"How much would a storage pouch with one cubic meter space cost?" Taylor asked the female vendor to distract himself a bit.
He was confused about what exactly his Awakening caused within him because he could tell that it was everything but normal.
It didn't feel bad, and he was not really worried as well, but it was confusing.
"The Psaj storage pouch is a Grade-1 treasure with special attributes such as weightless storage, and an independent space," The young vendor introduced the item first before she finally revealed the price,
"The Psaj storage pouch with one cubic meter space costs 3 Gold thaler. It may seem like a lot but you will fall in love with it after you get it in your hands. You will never have to feel the heavy weight of the ores you mined, and you'll be able to work much more efficient!"
The vendor was certainly able to put one and one together. Inside Taylor's backpack, one could see the buts of the mining pickaxe, which allowed her to conclude that he was an Awakened and a miner.
As long as he worked hard enough, it would be possible for him to save up 3 Gold thalers in a few months.
Taylor smiled in response to her attempts to convince him that it was necessary for him to purchase the weapon right now. He didn't buy anything and excused himself as he made his way to the Artisan house.
The streets were crowded during the early afternoon and many civilians made their daily purchases. Some meet up with their friend and family to spend some time with each other, while small kids were playing heroes and devil with each other.
A few kids were the heroes, fighting the other kids, who played the vile demons that were about to destroy the country.
Taylor shook his head when he saw this, feeling that neither humans nor demons were good or bad.
"Are you guys looking at us like this as well? I mean the demon kids?" Taylor asked all of a sudden, glancing lightly in Eris' direction.
He had noticed that she looked in the direction of the small children with an unreadable expression.
"Not really. Our kids were taught from the beginning that we have to do everything we can to survive, even if that means attacking others and depriving them of their freedom. However, that also means that we have to accept if the same happens to us. In that regard, we may be a bit fewer hypocrites than humans," Eris answered quietly, without going more into detail.
She seemed to have much on her mind, which was why Taylor stopped asking her questions about Demons even though he was quite interested in their livelihood and mindset.
There were lots of Guards, especially in the most crowded areas of Kial.
Taylor never knew that the city had even so many Guards but it made sense. The Ufnir Iron ore mine was one of the few major mines in the Guivenhall kingdom. If something were to happen, the entire kingdom would face quite some problems.
Taylor reached the Artisan house in silence. He didn't find Maja, but that didn't seem to be a problem as a tall woman greeted him heartily.
"Hello, young one. You're Taylor, aren't you? Maja told me that you would come this afternoon to lease a blacksmithing room for the rest of the day!" the tall woman said, stretching her hand out as she smiled lightly.
"My name is Bertha Steel. I'm a One-star Silver Blacksmith and the department head of the forging division in Kial!" Bertha, the tall and muscular woman introduced herself.
Taylor stretched out his hand, shaking Bertha's hand while flashing a smile.
"I didn't know that Kial had a One-star Silver Blacksmith. Most blacksmiths would probably leave Kial for a bigger City if their talent allows them to advance to a Three-star Bronze Blacksmith," He spoke in all honesty, not hiding that he was astonished.
All Occupations that were based on Ancient Powers or the creation of graded goods were labeled in a similar manner. At first, one would be considered an Apprentice, or Squire as it is the case for the Awakened, whose Knight Aura was not yet nourished and trained.
All Ancient Powers had a certain threshold, or hurdles that would slow down their advance and it was at the exact same location; whenever one advanced in the ranks mankind had created to separate the strength of their Knights, Sorcerers, Summoners, and other Awakened.
The rankings were also created around the hurdles to show how important they were. After all, advancing with sheer willpower was still possible as long as the hurdles were only small, and not the big ones.
"It's nothing, really. My potential is used up, and I like it here," Bertha said quite nonchalantly, not putting much meaning into her status.
Blacksmiths were essential for human society. They forged metals like no machine was capable of, creating weapons as no one else could create; weapons that could be discerned as living beings!
'It's nothing? To think that a blacksmith says that…' Taylor thought, not able to hide that he was a bit displeased with her answer. She was supposed to be a prideful woman, confident that she did something not everyone was capable of…
What is forging?
There is a big difference between forging and casting weapons. They were entirely different despite the similarities they had.
Casting only required a cast and the use of machinery to grind the desired shape afterward. That was the most basic principle of casting!
Forging was different. It required the blacksmith to personally hammer the metal from the very beginning to the finish line. Machinery could be used to point the metal and forge it, under normal circumstances, but metal is alive.
A machine would never be able to perceive the squirming veins of a metal that reached the melting point, move them according to its will and create a first-rate component without damaging the metal's veins in the process.
That was also why all first-rate weapons and machine components were forged by a blacksmith. They possessed a status on par with Knights Sorcerers, and all other Ancient Powers at the same rank.
In fact, some even said that a blacksmith's status was higher than their rank because everyone needed their help to create customized weapons that would help and protect them.
Taylor knew this, and he felt that it was only right for a blacksmith to be self-confident, with a charismatic presence, and maybe even a bit aloof.
Unfortunately, the muscular woman in front of him seemed to be overly friendly, disappointing Taylor a bit.
"I want to rent a basic blacksmithy for the next six hours if a smithy is free to use right now," Taylor thus asked, not trying to continue his conversation with Bertha.
He didn't want to show her his disappointment but it was quite obvious. Bertha only looked at him for a few seconds, not sure what the exact reason for his displeasure was.
"That would be 4 Copper thalers. I'll bring you to the smithy, just don't break anything," Bertha said lightly to ease the suffocating tension that built up between them. She was ready to bring the young man to one of the smithies guests could rent.
"I would rather break my hand than break something in the smithy!" Taylor said without thinking, his eyes staring fiercely at Bertha.
"Uh…okay…"
[Author Note: Please comment how you like/dislike the novel! I accept every type of criticism]