For the blacksmith apprentice, the whole thing felt like a dream.
He was now leading a very peculiar man toward the best auction house of the city. With every step, he couldn't help but sneak a glance at him. Who the hell was this guy?!
1. He could outlast his mentor in the fire soul training, apparently without any fire affinity either. The old man had remained behind to recuperate, but this Josh was perfectly fine.
2. He had been introduced by Markus. While the man was amiable and easygoing, he remained the leader of Metropolis-D and his time was incredibly precious. Yet he had personally guided this guy to their place?!
3. Then there was his nonchalance toward money. One million Credits wasn't a number that anyone could even think about. This was big corporation-level money. How the fuck could he even think of spending it on a single weapon?!
4. Finally, there was one last thing he couldn't understand. Why was he so hyped about the morphing weapon? There were other options: less versatile ones, but with more power for a fraction of the cost.
The more he thought about it, the more impossible the man's existence seemed. Was he a mighty character? Then why did he seem so down-to-earth? What was up with that?
"You should probably look where you're going." Josh playful voice echoed.
It's only at that moment that the young apprentice blacksmith realized that he had been walking in circles for the last seconds. He blushed as he picked up the pace, as he began talking to fill the awkward silence:
"You'll see that the place we're going to is quite special. It is definitely the best place to pick up materials for crafting. Hopefully, we'll be able to get everything we need."
"What would that even be?"
"Mostly very malleable materials. By that, I don't mean soft ones, but ones that are more magical than physical. The problem is that those are usually the hardest to work with."
"But you have a method to deal with that, right?" Josh inquired.
"Even I am not able to interact with such materials at all. Instead, I've been using a different approach. I let everything happen by itself."
"?"
"My whole technique is to come up with the perfect recipe: one that will combine the perfect ratios and timing. The various materials will then react with one another in a controlled manner— if everything goes well." He said as if such a thing was natural.
Josh couldn't help but praise. If he had trusted the two before because of Markus, he now was wholeheartedly convinced. He made it sound so simple, but it ought to take a genius to come up with ideas like that.
"Isn't it hard?" Josh remarked.
"Very. It requires lots of pondering along with lots of trial and error. After all, the whole Tower magic is just science that we don't understand yet." He declared.
Then the man kept babbling about the craft, but Josh couldn't understand any of it. It reminded him of that one time his lover had dragged him to that one theoretical physicist's lecture.
Josh felt that the chances were higher for a pebble to learn how to fetch than for him to understand everything. But he smiled nevertheless, impressed by the man's enthusiasm!
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There was no trace of his previous embarrassment or reservations. At this moment, he was just a simple mad genius eager to share his knowledge. These were the kind of people that Josh admired a lot.
Before his guide could finish his cryptic explanation, they arrived at their destination— or so it seemed as he suddenly stopped dead in his track. They were at a scrapyard that looked highly desolate.
Were they at the right place?! Josh gave his guide a confused glance, but he simply chuckled.
"See how all the nearby buildings are not that tall? The owner of this place wanted to build a Tower but was initially refused because it would have stuck out like a sore thumb in the surroundings."
"And?"
"Well, he still built it." As he said that, he approached a seemingly random spot, going over a small barrier, then shouted: "I'm here for the material auction!"
That's when the air rippled as a door shape appeared right in front of them. What the hell?!
"Alright, let's go!" The man strode forward, disappearing in the fluctuating door frame.
As soon as Josh followed, he seemed to pass through some optical camouflage barrier as a whole new world revealed itself to him. At that moment, he was genuinely impressed.
In front of his eyes, there was a towering building, one that was truly phenomenal. In fact, only one word came to mind when witnessing such marvel: Ugly!
The Tower was a flashy bright orange, one so gaudy that it would have put the 80's neo fashion to shame! As a building, it was horrifying. Then there was the lack of any architectural elegance. The whole thing was just one big block void of finesse.
"No wonder the city vetoed it out," Josh murmured in realization.
"Haha, let's just say that this place is great to buy materials, and that's it." His guide chuckled.
Josh then turned his gaze toward the people that could be seen swarming the place. The crowd looked quite peculiar. There were climbers, crafters, and merchants alike as if one big melting pot. Some appeared extremely valiant, others refined, and a minority looked rough.
For some, an auction was an opportunity to showcase their wealth, while others were more pragmatic about it. Why would they dress up to go shopping? It didn't make any sense.
His guide seemed very familiar with the place as he led the way, people turning and pointing at his passage. Many shook their heads, a disparaging smile on their faces.
But as they saw Josh following closely behind, their eyes began gleaming with schadenfreude. They were grinning as they couldn't wait to see what the outcome of this would be.
That's when a man stood in their path, blocking them. His guide frowned: "What do you mean by that, Rocky?"
The newcomer completely ignored the apprentice blacksmith, and instead, he turned toward Josh.
"Young man, let me give you a piece of advice. Be careful with dealing with this guy. He may be convincing, but he is far too ambitious for his own good."
"What do you mean?"
"He'll always try to make the best equipment but fail in the process. Whatever you need, you should probably ask his master or another blacksmith." He kindly advised.
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"Hey, that's because I ended up lacking materials…." The youngster weakly protested.
"That's the thing. A blacksmith needs to forge, not to fool around and experiment all the time." The man admonished.
The youngster looked downward, realizing that he spoke the truth. He felt incredibly wronged, but he didn't know how to defend himself.
Josh couldn't help but be surprised. In the man's admonishing tone, there was both disappointment and concern. He was most probably a friend of the youngster's mentor.
As for his kind warning?
"I see. Thanks for the warning, I guess, but I just happen to want the best of the best." Josh winked with a confidence that only the truly wealthy could possess.
As he said that, the nearby craftsmen gasped. This guy was a fat fish?! Had they realized it sooner, they would have tried to convince him to do business with them instead!
Still, they could already predict how this business would play out:
1. The youngster would convince his patron to buy expensive materials.
2. The crafting process would fail disastrously.
3. He'd try to convince the man to keep investing, claiming that he was very close to success.
4. Then steps 1-3 would repeat themselves until the man was ruined.
The fool would be gutted of all his savings very soon. Would he despair? Would he regret?
They stared at the duo hovering between laughter and jealousy. It was just a shame. If he had money to throw, he should have thrown it in their pockets instead.
As for the apprentice blacksmith, he hurriedly began power walking. It seemed like he had trouble remaining in the spotlight. Josh chuckled to himself, quickly following.
As they entered the carrot-like building, they were welcomed by a carrot-like auction attendant. How ridiculous! It looked like all the people working here were wearing a construction vest from Earth. Well, at least they were easy to notice!
"Welcome to Infinite Treasures. What are you two looking for today?"
Wasn't this an auction? Did they have multiple rooms or something? Josh was confused, but he remained coy as he let the two work it out.
The apprentice blacksmith didn't seem like an apprentice at that moment as he authoritatively enumerated all that he needed:
"We need materials, lots of them and of the highest quality. Here are a few key monsters that we need drops from:
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- Slimes, all the variants.
- Elemental Djinnlets or anything elemental.
- Anything metal-based: snakes, harps, everything.
- Wraiths, Reapers, succubi, etc. Aka, the shadow ones.
Oh, and add to the mix the unique crafting loot from every single fucking Floor. I need to see it all!"
Wow, he sure was domineering! The poor auction house employee had his mouth open in dismay. What the heck was this insane request?!
"Sir, actually, it's not possible to see the items here. You can download our app to bid on what you desire. If you require some help, I can schedule a meeting with one of our appraisers…."
The employee patiently explained to the two people who looked extremely broke.
On the side, some of his coworkers snickered as they saw him being so diligent. They recognized the apprentice blacksmith. The only positive thing they could say about him was that he had a great master!
But that specific attendant didn't care about that. After all, in customer service treating everyone well was a given! But that's when the youngster fished a token from his pocket, throwing it at him.
The employee caught it by reflex.
As he examined it, his face couldn't help but contort in shock. What the actual fuck?! This was a goddamn VIP token?! This little thing meant that they had to treat whoever possessed it as if their boss!
This meant many things:
1. They were big shots.
2. This was an excellent opportunity to get a fat commission. ($$$)
3. He would 100% be doing overtime today. Who knew if it wouldn't lead him from a door greeting job to a promotion?! No freaking way that he would allow anyone else to take care of these clients!
While the employee couldn't help but rejoice, his colleagues turned green with envy. Why hadn't they gone forward to welcome the two?! Heck, many of them had the opportunity but had chosen to disregard them!
"Alright, please follow me. I will bring you to our vaults."
"Great, now we're talking!"
This would be one long browsing session…
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[A/N] Here we go, CA chap woot! I've been busy all morning editing chapters for RPP's mass release. Pretty sure you guys are already reading it so you know, haha. xD