Chapter 313: A Hammer For All Seasons [Part 1]
Alex slowly rose from his bed as he looked at the window of his room.
The first rays of sunlight lit his surroundings with a pale glow, announcing the start of a brand new day.
On the small basket right beside Alex’s bed, Dim Dim slept peacefully, showing no signs of waking soon.
It was still pretty early, so Alex didn’t wake the little bun. He walked to the table with the jug of water and a small bowl, then proceeded to wash his face.
Today was the day of his duel against Prince Garen.
Even now, he couldn’t help but sigh internally, not knowing what to feel about the Prince’s rather intense infatuation toward Vaan.
Well, it was perfectly understandable since Vaan was a really cute girl—err, boy.
For men unaware of his true gender, falling for him was natural, given his lively, mischievous, and charismatic character.
For Alex, even if Vaan was really a girl, he would at most think of her as a mischievous little sister who liked to play pranks on others.
’I wonder how I should fight Prince Garen later,’ Alex thought.
The Prince was a Rank 3 Solar Knight and was also just a step away from becoming Rank 4.
In other words, he was a Pseudo-Rank 4 Solar Knight, boasting great defense and offensive capabilities.
With the resources of the Kingdom of Solara at his disposal, this wasn’t too surprising.
Prince Garen was capable of using Sun and Fire Magic, a nightmare combination for most people.
But Alex still had a chance to win even as a mere Rank 2 Oathkeeper.
The reason?
His shield, Svalinn.
While it had yet to completely recognize Alex as its Master, the Shield still allowed the young man to wield it and even use a fraction of its powers.
It had high resistance against Sun and Fire Magic, making it a perfect counter against Prince Garen’s magical abilities.
After washing his face, the young man put on some casual clothes before leaving the room.
He only had one class to attend today, though it wouldn’t be until the afternoon.
’It should be finished by now, right?’ Alex thought as he headed toward the Academy Gates.
His destination was the City of Harmonia, a kilometer away from the academy gates.
Covering that distance wasn’t a big deal to the students, and it also served as the perfect warm-up for Alex.
Since he wasn’t in a hurry, he decided to jog instead of running until he reached the city gates.
From there, he went to the eastern side of the city, where the Artisan District was located.
It was along this area that he had a shop make his Mimic Lantern, which had proven its worth during their recent expedition.
After returning to the Heracle Mountain, Alex had commissioned one of the famous blacksmiths in the city to craft him a hammer.
At first, the Blacksmith was very annoyed to hear Alex’s request for a special hammer that could be used in forging and in battle.
He even specified using Mithril and Adamantium as the materials to ensure it would be sturdy and serve as the perfect conduit for magical abilities.
The young man also asked that a special magic be imbued in it, allowing the hammer to change its size and extend its length if Alex were to use it in battle.
There were other additional functions that he insisted on being added to his weapon, which made it veeeeeeeeery expensive.
Alex flinched when the Blacksmith told him the cost of creating the hammer and his services.
It was a whopping four thousand gold coins, more than enough for Alex to buy dozens of weapons in an ordinary Weapon Shop.
A well-made ordinary sword usually cost fifty gold coins, and a superior grade was worth a hundred gold coins.
Even those with special runes and abilities were only worth around one hundred-fifty up to two hundred gold coins.
Simply put, the price tag the blacksmith had put on the War Hammer Alex wanted to customize was worth as much as a weapon bought in an auction house!
When Alex tried to bargain, the blacksmith didn’t hesitate to literally kick him out of the shop, which made Dim Dim giggle nonstop, finding the scene comical.
In the end, Alex relented and gave in to the blacksmith. Only he knew, but the person he chose was a future Legendary Blacksmith of the Kingdom of Avalon.
At that moment, his works were not that popular yet. But Alex thought that forming a connection with him as early as now would earn him preferential treatment in the future.
After some time, Alex finally appeared in front of the Smithy that had the sign, "Hammer Me Harder," written in bold silver letters.
Its owner, Magnus Bangforge, was a dwarf of culture, but this was a secret only known to a few.
One of the reasons he agreed to craft Alex’s War Hammer was the special book that Alex had given to Magnus on their first meeting.
What was the name of that book?
It was none other than the book that Alex had purchased from one of the bookstores in the city, and it was called "School DxD," which Magnus reluctantly accepted as a bribe to craft Alex’s War Hammer.
As he entered the shop, the sound of a chime echoed inside its interior.
Alex didn’t even need to call for Magnus. The sight that welcomed him was a dwarf snoring on a couch, the School DxD book lying pages down on his chest.
Knowing how grumpy Magnus was, Alex pondered what to do to wake up the sleeping dwarf.
However, he couldn’t think of anything, so he decided to browse the weapons, armors, and other things on display for the time being.
"Hmm... this Buckler looks good." Alex grabbed the small shield, a third of the size of Everguard.
It was lightweight and looked like something that would really hurt if Alex were to throw it at someone.
Actually, Alex also planned to commission a set of bracers from Magnus, which would also act like a shield.
That way, Alex could still fight in situations where he could not use Everguard and Svalinn in battle.
He even had a design in mind, something he worked on when he was still very active in the game as a Shield Savant.
After placing the buckler back on display, Alex glanced at the short swords and daggers.
He also had thoughts of keeping a dagger or a short sword as a secondary weapon, which he believed would be useful on expeditions with his club members.
But just as he was about to take one of the daggers on display, a rustling sound reached his ears.
Magnus had finally woken up, chugging a bottle of wine as his first drink of the day.
"Aye, that hits the spot," Magnus muttered as he propped himself up from the couch. "You’ve come at the right time, Alex. I just finished your hammer last night."
Alex breathed a sigh of relief. He thought he would have to wait for a few more days before collecting the weapon he commissioned.
"Follow me," Magnus ordered as he walked toward the forge room, so he could show the young man his recently finished masterpiece.