the Dark Elf faction?

Among the many NPCs in the Trial Tower, there are some who teach skills for a fee under the name of training.

And according to the community, there’s one such NPC in the Dark Elf faction.

The problem is the required favorability and the complicated quests you have to clear to receive the training, but what happens now?

Is it possible that I can skip all that and just learn swordsmanship?

“Don’t look at me like that. I’m not forcing you. But if you learn properly, I’ll give you a reward.”

Perhaps misinterpreting my dumbfounded expression as a sign of reluctance, the blacksmith coughed and started talking on her own.

And as if in response, a blue quest window appeared before my eyes.

[Erwen’s Meddling – Swordsmanship Training]

Description: Blacksmith Erwen has a meddlesome personality.

Her meddling hasn’t changed, even with a cute human customer she hasn’t seen in a long time. That’s you.

She has arranged swordsmanship training for you and decided to prepare a small gift to boost your motivation.

[Quest Objectives]

Complete Lizmel’s Basic Training 3 stages.

Complete Lizmel’s Advanced Training 3 stages (Optional).

Complete Lizmel’s Selection Test (Optional).

Win a spar with Lizmel (Optional).

It was a quest with many optional objectives, reminiscent of the shepherdess’s quest.

I don’t know what Lizmel’s training or test is, but it’s obvious that it will be very helpful to me.

And she’s even giving me a separate reward for completing it.  Even if the reward is insignificant, I welcome it.

“I recently got some good ingots. I’ll make a sword that’s perfect for you with them. What do you think?”

I opened the open community and searched for a silly post I saw before.

[Dark Elves << Big-hearted sisters with big boobs lol. Upvote if you agree.]

And I immediately upvoted it.

Dark Elves are the best race, indeed.

—–CROW—–