After dinner, Dominic returned to the forge so that he could make spare parts while he studied.

Technically, Amie was doing most of the work, but every fifteen minutes, he had a spell to cast, and that had to count for something. Fortunately, it didn’t interfere much with his studying, as he had done it so many times he hardly needed to look over to be sure that he had done it correctly.

"Why are you studying tonight? Do you think that it will make a difference in your mission?" Amie asked curiously as she mixed up more clay.

"If I’m making spell gems in combat, check me for a head injury. No, I just want to know it before I go so that I’m not distracted while I’m in the field."

She gave him a disbelieving look, but Dominic looked confident that he would manage to figure out the technique in a single day of studying.

Then, Dominic began to channel mana, and a small blue gem appeared in front of him.

"Ha, I get it! That’s kind of a pain in the ass, you know? Just trying to cast it gives me a headache." Dominic muttered to himself as Amie stared, shocked to the core by what she had just witnessed.

"How did you do that?"

"Just like it says in the book. See, the directions are right here."

Amie blinked slowly, then decided to rephrase the question.

"How did you do that instantly?"

"Mana?"

Again with the slow blink. She was not getting through to him. Perhaps because Dominic had no idea what he had done.

"Imbuing the gem with the spell typically takes hours of constant focus." She noted.

"Yeah, it said that here in the book, but I don’t have that kind of patience, so I just made the whole thing at once instead of starting from the core out in layers.

I don’t recommend it, my head hurts."

Amie took a wineskin from her storage ring. She had been told that dealing with geniuses was a frustrating experience, but she had never personally experienced the feeling until this moment.

Everything about him, from his learning speed to his spell casting, defied common sense.

"How do you store that much mana? Do you have an item?" She asked, hoping this might clarify things.

Dominic shook his head. "I used external mana for it. It’s a dragon thing."

"External mana to make a spell gem? Is that [Minor Illusion]?"

Dominic nodded, and tossed her the gem. "If you don’t have it, attune that one and let me know if I did it right."

"You clearly didn’t do it right. But that doesn’t mean that it didn’t work. Unfortunately, I already know the spell, so I can’t attune this one. However, I can test it." Amie explained.

She cast [Identify] on the spell gem, and smiled. "It’s functional. A proper spell gem for the Minor Illusion spell. Is there a reason you made it egg shaped instead of faceted?"

Dominic shrugged. "I’m not great with geometry. If I was looking at a well cut gem, it shouldn’t be an issue, but I am a big fan of eggs. I can get that shape right every time."

"Fried eggs, scrambled eggs, poached eggs, pickled eggs..." Amie agreed.

"Remind me later. Before I leave, I need to borrow a jar of Miss Beth’s kimchi pickled eggs." Dominic informed her.

"Before we leave. I will go with you, as there is nothing for me to do here if you’re gone. Besides, I’m probably more experienced as an adventurer than you are."

Dominic doubted that. He might not be a member of the Guild, but he had certainly hunted his share of monsters over the years to keep a roof over his head. With the number of times that he had been run out of town and had to leave everything behind, he was always in need of money.

"Meet me here in the morning, and we will go to the Guild. If they can get us a force on short notice, we should be able to take a portal in the right general direction and go hunting for the monster horde." Dominic suggested before casting one last [Clay to Steel] spell to finalize a batch of pistol parts.

"I don’t suppose that I can get an advance from you for a couple of those pistols? I will pay you back when we get loot." She asked eagerly, while staring at the parts.

"Tell you what. I will make a batch of ten special ones, better than what I sell to the Merchants’ Guild. Most wouldn’t be able to afford to buy them, but I don’t mind taking all your loot and having you work off the difference." Dominic joked.

"You underestimate a battle mage of the Duskblade Sect." Amie retorted.

Dominic chuckled, and refrained from mentioning that she was a hundred and forty centimetres tall, and probably not out of her early teens. Calling her a "battle mage" was generous.

"You’re going to make better weapons? I’m totally in. I don’t care if it’s Rare Grade and I have to hunt a thousand monsters to pay it back, I want it."

Dominic laughed. "If you don’t prefer a pistol, I can make you a different weapon later. I might not be great with the fine details like Pops, but I can make you a pretty solid energy blade."

Amie nodded. "We will see how the battle goes. A Rare energy blade would be wonderful if it were on a dagger sized or smaller base. But as short as I am, revolvers are better."

Dominic looked at her hands and sighed.

"This isn’t going to work. The revolvers are too large for your hands. Lay out a sheet of clay for me, and I will make a smaller frame to fit your hands. The rest of the mechanisms will work with it." He decided.

Most pistols were made for a man’s hands, and they were slightly large for most ladies to begin with. Not unusable, but not as comfortable as they could be.