Old Wisdom, New Ways

Quest giver: Adalberta
Location: Ul'dah - Steps of Thal (X:10, Y:14)
Class: Miner
Level: 20

Required items: 15 Grade 1 Carbonized Matter
Experience: 24,360
Gil: 470
Previous quest: Getting in Deep
Next quest: Water from Stone
Patch: 2.0

“

Adalberta has a mind to teach you about materia.

— In-game description

Rewards

1 Iron Pickaxe

In addition to the above, choose one of the following options:

Walkthrough

Level 20 Logging from level 20 Mature Tree in Western La Noscea, Skull Valley (X:26 Y:25)

Level 20 Quarrying from level 20 Rocky Outcrop in Middle La Noscea, Three-malm Bend (X:15 Y:10)

Carbonized matter catalysts were once used for Materia Melding. This requirement was removed in patch 4.06. Grade 1 Carbonized Matter remains in the game due to class quests requiring its collection, but is useless aside from completing these quests.

Steps

Deliver fragments of grade 1 carbonized matter to Adalberta. 0/15

Journal

Adalberta has a mind to teach you about materia.

You learn that Deep Canyon used to be Adalberta's friend and mentor, but that something has driven a wedge between them. Though they do not see eye to eye on many things, Adalberta concurs with Deep Canyon's advice on the matter of equipment, and proposes materia as a means to augment your gear. With this in mind, she bids you obtain fifteen fragments of grade 1 carbonized matter, a catalyst formerly used in the materia melding process. Dig for the substance around the De Nevelle Checkpoint in middle La Noscea, and deliver the required amount to Adalberta.

Adalberta explains that materia can only be attached to equipment by Disciples of the Hand, a process that once required the use of catalysts procured by Disciples of the Land. Due to advances in materia melding techniques, however, these substances have since become obsolete. Although this has led to reduced work for miners and botanists alike, Adalberta tries to be happy for progress.

※ The next Miner quest will be available from Adalberta upon reaching level 25.

Dialogue

Accepting the quest

Adalberta: Ah, [Player]. 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?
Adalberta: ...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.
Adalberta: 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.
Adalberta: I grew up here, watching girls sing and dance on that very stage...
Adalberta: I even joined them for a while. It seemed the best way to please my adopted family.
Adalberta: 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.
Adalberta: 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.
Adalberta: 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.
Adalberta: I owe a lot to Deep Canyon...despite how things turned out.
Adalberta: 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.
Adalberta: Now, it's high time I taught you something. You are here to learn, after all.
Adalberta: It concerns the vice foreman's advice to you...
Adalberta: He speaks true——a miner who neglects his/her gear can't hope to work to his/her full potential.
Adalberta: In the past, if you wanted to improve your gear, you had little choice but to replace it. But these days, we have materia.
Adalberta: 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.
Adalberta: 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.

Delivering items to Adalberta

Adalberta: How goes your search for carbonized matter? Don't forget, it's fifteen fragments I want.

Cutscene

Adalberta: Aye, precisely fifteen fragments of grade 1 carbonized matter. Well done, [Player].
Adalberta: Now, I expect you're keen to learn about materia. Well, the first thing I should tell you is that it's not been around for long——in Eorzea at least. Knowledge of its use only came to our shore a few years back.
Adalberta: The process of enhancing equipment goes something like this: first you take well-worn gear and extract materia from it——don't ask me how.
Adalberta: You then take that materia and attach it to the item you want to enhance.
Adalberta: It's this procedure, known as "melding," that once required catalysts like the kind you brought me. I should mention at this point that the actual task of melding is something that only skilled Disciples of the Hand should attempt——that's weavers, goldsmiths, and so on.
Adalberta: These people used to depend on us Disciples of the Land to supply them with catalysts. Then catalyst-free melding was discovered, and we lost not a small source of work. But that's just progress for you, and I try to be happy for it.
Adalberta: Now, there's various kinds of materia, each offering unique benefits.
Adalberta: And, as I'm sure you've guessed, some of them can be exceedingly useful to miners. It's these which I recommend you seek out.
Adalberta: Once you've found a materia you like, you just need to ask a friendly Disciple of the Hand to do the melding for you. I'm sure there's one among your acquaintances.