Supreme Archer: Taking The Game's Weakest Class To The Top

"Smart of yer! It must have been difficult to get Viktor moving, though!" Aaron asked as he caressed his long beard.

Jake shook his head. "No, I asked for a few books about archery. He was surprised at first but then decided on his own that he should help me get my hands on them! So both of us came to the capital… I think he misunderstood me."

"Misunderstood? Aren't yer requesting books to improve yer archery?" Aaron asked.

Jake grinned, "It's to expand my imagination! I recently realized how poor it is! If I can't imagine beauty, how can I become creative about my archery?! This is a serious flaw I must fix!"

"Yer are not normal…" Aaron said, confused.

He opened the door to his basement and guided Jake downstairs.

This place was as clean as it was before. Jake could swear that he had never seen any dirt or speck of dust here, meaning that Aaron had never given up on his passion and dreams. He was just held back by the harsh reality.

"Jewelry, ye?" Aaron asked as he walked past various anvils and smithies.

Jake nodded.

These two then stopped before a grand stone furnace.

Jake called his second summon, then. Wukong appeared on his right arm, holding dearly to it. He was confused by the furnace before him. His golden eyes widened in surprise as Aaron turned the furnaces' mana engravings on.

The furnace's front lit up like a demon's mouth. Inside, flames swirled like dancing fire fairies.

Wukong's eyes sparkled, and so did Jake's.

Both were interested in what could be achieved with this beast's power!

Aaron enjoyed their reactions.

He liked them so much that he hadn't parted his lips for a while and stood with a bright smile plastered to his face.

At last, he said, "Artisan Quest shall now commence!"

[You have received a new artisan quest—Jewelry.]

[Artisan Quest #2 — Jewelry — Follow Master Aaron's instructions to learn basic jewelry skills.]

[Reward: Aaron Timberart's Savoir Faire Of Inspiration(Epic), friendship points with Aaron Timberart.]

"Savoir… Faire… Of Inspiration?" Jake uttered the name of the skill. "Why does it sound so cool?"

Aaron grinned, "People with creative occupations need those sparks of inspiration to continue their craft! My Savoir Faire of Inspiration skill allows me to melt my inspiration along with ores to craft jewelry with unique effects! If an ore or gem already possesses a distinctive effect, this skill allows me to melt it again and enhance that effect further, so long as I have a spark of inspiration!

The more inspiration, the better. The more experience in the field, the better! It can be any sort of experience, including suffering! Inspirations come in many forms, boy.

"Which means yer shall not only melt the ores you have painstakingly mined and collected, but yer will also melt yer efforts, inspirations, and feelings alongside them! Yer shall start with normal stuff first, though."

After this speech, Jake and Wukong felt betrayed upon hearing that they'd not craft jewelry with unique effects first! Instead, they would make molds and melt into them ores to get the common effects from each ore, which anyone could achieve with basic knowledge.

Imprinting inspiration and other special effects was for later.

"Yer can't complain!" Aaron shouted.

"Meh," Jake said.

Wukong nodded.

"Yer two! I will make you die before the furnace!" Aaron harrumphed!

And did he make them die!

Aaron forced Jake and Wukong to make new molds while staying close to the furnace! He also made their faces so close to the furnace's mouth that Jake and Wukong were as red as apples!

It was so harsh for the baby monkey that Jake unsummoned him.

Jake wiped off his brow and said, "You should go easy on him!"

"Just a monkey!" Aaron replied.

"And here I thought you became closer with Wukong…" Jake said. He wanted to wipe off his sweat again, but at this point, he decided to not care anymore.

The jewelry was quite different from what he had read at home. It seemed like the furnace's build and mana engraved within its structure did a lot of work for artisans. It was important to keep an eye on the melting ore and ensure that no imperfection from the ore would find its way to the gem's substance, though.

"My guess is that I would apply The Savoir Faire Of Inspiration into the furnace and then later into handwork!" Jake shouted at Master Aaron, who had decided to have a drink.

The old man nodded, "Yer smart!" He approached Jake and looked into the furnace, "But yer need more experience! I can see a lot of imperfections in the substance!"

"Huh! How!" Jake exclaimed, then looked deeper into the furnace's mouth.

Aaron commented, "Looks like yer sweat got into yer eyes! Those molds are meant for a necklace's bead, right? What's the reason?"

Jake faintly smiled. In fact, he blushed a little, but it couldn't have been seen because of the sweat and the swaying flames.

He replied, "Based on the experience I've gathered from the dungeon, I strongly believe that I will be able to make a necklace with a strong fire resistance!"

"Yer fought many fire mages?" Aaron asked.

Jake turned a deaf eye to this question.

Later that day, Jake crafted various raw necklace beads. The old man also taught Jake and Wukong how to carve simple shapes with a hot steel knife on already molded pieces.

Aaron was satisfied with Jake's creations, as they were above average for the first time, but he also told Jake that he needed more time at the furnace to get a better hang of melting! When it came to Jake's handiwork, his hands were smooth and precise, as though he had spent a lot of time toiling with broken stuff and now understood the comforts of utensils.

Viktor visited Aaron's house on the same day and passed Jake a few books.

The second stage of Jake's baby steps, therefore, has started.

The grind!