Commanding Wind and Cloud

Oakland was a small border city. Although it was close to the Northern Barbarians and Orcs, it wasn’t really a useful strategic location. Due to the long period of peace, it had slowly become a commercial city. Hence, it was close to the Sunset Mountains, and there were a few more types of guests: mercenaries, adventurers and greedy merchants.

Gradually, hotels, blacksmith shops and other weaponry shops became the major sources of income for the city. Even the empire’s army would order some weapons and armor from Oakland.

After Qian Jin left Instructor Rodriguez’s place, he didn’t head back to his dorm right away. He still needed to get the sheets, or else he could only sleep on the mattress. On top of that, he still needed to find a job.

After getting knocked out by that strange hat during the test, he had locked himself in his room for three days and didn’t show up for his work at Old Ford’s Pub and Bar. According to the contract, that meant automatic termination. Therefore, he had to find a new part time work. The allowance that his family gave wasn’t even enough to pay for food, let alone buy nutritious supplements.

Qian Jin quickly found a store on a busy street and bought a cheap set of sheets with a few coins. After getting that out of the way, he wandered around and looked for a job.

However, Qian Jin wasn’t the only student at Oakland’s Warrior and Mage Academy that didn’t have money. All the jobs that a student could do were mostly occupied.

After job hunting through several streets, he only received the same response: they were not looking for people.

“We are not hiring at the moment, you could try other shops and stores…”

It was the same response again. Qian Jin sighed as he turned around. He didn’t want to hear whatever the person had to say after that.

“You could try the blacksmith shop at the end of the street… I think they are looking for people…”

Qian Jin suddenly stopped moving. Working in a blacksmith shop was quite different from working in other shops and stores. It required more than strength; it required good endurance of heat and some technical skills. On the positive side, the job paid more than others. Qian Jin remembered that at the beginning of this academic year, a student wasn’t able to find a job at the stores and shops close to the academy and tried to get into Franklin’s Blacksmith Shop located at the end of this street. At first, he thought that all he had to do was to swing hammers, but it turned out that being a blacksmith required skills. After many students failed to get a job there, it was agreed that the work at the blacksmith shop didn’t fit the students from Oakland Warrior and Mage Academy.

“Blacksmith… working with metals…” Qian Jin murmured. He thought about the work he did at that strange virtual Endless World. He learnt the basics of blacksmithing in the sixteen hours, and it seemed like Old Blake was quite pleased with his attitude and effort. Maybe he could try out for the blacksmithing job that not a single student got.

Qian Jin turned around, bowed to the mid-aged man who gave him the recommendation and said, “Thank you.”

The man was surprised. Although students from Oakland Warrior and Mage Academy worked part-time jobs, they felt that they were superior. In the worse-case scenario, they were able to become patrol officers after they graduated; that counted as a public official. Although that would be at the lowest level in the empire’s system, students rarely thanked people for things like this.

On top of that, because of the existence of the Demon Empire, warriors and mages were the main line of defense on the human side. That also raised their status, and the warrior and mage students were very proud and would sometimes come off a little arrogant.

Qian Jin quickly walked down the street. Soon, he heard patterned metal colliding noises that might have sounded boring to other people.

“Huh?” Qian Jin paused as he got to Franklin’s Blacksmith Shop. He was a bit confused.

He had walked by this blacksmith shop many times before, and the metal colliding noises sounded harsh and boring. Why did it sound so special today? He listened closely, and it sounded like there was some kind of rhythm to the irregular metal colliding noises.

Franklin’s Blacksmith Shop occupied five times the space compared to some other shops. There were some ugly writing on the board in front of the shop:

“Blacksmiths wanted.”

That was the only thing on the board; there was no mention of pay or other criteria. Qian Jin stepped into the shop and the metal colliding noise coming from the back rooms sounded clearer.

“Little warrior, what are you looking to buy?”

A muscular man appeared in front of him. The man was taller and wider than Qian Jin. His sweaty chest was mostly exposed, and he was only wearing a loose shirt. He was holding onto a hammer, and a wet towel was hanging on his neck. His short blonde hair was covered with sweat, and his rough voice sounded very valiant.

Qian Jin paid extra attention to the hammer that this man was holding. It looked like it was about 30 pounds. Qian Jin could tell that this hammer had a history just by looking at how the leather was coiled around the handle.

“I’m not here to buy anything.” Qian Jin had to raise his head to look at the man in his eyes. He pointed at the entrance and said, “I saw that you guys are looking people, so I wanted to see if I qualify.”

“You?” The man narrowed his eyelids and squinted his blue eyes as a doubting expression appeared on his face. “A student from Oakland Warrior and Mage Academy?”

Qian Jin pointed at the logo on his academy warrior uniform and said, “Yes I am.”

The doubt in the man’s eyes grew stronger. He shook his head and said, “You should go and try other shops. We don’t hire any students from Oakland’s Warrior and Mage Academy.”

“Ah? Why?”

Qian Jin was surprised. He finally found a potential employment, so how could he leave like this?

“Why?” The man grabbed an end of the towel and wiped the sweat off of his face. “Didn’t you know? Since Franklin’s Blacksmith Shop opened, not a single student from Oakland’s Warrior and Mage Academy was hired. What we are looking for are blacksmiths, not brats who are arrogant and think there is nothing to blacksmithing and that anyone could do it. People like that could never work as a blacksmith apprentice.”

Qian Jin didn’t expect that at all. He thought the students in his grade were the only ones who got rejected by Franklin’s Blacksmith Shop. However, it turned out that there was not even a single student from Oakland Warrior and Mage Academy who worked at Franklin’s Blacksmith Shop.