Ah, Forename. I hear you passed the vice foreman's test. Well done. I never doubted that you'd manage it─but I'm proud of you, all the same. Tell me, did Deep Canyon have any words of advice for you, by any chance?
...I see. In case you're wondering, the vice foreman used to be a miner himself. But more than that, he used to be my mentor.
My father was a miner too, but he died in a cave-in when I was but a child. The guild's been as a home to me since, and its members my family.
I grew up here, watching girls sing and dance on that very stage...
I even joined them for a while. It seemed the best way to please my adopted family.
I didn't want to become a miner back then, you see. After what happened to my father, I could scarcely face the thought of spending a moment underground, never mind a lifetime.
Not that the stage suited me much better... Which left what, exactly? Having been surrounded by miners for as long as I could remember, I began to wonder if I truly belonged among them. I even considered leaving. It was then that one of the guild's brightest and best took me by the hand and showed me the joys of mining. I speak, of course, of Deep Canyon.
He taught me everything he knew─which was a great deal─and the more I learned of mining, the closer I felt to my father.
I owe a lot to Deep Canyon...despite how things turned out.
But I'm rambling. I meant only to tell you that the man knows what he's talking about─when it comes to mining, at least.
Now, it's high time I taught you something. You are here to learn, after all.
It concerns the vice foreman's advice to you...
He speaks true─a miner who neglects his gear can't hope to work to his full potential.
In the past, if you wanted to improve your gear, you had little choice but to replace it. But these days, we have materia.
By your confused expression, I take it you're not familiar with the stuff. Well then, I reckon a lesson is in order. Simply put, materia's a kind of crystal that enhances the properties of equipment it's attached to. The attachment process is fairly simple, but that wasn't always the case. Time was you needed substances called catalysts, and digging the stuff up once formed a healthy part of a miner's work day.
Now, even though no one needs catalysts anymore, there's still educational merit in the gathering. To that end, I want you to try your hand at mining a variety of it, namely grade 1 carbonized matter. Fifteen fragments ought to do it. You'll have the best luck searching around the De Nevelle Checkpoint, over in middle La Noscea. Oh, and you'll most definitely need your sledgehammer.