Goblin 3 — Weapon Forging

Reached two years of age.

One is recognized as fully capable and permitted to hunt at four.

Four years old being considered fully capable—humans would find that astonishing—but given the speed of goblin development, it was reasonable.

Conversely, from the perspective of a goblin whose lifespan is only about ten years, it might even seem slow.

Goblins live for ten years in this world.

Approximately eleven Earth years.

Even the longest-lived goblins rarely exceed thirteen.

This is the grace period granted to goblins.

Evolution must occur before the lifespan expires.

To evolve, a goblin must reach level ten.

Even then, evolution into a Hobgoblin is not guaranteed.

Upon reaching level ten, a goblin may evolve into one of three classes: Fighter, Ranger, or Shaman.

The choice of evolution path is selectable.

However, there are instances where the evolution path is fixed based on the goblin's status at the time of level ten.

Close combat specialist, most faithful to basic principles—Fighter.

High speed, dexterous hands, suited for support—Ranger.

Strong in magic, capable of casting spells—Shaman.

Fighter is the most popular choice.

Shamans are not unpopular per se; rather, they are few in number due to low aptitude among goblins.

Ranger is the least popular.

It is said that only goblins who cannot endure hunting or who plan to manage village affairs in the future evolve into Rangers.

In reality, I do not believe Rangers are inferior to Fighters or Shamans.

They simply appeal more to experienced players, making them less popular compared to the other two, which are more straightforward.

After evolving through one of these three paths, a goblin must reach level ten once more to finally evolve into a Hobgoblin.

Evolution into a Hobgoblin means one no longer needs to concern oneself with lifespan.

They are said to live roughly as long as a human.

Still, many Hobgoblins die before reaching their lifespan due to the harsh environment.

Evolution does not end the struggle for survival.

There are many goblins my age.

Even as children, there is no leisure in the goblin village—once able to work, one begins assisting the household.

In my case, it was farming.

Even in this mountain range, where sunlight is weak, certain plants can still grow.

We cultivate vegetables with high Life.

This is physically demanding work—difficult for a child’s body.

First, the soil must be kept from freezing.

If left unattended, the soil freezes quickly—regular heating is required.

Apply fire to the tool designed for this purpose, loosening the soil incrementally without damaging the roots of the crops.

Strength is required, as is delicate work demanding nerves.

Harvesting, sowing, and routine tilling operations were also present.

The crop being cultivated is a type of monster. If the harvest time is misjudged, it may instead consume the cultivators. Careful monitoring is required.

A considerable amount of labor, indeed.

Her strength improved, and she acquired several skills as well.

The farm labor came to an abrupt end one day.

The incident began when meat from a hunt appeared on the dining table.

The moment she wished, inwardly, for a knife against meat too firm.

Light exploded within the narrow house, and in the next instant, a knife was in my hand.

It was far more shabby than the knife I had imagined, but it was indeed a knife.

My father took the knife from my hand, stunned as I was.

Then he left the house.

After some time, he returned with the village elder.

The elder, as his title implied, was the oldest living resident of the village.

One of the few goblins to have reached an age that could be called advanced.

The elder handed me something.

It was an鉴定 stone.

A magical artifact, the only one in the village, imbued with the skill of鉴定.

Using the鉴定 stone allowed one to identify their own skill set.

I checked my status as instructed, using the鉴定 stone.

『Goblin LV1 Name: Razlaz

Status

HP: 69/69 (Green)

MP: 4/35 (Blue)

SP: 66/66 (Yellow)

Stamina: 51/66 (Red)

Average Attack: 68

Average Defense: 66

Average Magic: 33

Average Resistance: 31

Average Speed: 65

Skills

"Mana Perception LV2", "Mana Manipulation LV1", "SP Recovery Speed LV3", "SP Consumption Reduction LV6", "Focus LV3", "Prayer LV8", "Blunt Resistance LV2", "Wind Resistance LV1", "Ice Resistance LV6", "Vision Enhancement LV7", "Hearing Enhancement LV6", "Smell Enhancement LV4", "Taste Enhancement LV2", "Touch Enhancement LV3", "Life LV9", "Mana LV4", "Explosive Speed LV7", "Endurance LV7", "Power LV9", "Sturdiness LV8", "Mage LV3", "Guardian LV2", "Sprint LV7", "Weapon Forging LV1", "n% I = W"

The only skill that comes to mind is Weapon Forging.

Reporting this to the captain, he instructed to have the skill examined through鉴定.

Weapon Forging: Consumes MP to generate weapons. Quality of generated weapons depends on skill level and MP consumption.

This is undoubtedly the skill.

The knife from earlier was produced using this ability.

Since then, I have been assigned to weapon creation duties.

In the goblin village, only basic weapons and armor could be crafted.

There was no proper equipment, no materials.

At first, only unusable items could be made.

Low MP levels contributed, as did the low skill level.

But with continued use, the skill level gradually increased. MP capacity grew, and I acquired the ability to recover MP faster.

There were limitations to weapons produced via Weapon Forging.

First, only items I recognized as weapons could be forged.

Blades could be forged, but blunt weapons could not.

Armor could not be forged.

Shields were an exception—somehow, they could be forged.

Machines could not be forged.

Guns could not be forged either.

Thus, I could only forge primitive weapons—swords and spears.

Even so, in a goblin village without proper weapons, my ability proved invaluable. I continued forging weapons as long as my MP lasted.