Commanding Wind and Cloud

All the other students in the class were shocked. Although they didn’t understand most of the signals, they knew from the instructor’s reaction that Qian Jin who was usually quiet in class wasn’t just a strong warrior; he was an intelligent person as well.

“So thirsty…” Qian Jin chugged down two handfuls of water from a water tank. He thought back to his performance when he tried to secure his position in the Warrior Energy Concentration Array. Some terms were really hard to explain. He thought that the knowledge and skills he had learnt before were useless after the test, but he never expected to use it again today.

After he returned to the classroom, he realized that most of the students were still in shock. Instructor Juan stood up and slowly walked out of the classroom in a numbed state. He didn’t even look at Qian Jin on the way out as Qian Jin passed by him.

Qian Jin looked at the schedule. Continental Geography was next. As he returned to his seat, he heard Rollin’s deep and low voice, “I’m going to cheat off of you in the final exam for Military Flag Signaling.”

“No problem, as long as you stop trying to hook me up with your sister…”

“Cheating off of each other is purely between a man and a man; that’s how we build trust! I don’t do any trades around that! I, Rollin, am a man with principles! You are meant to be my brother-in-law!”

Geography, Basic Military Formation… Continental History… and Warrior Fighting.

Like other novice warrior and mage academies, the students’ schedules at Oakland Academy were filled with courses. There were four classes in the morning and two in the afternoon. The day was so full that the students couldn’t even feel time pass by. In the blink of an eye, the two afternoon classes had been finished.

Qian Jin stretched his back as he looked up to the sky. It was still quite early, so he didn’t hurry to the little forest to accept the challenges. He decided to go to Franklin’s Blacksmith Shop first. After finally finding a high paying job, why wouldn’t he use this time to earn more money?

As soon as the last instructor of the day left the classroom, Qian Jin got up and left the classroom in a hurry.

As the second largest blacksmith shop in the remote Oakland City, Franklin’s Blacksmith Shop was never quiet; even the pedestrians on the street could hear the sounds of metals colliding from the backyard of the shop.

But when Qian Jin arrived at the gate of the shop, he didn’t hear the usual metal colliding noises made between the hammers and metals.

“Is today a rest day?” Qian Jin walked into the shop curiously. As soon as the salespeople at the front store saw him, the pessimistic expressions on their faces instantly became more optimistic.

The few salespeople who had Qian Jin met last time rushed to him like a flood. Only one person rushed in the opposite direction, moving towards the workshop at the back.

“Qian Jin, finally…”

“Qian Jin, quick! Come! You have to redeem us!”

“Qian Jin, the reputation of Franklin’s Blacksmith Shop lies in your hands now…”

Qian Jin glanced at these workers. He felt it was strange since he had just joined Franklin’s Blacksmith Shop a day ago, and he only knew how to forge [Level 2 Refined Iron]. The owner, Franklin, could forge out proper weapons. If the workers and the shop had to rely on someone, it should have definitely been Franklin.

As Qian Jin was wondering, loud chatting and footsteps could be heard from the backrooms.

“Qian Jin, you finally came…”

Francis was first person that came out of the backrooms. He opened his arms and hugged Qian Jin with his thirty-pound hammer in one of his hands.

A few more blacksmiths followed Francis and came to the front of the store. Qian Jin became more curious. This was only his second day at the shop, and he did not have any friends in particular, so why were there bright smiles on everyone’s faces?

Next, two more men came out of the backroom through the door that was connecting the front of the store and the backroom. One of the men was lean and tall, but the muscles on his arms and shoulders told people that he was very strong. He was wearing clothes that only a blacksmith would wear; he was obviously a blacksmith.

The only thing that was different was that he had a metal badge that had a fire and hammer symbol engraved on it. It was not the badge representing Franklin’s Blacksmith Shop. This person was from another blacksmith shop.

This badge was famous in Oakland. It was the badge of the number one blacksmith shop – Lucas’ Blacksmith Shop. Qian Jin had lived in the city for a while now and had recognized it immediately.

“Why is someone from Lucas’ Blacksmith Shop here? He doesn’t look too friendly. Is he here to cause some trouble?” Qian Jin quickly observed the man in front of him and made many guesses. “It probably isn’t what I’m thinking it is. Lucas’ Blacksmith Shop is much larger than Franklin’s Blacksmith Shop. Although one is number one and the other one is number two, they are not on the same level. Lucas’ Blacksmith Shop doesn’t have to use such tactics to bring in more business.”

As Qian Jin was thinking to himself, seven more people walked out of the backrooms and came to the front of the store. There were five men and two women. They were all wearing simple leather armor, and each held their own weapons: swords, iron blades and such. Each of them also had a leather bag on their waist which were of different sizes.

This was the standard setup for adventurers! The only things that were missing from this group were mages and archers.

Qian Jin raised his eyebrows, but he didn’t look surprised towards the missing roles. Mages were a rare and precious profession. Many mages decided to enter the military or become retainers for royal or noble families since there were more resources there to help them.

Of course, according to legends, there were a bunch of young and ambitious mages who created the Mage Union. A lot of mages had joined the Mage Union. They helped each other to create different magic spells, performed research in various areas and accepted quests and missions to earn compensation to help with the Mage Union’s operations.

Only a very small number of mages joined adventurer teams or mercenary groups, so it was very rare to see them.

From the looks of it, Qian Jin could tell that this adventurer team wasn’t rich. The chance of them successfully recruiting a mage was less than the chance of a meteor hitting the continent.

In terms of hiring and renting a mage for a short time, it was also unlikely. Low-level mages couldn’t even cast a fireball spell by themselves. All they could do was use some supporting spells. There was a higher chance for them to mess up and drag the team down compared to actually being helpful. In the unfortunate event of them dying in an adventure, the Mage Union would ask for a large lump sum of money as compensation. The Mage Union would never go easy in these kinds of events.

It was very expensive to be a mage. Mages needed a lot of money to continue their research, and making magic scrolls required a lot of money for raw materials. For an adventurer team with these kinds of equipment and weapons, they wouldn’t be able to hire a mage for a short period of time even if they sold all their belongings. Also, if the mage accidently died, they could never afford to pay the penalty.

“Are you the Level 2 Blacksmith who came here yesterday?”

The man from Lucas’ Blacksmith Shop looked Qian Jin carefully. Qian Jin could tell from their eyes that they were very surprised. They couldn’t believe that this young man was a Level 2 Blacksmith.