Porter's eyes were always half-squinted, seemingly a result of years spent forging in front of the furnace. But now, those eyes opened, revealing sharp, spirited pupils. Porter spoke in a deep voice: "Young man, there is no shield forging in basic forging techniques."

William Smith showed a disappointed expression and continued to ask, "Respected Uncle Porter, I just want to know what materials are needed to forge a bronze-quality shield. Could you tell me?"

Porter gazed at William Smith, pondered for a moment, and said, "Hmm, I can. But in exchange, young man, can you tell me why you want to know how to forge a bronze-quality shield?"

William Smith smiled, his smile as pure as a spotless sky: "I only hope that, with my hands and the shield in them, I can protect the dreams and people in my heart."

This sentence was a famous saying of Half-City Remnant Snow from his previous life, and William Smith's admiration for this shield-armored warrior he had never met stemmed from this. Although, in the face of harsh reality, this lonely man had experienced extraordinary hardships, it did not diminish the respect that those who knew him had for Half-City Remnant Snow.

Porter showed an inscrutable smile and murmured, "What an interesting conviction! Young man, the making of a shield is especially important for a defensive shield-armored warrior. But even the best forgers who can craft legendary weapons may not be able to forge an epic shield. Because, shield craftsmanship has always been a weak point for forgers on the Forgotten Continent. I can only tell you that forging a bronze-quality shield is far more complicated than you imagine. Remember this: 'A thousand times forging makes steel, ten thousand times refining makes a shield.' Young shield-armored warrior! If you want to forge a bronze-quality shield, you need to prepare at least 100 refined steel ingots."

"100 refined steel ingots!" William Smith gasped, the corners of his mouth twitching. He had accurately guessed the trigger condition for the quest, but hadn't expected such a daunting requirement.

In the world of "Sky", ores are ranked from low to high as copper ore, tin ore, refined steel, iron ore, refined iron, silver, gold, star iron, and dreamsteel.

Two pieces of copper ore can be smelted into one copper ingot, three pieces of tin ore can be smelted into one tin ingot, and only two copper ingots and one tin ingot can be combined into one refined steel ingot. If calculated this way, 100 refined steel ingots don't seem like much. But what's even more outrageous is that in "Sky", both mining and smelting have a certain chance of failure, and the higher the grade of the ore, the higher the failure rate. By this calculation, the amount of copper and tin ore needed for 100 refined steel ingots, according to William Smith's estimation from later generations, would require at least 1,000 pieces of copper ore and 800 pieces of tin ore. Even a year later, when the newbie village is less crowded, this amount is still unimaginably huge for the average player.

As for now, facing the hills outside the newbie village swarming with players, William Smith had no idea how long it would take to gather 1,000 copper ore and 800 tin ore.

"The triggering and difficulty of unique quests are simply beyond the imagination of ordinary players." People only see how those who trigger unique quests receive heaven-defying rewards, but never consider how much effort these so-called experts put in from triggering the quest to accepting and completing it.

In William Smith's mind, all the information about mining spots in the newbie village flashed by: "Mining spots usually refresh every five minutes or so, and on average, each spot yields two ores. Plus, I have to avoid the leveling crowds. That leaves only three optimal copper and tin mining spots. Rotating among six spots, including travel time, I can get about six copper ore and six tin ore per hour at best. Twelve hours a day means at most 75 copper ore and 75 tin ore. Damn... That means it will take at least half a month to gather all the materials."

Cursing inwardly, William Smith had already left the blacksmith shop and was heading out of the village—he had to hurry.

"With my hands and the shield in them, I will protect the dreams and people in my heart." Uncle Porter watched William Smith's departing figure, his voice gradually fading to a whisper, "This conviction is so much like yours back then! Allen..."

……

Night fell like water, and the cold wind cut like a knife, quickly covering the newbie village, full of Jiangnan charm, with a thin layer of white frost.

The small pond outside the village had long lost its daytime bustle. The leveling crowds that once filled the hills had finally logged off due to time limits, and the pondside returned to its former tranquility. Only a few sporadic bubbles broke the water's surface, their faint sounds barely audible in the cold wind.

"Hmm, the 203rd copper ore." William Smith's lips were foaming as he reached his right hand into the mud at the bottom of the pond and pulled out a piece of earth-yellow ore, placing it in his bag. Noticing his breath-holding time was almost up, he quickly swam to the surface.

"Alright, on to the next mining spot." Swimming to the shore, William Smith didn't pause for a moment and headed toward a small grove on the west side of the pond.

Just as he reached the edge of the grove, under the bright moonlight, he saw a person in tattered newbie clothes raising a hoe and striking a piece of black-glossed ore—"thud, thud..."—a few times, then skillfully squatting down to toss a black ore into his bag.

"Damn it!" William Smith cursed under his breath—someone had beaten him to it again.