When Rein's right hand grasped the sharp iron shovel passed to him by the donkey hoof master, he misjudged the weight of the shovel, and he lost his balance all at once.
This immediately drew another burst of laughter from the pretentious rich kids.
It seemed like they were mocking Rein for overestimating his abilities.
Rein's face also turned red; he had only misjudged the weight of the shovel, it wasn't that he couldn't lift it at all.
Baal, standing nearby, also slightly shook his head, seemingly not optimistic about Rein's ability to fix the hoof properly.
After all, Rein's slender physique meant his strength was quite limited.
"Rein, you....," George, standing beside him, also felt that Rein's actions were too impulsive, making himself the butt of jokes among the other boys.
This made George, as a good friend, feel somewhat unable to hold his head high.
But the friendship between young boys is relatively simple, and George didn't say anything. Instead, he put all his effort into holding the hoof down for Rein.
Rein nodded at George, without saying much.
With George's robust pressing, Rein didn't need to expend too much strength to stabilize the hoof with his left hand, and although his right hand's manipulation of the shovel was still somewhat unfamiliar and unsmooth, he basically managed to trim off the burrs cleanly.
Expertise is apparent the moment one begins!
Baal, who was watching nearby, immediately lit up and thought to himself, "Not bad! Although this young man, Rein, is somewhat frail, he indeed knows the trick to trimming hooves, making use of the weight of the shovel to trim along the contour of the hoof."
The pretentious kids fell silent!
It was apparent to everyone that Rein had truly learned how to trim hooves!
Although he was a little inexperienced, that was only in comparison to Master Baal.
George's eyes widened as he watched Rein trimming the donkey's hooves, unable to look away.
"My God! Rein, you just learned this a few days ago and you already can do it! That's really amazing!"
Upon hearing George's praise of Rein, Freckle Face seemed quite disdainful, saying:
"Pfft~ What's there to be proud of, it's just shoeing a hoof, not swordsmanship!"
Seeing Rein truly drawing attention to himself, the pretentious rich kids felt even more annoyed inside.
Rein, however, paid no attention to everything happening around him.
At this moment, his mind was already captivated by the system notifications.
[You've performed hoof trimming, insight improved!]
[Your skill in Trimming Hooves has improved, Experience +5]
[You focused on trimming hooves, Blacksmith Apprentice Professional Experience Points +2]
"Sss! Getting hands-on actually gives this much experience!"
It was just as he had guessed!
If he continued at this pace, leveling up his Blacksmith Apprentice Profession Level is just around the corner!
There's no need to wait!
It's very possible that today, he would be able to level up his Blacksmith Apprentice Profession to lv2!
After finishing all four hooves, Rein was sweating profusely, but his eyes were sparkling brightly!
"Not bad, Rein! You can trim hooves independently now," Baal said, nodding his head in approval of Rein's skills.
"Thank you, Master Baal," Rein nodded emphatically.
"And you all? If you want to compete for the Blacksmith Apprentice position, then learn seriously!" Baal turned and bellowed at the child servants with a stern face.
In the face of Baal, the pretentious kids naturally didn't dare show their temper, but their glances toward Rein turned much more vicious.
If previously they didn't care about Rein's diligence, because they felt superior, now Rein had gained Master Baal's recognition and had made a name for himself in silence!
This was something they couldn't stand!
At lunchtime, Rein felt a tense atmosphere around him.
Apart from his close friend George, even the other boys from commoner families didn't talk to Rein.
Or was it agitation by the pretentious kids?
Rein wasn't sure, but he wasn't concerned about it.
He wouldn't slow down his pace of becoming stronger just because of some people's opinions!
The pretentious kids, however, had major issues with Rein taking the spotlight.
"Rein, they can't stand to see you do well," George saw what was going on and said reassuringly.
"I know, George! Don't worry, I'm fine."
It was inevitable to encounter such situations once he started to stand out.
But with his golden finger, that day was bound to come sooner or later.
In his previous life, Rein had long been accustomed to this kind of situation.
Workplace suppression!
The principle is the same.
In the afternoon, the child servants continued their task of nailing horseshoes.
After Rein finished trimming the hooves, Master Baal would nail the horseshoes on.
The work of one was divided in two, so naturally Baal felt much more relieved, and his gaze towards Rein grew increasingly approving.
As evening approached, Rein finally received the system notification for profession level advancement:
[You've performed hoof trimming work, insight improved!]
[Your skill in Trimming Hooves has improved, Experience +5]
[You focused on fixing horseshoes, Blacksmith Apprentice Professional Experience Points +2]
[Congratulations, your Blacksmith Apprentice Profession Level has increased!]
Blacksmith Apprentice leveled up?
Rein couldn't help but be overjoyed!
He couldn't wait to flip to the second page of the transparent frame, carefully checking it out.
[Blacksmith Apprentice lv2 (0/300)]
[Fixing Horseshoes lv2 (255/300)]
[Nailing Horseshoes lv1 (45/100)]
[Remaining attribute points: 1]
[Remaining Skill Points: 1]
Even though Rein knew his profession level would increase today, actually seeing this scene still makes it hard for him to contain his inner joy.
Moreover, the Fixing Horseshoes skill seems about to step into level 3 soon.
However, these are not the most important things!
The important part is, at this moment, the panel at the bottom is showing attribute points: 1, and Skill Points: 1.
This is the biggest gain from the Blacksmith Apprentice Profession Level increase!
Leveling up just to get stronger?
No, it's because of my effort that I have these points.
So, it's not leveling up to get stronger, it's effort = getting stronger!
After some thought, Rein flipped the transparent frame back to the first page, which is the attribute page.
Profession: Blacksmith Apprentice lv2
Clearly, Rein's Strength attribute is the lowest, there's no helping it, with such a thin build, his strength naturally is weak.
But now it's different!
Regarding how to allocate attribute points, Rein felt there was nothing to hesitate about, first to bolster his weaknesses.
He didn't want to be seen as weak any longer, nor did he want to be bullied; adding points to Strength was the inevitable choice at this stage.
One point in Strength might not be enough, but it at least gave him some ability to fight back.
After a brief consideration, Rein added one point to his Strength.
Strength instantly became 5.
Suddenly, Rein felt a warm current surge from his heart, spreading to his limbs and throughout his body, making him feel as comfortable as if he was soaking in a hot spring, with all the fatigue vanishing in an instant.
Moreover, the increase of a single point in strength made Rein feel as if his body was brimming with energy, enough to "fight" through several hundred horseshoes without taking a break!
Does adding points rejuvenate your state?
This effect is incredible!
Next were the Skill Points.
Rein was about to add a point to Nailing Horseshoes when he suddenly stopped.
If every level up in profession level only gives one Skill Point, it must be quite precious.
Rein noticed that upgrading the Blacksmith Apprentice profession level from lv2 to lv3 now required 300 points of experience, up from the original 100.
This implies that the difficulty of leveling up is increasing.
"I haven't yet been exposed to other skills of the Blacksmith Apprentice. If I learn a skill that is extremely difficult to improve, like forging weapons or something, wouldn't it be better to add points then?"
After a moment's thought, Rein decided to save this one Skill Point for later.
And Rein, returning to the scene, was in such high spirits that it surprised everyone!
One could see that with his increased Strength, Rein's efficiency in trimming horseshoes had improved by at least 20%.
Although still not up to Baal's level, compared to the beginning, this was a significant improvement.
The servant children closest to Rein were gaping in astonishment!
At dinner, Rein ate three and a half bricks-sized black bread loaves and had three servings of vegetable soup, even licking the soup pot clean, a scene that left the rest of the servant children dumbfounded.
Rein found that after adding one point to Strength, the increase was genuinely significant, but he also got hungry very quickly!!
After eating his fill, Rein, returning to the dormitory, was blocked by bushy brows and freckles!
"Rein! You've done well today, showing off quite a bit!" Bushy brows stepped forward, patting Rein's face with a challenging expression.
"Damn it! I had to endure yesterday, but today is different!" Rein's eyes suddenly turned from gentle to fierce.
With all his might, Rein slapped Bushy brows across the face!
Immediately, it rang in Bushy brows' head, causing him to stagger and nearly fall to the ground!
This slap left Freckles and a few onlookers, the fake-rich second generations, stunned, their minds racing with how Rein dared to strike!
And Bushy brows, he was so shocked by Rein's slap that he took a while to recover.
But this was just the beginning!
With a powerful knee thrust, Rein hit Bushy brows in the stomach, right under the diaphragm, making him vomit his dinner all over the place...
A sour stench immediately spread out!
"Get him, beat up that brat Rein, he dared to fight back!" Freckles shouted, and the surrounding faux-rich kids rushed up, starting to beat up Rein.
But Rein, heedless of everything, tucked his head in and kept swinging his fists at the vomiting Bushy brows with lethal determination!
This ruthless fierceness was truly frightening!