There were only two ways that a trade skill core would turn out that colour.

One, was that, like Dominic, their past was soaked in blood. But if the vitality of their victims was used to fuel the advancement of the wearer, the gem would turn a deep red, and then slowly fade to black as the demonic magic corrupted the original trade skill core.

Completely normal for assassins, and far too common among ambitious mages.

But what it told Dominic was that young Amie, despite her flawless and fragile appearance, was not afraid to get her hands dirty.

Or, there was a second possibility.

She might not be human at all.

Many species of Demons could take a human form using innate disguise magic. If that was the case, then her history and personality wouldn’t make a difference, as the only progression that she would ever make was an increase in Demonic Energy.

Not corrupting her, but because the magic of the Demon species was no more similar to human magic than Dominic’s own Draconic Magic.

Fortunately for Dominic, his magic didn’t corrupt the colour of spell gems.

Amie let her sleeve fall, then carefully tied both sleeves up, leaving her forearms exposed as she mixed the clay. It kept her sleeves out of the wet mixture, and she was surprisingly strong for her size. Either from magical enhancement or innate ability.

But she could mix the mud, and she had the consistency right, so Dominic didn’t see any reason to turn down her offer, even if he was going to keep an eye on her.

Dominic finished prepping the moulds, and Amie scooped the clay in.

With the two of them working, it was a much faster process, and Dominic added a tray of forms for making the Mana Pistols to the table.

"Since this is what you came to see, we will work on them while the rifles dry.

There is a bit of downtime in the day, between enchanting one batch and starting on the next. It’s a good time for lunch, but I will just have you go fetch the food, and we can work while we eat." Dominic explained.

He didn’t miss the amused noise that Amie made. "You’re enjoying the thought of having your own apprentice to boss around, aren’t you?"

"Very much so, yes."

Plus, this apprentice was a mage with a high level trade skill core. There was no chance that they were going to overtake him in skill and start demanding raises or Journeyman status at their own shop.

If anything, she might quit on him and start working for the Duskblade Sect directly. But the Sect lived in town, their tower was almost finished. It wouldn’t be that big of a change, he could just steal her back when he was busy.

The Sect Master wouldn’t turn him down, even if Amie actually came here without his knowledge today, which Dominic highly doubted.

Old Mages liked to know everything. Especially about their Acolytes.

Dominic cast the first transformation, and emptied the moulds as Amie got right to work refilling them to make the next batch. Dominic didn’t usually do that, he just made parts as he needed them. But mostly it was because getting the clay just right and shaking the air bubbles out of the forms took so long that he would lose a whole day if he stockpiled parts.

They worked in silence, with the young mage watching carefully as Dominic prepared the rifle parts for assembly.

"You really have a smooth system, you know?" She commented as Dominic ran a thread tap through a receiver, checking for any burrs.

"I had a lot of practice during the war. Now, since you were interested in Gunsmithing tricks, I will tell you one. You see, most gunsmiths press fit the parts, and then seal them.

I thread them in, for a more secure fit, and then seal them. Most of the seal is on the inside, then you just torch the brazing rod and let it seal the top. Nice and solid, not coming out or leaking.

It takes some grinding to take it back apart again, but it’s totally worth it. Even when these rifles are battered and abused by soldiers, they should still work reliably in any conditions." Dominic narrated as he performed the steps he was referring to.

Amie nodded, and gestured to the parts moulds, which were ready for Dominic to transform the clay.

A surge of mana, and the assistant got busy sorting the parts into bins next to the jigs for drilling and precision machining.

Dominic continued with the same steps on the other ten rifles for the morning, while Amie prepared more parts.

A full day like this, and he wouldn’t have to wait on prep work all week.

Having an assistant was a wonderful thing.

With the extra help, and someone to hand him parts, so he never had to go looking for anything, Dominic had the first batch of rifles assembled and ready for enchantment well before noon.

So early, in fact, that he was considering doing a second batch and enchanting them all at once.

Then it occurred to him that the enchanting process that he used was technically a state secret of the Cygnia Military.

Sure, they didn’t usually put a crushed mana core into the oil solution, or top it off with mana between uses. But the process was not the standard enchanting method, and it was so much more resource efficient than using a full monster core for every weapon, that there was no way that Amie wouldn’t spread the word.

And that left him with a dilemma. What was he going to do about it?

He could kick the assistant out for the process, but that would just encourage her to spy. Or he could have her swear to secrecy, which was likely to mean nothing if questioned by her Sect Master.

Loyalty to the Sect always came first.

Especially for a Sect full of mercenary mages, whose lives depended on being able to trust each other.

Dominic sighed as he looked at the ten rifles ready for enchantment.

"What I’m about to show you cannot leave this forge. Not even to your Sect Master or your Elders. If you can’t do that, I will need you to wait in the house until I call for lunch."

"You have my word. Nothing I see here is anything but confidential."

Dominic nodded. He would trust that promise, for now.

Then Amie smiled. "You know, the Duskblade Sect is one of the Mage Sects that knows how to make Mana Oil, right?"

Well, that just made things a whole lot easier.