It was another day, and today Matt and his father went to the town together to look for a job to pay for the repairs to the farm. Matt wasn't truly focused on looking for a job though, he was thinking about where he could find a person with either fire or wind magic that he could learn from. As he and his father walked through the town he saw a few places that looked promising. First, the local tavern, the were always adventurers looking for quests there, but there was no conventional way for him to get someone to show him their magic and as Emma had mentioned before, he could not just absorb the magic within someone, it had to be in use for him to absorb it. He also wouldn't be able to convince his dad to go there, they were supposed to be looking for a job after all. Next was the blacksmith, he wasn't certain that there would be a mage in there, but there was always a chance that the smith used fire magic to keep the fire at a consistent temperature throughout the whole forging process. It would also be a good place to work, he was sure the blacksmith would appreciate some extra help. The final place Matt had in mind was the docks. He had heard from Emma that fishermen tend to use both water and wind magic to move their boats faster through the water.
Matt couldn't decide which spot was better so he decided to ask his father. "I've thought of two places where we could possibly get a job, the first one is the smithy. I'm sure the local blacksmith could use a hand, even if it's only fetching tools and materials so they don't have to leave the hot metals unattended. The other place is the docks, I remember you saying you used to enjoy fishing back in your younger days, maybe we could get a job helping out the fishermen." Matt said hoping his father would agree so he could get a chance to gather some more forms of magic.
"That sounds like a good idea, but we should go to the smithy first, the docks are on the other side of town and it'd rather not walk all the way over there unless I have to." His father agreed.
Once at the smithy they encountered two young men, probably in their mid-20s, hitting away at some red hot metal bars with their hammers. One of the young men noticed the two standing out front and went up to them after putting the metal bar back in the furnace. "How can I help you, gentlemen, out today?" The man said with a smile on his face. "Are you here to buy something, or perhaps looking to have something built?"
"Actually, we were hoping we could help you out. You see our house was destroyed during the last magic storm and we were looking for work so we could pay for the repairs." Matt replied.
"I think I might be able to give you something to do, but I'll have to speak to my brother first." The man said before going off to talk to his brother.
"Looks like things are finally looking up, good idea thinking of coming to the smithy." Matt's father praised him. He wasn't sure if they would even be able to get a job today, but it looks like Matt's idea had been a good one.
A few minutes later the two brothers came to where Matt and his father were waiting. "We can give you some work to do, but only one of you, times are tough all over and we can't afford to pay both of you. I must warn you though, you'll have to work hard, this is a tough job" One of the brothers said. "I wouldn't have it any other way," Matt said in a confident tone, if there was anything he was good at, it was working hard. "I'll take this job, you try to see if the fishermen need any help," Matt said to his father before following the brothers into the smithy.
The brothers, who Matt would come to know as John and Luke, had Matt running around most of the day, whether it be bringing them metals from their storage, adding more coals to the fire once it started to die out, or even going around town delivering orders which had already been completed. It was mostly things that would help the brothers not have to leave the forge while there was work to be done.
All the running around was quite tiring and the heat of the forge wasn't making things any better, but at the end of the day, Matt would get paid so he thought it was worth it.
Towards the end of the day, while things were winding down and the sound of hammer hitting metal could no longer be heard, Matt asked Luke a question. "How do you keep the fire at a constant temperature while heating the metal, do you use fire magic?" Luke chuckled at this, "Well yes and no, it's not just fire magic but a combination of me using fire magic and john using Air magic. I control the heat of the fire and he controls the amount of air going into the furnace. It's a very delicate process."
Matt's eyes lit up after hearing that, he had really made the right choice coming here. He would have the chance to obtain both fire and air magic while also getting money to help rebuild the farm. "That's really cool, you know, I've been learning fire magic myself but I'm sure you have much better control than me since you use it constantly. Can I see some of your magic?" Matt said trying to find a way to absorb some of Luke's fire. "You were more helpful today than I had anticipated, so why not, I'll show you some tricks." With a smile on his face, Luke started by creating a flame in the palm of his hand, it started to spin, progressively got hotter and hotter until it changed colors going from orange, to yellow, then white, and eventually turning blue. Seeing the flame right in front of him, Matt took the opportunity to absorb some of their magic, he didn't think he would absorb the entire flame even if he wanted to, but still, he was careful to only absorb a minimal amount as to no alert Luke. A second later, Matt received a notification from the system.
| You have successfully absorbed a new type of magic. Basic Fire Control skill unlocked |
At that point, a small orange flame appeared in his hand, comparing it to luke's, he could tell his flame was much weaker. "That's amazing, I didn't know you could get the temperature of the flame high enough to become blue," Matt said surprised that Luke had such great control of his flame. "You think that's cool? you haven't seen anything yet!" Luke exclaimed and started to move his flame around, first spinning it around his body at incredible speeds before sending it up into the air where it exploded and the embers formed Luke's name before slowly falling to the ground.
Before Matt could voice his amazement at what he had just witnessed, he received yet another notification.
| You have witnessed a master at work. Your knowledge of fire magic grows. |
| You will receive +10% exp to Basic Fire Control in the future. |
It seemed even the system acknowledged Luke's great skill with fire. Just watching Luke use fire magic was enough to make Matt learn faster. 'Even I wasn't expecting that', Emma spoke up for the first time in a while.