Chapter 10: Apprentice Blacksmith
They worked late into the evening that night, making an assortment of chisels, hand tools and kitchenware that sold well at the shop. By the time they were done, Dominic had made most of the essentials for a camping trip, and he was actually getting some decent experience on the first level of his chosen craft.
[Apprentice Smithing] Level 1 (190 points)
He was over halfway to the second level of Smithing, but Dominic was beginning to realize just how basic the trade skill gem he had traded for was. It taught him the very minimum of the basics when he attuned to it. So little that one night in the forge with a competent smith had nearly doubled his knowledge base.
There would be a whole Journeyman Smith's worth of knowledge locked away in the Skill Core, but at the start, you couldn't access any of it.
The room that Pops led him to was a simple place, with only a bed and a small table. The bathroom was down the hall, presumably shared with Pops and whoever else was living above the shop in the small dorm rooms. But at least it had a latch on the door and a thick window that didn't leak.
The constant burning of coal for the steam vehicles made the air terrible outside, but inside the bedroom, it seemed to be filtered somehow and much cleaner than it had been either outside or in the forge.
The answer lay in a simple device hidden on the far side of the bed, a fan with a filter mounted to the front of it. The filter had clearly caught a lot of filth on the back, but the fan was blowing clean air around the limited space with a gentle breeze, making it much more pleasant in the bedroom.
It was a magical device, and presumably ran on mana, but Dominic had no idea if he could even recharge it. He could use spells, but this was Dwarven magic, not human or Dragon, so it was possible that he wouldn't be able to recharge the device and would have to ask for assistance when it stopped blowing.
Assuming he was here that long. But if one day out hunting Goblins was enough for a two-week stay, then he just needed another day to get enough for the week's food. Or, he could work the shop and find out what Pops was going to pay him as an apprentice. That might be enough all by itself.
The thought of food made his stomach growl, but it was now late at night, and he wasn't going to wander the streets after dark looking for somewhere to eat. He would do that in the morning.
Morning that came much too soon, with the shops opening at sunrise and the sound of steam-driven cargo carriages whistling and bouncing down the road with their terrible suspension, waking him from a deep sleep.