Dominic made his way to the shower tent, where they actually had a separate shower for the common soldiers and the Nobles, then a third one with attendants for Noble Ladies use. Technically four showers in total, since there was one for "Servants" as well.
Though, Dominic wasn’t sure what some noble’s servant would be doing on the front lines, where they would get dirty enough to need an emergency shower.
The section for the Nobles was, naturally, attended by a number of maids and servants, and had a fire outside so that there was warm water for the children of privilege to shower in.
On the other hand, the commoners version had a Cogwork pump, which you cranked tight, and then it would pump water for a short time until it unwound. Dominic knew those ones quite well, and this one looked like it had a decent timer on it, so he quickly got to work, scrubbing himself and his clothing clean, and then redressing in his wet uniform so that it would dry on the ride back.
Nobody seemed to notice when he entered or left, and nobody bothered him on the way back, allowing his uniform to dry off in peace, without anyone being any wiser about his foray into the battlefield.
Or so he thought, until he got back to the forge, and one very proud noble with a brand new magitech sword was talking to Pops. He had forgotten about that little detail.
"Oh, my apprentice, welcome back. I see that you have found a most fascinating way to advertise your weapons for sale." Pops greeted Dominic as he parked the wagon outside the forge.
"I admit it was unconventional, but the offer was so good that I couldn’t say no."
The Noble chuckled and stroked the handle of the sword with reverence.
"I will admit, I was startled when I found out that it was an apprentice made weapon. But a contract is a contract. You do have the original contract with you still, don’t you?" He asked.
Dominic handed the purchase receipt to Pops, who read it over quickly and nodded in satisfaction.
"It’s a good thing that you came to me and not to the Forge Master. He’s been in a bad mood all day since Journeyman George made a mess of the place in a fit of temper. I agree to your price, and we can consider this deal complete." Pops announced, then signed off on the contract, with a note of [paid in full].
The Noble waved goodbye, and Pops thumped Dominic on the head.
"What were you thinking, taking that out around the Royal Rifles? They’ve got the rank that nobody here in the forge can say no to them. Fortunately, we got a good price for it, and we didn’t have to pay the Forge Master an extra commission for the sale.
He traded you a Sorcerer spell book for it. It’s a Rare magic item as well, and according to him, only those born as a Sorcerer Lord can actually use it. Do you have any spell gems except that one on your necklace to test it with?" Pops asked.
"Yeah, I’ve got two more. Mage Armour and Minor Damage Reduction. I haven’t finished attuning either yet, though."
"That’s fine. With this, you don’t need to." Pops explained, then handed Dominic the book.
"Just touch the book to the gem, and you will understand."
Dominic touched the book to his necklace, and the book flipped open.
[Spell added] Minor Illusion
Then he touched the Spell Gems from his inventory to it.
[Spell added] Mage Armour
[Spell added] Minor Damage Reduction
The spell gem still wasn’t attuned to him, but now the book was, and he could use the Mage Armour and Damage Reduction spells through it.
"It’s a form of Magitech Orb, but in the shape of a book. In theory, you can store spells in it to cast through it, and they will all cast at the affinity level of the book. The problem is that nobody has ever managed to attune to it. But if it did work, it would theoretically allow you to use any unbound spell gem that you come in contact with, literally in contact with." Pops explained.
What a Nobleman was doing with such an item was a mystery, but perhaps he had also traded for it and was looking for the right buyer when he saw the sword.
"So, what you’re saying is that if I can find more spells, all I need to do is record them here, and I only have to upgrade one item to improve them all." Dominic asked, with a huge smile on his face.
"Were you not listening to the part about it being defective and unable to attune?" Pops asked.
Dominic shrugged. "Works fine for me, see?"
The old man smirked. "Oh, he’s going to be choked when he finds out that you managed to attune to it. He probably thought that he’d gotten a fast one past us, and when a Viscount gets insistent it’s hard to say no to him, even as a Royal Smith."
"Well, it’s attuned now, so at least I know that it’s mine." Dominic replied.
An attuned Magitech Orb or item was like an attuned Gem: useless to anyone but the attuned user. Unfortunately, unlike the Gems, that attunement would end when they died, but even for a greedy noble, making a Royal Apprentice disappear was no easy feat, and this book was unlikely to be useful to anyone else.
"Did you get anything else out of the day? He said that you were covered in Ogre blood when he met with you. He almost didn’t recognize you, despite having seen you at dinner the other day." Pops asked.
"Just that spell gem and a fancy new set of Mage Robes. Well, I hope it’s fancy or at least decent looking, I haven’t tried it on yet." Dominic joked.
"Save it for the next time we get called to dinner. For the rest of the day, you need to work on weapons for the guard. You’ve been volunteered to go every day, since the others are all scared witless of being murdered by a Goblin if they go outside the gates right now."
Dominic smiled at the Master Smith. Pops really did understand him well. He hadn’t gotten many Goblin Cores today, but the Ogre Core was a powerful one, which would be useful for crafting later.
"I think that should work out well for everyone. They need more of everything on the front lines. The Goblins are getting more reinforcements from the Ogres, and there are too many Hobgoblins in the Goblin ranks. They also know to stay out of range of the majority of the ranged weapons on the walls. They’re smart." he agreed.
"Alright then, it’s settled. The Guard Commander says they’re short on War Picks today, so we will be making hammer heads. Now, go get your lucky oil bucket and get to work."
War Picks were a great option. They could be hammered out from hot metal in a relatively short amount of time, and they rarely needed sharpening or maintenance. Against lightly armoured targets, they were an excellent option.