Commanding Wind and Cloud
chapter-19

“This…” After a quick thought, Qian Jin decided to be honest. “Although I know a little bit about blacksmithing, I’m not a Level 2 Blacksmith. I only know how to forge [Level 2 Refined Iron], nothing else. I don’t even know who to forge a simple hoe.”

The murmurs instantly stopped in the back room. The blacksmith apprentices couldn’t believe what they heard. Someone who knew how to forge [Level 2 Refined Iron] didn’t know how to forge a simple farming tool? Are you joking? Even blacksmith apprentices who just started knew how to forge that kind of stuff.

Franklin felt a stiffness in his neck, as if his head was locked in place by an iron rod. “You must be joking? Wait, he seems very serious and doesn’t seem like he is kidding. But how could a Level 2 Blacksmith not know how to forge simple tools,” he thought.

“This… uh…”

This was the first time that Franklin encountered something this strange in his career. He couldn’t get a word out in a few seconds. “I have an idea. How about this? I will lend you tools and the workshop, and I will purchase the [Level 2 Refined Iron] from you for one gold coin a piece.”

One gold coin? Qian Jin’s eyes opened wide. When he was working at another shop, he would only receive one gold coin a month for his work. “I can get a gold coin for just swinging the hammer for a short while? I heard that [Level 2 Refined Iron] sells for more, but since I need to use their stuff for free, I should let them make more profit,” he thought.

“Is one gold coin too little? How about this!”

Franklin bit his teeth. He reminded himself that he shouldn’t let this young man go. No blacksmith shop would ever put up [Refined Iron] for sale. By using [Level 2 Refined Iron] in forging out weapons and armor, that would elevate the blacksmith shop to another level.

“I can promise you that I will pay at least a gold coin per pound of your [Level 2 Refine Iron]. After I forge it into weapons, sell them and recover all the costs, we can split the profit fifty-fifty. How about that?”

Franklin was still a bit worried. This deal would be very fair for someone who only knew how to forge [Refined Iron]. After all, he had to pay for the rent, labor, sales, administrative duties and more. However, if other blacksmith shops knew about Qian Jin, they might pay a higher fee just to get Qian Jin into their doors.

Qian Jin, on the other hand, was delighted. He didn’t know that keeping his mouth shut would bring him such benefits. One gold coin was a huge amount of money for him, but he could get half of the profit for the sales of the weapons? If this actually happened, then he would never need to worry about getting through life and deal with money issues again! If he was lucky enough, he might have extra money on hand to buy expensive energy stones at the auction; that would benefit him in the long term, especially when he had the chance to use the Warrior Energy Concentration Array.

“Deal!” Qian Jin was excited, he reached out his hand and said, “Just give me that gold coin now.”

Franklin was surprised that Qian Jin would bring that up first. He turned around and yelled, “Get me a gold coin! Quick!”

After seeing that Franklin was worried that he might get away, Qian Jin suddenly thought of a question, “Right, boss, I have a question.”

“Yeah, what is it?” Franklin’s attitude was very polite. It made Qian Jin feel like if one had great skill, he or she could get a lot of respect in the industry.

Qian Jin scratched his sweaty head and said, “I’m just wondering that if I can forge out a [Level 3 Refined Iron], what price would you pay?”

“[Level 3 Refined Iron]?”

Franklin stared at Qian Jin and didn’t know how to answer that question. Forging [Level 3 Refined Iron] was the core essential skill of a Level 3 Blacksmith. However, a level 3 blacksmith wasn’t common like weeds on the side of the street. At least in Oakland City, there weren’t any Level 3 Blacksmiths.

In Franklin’s mind, it was harder to advance as a blacksmith compared to warriors and mages. If warriors and mages lacked talent, he or she could purchase energy stones or magic stones if his or her family was rich enough to help them advance.

There was no shortcut for the advancement of blacksmiths. The only way was to work hard and rely on pure talent.

“Level 3 blacksmith?” Franklin sighed. The young man in front of him was able to forge [Level 2 Refined Iron] at this young age; that meant this young man was talented. However, the fact that he wanted to forge [Level 3 Refined Iron] was too ambitious; the advancement from level 2 to level 3 wasn’t that easy for blacksmiths.

“Yeah, what’s the price for [Level 3 Refined Iron]?” Qian Jin asked again. He thought that after spending sixteen hours in the Endless World, he was able to become someone who could forge [Level 2 Refined Iron]. He literally knew nothing about blacksmithing beforehand. If he spent more time in there, he thought he could probably forge out [Level 3 or 4 Refined Iron].

“Eh…” Franklin laughed, “If you could forge [Level 3 Refined Iron], then we would give you ninety percent of the profit on the sales of weapons and armor; we will only take ten percent of the profit.”

Francis nodded on the side. This deal was very fair. There was no comparison between [Level 2 Refined Iron] and [Level 3 Refined Iron]. If [Level 3 Refined Iron] was used for the blade of a weapon or the vital protection areas of armor, the price of the item would increase more than five times. But what was even better was the promotion for the blacksmith shop; if people knew Franklin’s Blacksmith Shop could produce [Level 3 Refined Iron], they would get a lot more business!

“Ninety percent?” Qian Jin was very satisfied. He flipped the gold coin he just got into the air and caught it before it dropped. He said as he walked out, “Boss, I will come back tomorrow. I have some things to handle today.”

Franklin tilted his body forward slightly and bowed. “You are more than welcome to come back any time you want. You don’t have to follow the schedule; just come here at your convenience.”

“Great! I will see you guys soon.”

Qian Jin sprinted out of the blacksmith shop and started running back to Oakland’s Warrior and Mage Academy. All he could think of was the hat that gave him the nickname, “extremely ugly looking guy”. The benefit of that hat outweighed all the drawbacks it brought; his strength increased a lot overnight, he learnt the basics of blacksmithing, he was able to make a gold coin by spending only a few hours now compared to a month before, and there was a bonus share of the profit in the future!

With this mysterious hat sitting at home, Qian Jin felt like he had no time to wander around aimlessly. His heart was already in the Endless World. It offered training, blacksmithing knowledge, and a way for him to make good money. Where could he find anything better?

On top of that, Qian Jin remembered that he learnt the skill [Forge]. Did it mean that he could learn how to forge out all kinds of tools and weapons? He could definitely save money by not buying those things from shops. If he wanted to, he might be able to sell them to make more money.

Wait! There was also the study of magic arrays in the Endless World. If he could learn the skill [Engraving] and learn how to engrave runes, he could even become a Magic Forging Master!