“Tower Master! Your guest is at the eting room on the 24th floor,” the lady in the lobby greeted him friendly.
“Thanks.”
He didn't press her to find out who was waiting for him and simply thanked her before he turned to the elevator. He has so thoughts about who it would be, but the person sitting in the eting room was-
“Hubert?”
Seated at the table was Hubert McCarthy, the dinsional rchant Seth ca to know during the evaluation in Chrona. Seth had a short-lived comrcial relationship with him before he simply vanished. Recently, Lydia and Ray had saved him from Erald City, revealing the terrible darkness that hid behind the tropolis in the Unclaid Mountains.
“Hello, Seth,” the man greeted him with a slight smile. He was very skinny, compared to the last ti they t. The ti in captivity had left its scars on him. Visible ones and implied ones.
“You have a present for ?” Seth asked surprised, as he still rembered the man as quite stingy.
“A present, yes. And a request,” Hubert added with a wry smile. Seth stared at him for a mont, before he sat down at the table, opposite him.
“Then let's see the present you have first. We can talk about the request afterward.” he finally said, not outright denying any quests the rchant may make. He decided to listen first. With a nod Hubert waved his hand and a crate appeared beside the table.
When he opened the lid...
Epic Silver! It was a whole crate filled with ores of epic . It had been quite so ti since he ca across a material he could refine into . This was a massive gift, indeed.
“I ca across it during my... stay at Erald City and thought I might be able get your help with it. In the end, I was saved by your people,” he said with a wry smile.
“So, now you are simply gifting it to ?” the bard asked. He wasn't going to refuse such a great gift. Especially since he was very interested in the effects of this new silver. What would co out of this?
“Well, yes. And I hope it will influence your answer to my request positively,” Hubert added. The blacksmith was in a very good mood, it was probably ti to hear Hubert out.
“I see, then tell what your request is.”
“I wish to join Minas Mar. The guild, not the district or a subsidiary,” he ca out with it.
The Dinsional rchant asked to join Minas Mar. The months of imprisonnt, facing his own weakness had made him realize that this world was too dangerous for him to be alone. He was not strong enough to walk alone with his head held high when he was not even a chosen one.
When choosing who to join, who was better than Minas Mar. Not only were they trustworthy and powerful. There was also a role he could play as a supplier of exotic resources, or resources in general. Seth could guess so if his intentions.
“Do you know what it entails if you want to join us?” Seth asked him. Surprisingly, McCarthy nodded.
“Leana and Mary already inford . I will have to sign a magic contract with my soul on the line, right? I'm ready,” he said resolutely. His expression was determined, it seed that he had taken his ti to make the decision.
With Hubert joining Minas Mar, Seth would have almost the whole team that went to the evaluation under him. Aside from McCarthy, the mist demon Misto Pheles was part of the field teams. Yvette, Elza, Marcel, Brock, and indirectly Cade who had joined Minas Mar as Allies in the Tree Stations.
The only ones outside his grasp now were the Hero and the Slavemancer. The forr he didn't want and the latter... well, Seth didn't have any interest in the Slavemancer's baggage. Even if he found the skills interesting, he didn't feel the urge to recruit him, who was currently working in Delta.
“Alright then,” Seth nodded. Since Hubert was prepared, he had no reason to refuse him. With a wave, a scroll appeared in his hand.
“This is the soul contract. You can read it and sign it if you agree with the terms. Mary will then take care of the magic contract,” he explained and handed it to him. It was the simple version everyone signed, that would co into play if they betrayed Minas Mar. Mary's contract would make sure that they couldn't successfully do it, even if they tried.
McCarthy read through the scroll ticulously. When he was done he nodded and signed it without hesitation. They didn't talk for much longer, the rchant knew that Seth had sothing else on his mind.
It wasn't just that he was eager to jump at the next project while his mory and inspiration of the Slughterer's Set was still fresh. It also had a practical reason: The storage rooms under Minas Mar were full of the things Hoen had made for him and hindered the work of others.
“Good, Welco to Minas Mar. Mary and Leana will take care of the rest,” Seth said, shaking the rchant's hand.
“You know what I want from you for now. Speak with Leana and the others about the stuff they need. If you will excuse , I've been wanting to get back to the workshop for a while.”
Saying his goodbyes, Seth left and returned to the workshops. He first went to his own, summoning all the crafting stations back in place. Once the forge and anvil were back in place, Cerberus, who had been tirelessly forging items for Minas Mar switched back from the substitutes to the real thing. After calling Sivri out, too, and leaving her to her own devices, he went to the door across the corridor.
This workshop looked quite a bit different from Seth's or that of a normal blacksmith. The workshop was about the sa size as Seth's, which ant it was closer to a factory floor than a workshop Seth had made that space in his workshop so he or Cerberus could work on big golems, that didn't fit in the Golem Forge back then.
Hoen's Workshop was filled with a great number of furnaces of various sizes and shapes. The constantly roaring furnaces kept the temperature in the massive hall at a cozy 45°C. While it didn't bother Seth or the dwarf, the helpers they recruited were sweating profusely.
On the other hand, he had walls over walls with casting supplies for tal casting. As the dwarf from a world that veered off from the traditional image of dwarfs, he was specialized in casting magic items in great numbers. He was also the main supplier of their Copper Anvil Stores.
“Hoen, I'm back!” the blacksmith called out.
“Seth? Oh, finally!” the dwarf exclaid relieved. “ The guys from storage were about to lynch in the next few days,” he joked.
“Then let's go quickly and relieve them from their worries,” Seth laughed as he shook Hoen's hand and pulled him in a short embrace. As they bantered a little and talked about what Seth was up to in the past few days, the dwarf guided him down to the storage area.
It was part of the newer parts of Minas Mar, Seth had excavated, using the tower's drone workers. The hangars holding the golems for sale were also in this area. Hoen led him to a hall filled with crates and boxes.
“Which of them -?” “All of them. And another two warehouses in that direction,” he said, pointing his thumb down the hallway.
“Then let's see them,” Seth said, rubbing his palms.
Hoen broke open one of the crates, revealing the fruit of his labor. Rows upon rows of enchanted bronze plates. They glittered in the light of the magic lanterns that illuminated the room.
This was it, the cornerstone for one of Seth's biggest projects, yet.
“I will need your assistance for the next few days, and we might recast a few of them, are you ready?” Seth asked, staring at the plate in his hand and then looking down the corridor, lined with crates like the one before him.
“I'm ready.”
“Good, then let's get to work.”
User Comments
0 comments from readers