-Infusion Skill: World Sight
-Type: Mind
-Rating: 1 Star
-Cost: 10
-Duration: 15 seconds
-Infuse your eyes with World Energy to ascertain the world value of 1-Star rated items.
'Hm? Only items?' Eol thought as his eyebrows raised. 'Ah, because I only focused on understanding the items. I'll need to be wary of that in the future.'
Eol sighed as he activated his new skill. A slight headache occurred from expending his mental energy on it. 'Ok, let's see what we've got here.' As he glanced at the silver bracelet with the gem, he noticed a pitch-black aura around it as his skill fed him information.
-Silver Bracelet with Glass Gem
-Rating: 1 Star
-Value: 2 Crowns
Eol frowned as he turned his eyes to the plain gold ring, which also had a black aura at its edges. However, it was a few shades lighter than the bracelet.
-Lead Ring with Gold Plating
-Rating: 1 Star
-Value: 1 Crown
'I see,' Eol sighed as the skill's duration ran out.
"So, do you have an answer?" Kevan asked while peering over his clasped hands.
"Yes," Eol declared calmly. "Both are attempts at forgery."
Kevan and Marcus raised their eyebrows at that.
"The gem on the bracelet is made of glass, and the ring is made of lead that's been coated in gold. Despite this, the bracelet has a higher value. Probably because the amount of silver is more valuable than the gold in the ring. However," Eol paused with a smirk. "The ring's aura is a lighter shade of black than the bracelet. Unfortunately, I don't know how this would affect its value. If you're going on the value of the materials, then the bracelet wins. But I suspect the amount of World Energy in an item is more valuable. So the lead ring is my answer."
"So..." Kevan began but stopped as he looked at the items again. He nodded slowly as he stood from his chair. "You've passed the test. Would you mind waiting by the door? I need to speak to Marcus for a moment."
Eol nodded as he quickly complied, but kept an eye on the pair. 'Hm? He said I passed, but did something go wrong?' Eol frowned as he watched Kevan talk to Marcus with a frenzied expression. 'Wait. Doesn't he look a bit too excited?'
A few minutes later, Marcus joined him. "Well, Kevan has nothing but high praises for your talent in appraisals."
Eol raised an eyebrow at the awkward expression on Marcus' face. "I've got a feeling that's not all he said."
"No," Marcus replied with a sigh. "He wanted me to ask if you'd consider becoming his personal apprentice."
"Sorry, but my class trainer has offered me a job that I've accepted." Eol smiled. "I'm still hoping to build a good relationship with the Merchants Guild in the future."
"I see, you want to figure out your talents to develop a path for the future. That's admirable. But if you plan on being an appraiser..."
"Sorry, Marcus. Like I said before, I want to learn as much as I can. Following just one profession won't satisfy me. I don't think it would be right for me to stick to learning one thing."
Marcus nodded slowly at Eol's response. "It sounds like there are some things you're willing to sacrifice to achieve what you desire."
"Yes, but they're my choices," Eol stated firmly. "They aren't forced upon me by anyone else or anything outside myself."
"That's true, but the fact remains that Kevan is offering you a chance to work under him, which will allow you to advance in a career as an appraiser. You should keep it in mind for the future. I'm sure he'd still be willing to take you on should you change your mind even a year from now."
Eol nodded as Marcus led him away to another room...
Along the way, Eol was given a tour of the guild hall and grounds by Kevan. As they walked through the building's interior, he noticed there were small rooms off of each hallway. Each had its own door and window. They appeared to serve as offices for merchants who needed them to do business with customers or other members of the guild. He also saw several people working in those rooms. He asked about their purpose, to confirm his guesses, but received no answer.
Kevan then took Eol to see the various storage areas in the building. These included the large open-air warehouse, where items could be stored safely outdoors. There were several smaller buildings located throughout the yard, which contained more secure storage. However, their destination was a building on the other side of the open-air warehouse.
"This building is the workshop for metal, leather, wood, and fabric crafts." Marcus hummed as Eol raised an eyebrow.
'Tael called it metalworking and so on. So why did Marcus call them crafts when Tael seemed confused about me calling them crafting professions?' Eol voiced his question to Marcus as they wandered through the crates of goods toward the workshop.
"Ah, the talents themselves are called metalwork and such, as Tael said. However, we call them crafts out of respect for the pioneers who've made significant progress in the trades that benefitted us all." Marcus replied while nodding.
'I see. I'm not the first pioneer to be interested in crafting, and those before me probably referred to it as such like I do. So the Merchants Guild adopted the term to show their respect for those who pushed the boundaries in their trades. It seems like pioneer culture has influenced this world in many ways.'
Eol nodded at Marcus's explanation. "I'd love to learn more about how they lived back then. I can imagine a lot of things from what you told me."
They continued walking until they reached the workshop's door. Kevan opened it a few seconds after knocking, and they stepped inside. The room was filled with tables and tools. Two men were hard at work, one using a hammer on a piece of metal resting on a large stone table, while the other seemed to be using a skill to control a needle and thread on some cloth. A third man was painting a large wooden board with paint in different colors. He looked up as Eol entered the room. He smiled as he approached them.
"Welcome to our humble workshop." He extended his hand as he spoke. "What brings you here today?"
"Ah, George." Marcus beamed as Eol shook the extended hand while studying the man's paint-covered leather apron. "Eol is here for the craft trials."
"Oh, which ones?" George flashed an approving gaze at Eol.
"All of them." Marcu sighed.
"Really? You know..."
"He's already aware it will slow his progress. But we can't seem to change his mind. Would you mind giving him the trials here?"
"Sure, that's not a problem." George chuckled.
"Ah, and don't underestimate him. He already has access to World Energy and passed the appraisal trial. I'll come back in a while to pick him up. I have some business to attend to." Marcus said before saying his goodbyes to George.
"So, you can identify World Energy, huh?" George said as glanced at Eol. "That should make this easier. Have you developed any talents yet?"
"No, unless my appraisal skill counts?" Eol replied as George led him to the woodworking area.
"Afraid not." George chuckled. "Appraisal is a skill, not a talent. Ok, I should start with explaining the difference."
"The tools of our trades are enchanted to do the work required of them. For the most part, we focus on directing the work and creating the blueprints of the finished products. So the talents of one profession are easily transferrable."
"If that's the case, then why is everyone saying pursuing multiple crafts is impractical?" Eol asked as his curiosity peaked at this information.
"Kid, think of the costs of the materials for a single trade. You can't imagine what it would cost to pursue all of them for a single person." George sighed. "And then, there's the talent restrictions. You have to meet certain requirements before your talent advances in rating to work with better and more expensive materials. But you'll find that out for yourself once you unlock a talent. Mastering a craft is not as simple as just practicing it."
Eol frowned as George's explanation sounded ominous.
"Ok, Eol. Let me show the process first before I explain it."
George placed a plank of dark wood on his worktable. Now that Eol was close to it, he could see a large black rectangle etched into it with a smaller one below flanked by two circles.
"Now, you place the material you'll be working with inside the material slot like I just did," George said while Eol nodded.
'He placed it in the large rectangle, which seems obvious.'
"Next, you place a blueprint in the smaller slot." George continued as he grabbed a sheet from a pile sitting on the worktable. "Once you've done that, you place your hands inside the circles and focus on accumulating World Energy. The worktable does the rest."
"That's it?" Eol asked with mild surprise. "I was expecting something... more."
"Well, normally, a native will take up an apprenticeship for several years. They go through the process of learning to do everything manually and design theory. During that time, they'll attempt to grasp World Energy. Failing to do so means failing their apprenticeship." George chuckled at Eol's surprised expression. "However, pioneers like yourself seem to have a good grasp of design ideas, and you guys grasp World Energy at an incredible speed. Usually, within a few days of being introduced to it. While we natives can spend years trying and failing at it."
"As such," George continued. "You get to skip the tedious part. I hope you realize that just by grasping World Energy, you're saving yourself from several years of hard work and study."
Eol nodded with a glimmer in his eye.
"Now, go ahead and use what I've set up. I'll introduce you to all the crafts here, and after that, I'll explain blueprints since they're used in every craft."
'Alright.' Eol thought as he approached the other side of the worktable. The blueprint was of a simple box. As Eol followed George's instructions, he found the warm feeling of Accumulation returning, but it flowed down his arms into the worktable!
Strangely, while Eol was in that state, he could see a thin pitch-black aura reach out of the table to envelop the blueprint before it seemed to shape the wood as it was needed! 'This is incredible!' However, as Eol's concentration on the blueprint wavered, he noticed a small piece of the wood become misshapen. 'Damn! So it's reacting to my thoughts as well as the blueprint?'
Eol refocused on the blueprint, but the mistake was never fixed. After a few minutes, the box was completed, and Eol removed his hands from the work table.
-Talent Aquired: Woodwork
-Rating: 1 Star
-Progress Requirements:
-Mind: 100
-Create 200 1 Star Rated Woodwork items. 1/200
-Create a 1 Star Rated Woodwork Artifact.
Eol's eyes bulged as he read the requirements. 'George wasn't kidding! Just the Mind stat requirement alone will be a major headache! How do you even craft an Artifact, anyway?'
George laughed from Eol's side at his expression. "I see you got a taste of reality there. Now do you see why even a single trade takes a lot of time?"
Eol wore a troubled expression as he studied the requirements again. However, he only felt his drive for crafting increase as he marveled at the process. A smirk played on his lips as he gazed back at George.
"What's next?"
George gulped as he recognized the hunger for the crafts in Eol's eyes. 'This guy... He's going to be somebody someday...'
"Ugh, shall we try metalworking next? I think you'll find that one interesting."