Master Of None

Chapter 228 - 228. Lost In Thought

Walker was drinking up this knowledge, these were skills he had yet to come in to contact with and had very unique uses. Since he was little he had always tried to learn about the most interesting sounding jobs. When he would run after a mage he would ignore the farmers who cake through the gates daily. It was plain and simple reasoning to his younger brain that these were boring systems that he was not interested in. Finding out that they were much more in depth now made him feel like he had been missing out this whole time. What else had he ignored that was a diamond in the rough?

"So if you use the growth boost to get a plant to grow faster than the overgrowth skill to get it to bare fruit earlier then could you have a second round of harvesting?" 

"Exactly, some farmers will do this on their fields once every three or four years. Doing it too often will tire the soil too much. If the farmer has a lot of resources or money they may buy fertilizers so they can get even three or four harvests in a year. I have heard that the demi-human farmers can get up to six in a year." He had known that the demi-humans were known as amazing farmers because they naturally had stronger bodies which more easily worked the fields, but not knowing that it also came down to planning skill use in this way he had more respect for the kingdom and farmers alike.

"In theory we could do this with some medicinal herbs and start to sell them to the alchemist guild." This was a very good money making theory for all of them when the party was away.

"Don't go getting ahead of yourself, I am a farmer yes but not an alchemist. I need different skills to properly grow medicinal herbs. One or two is fine but some require a more delicate touch." This made Walker a bit disappointed but he understood.

"You have given me a lot to think about on my walk to the forge this morning. I can't wait to learn some of these skills miss!" 

"Ugh none of that miss, I don't stand on ceremony. In the fields we just call each other by name. Call me Jane, just Jane." Walker gave her a nod but would definitely still add the miss in there. His mother had raised him to be respectful after all!

He headed out with the forge on his mind. He had fallen asleep thinking about what weapons he wanted to have made or purchase to learn some new skills. He planned to avoid the basics for now since he wanted to practice with the two swords he had been given by king Rorick. On top of this he also would just use magic for long range if he was in need. If anyone else need long range then he would have Gil take care of things. 

Likewise practicing with a shield would be nice to have defensive skills covered but he did not feel like it was very necessary. After seeing Barry use his axes he had half a thought to try and learn some skills related to using them. However the thought of scaring his party every time he wielded them was not as attractive.

Once upon a time he had heard that some dwarves would use their hammers as weapons. This could be a very viable weapon to learn since it could also translate in to forging skills. He could wield two hammers if he ever needed or one large hammer. The more he thought on this the more tempting it was, after a short while longer, he had decided that learning to battle with a hammer was on the to do list.

Wracking his brain on what else he should use he found that he lacked knowledge on a wide array of weapons. If he chose to go with anything else more unique he would need more time to learn it, deciding that focusing on just the happier first may be his best move. He still wanted to focus on his elemental manipulations after all.

Realizing that he now stood in front of the forge, Walker had spent the entire walk c completely distracted, it was a wonder he had not bumped in to anything or anybody. Heading inside it was a bit crowded today since a few merchants had been trying to swing by before they needed to travel outside the kingdom to trade. Walker was a bit surprised to find Rodney working the front counter. " I thought you would be off crafting something now that you were able to?" Walker gave a short laugh as he got Rodney's attention.

"Mr. Walker, welcome! I have been crafting a lot but I find this is the best place to come looking for interesting orders that I can use to help me level up" This indeed was a good idea, Walker could clearly see that Rodney had gained a small amount of muscle. It also was clear that from working the counter longer he was gaining better and better customer service skills. 

"Well you are in pretty good luck, I happen to need some help. Do you know of any really skilled blacksmiths that can make house calls? I have a forge at the mansion and need some unique metals forged in to weapons." Rodney lit up at the words unique metals. Walker was of course referring to the orichalcum and the bronze dragon scales. These two materials were tougher to work with and would require a higher level blacksmith than he had met before. 

"Well we do have some that tend to make house calls but they are usually the ones that are newer to the forge, they like to offer that service to get a jump start on their levels. The best skilled smiths here stay here and wait for jobs to come to them since they have gained reputation." Rodney had given Walker the answer he had expected. But since Walker had other plans to use a technique that not everyone at the forge could use along with very rare materials it was better off that it was not here at the forge.

"Are you sure there is nobody that would prefer to get out here for a change of pace? Maybe someone that just needs an excuse to try some new techniques?" trying to make it sound more enticing he had hope that his words may job Rodney's memories. 

Seeming to work Rodney slowly showed that the gears were turning in his head. After such a short time he had become much more reserved, his energy had died down a bit showing that he took the thinking route more. "Oh! I know just the guy. We have a blacksmith that left for almost a year to go study a volcano! He said he hates being cramped up with all the fumes and prefers the open air near the magma. If you ask me though the fumes at a volcano sound way worse." Rodney had a sudden burst of energy from his realization which made Walker start to take back his silent compliments before. "He should be upstairs somewhere, he hates signing his name to any work because he says he doesn't forge for fame. He seemed really dramatic, like how else would you get customers?" This blacksmith was sounding better and better to Walker, if the man was not in it for fame then he would certainly be able to convince him to keep things more quiet on what materials were used. 

"Would you say this blacksmith is very skilled?" This was the important part, this smith would need to be higher level to craft with the tough rare materials Walker had and would possibly purchase at the VIP auction. 

"Very skilled, he was forging using magma from a volcano! Have you ever heard someone doing something so crazy? He made a bunch of spears that he sold when he got here, about seventy five were what he called good quality. But to my eyes they were perfection, I couldn't even notice a crack in them. The others he said were not good he threw in to the magma to melt away and get reformed. He is a unique blacksmith." Walker could have been discouraged by this since there was the chance that this blacksmith may throw away any gear he made that did not lower his standards, But even more so that the gear and weapon he had made were considered perfect to another smith. The man had some high standards which was perfect for what Walker was after.

The party needed some better gear and weapons, he refused to let Su's shield break a second time. His instructions would include a lot of inquiry in to how to properly strengthen gear. Rodney was waiting for Walker to give a response to whether he would like to meet their strange blacksmith.

"Do you think your blacksmith has time to talk to a possible client?"