Age of Gods - A VRMMO Story

It only took moments for Thomas to walk from the finalizing room back into the smithy where Rock was. He only had a few minutes left to turn in his quest and he wasn't going to waste them just idling around. Rock looked up at Thomas as he walked into the smithy and handed him the finished Kukri.

For Thomas, the kukri was a very shoddy product by his standards. Honestly, he wondered why the system kept giving it 'perfect' ratings. However, he also wasn't going to argue with the system and was just going to take the experience points and keep his mouth shut. He had already decided that when he had more spare time, without a quest looming over his head, he would sit down and methodically experiment with his blacksmithing to figure out the 'rules'.

Thomas quietly watched as Rock slowly examined the kukri, turning it this way and that to examine every angle of the weapon. Even holding the slightly ergonomic handle and giving it a few swings. A look of surprise flashed over his face as he swung the weapon. Thomas was sure he was shocked at how comfortable the handle was, as well as the performance of the kukri. Rock thumbed the razor edge of the blade and looked at Thomas, "I can honestly say I've never seen a weapon like this so I'm having a little trouble judging it. I can tell it was well forged and feels really good in the hand. Can you tell me a bit about this weapon and its purpose?"

Thomas nodded and began to explain about the kukri, "This weapon is called a kukri. It's a traditional weapon in one of the countries where I come from. It's considered a multipurpose tool that can do many different things such as clearing fields, chopping firewood, slaughtering animals, chopping meat and veggies, skinning animals, and of course reaping lives. It can be used to chop or slice, and thanks to the angle with the wide belly every chop carries heavy power and can slice even bones with a good hard chop."

Thomas had picked a kukri because of all the things the weapon could be used for. The kukri was a swiss army knife before the swiss army knife was invented! It would make an excellent companion for any adventurers out there as it could cover a lot of roles that most would use specialty knives and tools for. Why carry a fighting knife, skinning knife and shovel with your gear when you could just carry a kukri with you? Thomas was now showing his experience. With this one weapon, he could create a whole new market in the city and use Rock's Armory as a distribution point. He would likely even have a monopoly on the weapon for a while, and possibly be able to convince Rock to give him a portion of future sales of the weapon while he was off doing other stuff!

Thomas couldn't keep the grin off of his face as Rock continued to examine the weapon trying to figure out how it was capable of everything Thomas claimed. Thomas made a gesture with his hand, "If you've got some scrap wood or firewood around you can go ahead and test the weapon out by giving the wood a few chops. You can even try digging with it for a bit. Though I doubt we'll be able to find an animal to butcher with it." Thomas laughed a little.

Rock nodded, "Let's do that."

Rock lead Thomas out of a door in the smithy to a backyard where a large shed stored extra materials such as coal and iron for the smithy. Next to the shed was a pile of firewood. Rock grabbed a large whole piece and set it down. Thomas watched, slightly nervous because he hadn't tempered the blade. However, he hadn't seen any of the blades tempered so he wasn't sure if it was a required step or not in AoG. If it was a necessary step then the kukri was likely to shatter rather catastrophically the moment that Rock slammed it into that wooden log.

Thomas could feel his nerves getting tight as his heartbeat starting to pick up in pace. Rock was lifting the kukri up as he prepared to chop the firewood. Since it was a whole log Rock intended to attempt to quarter it properly using the new weapon Thomas had presented him. Thomas didn't have to wait long as Rock confidently swung his arm down and slammed the edge of the kukri into the log.

Thomas winced as the untested, untempered, kukri slammed into the log. With the combined factors of Rock's Power, the kukris razor edge, and the angle and weight of the kukri's blade the weapon slammed into the center of the log and split it clean in half with a loud 'CRACK!'. Fortunately, the blade didn't shatter from the impact. Thomas let out a pent-up sigh and wiped a bit of sweat from his brow. He had been extremely nervous for a moment there. It didn't seem that tempering was a required step, but he began to wonder what would happen if he did temper the kukri.

Rock, meanwhile, lifted the kukri to eye level and began to examine the edge of the blade for any warping or chipping. Seeing the blade was still in pristine condition he nodded and picked up one half of the split log and stood it up. He once again lifted the kukri and slammed it down. With another loud crack, he split the log into two quarters. He did so again with the other half and examined the kukri closely once more. The kukri had split a decent sized log into quarters and hadn't suffered any significant damage to the edge of the blade.

Rock looked over at Thomas and grinned, "You weren't exaggerating. This, kukri was it, of yours is really impressive!" Rock moved off to the side slightly and began to test another of Thomas's claims. He knelt down on the ground and began to use the wide belly of the kukri to dig a hole. Now obviously a kukri isn't going to be as excellent at digging as a regular shovel, but it can get the job done! After digging out a small hole in the ground Rock once more examined the blade and checked the edge. The blade had dulled a little but wasn't damaged. Satisfied Rock stood up and approached Thomas, "This kukri of yours really is an excellent tool. I think it could be a very popular item. As for your grade... You pass with flying colors and then some!"