[Ahh what to do?] It had been a day and Kotori was still stumped on how to find a smith to work on commission.
She had asked every smith in town and they were all prohibitively expensive or didn't do it. Kotori really wanted a weapon. Fighting Yooma had taught her that she couldn't afford to be careless with how she had been fighting now. Up to now she had been able to brute force her way through encounters but that would come to an end if Yooma still existed. She was alone in a shop looking for more clues before a voice interrupted her.
"Hello, are you looking for a smith?"
She turned around; a small girl was in front of her. The girl's face was covered in soot and a little dirty but otherwise she was average looking and had the same androgenous look as all the other dwarves in the village. Kotori had gotten much better at telling them apart after living with them for a couple of days.
"Yes… Who are you?" Kotori asked. This girl had suddenly asked her such a simple questions.
[Has it already gotten around that I'm looking for a smith that is willing to do commissions for me?] She thought
The girls face perked up her, light bluish hair swaying as she bobbed her head.
"I'll make you a weapon!" She said
[Ehh?] Kotori thought
"I don't think I can pay the price you want" Kotori said sadly
The girl shook her head
"I'll do it for free!" She stated
The shop owner that Kotori was originally talking to suddenly interrupted them.
"Winry don't tell me you are bothering another person again" The smith said.
The girl pouted
"No I'm not, I'm offering my services like a respectable smith!" She answered indignantly
The shop owner looking meaningfully at Kotori
"That girl there is a problem child it's best if you don't bother yourself with her."
Winry pouted even further.
"That's because all you codgers only want to make magic weapons with filled mana crystals!" She said
Kotori was confused about all this.
"I'm sorry I'm a bit lost in this conversation" She asked
"We make magic weapons that use mana crystals, the stronger the crystal the more powerful the sword The smith explains.
"That girl over there only takes used magical weapons and make their output better. The magic is gone! There's nothing there anyway!" He said glaring at Winry
"The power of a weapon should be relative to the power of user not the power of the crystal!" Winrey shouted
"All you smiths do is let people buy power ups" She finished
This altercation went on for a while with no end. Until eventually the smith kicked Winry and Kotori out of his shop.
[Why did I get kicked out?] Kotori thought. She had only been an observer in the argument
Winry was dourly standing off and kicking rocks. Kotori was intrigued in Winry's approach Kotori felt bad for her, since she was responsible for Winry getting kicked out of a shop.
[If it's an issue with charging the weapon my [Magical Musician] skill should be able to charge it right?] Kotori thought
"Hey Winry" she said
"Yes?"
"Do you mind showing me some of the stuff you made" Kotori asked
Winry perked up once again
"Of course, follow me!"
[This girl is surprisingly easy to please]
Kotori was led by winery to the outskirts of the village to a small hut. The claim that Winry didn't sell much seemed to be true. The hut that Winry was living was leaning to one side and looked like it would leak if it rained.
There was a small forge in the corner. But what Caught Kotori's eye was the vast amount of weapon in the hut. An assortment of swords, spears, daggers, were all lying around the hut. Every single one of them was inlaid with a mana crystal and some of them even looked quite expensive. Kotori assumed that every single one of them had be thoroughly deprived of mana.
"It should be over here…" Winry said rummaged in a pile of weapons
"Isn't that dangerous?" Kotori asked
"Won't you cut yourself."
Winry waved her hand
"Nah, magical weapons aren't sherp until they are charged" Winry explains
She ran her finger across the blade of a particularly fancy looking scimitar. When she showed Kotori her finger it was unscathed.
"The metal used in these is a type of metal called Mana Steel. It absorbs mana but it's very soft. Most smiths use a combination of Mana Steel and normal steel to improve mana efficiency and make sure the mana crystal doesn't get spent keeping the sword in shape. It makes the sword weaker though, which is pretty ridiculous right?" Winry explained
She lazily tossed the scimitar into a corner and true to her explanation it bent in half after it landed on its tip.
She rummaged further into a pile of weapons and eventually pulled out bizarre spear.
The spear was silvery and fully metal it seemed to bend in Winry's grasp as if the metal made up of it was barely able to hold its form.
Inlaid upon the entirety of the shaft was glittery mana crystals. A quick check with [Gourmet] told Kotori that they were all empty.
"Here it is!" Winry said handing the spear to Kotori and looking proud of her creation
Kotori gave the spear a worrying glance
"Are you sure this isn't just going to fall apart" She asked wobbling the spear in her hand.
It seemed like it would bend at the slightest touch.
"wait don't do that!" Winry said as Kotori wobbled it again
The spear procced to droop in half in Kotori's hand
"Ahh!" She said in surprise dropping the spear.
"The spear fell to the stone floor with little clatter as if it wasn't very solid and the mana crystals inlaid in it all popped out creating a splash of glittering gems.
"I'm sorry!" Kotori instantly apologized thinking that she had destroyed something Winry worked very hard on.
Winry only gave a sad look.
"No, it's fine," She said her face looking glum
"That happens to all of them"