"Finally done? Good, all of you are just in time to go to lunch. Now, I'm sure you noticed but we never sharpened your knives, that is because none of you have the [Blacksmith] job yet. If you have the job then you will be able to access the [Sharpening] skill pretty early which will save so much of your time and money, otherwise you are free to hop on one of the sharpening wheel over there."

I never noticed that. I thought you have to make it sharp by hammering it to an edge. I spent a lot of time trying to make it sharp that way. The sharpening stone I used to buy at a supermarket barely scrapes the edge so I thought most of the work is done by making it sharp beforehand and spend hours sharpening it. Thank goodness he didn't see me, or chose to ignore me, that was embarrassing. I wonder how it looks like, does the knife just magically shape to an edge if you use it or is it like my [Calm Mount] that has specific conditions, which is me needing to actually have a mount and a small bell.

Oh, wait, if he is mentioning this wouldn't that mean he would give us the [Blacksmith] job?

"I'm not giving you a job crystal for the [Blacksmith] job. Those things are expendable and expensive so don't go expecting some luxury item like that. Don't try to hide it, I saw those eyes of expectations all of you had when I hinted about it. This is your first test so LISTEN!! The time limit is until the end of this month, Acquire the [Blacksmith] job through working at this workshop. If you can't do it then you will then be expelled from the Blacksmith course. You can lack anything else but you an never lack the job to be a true dwarf blacksmith. You will only waste your and everyone else's time so give up, and by that I mean truly give up. Look toward other courses and devote yourself to what suits you, otherwise you will only be trying to fill in a bottomless pit."

Harsh, I keep saying harsh every time but this is truly the difficult. I thought everyone could be a blacksmith but to think they would use this as a means to filter the applicants. I know that you could learn a job when you do specific things but the process is long and arduous. The worst part is that I can only do that during workshop sessions, which from the looks of it is everyday from morning until lunch.

If I failed this then I wonder which course should I join? The rune thingy or the enchanter seems like the best choices so far. I don't have to create stuff and I only need to enhance the power of an already existing weapon or equipment. However, to make that successful I need fame and I can't afford to have a single blemish. The pay for even a single product from those jobs are expensive, so most people would probably use their best weapons and equipment. If I mess up a job like that then not only will I have to return the money the customer gave, waste the materials I used in the process, I would also need to compensate the weapon too. If I frequently make mistakes like that then rumours would spread and I won't have any customers that would entrust such expensive things to me again. I need to make this work somehow, I wonder if there is something in the library that could help me gain the job faster? I heard back at the human castle that humans have a natural affinity for the [Scholar] job, though I heard in the prison that humans has more affinity to the [Worker] job. The dwarfs should have a natural affinity to the [Blacksmith] job based on fantasy books.

"Blacksmiths doesn't have much skills as a job but if you ever manage to evolve it to be a Mastersmith then you can forge anything even without a hammer or forge. If you reach a high enough expertise as a mastersmith then you can process anything and build anything you envision. A mastersmith hasn't graced our continent since the Inventor Hero so work hard to reach that as your goal. Aim high, not only would you reach far on this path but the elder's even promised to make any mastersmith have a place in the council. As you all know, to be part of the council you need to be an elder dwarf but the clue on how to evolve to it is lost. Alright, since everyone is done then get out of here and have your lunch!"

My classmates look excited from it but I doubt such a lucky thing would happen. From what the teacher explained, it's impossible for normal dwarfs to unlock such a thing. The very system in this world is left to basics, and it's not even finished. I think every single evolved creature into a high tier race is possibly a hero summoned here. We heroes have that special exp bonus so it makes it easier for us to get more powerful, I doubt a normal resident of this world could possibly have enough points to unlock such an evolution.

"Teacher what are the skills of a blacksmith?"
"Watch and listen to my class and all the skills are bound to show up. Now hurry up and leave."
"Teacher, the door is still locked. We can't leave."
"Of course it's locked. Even if you are done with your first knife, you haven't cleaned your stations yet. Do you expect others to clean your mess? Hurry up and finish this and get out."

After a while of waiting for slowpokes to finish cleaning their workstations, we finally get into lunch. Unlike the dormitories that has a separate building, the cafeteria is like a restaurant connected to the backdoor of the school with a roofed walkway. It has three floors and the size is about as big as half a basketball court, the measurements are implemented by the Inventor hero so I think its the same as Earth measurements. It's one of the first things I searched in the library, along with a ruler.

Now then, except for eating the cafeteria is a good place to gather info. Cliques are starting to form now so I need to watch out on who to stick myself to.

"Welcome what do you want to eat? Take your pick, it's freshly cooked and 15 copper coins per dish."
"15 copper? That is a bit expensive compared to the dorm canteen."
"Most of the students at the dorm are those who can't afford to pay so the school made it cheap for them. As expected, if we cut back that much for all the student body we wouldn't be able to save money for other things the school needs."
"Like what?"
"How am I supposed to know? Go ask the principal if you want. Be prepared for a lecture though, he won't let you go for a long time. However, I guarantee that the food here is cheaper than the ones outside. In the town the cost of a normal meal is about 12 copper coins but the portion is a quarter less than what we give."
"It's not much of a difference."
"Of course, It's not like this is some fancy restaurant food. Now are you going to order of nor?"
"5 Crystal tusk boar barbecue, 10 slices of it's bacon, 3 grilled steel ball beast steak and a bit of that salad. No drinks."
"Thank you, please pay on that side, you can also receive your food on that end."

So she is only the order taker, it's a weird ordering system. Anyway, thanks to the money I got from the recruiter and alchemist yesterday, I can binge eat like this. I need to curb this down soon or I might really turn barrel shaped.

"Yo, Want to eat with us. Hmm, Don't you recognize us? We are classmates. Come sit down. You sure have a lot to eat there. Come, Come."
"Ok."

A chatterbox, I vaguely remember him holding down his mouth inside the workshop. I only noticed him since he was in my line of sight when I was looking at the punch guy.

"Nice to meet you I'm Bell Bargain from one of the merchant families. I couldn't stand the selling, barter, haggle, sell here, sell there, travel here, travel there so I choose to became a blacksmith and take root somewhere. How about you?"

A merchant, I don't know if it's because I found out the merchants at the human continent have been grossly overcharging me or if it's because the merchant house is in control of the princess's brother but the moment he said he was from a merchant family I had the urge to jam my barbecue sticks into his eyes. I thought I let go of my revenge of the past but it looks like it would take a while before I can forget that. I need to calm down, the past is no longer me. If I stay frustrated because of my misfortune of the past then I would hate and hate again every time I get reborn.

Since he is no longer a merchant I should remove my prejudice on their business and look at him as a fellow blacksmith student, even though he is a chatterbox. Unlike me who can be considered chubby, he is a real barrel shaped dwarf, I can't judge if he is good looking or not. I don't empty his bald head though. Is he still considered young?

"Hi, I'm Victor Smash. I'm from a soldier family. My weapon failed me a few times during a fight when I was escorting traders so I decided to be a blacksmith to create and maintain my own weapon. I only plan to be a part time blacksmith and full time warrior but it's good to have a back up job."

This guy I don't know. He should be a classmate based on the chatterbox but I didn't saw him or I most likely didn't pay attention. Unlike his chatterbox friend, he is buff and has rough hands. He is also wearing clothes that show off his arms unlike the chatterbox who is wearing a lavish looking purple silk loose long sleeves. Unfortunately he doesn't have a beard but he does have black hair in the form of those army cut from the movies.

"I'm Brill Smith. I'm from a Blacksmith family but we have this weird tradition that ancestral knowledge on smithing can only be passed on to those who established their own shop. This means until I open my own blacksmith shop, my family won't contact me."
"That's pretty strict but if you come from a blacksmith family, doesn't that mean your lineage has more affinity for the job? Unlike us from a different lineage, we have to work hard not to be expelled from the course."
"Yeah, not to mention I'm from a combat lineage so its even harder for me to learn a job from the production lineage."

Huh, so I guess there is something like affinity based on the family. I was just making some random BS about that to make myself blend in. I also don't want to make them know about my 'initiation' when I became a citizen in this town, which I found out from the library is only done to those who come from questionable origins.

I have amnesia and my gear was stolen, which they knew was a lie from the start, so they had to be extra careful when dealing with me. However, since I passed the enchanter interrogation I was allowed residency. If you have a clear identity and a known family that has roots somewhere, you can be a resident of this town without the strip search. So much for dwarf camaraderie.

Hmm, Since he is a merchant, does that mean he trades with humans, I wonder how much he charges them.

"When you were a merchant, have you ever made it to the central island?"
"No, My great great grandfather hates humans so we don't trade with them."
"Did something happen to him?"
"Yeah, my family was one of the recruited fighters for the war before the continent was divided but they never made it to the battle before the divide so we don't hold a grudge. Did your family actually reach the fight?"
"No, he was swindled out of an enchanted weapon. He bartered it for a supposed seed left behind by the forest hero."
"That was dumb."
"Yeah, even the warriors know the forest hero doesn't leave behind seeds. She plants then and it rapidly grows into a tree which in turn starts to create a forest in the surrounding, which makes it harder to know which is the original tree."
"He was a big fan so he was sweet talked into it. The biggest shame of our family."

They might not have info of the human continent but so far there isn't a negative thing I can see from hanging out with them. I'll stay with them as a friend until I see something concerning that could impact me in a bad way.