For example, skills such as material selection, quenching, and grinding and so on were very practical, and perhaps one of these could bring Rein a relatively larger amount of Blacksmith Professional Experience Points.
As for why not learn to make weapons, like a Dual-Handed Greatsword?
It wasn't that Rein didn't want to but rather that Blacksmith Boris didn't know how!
Rein had long understood that Blacksmith Boris was merely skilled at crafting everyday items, mainly focused on making common iron goods used in daily life, such as horseshoes, iron pots, kitchen knives, and so on, not adept at forging weapons or armor.
As for the skills involved in Boris's making of the Bastard Sword last time, Rein had already clearly learned about it from Blacksmith Apprentice Drews.
That was Boris's secret skill, which he did not intend to teach any non-blood relatives.
Therefore, Rein wasn't going to make things difficult for himself.
Moreover, his Giant Bear Sword Technique required a Dual-Handed Greatsword, not a Bastard Sword, because only a Dual-Handed Greatsword could fully unleash the power of the Giant Bear Sword Technique.
"Uncle Boris, thank you for your kindness, but I would still like to try my hand at the manor's trial," Rein said tactfully.
Blacksmith Boris wasn't offended by Rein's refusal.
"Young man, it's good to try out different things. If you can get into the manor, that would be an even better option."
"By the way, Uncle Boris, how much would it cost to learn skills like material selection, quenching, and grinding, etc.?"
"I would like to have a better chance during the manor's assessment."
Upon hearing Rein's words, a collective gasp could immediately be heard from those around!
Clearly, the surrounding Blacksmith Apprentices were surprised at Rein's tall order; not only did he not want to be a helper, but he also wanted to learn so many skills, which would be costly and not easy to master entirely.
"That won't be cheap, these three skills together will cost five Imperial Gold Coins!"
"However... if you come to work as a helper, I could slowly teach you these skills for free over the course of about a year," Blacksmith Boris paused for a moment, smiling amiably at Rein, while also making an offer that was very tempting to ordinary people.
This made the Blacksmith Apprentices, who were eavesdropping on the conversation, look enviously at Rein, their expressions seeming to say:
"Rein is so lucky to have such a talent for smithing! Why couldn't I have been born with this talent?"
Facing Boris's invitation for the second time, Rein scratched his nose, smiling wryly.
He hadn't expected the normally 'stingy' Blacksmith Boris to value him so highly.
If it had been before, Rein would have agreed without hesitation.
But now, his goal was the 'stars and sea', how could he possibly confine himself to a small blacksmith shop!
"Uncle Boris, thank you for valuing me, but let's forget about it. Five Gold Coins, right? That's a lot of money; I would need to discuss it with my parents."
"Oh, can I study these skills separately?" Rein continued after some thought.
"No problem, the charge for material selection is one Gold Coin, and quenching and grinding will each cost two Imperial Gold Coins," Boris indicated with his hands.
"Alright! Uncle Boris, I will go home and discuss it with my parents now."
"Of course, you can."
"Then, Uncle Boris, see you this afternoon!"
Rein, of course, did not mention this matter to his parents when he went home; whether studying separately or seeking his parents' advice, both were merely pretexts.
After eating lunch at home, Rein returned to the blacksmith shop carrying a Gold Coin.
Upon entering, he handed a Gold Coin to Blacksmith Boris as the tuition fee for selecting materials.
After paying the fee, Blacksmith Boris took Rein to a warehouse behind the forge.
This was Rein's first visit here.
He saw various unprocessed ores stacked inside, alongside neatly arranged bars of iron, copper, and tin.
"Rein, let's start with selecting ores. Look at this, this is hematite," said Boris, picking up a human-head-sized ore intermixed with red and black colors.
"Generally, its surface is this dark red or black, with the fracture planes showing stripes or shell-like shapes...."
Rein listened attentively to Blacksmith Boris's explanation while carefully weighing the heavy piece of hematite in his hands.
"This is cassiterite; it usually has a dull brown surface with a granular texture and a metallic luster, with cavities inside the ore...." Boris explained, picking up a dark brown ore.
"This is chalcopyrite..."
With 11 points of spiritual power, Rein possessed an observation skill, discernment, and memory far exceeding that of an ordinary person; he quickly understood the several most common types of ores that Boris explained.
"Generally, the higher the quality of the iron ore, the more black it will appear on the surface...." Seeing that Rein showed no signs of confusion, Boris continued his explanation.
At that moment, Rein noticed the system prompts that appeared:
[You have engaged in the study of ore identification, improving your understanding!]
[You have realized a new skill—Ore Identification]
[Your skill, Ore Identification, has improved, Experience Points +1]
[You have focused on learning Ore Identification for half an hour, Blacksmith Professional Experience Points +1]
Rein immediately saw a new icon light up below his Blacksmith panel.
The icon, shaped like an irregular piece of iron ore, was clearly the newly acquired skill 'Ore Identification'.
It was then that Blacksmith Boris stopped explaining and turned to Rein, saying:
"Rein, these are the most common ores, but besides these, there are some extremely rare ores that are much more difficult to identify."
"However, the value of these ores is also extremely high." This piqued Rein's curiosity straight away.
Boris then took out a piece of ore with specks like little stars from a drawer and handed it to Rein, saying:
"This is star iron, also known as meteorite ore. It is said to come from falling meteors. When the meteor falls to the earth, it forms such meteorite ore, which is very rare."
Rein was immediately surprised when he took the so-called star iron!
Because he noticed at once that this piece of star iron, or meteorite ore, weighed much more than ordinary hematite or magnetite.
Despite a similar size, its weight was more than double theirs.
Boris, seemingly aware of Rein's surprised expression, couldn't help but laugh, "The texture is different right? This piece of star iron is no bigger than the size of a fist in my possession, yet its price is dozens of times higher than common iron ore."
"Hiss!" The price really shocked Rein!