Chapter 2: Pops The Smith
Dominic shook his head as he smiled back at the old smith, with his thick white beard tucked under a long leather apron to prevent it from getting singed as he worked.
"As much as I would love to take you up on your offer, I'm in a bit of a predicament. You see, I have no idea where I can find you the materials you need, and they shot at me when I tried to scrounge in the city's recycling yard." He explained.
"A bit afflicted in the head, are you? I've heard that happens to the magical sorts on occasion. Never fear. Pops will take good care of you. You're in Cygnia City, the Capital of Cygnia on the eastern shores of the Dragon Continent."
Dominic resisted the urge to roll his eyes at the obvious.
Pops sounded like he was going to help him out with his short-term needs, and a smith's helper was a job that should pay very well.
"What I need are any items made of steel or copper, and I know just where you can get them. There are daily groups headed out to the forests to deal with the Goblin infestation in the regions surrounding the city.
Now, I wouldn't dream of telling a young lad such as yourself to go alone, but with a group, even a fighter without any skill crystals or enhancement gems should be fine. As a Sorcerer, you should have a bit of the magic of your beast blood, so just blast them if they bother you, and the goblins should be easy work for the soldiers in your group."
The burly old blacksmith stopped talking to take a long puff on an ornate silver tobacco pipe while Dominic considered his options.
"How many of them would you need to sell me a Trade Skill Core and teach me the basics of the smithy?" He asked.
If he was right, and the rules here was similar to the other cities he had been in, then a Master Smith such as Pops should be allowed to create a trade skill core and teach him the basics through a skill book, a magical item that masters of a craft could create to train their apprentices more rapidly than individual lessons, and attune the Trade Skill Core to the new tradesman.
Displaying the Trade Skill Core would show the world they were a real apprentice smith while they practised the trade to unlock the accumulated knowledge that the Master had sealed within the Skill Core.