Lian wanted a break from all the attention and refocus on becoming a proper blacksmith. For her that meant she needed to find a decent fire skill. Until she got connected all she could do was pay close attention and hope she didn’t miss something while heating the metal. With Pops' last lesson, she was determined to find a good fire skill. The problem was that all the fire skills she was finding were complete crap

  “Firebolt. Produce Flame. Spark? Who made these skills?”

  Lian couldn’t help but complain. The fire skills on her planet were either gimmicks or life-improvement skills. She had no problems with life improvement skills, it’s just not what she wanted to find. Any that looked useful, such as Flame Aura or Burning Amplification were too combat-oriented for what she was looking for.

  “I really don’t have a choice, do I?” Lian asked herself this, knowing the answer as she changed tabs to send Sera an email for help on this. Before they left Lian remembered them saying they were going on an exploration mission and would be out of touch for a few months.

  She kept the email short, just asking for help and suggestions. Afterward, she closed her laptop and went down to talk to Pops about how he chose his fire skill. He wasn’t hard to find since he was taking a break with a slice of pie.

  “Hey Pops, what fire skill do you use?”

  Pops nearly choked on the pie when he heard that question as if he had just overheard some big revelation. However, he did calm down after drinking some water to help clear his throat.

  “Why do you ask Lilliana?” Lilliana liked to believe that Pops did not hide anything outside of the three objects in his office, so she was very confused about why he was sweating bullets over this.

  “I’m having trouble finding one, especially since most trading groups don’t come out this far.”

  “I actually started with the skill Produce Flame and evolved it over the years. Now I can create powerful flames and freely control them with the same skill.” Pops explained this as he made a ball of fire and had it fly around the house to show off.

  “I didn’t know that. Why didn’t you tell me this after telling me to go get a fire skill?”

  “Ah, you know how us old folks are. When you do something long enough it becomes common sense, and you forget that others might not know that.” Pops explained as he continued to eat the pie, while Lian began to think on the topic more but was less stressed about it.

  “Alright. Now that I think about it, I also need to get the money for the skill.” Lian immediately groaned as she realized she spent most of her money on some more crafting materials, leaving her only the gift card for GAT. She made these purchases before her birthday, so she wished she was a little more patient. Though she also wished to be better with money and to have a billion credits but knew neither was going to happen any time soon.

  “I can lend you the money to get the skill. Just tell me how much you need, and I will give it to you for this.” Pops knew that this was an important moment for her so he didn’t want her to limit her potential and future resources when he could help her with this one.

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  “I’ll take care of this myself Pops.” Lian responded as she kissed him on the cheek and left to get the Saber-fang dagger she made. She bet she could get enough credits from selling it to buy a decent starting skill.

  When Lian left to sell her dagger Pops had called back his ball of fire and in the brief moment that he snuffed it out, it had a golden shine and he just sighed with a heavy heart. He hated hiding so much from her.

  *

  At the guildhall, Lian was waiting for an appraiser so she could sell the dagger. While a part of her was a little sad to let go of her first forged beast gear, so she looked it over one last time.

  She was still proud of it, flaws and all. No matter what it will be named later this would always be her creation.

  This moment didn’t last long as she was called back rather quickly with a lack of outstanding craftsmen. Instead, it was just local starting hunters trying to buy some decent equipment to go hunting with.

  The appraiser took his time going over the dagger as if it would be the last time he would see new merchandise. He did every test he could on it, sharpness, hardness, edge retention, and all that before he even looked at the dagger’s stats.

  “Well miss, this is rather well made. We expect nothing less from a guild apprentice. I think the guild can buy it from you for sixteen hundred credits.

  “Um yeah, that sounds good.” Lian was elated to hear that. Most of the fire skills she saw on planet side were about fifty to a hundred credits, so with sixteen hundred she was confident she could buy a good starting skill, and maybe some more equipment for her side of the smithy.

  She would spend her gift card, but she has that reserved for supplies to forge equipment to build a local reputation for crafting.

  While she did have the option to send her dagger to one of the lower-tier auctions, she was just happy to collect the money right now. She was fine with doing business like this for anything that she wouldn’t call a current masterpiece.

  *

  Sera had just returned to her hotel with her sisters when she got the email from Lian and was more than happy to be the one to help her for once.

  “Hey Winter. What was the website we got our skills from last time?”

  Winter was organizing their supplies for the drop. While they still had a few more days before the expedition. Sera’s request struck her as odd, but it didn’t stop her from pulling out her phone to check.

  “Why are you asking for it now? It’s not like you will get it before the expedition starts.”

  “Lian is having trouble finding a fire skill, so I’m sending her some suggestions. Figured giving her a proper online market we trust would help her.”

  After hearing Sera’s explanation, she forwarded the link to her to put in the email. Sera has also recommended skills like Pyromancy and Pyrokinesis. Knowing Lian she wanted it to forge better equipment. For most she would have just said to grab fire manipulation but the skills she recommended not only allowed the user to control flames but create them as well.

  With Pops' spartan-like mentality when it came to teaching others the skills that could do both would be more beneficial. When she sent the email Sera was sure that it would be it and wished Lian the best in whatever path she chose from now on. Even if they all knew exactly what their little sister would do.