The mage took the staff and retreated from the counter to let soone else co forward while he sent a ssage ho.
It was close to three hundred kilotres by road to Lared, and his teacher would want to know right away that the deal had been made, and not in four days from now when he returned to the Academy by trade ship.
While the mage talked, Karl sold a number of the assorted Commander Rank rings, which posed a small dilemma for his team.
They needed the apprentices, or at least Wendy, to keep making wooden jewellery, while Loros made the more detailed stone items for Karl's work. But he had just taken a rather large order for wands.
He really should have thought that one through.
{Lotus, can you make forty-nine wands with at least Commander Rank potential? I need to inscribe them with Fireball and a basic combat buff, so either make them long, or leave room for a small stone.} Karl requested via Guild ssage.
{Alright, I can make fifty branches in a matter of minutes. It just takes energy.}
Karl chuckled, knowing that she really ant motivation and not actual magical energy was the lacking factor.
Karl used [Follow , Little One] to teach [Recall] and [Teleport] to Dana, so she would keep the Nature Cleric on track. He would teach the others [Recall] at the end of the day when Lotus wouldn't get sidetracked.
She still hadn't changed back from her tiger form, quite comfortable in her new fur. That should help motivate Lotus. {When do you think that business will calm down? If we're overrun with custors every day, we're not going to get any progression done on our own.} Tessa noted.
{Give it a few days and I think the initial rush of people who have been looking for items will make their way through our doors. Then we should be able to spare ti to actually work on ourselves.} Karl replied, though he wasn't sure he believed it himself.
As the crowd was thinning, thanks to having three people on the floor working, Karl decided he could retreat and go work on the wands that Lotus had already made.
She had made the wands out of so sort of black wood, roughly forty centitres long, and as thick as one of Lotus' fingers. That was more than enough for a basic fireball and Skill Damage with a rune for mana regeneration.
These didn't need mana storage, they were just combat weapons of a ranged sort.
Karl quickly began to inscribe the wands to get through them. It would only take a few hours, and then he could get to the rest of the items that were waiting for him.
Dana sat on his left, reading a book and purring idly as Karl petted her head. She didn't even seem to notice that she was doing it, but it was taking all of Ophelia's willpower not to say anything about it when she passed by the second floor.
Karl managed to get the wands finished without incident, and noticed on his way out to the workshop to check on the sculptors that the mage was still nearby, at the bakery a few doors down the street.
Karl waved to get his attention, then walked over.
"I had so wand stock that I customized for your purpose. Fireball with Skill Damage and Mana Recovery is fine, right? At the Commander Rank, of course. They're all identical in effect, but not in appearance." Karl explained.
"That fast?" The mage asked, shocked.
"When I only need to tweak them a little, it doesn't take long. Fireballs are popular." Karl offered, covering for the fact that Fireball was one of the easiest effects to replicate with runes. The only one he could think of that was easier was a Lightning Bolt.
Once the mage finished his snack, he followed Karl back to the house and straight to the second floor, where forty-nine wands were laid out in two rows.
"What do you think? Is this suitable for your graduates? You did say a combat wand was what you desired, and this will help them with combat." The mage examined them each closely, and noticed that while the appearance changed, the actual effects were uniform.
"This is perfect. Exactly what the Dean had requested, and much faster than any other wand maker we contacted had quoted. Most wanted a year or more to acquire the materials and make that many." He explained.
Karl chuckled. "That was their loss, then. We just happened to have the materials on hand, as we were opening a new shop. I appreciate your business, and I am certain those spells will prove to be a great benefit to the Guild."
The mage smiled. "If you are interested in additional Skill Books, we have a trade Envoy in the city once a month. Or, you can take the trip down to see us, it's only a few days by ship."
Karl chuckled and gestured toward the door. "I have a Ghostfire Thunderbird at my disposal. I am certain he can make a few hundred kilotres in less than that."
That made the mage laugh. "I would say so. How did you convince him to let you ride without burning you to ash?" "Trade secret."
The mage bowed politely and turned to leave. "Perhaps we will et again soon. I am certain that my ntor will be overjoyed with the success of this mission. Only three months remain until graduation, and we feared that we would have to wait until next year to begin granting the rewards."
Once he was gone, nearly skipping with joy on his way out, the house fell silent for the first ti all day, and the kitchen staff prepared to serve lunch.
Mick, their new vampire clerk, looked at the al being served with regret. Then she turned her head in shock as the staff brought out a wine bottle of what was definitely warm blood.
"We know that you need both for survival, but we didn't know the proportions. Lady Rae generously donated a sample of her reserve stock for your als. If you can inform us of your dietary needs later, we will make preparations." The chef explained.
Mick poured a small sample of the blood into a wine glass and sighed with pleasure as the scent hit her nose. "Earthy and lovely. Such a powerful vitality. I won't need more than a glass or two of this a week. The bottle will last roughly a month with just regular als."
Rae patted the vampire on the head. "It's not bad, right? Royal Rank Hill Giant."
Mick nearly choked on her drink as she turned to look at Rae. "This is from a sentient being? I shouldn't drink that. Drinking from the intelligent species is widely considered barbaric."
Rae shrugged. "He's already dead anyhow, it's not like using a bit of his blood for your survival will hurt anything. As long as it's not addictive or toxic."
The vampire shook her head, making her long black hair ripple and flow over her face.
"No. Drinking from live targets is, though. It's also very intimate, and ... why am I telling you that? So embarrassing."
Rae giggled. "Don't worry, you'll find the one you really want to bite one of these days."
From his space, Thor snorted in amusent as he ate. That phrase just sounded odd coming from Rae.
"What do you usually drink?" Karl asked, so the chef could keep so for ergencies.
"I usually drink blood wine. The vampires make it, and there are so batches in stock at the local butchers, made from the Awakened and Ascended Rank sea beasts that the fishern bring in. It's a bit fishy, but not in a bad way. Like eating sushi."
Rae made a ntal note to try that. Blood Wine sounded like a truly refined lady's beverage.
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