A Serpent's Tal Chapter 65: [Smithing]

Chapter 65: [Smithing]

"So, to start of with, have ye got one of them ’Soul Scrolls’ that everyone craves? Just curious." He began by asking .

I nodded. I felt like I was going to be doing that a lot today. I hope my neck is strong enough.

"Good, that’ll be helpful. Do ya have a class or subclass selected?"

I shook my head.

"Neither of em?"

I confird his query by nodding.

"Do ya plan to beco a smith throughout yer whole life, or do ye plan to make it more of a hobby?"

’More a hobby than anything.’ I spelled out my reply.

"Well, co with

then, I’ll help ya unlock yer first ever subclass." He said, getting up from his stool that he was sitting on.

He then brought

over to a small glowing brownish orange orb.

"Here’s what ya need to do in order to get [Smithing] as either ye [Class] or yer [Subclass], open yer Soul Scroll, place ye hand on the orb and infuse it with a tiny amount of mana, the press yer subclass and it should just give it to ya."

I followed his instructions and opened my Soul Scroll while imbuing so of my mana into the orb and pressing [Subclass] at the sa ti.

Once I’d done so, I saw a pop-up scroll appear before .

[Ding!]

[Are you sure you want to select [Smithing] as your new [Subclass]? You cannot change your [Subclass] until you have reached the [Apex] of [Smithing]. Please think carefully before you decide.]

Seeing this made

think again about if this was really what I wanted to do in life.

’Do I really want this to be my [Subclass]? My hobby? And for life at that?’ I thought about the other things I could do with this class slot.

"Just so ya know, regardless of what choice ye make here, you’ll still be able to learn other professions, just that you’ll learn this one a lot faster and a lot easier." Derik inford , which was good to know.

Now that I knew I could still learn other professions, it was more a question of do I want this to my main profession.

’What do I gain by taking [Smithing] as a [Subclass]? I know that it can evolve into a newer and better [Subclass] when I’m proficient enough at it. But do I really need it? Sure, I gain the ability to make weapons and accessories, but what else?’

That’s when I rembered what Derik said earlier. He said that while I saw that dagger he made as brilliant, he saw it as diocre. ’Maybe if I can take this far enough, I can discern my future enemies’ weapons and see if they’re good or not. It could also just be a great way to vent my emotions by hamring them away.’

With a light smile on my face, I confird that this would be my new [Subclass] by pressing [Yes].

[Ding!]

[You have chosen [Smithing] as your new [Subclass].]

With a sudden burst of light, the orb shot out a unique burst of mana through my arm which travelled all the way up into my skull and then beca a part of my soul.

[Ding!]

[You have gained the title [Apprentice Smith]. You have now unlocked the [Subclass] Skill tree.]

Oh great, another skill tree, and I’m probably going to get one for my main [Class] as well. Whatever, what’s important right now is learning the skills of the trade!

"I see that yer done makin yer decision. Since ya’ve taken this path, I’ll teach ya the basics, co." Derik then led

over to a currently unused workbench.

He pulled out three different types of ingots from beneath. "First, tell

if ya can discern any difference between the three."

I looked at them for a while. I couldn’t tell the difference so I reached out for one, I looked over at him to see if this was okay and he just nodded, indicating that I was doing the right thing. I brushed my hand over the left one, then the middle one and finally the right one.

The first felt perfectly smooth and nothing else. The second one was smooth also but it felt denser. As for the third one, I’m not quite sure what was different about it but I could tell that there was sothing different about it.

I then went on to tell Derik the differences and he nodded in approval.

"I’ll say this lass, you’ve done a hell of a lot better than the other apprentices, haha! They didn’t even think to touch them. As for yer examination itself, you did well also. That first one is Silver, the second is Iron and the third is Chroma Steel, a sowhat rare tal that can be used for making enchanted accessories." He explained.

"Now take a seat, I’ll be explaining the different layers of smithin to ya." He pulled two stools out and passed one to , which I then sat down in across from him.

"To start, there’s those like yerself, the newbies, then ye have the regular smiths, then the masters, then the grandmasters. After that cos forgers, sa ranks, just better than a smith."

I nodded to confirm that I was following along.

"Mmm, feel free to ask any questions if ye have them."

Before he continued, I did have one question I wanted to ask. ’How does one differentiate between a smith and a forger?’

"Ah right, forgers usually have a badge with a hamr and an anvil, while smiths usually just have a hamr on a badge."

’Why would they put Harmur on a badge?’ I knew he said hamr but the way he said it sounded like he said Harmur.

"Pfffftt! Ahahaha! Ahh, good one lass! Haha!" He laughed loudly. "Ahh, now, where was I? Oh right, grades." He grabbed the three tals that were on the worktop and showed them to .

"There are several grades to tals, you have Normal, like silver and Iron, these tals and many others aren’t important enough so they just get lumped together as normal, plus they don’t have any special properties either." He then chucked those two tals back onto the table.

"After that ye have Enchantive tals, like this Croma Steel. As the na suggests, these tals are typically connected to enchantin one way or another." He then chucked that ingot onto the table.

"Then ye have Magic tals, which, as the na implies, are magical in nature. The most infamous one being Mythril. These tals are normally used for makin weapons and armour because they’re great magical conductors."

’Why is Mythril infamous?’

"Because it doesn’t ever live up to the legends, it’s always overhyped fer no good reason, I an all it does is help resist dark type magics and is lightweight, and thas it." He clamoured on in disgust.

"Anyways, movin on from that ye have the highest tier of tals, Mythical. I know, I know it sounds la but thas just what people call it. And fer good reason to, as it typically has mystical properties. Said properties can be just amplifying yer magic, or it could help improve ya elental affinity over ti."

My eyes sparkled as he spoke.

"Sadly, only Master Forgers can use those tals, so don’t get ye hope up." He said coldly, dousing my fantasies.

"TRAYTORA!!!" I heard soone shouting my na, startling

for a second.

"Ah, seems he wants ya fer now, when yer done co back to

and I’ll explain the rest of the trade, which includes recognisin the tools an’ thods and all that. Well, off ye go, before the boss man starts gettin grumpy."

I got up and did a slight bow to Derik as a sign of appreciation before heading off to Harmur. Maybe I can ask him to let

watch while I’m there.