As noon approached, suddenly, the system displayed a different notification:
[You assisted in nailing horseshoes, insight improved!]
[You have comprehended a new skill — nailing horseshoes]
[Your skill ‘nailing horseshoes’ has increased, Experience +1]
Curious, Rein immediately flipped to the second page, the one for the Blacksmith Apprentice’s profession panel.
In the dense array of skills, aside from one lit-up icon of a hoof trimming, another icon now lit up in the position opposite to it.
Nailing Horseshoes lv1 (1/100).
This icon was simple, depicting a horseshoe in an inverted U shape, with seven tiny holes clearly visible on it.
While other icons on the profession panel remained obscure and unclear.
“Could it be that after some time of diligent learning, a profession-related skill can be triggered to light up, and then one could continuously practice to enhance the skill level?”
“It seems that’s the case!”
This discovery engaged Rein completely in the study of nailing horseshoes, to the extent that even the reappearance of the noble girl in the middle of the outer castle didn’t make him look up more than once.
At lunchtime, his close friend George looked at him quite strangely and said,
“Rein, I’ve noticed you’ve changed!”
These words slightly startled Rein. Could it be that as an old friend, George had noticed something was off about him?
George continued,
“Rein, why are you working as if you’re on a stimulant?”
“Trimming donkey hooves and nailing horseshoes, you keep going till you absolutely can’t anymore before you stop.”
Rein sighed in relief, so it was just this!
He thought to himself, “That’s because you don’t have a golden finger! Otherwise, George, you might be even more diligent than me.”
“Haha, maybe I just had a sudden realization! I’ve come to understand the importance of learning a trade,” Rein said with a smile.
“Really?” George looked at Rein suspiciously.
He always felt something had changed about his best friend, but he couldn’t pinpoint exactly what.
However, since Rein mentioned understanding the importance of learning a trade, George agreed with him.
Although George’s family wasn’t very well-off either, both of his parents were freemen with land and a stable source of income, so his circumstances were much better than Rein’s.
Unlike Rein’s home, where his father was a farmer who worked someone else’s land, and his mother had no stable source of income, not to mention, they also had a younger sister…
So, it was understandable that Rein was more eager to master a trade than he was.
After the young servants finished their lunch and rested briefly, they continued learning to nail horseshoes under Baal’s guidance.
Initially, nailing horseshoes captured the attention of the young boys, but as they became a bit familiar with it, the pseudo-second generation began to grow impatient since their aim was to be guards; whether they learned nailing horseshoes or not didn’t matter.
Soon, these pseudo-second generation kids started chatting about various topics.
These moments were when Rein got to catch up on outside news, so he immediately perked up his ears and listened.
“Hey, have you heard? Recently, it’s been quite troubled. I heard that a vicious group of pirates landed ashore,” Bushy Brows announced a big piece of news right off the bat.
“Pirates? Although Flashgold Town is not far from the sea, there is still some distance, right? How does pirates landing relate to us?” Freckles responded with a question.
“Not sure, I heard from Billy, a guard from a merchant caravan that just came to Flashgold Town, that a band of pirates called Black Sails have landed. They seem to be afraid to attack the County Town, mainly targeting nearby small towns. I’ve heard that the Fishing Port Town, which is closest to the sea, suffered heavy losses, even the town’s sheriff was killed,” Bushy Brows continued.
“No way! Aren’t town sheriffs usually potential Knights? Are the pirates that powerful?” the baker’s child asked, dumbfounded.
“Yes, the Black Sails pirates are very strong! Moreover, I’ve heard that our town’s sheriff, Lord Kuzma, is being transferred to become the sheriff of Fishing Port Town. Additionally, the new sheriff coming to our town, supposedly from the County Town, is a lord.”
“Seems his name is Lord Hamilton? I’m not quite sure… It should be that name……”
Freckles agreed and additionally revealed a big piece of news, earning Rein’s approval, truly proving himself to be a well-informed person.
“Oh! You heard about that news too, seems like it’s true then!” Bushy Brows nodded at Freckles.
“Right, Fishing Port Town isn’t far from Flashgold Town either, just about two days’ journey. Do you think the pirates might attack our town?” Freckles continued to express his worries.
“Don’t worry, pirates usually hit the seashore and then leave; they won’t venture deeper inland. Otherwise, they wouldn’t be called pirates,” Bushy Brows reassured.
…..
The amount of information was a bit overwhelming!
Pirates?
A new sheriff?
Rein was stunned as he listened, almost losing his grip on the horseshoe in his hand.
Meanwhile, Master Baal asked with concern,
“Rein, if you’re too tired, take a break.”
Rein had been very enthusiastic about learning these past few days, and his talent was quite impressive. Baal noticed this and his impression of Rein had improved a great deal.
Diligence can always inadvertently change people’s perceptions of someone!
“It’s okay, I can keep going for a bit longer.”
Rein shook his head, declining Baal’s kind gesture.
“Every opportunity to improve a skill must be grasped firmly; otherwise, wouldn’t it be a waste of this golden finger?”
However, the matter with the pirates ultimately touched Rein a bit.
It seemed this world wasn’t so peaceful.
He needed to become stronger as quickly as possible!
So, George found that his good friend Rein’s enthusiasm for work seemed even higher than the day before.
Throughout the day, he barely rested at all, constantly helping with pressing horseshoes, then intently watching Master Baal nailing horseshoes.
This kind of passion for learning was simply beyond understanding!
After continuously nailing horseshoes for two days, at this moment, Rein stared blankly at his skill—Hoof Trimming lv1 (99/100).
“It seems today I can elevate the Hoof Trimming skill to the next level.”
“Just not sure what changes will occur once it upgrades to lv2?”
Rein didn’t have to wait long, as he watched Baal making a horseshoe flawlessly smooth.
The long-awaited system prompt finally appeared!
[You assisted in nailing horseshoes, comprehension related to the skill increased!]
[Your skill Hoof Trimming has been elevated, experience +1]
[Congratulations, your skill Hoof Trimming has been upgraded to lv2]
Looking at Hoof Trimming lv2 (1/300).
Suddenly, Rein felt like he had a slightly different understanding of the task.
It seemed as if there were fragmented memories in his mind, almost as if he had been trimming hooves for months.
When Rein once again watched Baal trim the hooves, he felt he could understand a bit more.
For example, why Baal’s wrist needed to flick just so when trimming at the most curved part of the hoof.
Or why Baal needed to shake slightly when using the iron spade to scrape off excess from the hoof.
Everything was so natural, falling into place seamlessly!
He got it!
….
Rein had a feeling that although his strength hadn’t increased, he seemed to be able to start working on trimming hooves.
He couldn’t yet do the whole task of nailing horseshoes.
But he could try trimming hooves.
Even though proposing this to Master Baal seemed a bit audacious, considering the fastest-learning apprentices couldn’t yet do it independently,
but to gain more experience, the secret might be in getting hands-on himself!
Rein glanced at the Blacksmith Apprentice lv1 in his occupation panel and the experience bar (22/100) right below it, and muttered, “What a pity!”
It seemed that upgrading skills was easier than elevating his profession level.
He estimated that, at the current pace, it would take at least five more days to increase the level of his Blacksmith Apprentice profession.
After some hesitation, Rein spoke up, “Master Baal, could I try trimming the hooves? I feel like I can manage it.”
Baal looked at Rein, evaluated his expression carefully, and upon confirming that Rein wasn’t joking—and recalling Rein’s efforts over the past few days—he nodded and said,
“Alright, go ahead and give it a try.”
At this, all the apprentices were astonished, thinking, “He’s only been learning for a few days and he’s got it?!”
Even the resting pseudo-rich kids stopped their casual chat and turned their attention to Rein, although their goal was not to become the manor’s blacksmith apprentice.
This act of showing off was clearly intolerable for them!
“What the hell is Rein up to, trying to show off? Dammit, we’ve got to give him a good beating tonight!” the thick-browed boy spat out the stalk of grass from his mouth and cursed angrily.
“Just trying to catch Baal’s attention, the way he’s sucking up! F**k! We need to properly teach him a lesson tonight!” the freckled boy chimed in.
…..
