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 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.
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.
"Well, it just so happens that I'm in a bit of a hurry myself, so I will give you a discount. If you can bring me ten fists of copper before the seventh-afternoon bell tolls, then I will teach you the basics of the forge."
Dominic looked at the clock on his wall, an intricate brass device with exposed gears and an etched silver face. An item far more ornate than he had expected in this part of town. It read 11:15, so it was not quite noon yet, giving him a little over seven hours to find and kill a bunch of goblins or find somewhere to obtain a bag full of copper.
That wasn't quite how he had imagined passing his afternoon, but it would have to do. With a bit of luck, the Goblins might even have some stolen money on them, and he could find a proper room for the night after he found something to eat.
"Where do I find one of these groups going to kill goblins?" Dominic reluctantly asked.
"They're right here. You see the steam carriages for the hunting groups stage at the station out in front of my smithy? Just go ask around if anyone needs a spell caster, and you'll find a group in no time."
The stout old man was in a much better mood now that he had made a deal to get the materials that he needed. There were plenty of adventurers, Mercenaries and Soldiers moving through Cygnia City these days, but everyone took their materials to the uptown district, where the majority of the magical devices were made, and the shops could afford to pay a higher price.
The trade skill core and Apprentice Smithing Book that he offered the dragonkin boy were worth one silver coin combined, less than five of the goblins' daggers, but it would take fifteen of them to make ten fists of copper as he had requested. He felt a bit bad about taking advantage of the downtrodden dragonkin, but perhaps he could show him a bit of kindness to make up for his stinginess.
Overuse of the magical power that came from greater beings was known to periodically wipe some of a young demihuman's memories. Which is what he assumed had happened to Dominic, who was actually just suffering from heat stroke.
But keeping the coat buttoned was the only way to hide the fact that the clothes underneath were little better than rags, completely worn out and in need of mending.
So Pops decided that he would offer Dominic the apprentice's bed at the back of his smithy for a few days until he got himself settled in the city.
If the boy never did choose another place, then perhaps he would take in a new Apprentice. Dominic looked like he would be much better at dealing with customers than Pops was, that was for certain. If nothing else, the snobbish sorts should bugger off as soon as they saw him at the counter with his horns showing.
But first, the boy needed enough strength to actually go hunting Goblins.
Pops knew just how it felt to go hungry. He hadn't always been a master blacksmith, and the locals hadn't been much more kind to him when he had first returned home to take over the shop as his father got ready to retire.
Like Dominic, the Dwarven master smith was born with a touch of magic, but without any visible signs of his powers. The locals hadn't forgotten, though, and the combination of jealousy and greed had led to a lot of resistance to him taking over the failing smithy.
So, with a smile, he handed the boy a bag of fried pretzels he had purchased that morning and turned him toward the door.
Unaware of the full extent of the bad deal that he had made or the actual value of the attuned Skill Core he had agreed to purchase, Dominic made his way out to the street, where he noticed that there were dozens of people just standing around in tarnished copper covered alcoves designed to protect them from the direct sun.
As he got closer, it was obvious that this was the right place. Group leaders were calling out for members and waving down anyone they thought was promising.
"Apprentice 3 or higher spell casters needed. We've got two Journeyman Paladins." One of the group members called out.
"Journeyman 8 and up, we're leaving in three minutes to go hunt Dire Wolves in the north woods. Any skill set is welcome. We have a solid core group." Another called.
"Hey, you in the long coat, we're short on casters, want to come with us?" A young boy called from Dominic's left after noticing the single magical gem visible on the amulet worn around his neck.
It was a skill gem for [Minor Illusion] and the only spell gem Dominic owned.
But being born of the Dragonkin's now virtually extinct Royal Lineage, he had an innate ability to use an [Arcane Blast] at will, and once a day, he could use [Dragon Flame], though it burnt his throat every time.
Aside from the spell itself, his Arcane Blast had a secondary effect, to heal himself a bit when it was used to kill. His mother had called it the Dragon's Blessing, but Dominic was a bit dubious about what sort of blessing required killing to work.
The boy who had called out to him was a full head shorter than Dominic, and couldn't be more than fourteen years old, but he had some muscle from training, and his gear looked expensive. Dominic could see the magical crystal in the hilt of his sword, so it was definitely an enchanted blade, and those weren't cheap in any city.
"Dominic, my name is Dominic." He replied, holding out his hand to shake the other boy's.
"Darrlys Dovencrune. Don't worry, I don't mind going hunting with commoners. Hop in the truck bed. We're ready to leave." The boy replied in a somewhat haughty tone.
"These are my classmates from the Cygnia Royal Academy, Senior Academy Year One, Class A. I knew it was a good idea to come to the commoner square first. You see, we don't have any real spell casters in our group, only the Paladins and an Arcanist." Darrlys explained as the vehicle began moving with a whistle, and the driver pulled out into traffic.
Paladins were warriors who had gotten a Skill Core from the church to attune them to Holy Element magical gems and magical devices. It let them use some limited healing powers but didn't hinder their ability to use skill gems and devices that held combat skills and physical enhancements.
The Arcanist wasn't a real spell caster, either.
They couldn't cast spells without the magical devices that they carried, and an apprentice Arcanist that young wouldn't be carrying all that much.
Most likely the boy they were referring to wasn't even a proper Arcanist, but some Nobleman's kid who wanted to become one and had obtained a combat type magical item using his family's wealth.
You could only have one base Skill Core attuned to you at a time. The Paladins had theirs, and with luck, Dominic would have a Blacksmith's Core by the end of the day. The Cores, gems and magical devices all had limitations on which other ones they would interact properly with, and if you tried to use incompatible ones together, you could end up with none of them activating at all.
The Blacksmith's Core was one of the more flexible options, since smiths worked with all sorts of equipment and materials. The only thing Dominic knew that they couldn't do was use Holy or Unholy items.
"No casters? Forgive my ignorance, as I'm not local, but how does that happen?" He asked.
"We're from an academic Academy, not a combat academy. We are in training to join the Royal Court as clerks and assistants, as well as finishing our Noble Families' training to run our households.
Those who wanted to pursue the path of the Mage or the Clerics instead of taking up the responsibilities of a High Noble went to the Church or the Arcane Academy," the boy seated on the other side of Dominic explained.
The wagon was a mix of both young boys and girls, but all of them appeared to be thirteen or fourteen years old and not at all suited to combat. He really should have asked at least a few important questions before they were moving.
Going monster hunting with children just seemed like a terrible idea.
"I take it that this expedition is a school requirement?" Dominic asked.
A tall blonde girl with an enchanted steel chain mail jacket smirked at him. "In a way, yes, but also no. You see, killing Goblins gives mana cores, and we can save them to enhance our trade skills in order to get ahead of our classmates.
We all need to have our trade skill core at apprentice two to finish the year, and it will only take a few trips out of town to get there this week while the others struggle through the early stages with actual study and practice."
The boy next to her nodded. "My chosen trade skill is Inscriptionist, and you can't start doing anything useful until apprentice level 3, so I really need to get a head start on upgrading my skill core, or I'll be stuck doing the basics for a year when my tutors taught me all of that ages ago."
In the ancient times, it was said that the Assembly of Grand Wizards had cast a spell over the world, the Monster Blessing, that rewarded those who killed the creatures which plagued the land with treasures.
They were formed from the accumulated mana in the monsters' bodies, condensed at the moment of their death. The reward could take the form of nearly anything, but for the most part, what you got was a monster core, a simple ball of condensed mana that could be used to upgrade skill and enhancement gems.
Dominic heard the cobblestones under the wheels turn to dirt or some softer surface as they passed through the gates, and everyone began to gather their weapons.
The driver opened the small window between the cab and the canvas covered rear area and looked back at them.
"Two minutes until we reach the drop-off point. Best to get your gear ready now, Sirs and Missus."
It was obvious that most of them had only ever trained with a noble sparring instructor. They had no scars on their hands or arms, no hardened muscles, and the excitement that they had built up was making their hands shake nearly as much as Dominic's had been before he got into the blacksmith's gift bag full of soft but slightly stale pretzels.
"You look like you've done this before, but your spell gem is still level one. Did you perhaps train somewhere before your ability to attune matured?" One of the boys asked Dominic as they got ready to disembark.
He nodded carefully and made up an excuse for having never upgraded his only spell.
"I was training to be a guard before I came to the city."
That wasn't precisely true. He had wandered the mountains after he lost his parents and his home, looking for anyone who had survived, and later anyone who would take him in.
Although he could attune magical gems from birth, Dominic had only recently obtained the [Minor Illusion] spell gem while rummaging through a magitech scrapyard here in the city. And by then, every Mana Core from the beasts he had slain in the past had been pawned for food or shelter.
He had nearly gotten himself shot by the security guard for his theft, but it was worth it.
The girl in enchanted chain mail gave a fist pump in excitement.
"Perfect. A guardsman's son will know a thing or two about how to handle himself in a fight, not like you losers." She taunted.
"Just wait and see. We are going to destroy those filthy green beasts." Darrlys laughed.
Somehow, that didn't assure Dominic at all. In fact, he was already regretting getting into this carriage almost as much as he was regretting going into the city, and they hadn't even made it to the location in the forest where these students expected the goblins to be found.
"We're here. Everyone out and be on your guard. The Goblins like to ambush as soon as the vehicle is out of sight." The driver reminded them, looking as concerned as Dominic was feeling.
"Thank you, Jeeves. We will see you this evening back at the Academy. Walking back to the city is an important rite for a first hunt." Darrlys replied proudly.
Yep, they were definitely idiots.