He should try to ask other characters in game in a manner befitting his character. He might try asking people working at the forge, and if he is lucky he might even get a crafted axe for cheap. Npcs sell items that are 1/6 as good as the best an accomplished crafter can make (50/50 as opposed to 300/300, where the number before the slash indicates current quality and the number after the maximum quality, 300 being the best currently possible.) I am not sure right now whether there is an npc who sells axes in hydlaa, if the smith in the main plaza does not then he will likely have to travel to another city to get one from an npc. Of course that smith is unavailable during the game's night time hours.