Improving

After spending time working at the smithy as an apprentice, observing the comings and goings of the shop, Alex was slightly surprised. He found that truly most of the customers came simply to repair their items or to purchase custom made utensils.

In this age of prefabricated mass produced items, there was actually a market of people who preferred hand made utensils. A lot of them were actually restaurants and chefs, who were following some latest fad in cooking of all parts being naturally made.

Alex also observed how Roy repaired as well as forged items from ingots. He wasn't as good as the old man by a long shot, however, he was stable and somewhat strong. He saw that Roy didn't tire out quickly even after several hundred swings of the hammer at full force, which embarrassed Alex.

At the end of the day, Roy asked Alex to begin working out. "Alex, you are too weak, even if your technical skills seem bizarrely good without having practiced much. You need to follow a strong training regimen from now on to take your physicality to the peak. A blacksmith's job requires a mixture of technique, strength and endurance and you are severely lacking in the last two fronts."

Alex nodded with heavy embarrassment etched on his face. He had been born with poor genes and was a physically lazy person. But now he had to change his lifestyle drastically. Roy gave him the contact of a friend of his, who ran a gym, whom Alex was to contact.

Alex went back home. Attending school had been put on the back burner for now. At least for a few weeks, he had to put his all at the Blacksmith's. Back, in his room, he took a look at what the thousand points he earned could let him purchase. The other basic subjects each cost a thousand points each.

Alex, however, was more interested in the training card at the moment. The 7 day training card for blacksmithing was available for purchase at the store for a thousand points. Even if he couldn't add on a 50% learning boost like before, Alex quickly purchased and activated it.

The next moment when he opened his eyes, he was back at the old man's forge. "Molte, I can't believe you had the gall to come back! I will give you one more chance looking at how pitiful your stupid face looks right now. Head to the forge!"

Thus, once again Alex ended up in a terrifying cycle of a week of endless forging. This time, he was able to create a result in purification that created satisfied the old man, who threw him into forging ingots constantly for the entirety of his training period.

When Alex came back to reality, his eyes were numb and his body felt like it was on the verge of falling apart. He quickly took the nutrient packs he had prepared and devoured them quickly and rapidly. The terrifying hunger slowly washed away, but his body's cramps began flaring. Tired to death both mentally and physically, Alex fell asleep.

Somehow, Alex managed to get up next morning. The pain had subsided and his body felt much better. He felt fresh and healthy. Suspicious of how good he was feeling, Alex called up his stats to see the difference.

[Alex Redford]

[Human]

[Constitution : 0.45]

[Intellect: 1.0]

[Insight: 0.2]

[Ordinary human being with subpar stats.]

Alex found to his shock that his constitution had actually improved by 0.05. This change could be considered negligible, but he felt fresh and healthy. However, the more shocking deduction was that the training card could actually help his constitution!

He went to the blacksmith store and began his observational job as apprentice. The second training session led him to a lot of insights within the movements that Roy made when he wielded the hammer.

After the shop would close, Alex went to the gym. The guy running the gym was an extremely buff looking individual called Lobby. Lobby looked at the scrawny Alex and laughed. "I can't believe Roy took in a scrawny apprentice like you! No worries, I will get you into peak human shape to make you suitable for your job! Come, let us analyze your genome and design the perfect training regimen to boost your physical productivity!"

This was the interstellar age. Gyms were high tech ventures which performed a complete genetic and physical check of the body and algorithmically designed the perfect training regimen for the desired outcome.

"What kind of result do you want, lad?" Lobby asked.

"I'd like to improve my overall physique, stamina and endurance in a systematic manner." Alex replied after a thought.

"A stable physical foundation, huh? Good! I half expected you to want to rush and strengthen your upper body and arms because of blacksmithing!" Lobby yelled with some heavy doses of enthusiasm. "Improving your foundation will be harder, but better for you in the long run."

Alex didn't have much to say to that, other than following the crazy training regimen. He also had his diet tailored and had to purchase specific nutrient packs specially tailored for his use.

Two days later, Alex actually began getting to repair items. Repairing items was a level easier than forging new items and as such, with the help of the intense training under the old man, Alex was able to grasp the ropes quickly and became the primary repairman at Roy's shop.

Alex found, to his surprise that each repair would give him 5 to 10 points depending on the difficulty of repairing the object. Most of the items were damaged cutlery or furniture. The process was slow, but like this he could continue to amass points.

Roy became increasingly impressed with Alex's technical skill and began imparting his own experiences to Alex. However, his weak physique constantly slowed Alex down and it was difficult for him to maintain efficiency. Swinging the forge hammer wasn't easy, but Alex struggled on with his best.