good game, but can't proceed without leveling crafting :<

[Asurastrike]

They claim "I played warcraft 3, starcraft and WoW competitively and professionally", yet anyone like that would easily be smart enough to figure out how vendors and questing works.

who said i didn't know how questing/vendors work? I just didn't realize that the dagger was ALREADY materia-enchanted. I thought the NPC wanted me to enchant first(requires lv19), and then hand it to him. I thought this because the NPC had the red incomplete mark on his head not the green one.

[Mhaeric]

This is literally all you have to do:

-Talk to Minfilia and accept the quest.
-Head to The Bonefire, north of Black Brush Station in Central Thanalan.
-Trade Minfilia's Dagger to Mutamix Bubblypots. (Note: the goblin enhances the dagger for you during this step.)
-Travel back to The Waking Sands and hand the Materia-enhanced Dagger to Minfilia to complete the quest.

http://ffxiv.gamerescape.com/wiki/Li...and_Everything

[Anova]

The story should ask you to trade a key item dagger to Mutamix. After that, you return the materia-augmented dagger to the npc at Vesper Bay.

A detailed walkthrough for it is here

[Reiterpallasch]

Why do something that I simply don't enjoy?

So don't do it? As people have already pointed out, the quest you're trying to do has nothing to do with the main story line.

And even if it was required...

and when I finally got it to level 10 after two days

Level 10 on any crafting profession takes no more than an hour at best, and maybe a few thousand gil.

I was shocked to find that I needed a gathering skill to get cotten balls

They're sold from the vendor at the weavers guild. The same vendor that the guildmaster tells you to talk to.

[Dark_Legacy]

yes, just trade in the dagger and take it back to minfila the rest is optional.

[Asurastrike]

yes, just trade in the dagger and take it back to minfila the rest is optional.

I will try that tomorrow. I still don't know why the NPC had the red mark on his head though.

[Syamic]

I will try that tomorrow. I still don't know why the NPC had the red mark on his head though.

That's probably because you have to have a level 19 crafter to get his quest to *Learn* how to meld item's.
It has nothing to do with the quest your talking about.
If you dont want to level crafting just ignore it.

[jabbywocks]

I will try that tomorrow. I still don't know why the NPC had the red mark on his head though.

Probably because your level wasn't the right requirement to complete the next step. You might have needed to gain a level or two to move on. That's common.

[Mhaeric]

I will try that tomorrow. I still don't know why the NPC had the red mark on his head though.

Right clicking on an NPC with a red mark will bring up the quest dialogue as normal, except it is greyed out and it lists what things you need to meet eligibility. It can be anything from your level, to missing the requested item.

Make sure it is not the quest Waking the Spirit from the NPC F'hobhas (http://ffxiv.gamerescape.com/wiki/Waking_the_Spirit) as that is the optional quest requiring a level 19 crafting job that you do not need to do. This quest is from a different NPC, although the goblin does suggest talking to them during the storyline quest. It is just that, however, a suggestion. Not a requirement.

[Naberrie]

I will try that tomorrow. I still don't know why the NPC had the red mark on his head though.

If it's red it means you don't meet the requirements. That specific quest is not story related. It does not have a story icon. You are mistaken. It requires a level 19 in any DoH that is not CUL, as CUL does not meld materia. It probably doesn't taste very good.