Who Designed This Underworld Dungeon?
Chapter 297 - 228 Blacksmith Andre

Chapter 297: Chapter 228 Blacksmith Andre

The musclebound fighter descended from the sky was a hulking man with many muscles.

From his standard boxing moves, tense posture, and bulging muscles, one could tell that he was a pure fighter, an undisputed powerful warrior!

A flying kick that left two deep footprints on the hardened body of the limb-connecting nobles·ideal version was not something an ordinary fighter could do, let alone a noble whose exterior was covered with hardened shell!

The blacksmith Andre, or rather Andre of Astara, is a blacksmith character who appears in both the first and third volumes of Dark Souls. Generally speaking, he is also the first blacksmith most players encounter, leaving a deep impression on everyone.

Like any normal blacksmith, giving Andre materials would allow him to help the undead forge or repair weapons. His straightforward personality meant that he would always remind players not to die after forging. If they met again alive, he would happily say "Great," making him a rather friendly old man.

If he was only friendly, it would not have earned him such high popularity.

Attack him a few times, and you will immediately understand why he is called the Boxing King!

Andre has a series of unique action modules in the game, including punches, flying kicks, all with extremely fast attack speed, powerful impact, and high damage. Especially the flying kick, even the heavily armored warrior Havier would stumble, and a few more punches would knock him off balance!

He is simply comparable to a petite Hollylove!

The mysterious blacksmith, no one knows why he possesses such strong combat power. But conversely, if his combat power wasn’t strong, he couldn’t have lived from Soulslike Game one to Soulslike Game three.

And now, this boxing expert has been placed here by Gong Qiying under the identity of a "blacksmith." Boxing is secondary; his main role is to compensate for the lack of adventurers using forging stones.

In Lake Lienia, he is just a blacksmith, but Andre might appear in other places in the future, giving people an opportunity to understand him further.

The same goes for the rascals/Shrimp Brother. Their appearance here doesn’t mean they won’t show up elsewhere in the future.

After all, Sain Dungeon isn’t like Soulslike Game where missing a dialogue with an NPC would abruptly end their storyline and make characters disappear. Useful employees should be continuously employed.

"Who is that guy!"

Kunan couldn’t help but shout. If his mask hadn’t covered half of his face, people would have seen him making a dramatic expression.

The limb-connecting noble was already very large, and with Gong Qiying’s modifications, its physical appearance was nearly as imposing as a Luminous Stone Dragon. Even compared to Andre, it appeared rather small.

What does that mean? It’s like a bug flipping over a human child ten times its size—this bug must be called Jiadou, right?

Andre’s sudden entrance shocked everyone. Lizna even stifled her magic spell midway, nearly causing a magic power blowout.

"You..." Vienma thought she should greet him, but the limb-connecting noble had already gotten up, roaring as it leaped at Andre.

She quickly released magic, using [Mid-level Water Element Control] + [Low Tier Mud Control] + [Mid-tier Hardening] and [Low Tier Plant Growth Technique], causing the mud on the ground to come alive and entangle the crab legs of the limb-connecting noble, making it temporarily unable to break free!

Why would hardened mud have such toughness? Of course, because it was mixed with many plants. The older generation knew that adding some weeds to the mud while building houses would enhance stability and durability.

This did restrict the monster’s movement, but in reality, Andre didn’t need her help.

He stepped forward, delivering a powerful and straightforward uppercut to the limb-connecting noble.

"Roar!"

The limb-connecting noble was terrified, it felt as though Andre’s punch was echoed by the BGM of "One Punch Man," and if hit, its skull would likely fly off like Kennedy’s.

But while Kennedy’s skull had someone to retrieve it, it had no such luxury. In the face of life and death, it suddenly exploded with speed, barely raising its big shield in time to meet Andre’s punch.

"Bang!"

A dull thud and a terrifying force made the limb-connecting noble’s body lean back, but the hardened mud anchoring its lower body prevented it from falling over. Instead, it rebounded back, ready to face Andre’s next punch.

This scene was filled with a sense of déjà vu. Kunan had seen something like this before.

Right, the limb-connecting noble now looked like a punching bag! An unyielding punching bag!

"Bang! Bang! Bang!"

Andre unleashed a series of normal punches! The big shield of the limb-connecting noble was rapidly denting!

"Wow, wow!"

With each punch, the elves exclaimed, the sheer force of the attacks was incredibly spectacular.

It wasn’t that they were slacking off; this level of combat was beyond their reach.

The limb-connecting noble used almost all its arms to support the big shield against Andre’s blows, dropping its repeating crossbow to the ground. At this point, the elves could sneak in a few stabs, but they felt they caused less damage than one punch from Andre.

Who on earth is this old man!

"Awesome, simply awesome."

Kunan’s eyes sparkled at Andre, wishing he possessed such combat prowess too!

Merca watched for a while and then said, "Isn’t it a bit rude to just stand here and watch?"

She slowly approached the limb-connecting noble; the repeating crossbow it dropped hadn’t disappeared, perhaps she could take it? The Dungeon would not allow adventurers to steal precious weapons like the Molten Furnace Knight’s great sword, but a repeating crossbow should be fine, right?

Moreover, the limb-connecting noble was evenly matched with Andre, so it probably wouldn’t notice her. So—

"Huff, huff!"

Just as she bent down to pick it up, a familiar sound suddenly came to her ears.

She looked up and saw a wild boar covered in green plants charging straight at her!

Wait a minute, isn’t this the mushroom pig that the elves were chasing earlier? How come it feels like it has grown bigger and sped up?

This is not the time to think about that, quickly dodge!

Merca sensed the threat from the mushroom pig and hurriedly tried to dodge sideways from its straight missile-like collision. However, the pig switched tactics, turning just as Merca was about to elude it and delivered a mighty body slam!

"Ah!"

Direct hit! Merca was instantly sent flying, feeling her internal organs tumbling as she barely managed to keep from vomiting up her breakfast.

Eh, where am I flying to?

She looked up and saw that she was tracing a perfect arc through the air, and the end of that arc was... right between Andre and the limb-connecting noble!

The limb-connecting noble divided one of its arms to tussle with Andre; if she landed in the middle of their fight now!

In that instant, many images flashed before Merca’s eyes: her first time riding a wooden horse, her first taste of dessert, her first...

Dang, why are these scenes flashing through my mind all of a sudden.

"Ah!" She closed her eyes in fear.

If only she had the Insect Stick, she might have been able to dodge, but all she had was a regular stick.

"Hmm?"

Andre spotted the "missile" that was Merca, mustered his strength, and kicked away the noble’s big shield. Taking advantage of the noble’s moment of stiffness, he then slapped Merca back. At that moment, a pair of Mage’s Hands caught her mid-air and pulled her out of the battlefield.

"Will you dare to run around again next time?" Vienma glared at her.

"N-no, I won’t..." Merca trembled, needing a moment to recover.

"Gah!"

The limb-connecting noble suddenly screamed, finally breaking free from its restraints and fleeing towards the freedom of the distance, escaping directly.

The result was a victory for boxing.

"That was amazing." The other elves marveled at Andre’s strength. They planned to approach him for a chat, but he didn’t even look at them, turning away and muttering, "Where’s my hammer?"

Hammer? Could he be the blacksmith Andre?

Merca immediately perked up, taking out the hammer the rascal gave her and shouted loudly, "Here’s your hammer!"

Upon hearing this, Andre quickly appeared in front of her, his towering presence bringing a sense of pressure, causing her to step back involuntarily.

Is this guy really a blacksmith? Does he treat monsters as iron to forge?

"This really is my hammer. Where did you find it?" Andre carefully examined the hammer after taking it, showing a look of surprise.

I guessed right! Merca felt this was quite a coincidence, the serendipity was indescribable. She immediately told everything she knew.

The elves watched her nervously, fearing she might say something wrong and provoke an attack from Andre, given his obvious formidable strength.

After listening to her story, Andre burst into hearty laughter.

"Haha, can’t believe I left it there. Living so long makes one confused, thanks for finding my hammer."

"It was the least we could do."

Merca looked expectantly, thinking she had completed the residual shadow event and wondering what reward she might receive.

Could it be learning the blacksmith’s boxing techniques? Although she wasn’t interested in boxing, powerful moves would never be refused.

"I am Andre, just an ordinary blacksmith,"

Andre pocketed the hammer and said:

"Since I’ve found my hammer, I should return to the blacksmith shop to continue working. How about I forge your weapons as a reward?"

Weapon forging? That’s quite a fitting statement for a blacksmith.

Hearing this, one of the elves showed interest, as they were also a weapon forger.

If his punching skills are so formidable, his blacksmithing skills must be good too, Merca thought this reward seemed reasonable and readily agreed.

"Then I will head back to Academy Gate Town next. If you need weapons forged, come find me."

Andre turned and left, seeming quite happy to have his hammer back.

Merca suddenly remembered, the rascal had instructed them to invite the blacksmith for a lobster feast if they found him, and also...

She exchanged glances with the group. If they followed Andre, they could head towards Academy Gate Town too.

It was all effortlessly done!