Master Of None

Having finished their day long practicing Walker took the time to show the wandering blacksmith around the mansion, he seems fairly interested in the many metal fixtures around the place that had been shaped in to intricate figures. This was obviously his black smith personality acting out but Walker did not mind in the last. 

When they reached the library Walker remembered that there were a small number of books on forging that he had organized but not even read the titles of. ”I have no idea if you like to read but this small shelf here has about eight or ten books on forging. Feel free to browse through them. I know you might want to relax a bit after today.” The wandering blacksmith grabbed at the books with a huge grin on his face. The first book only looked to be on basics and he placed it down as fast as he picked it up.

The reaction to the second book was much different though, his reaction to the book titled, ”Crafting in the snowy mountains” Was one of obsession. This was because the wandering blacksmith had yet to try going up in to the higher mountains to craft, the simple fact that they posed a danger he could not defend himself from was the reason why. He would need an escort to do such a thing or the protection from one of the ancient dragons in the villages. He had always wanted to explore and try many forging techniques and the ones spoken about in this book were all new to him. 

Seeing that the wandering blacksmith had found a chair and been absorbed by a book he decided to let him be. When he was about to leave the room he found that Maria had attached herself to his leg. She had been reading in the library as well. But now with the addition of a stranger she was afraid to stay alone. 

”Maria this man is the blacksmith that is helping us in the forge. He is staging here for some time and is very nice. Please be polite when you see him and wave.” Maria still did not release herself from  Walker’s leg because of how unsure she was with this new person. The wandering blacksmith had heard this and given a little wave before returning to his reading. 

Walker knew it would take time for her to get used to him and decided it might not be a bad thing to stay and read for a bit himself. He grabbed a book on monsters that lived in the sun hollow forest and took his time to learn what they may face. Maria took up a seat next to him and used Walker as a backrest to read in to her own book.

Walker was surprised to see that she was reading a book on the church. It would seem that when he told her that his friends from the church would be visiting it had made her more dedicated to find out what the church was like. There were many teachings on light elemental magic along with healing. These things were scarce to come by in the demon territories and were very attractive to Maria. The two started to read the rest of the day away until the strong aroma of food reached them.

In only two hours the wandering blacksmith had finished his book on theories related to crafting in the mountains. He had many things to consider and was already planning his own journey to the mountains. His mind was a strange place but Walker knew that something had inspired him.

Maria herself was more excited to eat tonight than before, evidently she had become one of his mothers biggest fans. The spicy foods she had were something she had never been able to experience growing up and she had fallen in love with the new flavors. Of course this was also due to his mother spoiling Maria with various desserts just like how she spoiled Midnight by giving her food whenever Midnight looked at her.

Walker placed his book back on the shelf full of insight to what they may face in the deep sun hollow forest. The poisonous plants aside, he was most worried about the living mushrooms. These monsters could look just like any other mushroom but grow to double the size. They also had various species that could spread their spores to not only multiply but also poison an enemy. They were notorious for paralyzing or poisoning a traveler then using their body to spread spores and grow. For the unfortunate travelers to be attacked in this way their death was often slow and painful.

This inspired Walker to purchase some antidotal potions before the party left, but there was plenty of time for that. Now was the time to dig in to a meal and try the new recipes his mother had experimented with in the day. Once everyone had gathered Walker stood up to get everyone’s attention. ”This is the blacksmith that is joining us in the forge to get our gear all sorted out. He will be here for some time and doesn’t say much. This is our family. They can do plenty of things and are always on the move. If you need anything I am sure they will be able to help.” The wandering blacksmith waved a hand and smiled at the greeting. Garret seemed the most interested along with Gil’s father. 

”You said the other day at dinner you won’t need to forge anything for the party until after auction right? So it won’t be a problem if the two of us bother your blacksmith friend with some small jobs right?’ Hearing this the wandering blacksmith nodded his head not even giving Walker a chance to reply. He had a thirst for all things forging and did not seem to want to turn down any request from those who were letting him forge with dragon flames.

”Perfect, we have some repairs and such for my armor and Gil’s father was just telling me he needed some arrowheads for the next hunt he plans on so we will be bothering you tomorrow.” With that they had all started to eat, sometimes someone would ask the new guest about what he had done and somehow he was able to explain enough to answer the question. The skills he had developed by not talking were rather impressive. 

After dinner Walker showed off the wandering blacksmith’s creation. ”It can store up to twenty mana! This is just what we will need!” Walker couldn’t control his excitement explaining this to the party. 

”So if we have those added to all of our gear you’re saying we can add a huge amount of stored mana to keep using our skill?” Su wanted to be sure that this would be the results before she allowed herself to think on how she would adapt her strategy.

”Exactly, what if we had another hundred mana to use when we were in a battle? We would be able to take out larger enemies while we are at a lower level while using the proper strategy.” 

”I could punch my way through an army!” Remey raised a fist imagining solo destroying an army of monsters by herself. As much as they had all been deterred by seeing Barry take down a horde of horned rabbits the sight had still stuck with them and made them all want to be able to do just that themselves.

”If I had that much extra mana then I could use six or seven of the wind element arrows using my bow. It could change the way I fight completely.” Gil had been worried about needing more close combat skills in the forest but if he had the ability to use his bow’s skill more than he could try to use it more often. 

”Even my shields would be able to be equipped like this?” Su worried that her shields would be unable to have the mana storing ability because they could take damage. If the crystal gem had taken a hit it would probably break.

”I think there will be a better spot to keep the gem on them, maybe by the handles you hold. Then instead of being hit by the enemy it would be protected like your arm will be.” 

”I agree leader, I will mention it to the blacksmith.” 

”Wait, what about mine? Won’t I be able to break them too?” Remey caught on to the worry. 

”You can equip something like the necklace or have it added to your thin armor. We don’t have to have it put in to the knuckles or gloves.” This was enough to stave off her worries. 

”Oh good you are all still awake.” Gil’s mother found them all still at the table talking about gear. ”I will need some help in the garden tomorrow. The sun should be nice and warm melting out the rest of the chill. I talked with a few farmers today and all of our skills say that the ground may still be frozen but the cold should be leaving us. We can finally start planting some seeds.” 

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