Joe spent most of the rest of the day mining his own copper ore. His Mining went up to level 8 and he got a decent amount of ore. He bought the ore, with the discount for the miner's wages and returned to Rust's Edge, promising to be back the next day to mine more, as well as finalize the investment deal after the merchant arrived.
Joe's morning was spent with the usual tasks of farming and reading. Before he left for Petrosia to mine for the day, Joe contacted Kerras and asked if he wanted to join him. Kerras would probably appreciate all of their stonework. There was no current construction project, so the two Mages went through a portal to the other town, arriving before the merchant's visit.
He found Leta in front of her office, still with the furnaces outside. During the trial period she didn't want to go through the hassle of installing them in the office, but still wanted to take advantage of them and smelt ingots to sell. She had quite the collection of ingots piled up, far more than she had when Joe left the previous evening.
“Morning, Leta. It looks like you've been busy. Did you get any sleep last night?” Joe asked.
“Sleep? And miss this opportunity to make some real money for the first time in a while? I know it's not really that much, but we've been barely getting by. This will give us a nice cushion for the first time in a few years.” Leta looked over at the elf accompanying Joe. “I'm Leta Sandstone, mayor of Petrosia. Are you a friend of Joe's?”
“Yes, my name is Kerras. Joe told me about the wonderful stonework you have in your buildings and I wanted to see it for myself. I'm a Stonemason, but practically self taught, so I wanted to see how true masters of the craft did it. I must say, Joe didn't exaggerate. The work here is really quite exquisite.”
Leta beamed at the praise of their town's art. “After I get the miners sorted for the day I can take you to meet with our Stonemason. He hasn't had any real work for quite some time, but maybe he can still give you advice.”
“I'd very much appreciate that, thank you, Mayor Sandstone.”
Leta gave Joe the side-eye. “Why don't you talk to me with that kind of respect? He's about the same age as you, but you don't show the respect due your elders.”
“You'll have to forgive my brash manners. I wasn't raised in civilized society like my friend Kerras here.”
Leta just rolled her eyes at the insincere apology and continued to smelt ingots while waiting for the miners to get started for the day. Joe didn't wait around and went in to get started with his own magic pick. Leta said that the merchant usually arrived shortly after midday, so Joe would be return at that time.
Between Joe's greater attributes from when he first started mining and the efficiency granted by the pick, Joe mined a lot of ore before the morning was through. He even gained yet another level in Mining to go with the one from the day before.
Joe didn't recognize the merchant, but he didn't expect to as this wasn't the same circuit the merchants who trade with Rust's Edge travel to ply their trade. When she saw the difference in what Petrosia had to sell this week she was quite pleased as it made the trip worth more for her. That itself made her more than happy to assist with verifying the value of the goods Joe was investing into the town. She was in agreement with Otto's numbers so Leta happily signed the investment contract.
The merchant was also quite impressed with the Extra Storage and Preservation enchantments on the chests Joe had brought and inquired about purchasing one of each herself. Joe wasn't opposed to the idea, but didn't want to make any promises. Instead he just wrote down her traveling schedule to see if he could meet her at one of her stops at some point, if not back here in Petrosia next time she came to town.
After that the rest of the day was spent mining more copper. Joe didn't get any more levels in his skills that day, but Kerras had a good time learning some advanced techniques from an expert, as well as what to look for to find other stone types. Kerras had also went ahead and installed the furnaces in Leta's office while waiting for Joe to finish mining. He easily used his Shape Stone spell to make room for the exhaust chimneys from the furnaces while leaving no gaps for cold air in the winter to invade.
The next day was rather similar for Joe, minus taking Kerras with him. By the end of that day he got another level in Mining, and felt he had enough copper to last him for the immediate future. He let Leta know that he would return in a month or two to get more. She said by then they'll probably be ahead enough in their coffers that they can deduct the price of the ore from their loan balance rather than ask him to buy the ore with coins as he was doing the last few days. Either way was fine for Joe, he wasn't hurting for money.
If you spot this story on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.
That evening Joe asked Tyrik if he would train him with the use of a staff. Joe lied and said he had unlocked Blunt Weapons the last year with a club, but wanted to use a staff because it felt more mage-like, but needed the training. Tyrik agreed to meet Joe outside of his workshop the next morning.
After Joe did his usual morning farming he went and cut two more steelwood branches from a different tree and cast Straighten Wood to make two nice, strong staves for them to use. Tyrik was surprised when he saw the quality of wood Joe wanted to use, afraid it was too much, especially since Joe once again doffed his armor to train. Joe wanted to train right outside his workshop so he could keep an eye on the smelting furnaces where his new copper ore was heating.
Joe unlocked the skill in the first hour under Tyrik's tutelage.
Blunt Weapons (Level 1). This skill is for using blunt weapons. Higher levels increase the damage you do with blunt weapons and allow you to better use the blunt weapons you wield in battle. To train this skill practice using weapons that crush, push, or knock aside opponents.
Key Attribute: Strength
With Joe having a Strength score in excess of 600 he mostly just blocked Tyrik's moves, afraid to harm him, even though the eaglin wore leather armor made by Deena. Still, Joe was more than happy training his Pain Tolerance skill alongside Blunt Weapons, considering how much steelwood weapons hurt. Joe gained another level in Blunt Weapons by learning the way Tyrik moved his staff around, and a level in Pain Tolerance by getting a lot of bruises and even a broken rib or two from the blows against him.
By midday Joe had also gained another level in Smelting but then Ferric came looking for him.
“Joe, you've got a message from Trenos. Commander Knucklebrand says there's another high danger bounty they're hoping you can help them with. He wants you to meet him at his office for the details when you can.”
Joe nodded to Ferric then turned back to Tyrik, “Sorry, we'll have to continue another time. Thank you for your training.”
Tyrik motioned to give the staff back to Joe, but Joe held up his hand in protest. “No, that's for you to keep. I'll make you a better version at some point after I get a better feel for how you attack, but for now, that's the strongest staff you can get without magic. And we'll have plenty of steelwood in the future, so it's no loss to me.”
Tyrik eyed the staff with renewed interest. “Thank you, Joe. I appreciate it. Maybe my days being a Fighter aren't behind me after all.”
Joe used Energy Conversion to heal himself from his mana rather than wait for Regeneration or use Healing Burst and then put his armor back on before Backtracking to Trenos. He went to Lesfo's command center but the commander wasn't in at the moment, his aide said that he was out running an errand but was due back shortly. Joe sat down to wait while trying to watch the goings on in the barracks, the comings and goings of the different guards, the citizens coming in and speaking to one guard or another.
After about twenty minutes of just watching, trying to take in the little details about people, he finally got it.
Observation (Level 1). This skill is for being able to track things by sight. Whether it be looking for visual clues of someone's passing through the area, trying to keep track of lots of movement in front of you, or noticing the ones trying to pass by without being seen, all this falls under observation. Higher levels let you see further away and in more detail up close. To train this skill take in all you see and try to understand it, catalog it, make sure nothing goes unnoticed.
Key Attribute: Wisdom
Eventually Commander Lefso returned and saw Joe sitting waiting for him and smiled. “Of course you beat me here. I had to come back from the palace the normal way.”
They both laughed as Joe rose out of his chair to greet the orc. “Lefso, thanks for reaching out. Now, what's this I hear about a dangerous bounty?”
Lesfo gestures for Joe to join him in his office before he'll speak more of the matter. After the door was shut and they both sat down Lesfo got into the details of the issue. “Have you ever fought golden bison?”
Joe shook his head. “Never fought any kind of bison, no. What are they like?”
Lesfo grimaced before answering, “They are tough. Bison normally have a high Toughness, but the golden ones are an exceptionally strong variant, their thick golden fur being nearly impossible to penetrate. Normally only one in a herd is golden, but stories say that sometimes weird manachlorian shifts cause an entire herd to turn golden overnight. When multiple golden bison get near each other they rile each other up. This many turn to stampedes. Merchants from the eastern shore towns have seen them on their journeys this direction and sent reports. No one has been hurt yet, that we've heard, but it's only a matter of time.”
Joe nods to the commander's pronouncement about the danger waiting to strike and asks, “Can you show me on a map where they were spotted?”
Lesfo pulls out a map of the kingdom, pointing to an area east of Trenos, near the ocean. Joe memorizes the location. “And how many bison are typical in a herd?”
Lesfo grimaces again, “This time of year? About seventy, give or take. No one wanted to stick around near a golden herd to get an accurate head count, though.”
“Okay, I understand. I think I can take enough precautions to protect myself, but I'll need to see how they deal with my spells and other attacks to see how well I can do against them. I'll be going, cause I've never been to that area before, so I'll need to get closer.”
With that Joe left the building, then Trenos itself, to start running along the eastern road in search of bison.