A blacksmithing book? I have not seen this for ages. This book had never been the best alternative to Ex Job awakening aside from the arduous quests in-game by different master NPCs. This book is a shortcut! It's not dropped by a boss or a monster! It was sitting on the table of Almira! However, I am not a thief and even though Almira is an NPC, taking the book without her permission still counts as stealing. Almira's favorability will drop immensely if you take this book. Although this item appears to be a consumable one, I am not hungry to take one into my inventory. Being greedy doesn't give any good benefits at all.

I shrug the book away and just let it continue to sit on the table. I am not taking it. I looked around the store for a piece of good equipment but most of them are too expensive that I decided to just drop off the plan to buy one. It didn't take too long before Lina and Almira appeared again from the dressing room. Lina is wearing the upgraded Battle Maid Armor and even though it is the same Battle Maid Armor that she is wearing, it appears to be bulkier than the original one. And from the silver Battle Maid Armor color in the past that Lina is wearing, it was replaced with Gold Plate with red engravings on the side. It was very clear that Almira's handiwork excel a lot in terms of details and quality. I am very satisfied with it.

Lina turned around and looked at me with a bashful look.

"Does it suit me? I feel like it is not a good outfit at all," Lina sighed.

"No, you are wrong. It's pretty and suits you well. The bulkiness just makes you more having the air of danger with you. Isn't that better?" I complimented her.

Lina's eyes light up after saying those words.

"You are right Master! With the new defense of this armor, defending myself against attacks from monsters would be a nice change! I can take more blows than ever!" Lina gets enthusiastic.

"Although I wanted to give her a weapon, it's not part of the agreement so I decided to just drop it off. If you want to get her a weapon, buy it from me for 10,000 gold. I would be generous to give you a bit of a discount of 1 gold so you will only pay 9,999 gold instead. And from what I can see, that money is still nowhere near your budget so I will hold it off at the moment," Almira nonchalantly said.

My lips twitched hearing the discount. Wow, you are giving us a discount but only one gold, that was like a 0.001% discount alright? I think it would be much better if I buy it whole since the difference is just a single gold, but she is right. That money is nowhere yet near our budget. Even if I sell all of my equipment except the Versatile Weapon, I still won't be able to get the amount of money to buy the whip of Almira, not even close.

"I would think about it. I will be holding on that offer then in the future," I said to her in which Lina quickly retorted.

"Master!? Why did promise? That is not something we can afford and besides! The price is too expensive! We can already buy different kinds of food, clothing, and potions and spare equipment! The weapon is unnecessary!" Lina complained.

"Why not? It's also a piece of equipment like Almira's works and having one that is dropped by monsters is a far cry in terms of quality that Almira can currently produce you know?"

"I..." Lina tried to retort but for some reason, she had no idea what to say to defend her claims.

"Now, now, stop with the bickering, I have to get to work now that the [Melting Coal] is already in my hands," Almira said as she shooed us away.

"Umm, I want to ask something..." I asked Almira.

"Hmmm? Alright, make it quick if you want your armor to get finished in time," Almira looked at me with her serious face look.

"I saw the book about the Blacksmithing on your table. It looks interesting and I wanted to try it on how to slam the forging hammer on the hot iron from the forge."

"Your point is?" Almira's eyebrow rises.

"I want to be your apprentice..." I quickly said.

"I refuse..." Almira quickly dismisses my approach.

"But..."

"I am too busy and having an apprentice is a very hassling one. Since you have stumbled to my book, then take it. It's not like I needed that book anyway so it's better to just give it to anyone who wants it or needs it. Since you wanted to have one, then go ahead and take that book. It's useless to me because almost all of my knowledge in blacksmithing is already mastered. If you want to become a blacksmith badly then go and study using that book alright?" Almira waves her hands and enters her forging room.

I was left baffled. Almira did not actually covet the book but is currently just let the book gather and collect dust? She gave me the book just like that? Does that mean I can just take on and unlock the Blacksmith Ex Job?

Blacksmithing is one of the Ex Jobs I unlocked in the past timeline and I have a bit of mastery on it. Since I am a versatile now, I am quite sure being a blacksmith would further help me with the method of making the proper armor for me in the future which is only the Versatile player like can only wear. Since that is the case, I did not bother to get nice and say no to the reward. Since she had given her permission to use the book, then I won't be generous to say no to her offer. I take the book and opened it. As soon as I opened it, the basic rules of the Blacksmithing Ex Job quickly flooded my head. I am not scared though because that is the normal process. Although I already know what will happen next, I am still excited about doing the Ex Job successful. The message I am waiting for quickly arrived in my interface.

[Blacksmithing has been unlocked. You can now create weapons using your very own imagination and make simple equipment. Keep on making weapons and doing other stuff, to earn and to rise from the top of the world.]