BXBX NOVEL Chapter 172 - 172
"I\'ve got a recipe for you, if we\'re bargaining. The Legendary Five Tiger Spear. Its damage is incredible, plus I think it would fit your style. It can grant your group a portion of your damage as an attack power buff. How much depends on the item\'s creation. But from 5 to 20 percent." The Smith says, pulling it from inventory while the others stare in awe.
"I am guessing this is incredibly valuable, as are the materials?" Cain asks.
"The recipe is. But the materials are simple. I would ask five thousand Gold for the recipe, but only a hundred gold per attempt worth of materials are required for making the spear."
That\'s pretty reasonable, so Cain links the recipe in Guild Chat.
[Dimnys, do you have the skill to make this?]
[Just barely. But if I equip all my smithing bonus gear and use an enchanted hammer I have a reasonable chance at making it to a high standard.]
[I\'ll send you enough for 5 attempts. Show me what you manage to make.]
"Deal. I\'ll take the recipe plus 5 attempts worth of materials for our Guild\'s Smith, then the rest in Gold. She\'s a very accomplished Dark Dwarf, so I\'ve got high hopes she will make me something great." Cain smiles at the Smith, completing the deal and signing over the forge to its operator.
"If you\'re not hard up for Gold, I run a Tailor\'s shop." An older looking Orc smiles toothily, his dark green skin heavily scarred from a lifetime of battle. Normal wounds heal smoothly with magic or regeneration, but ones with curses or debuff effects, plus those that cause massive damage often scar, and the Orcs don\'t bother to use magic to remove them, seeing them as a badge of honor.
"What have you got? Misha here is a Tailor, so she can tell you what she needs." Cain says and the Orc nods, then gestures to an open table, so they can look over his inventory while the others bargain.
"I\'m a general goods trader, I buy ship loads of mixed goods and resell them. If you don\'t mind, I\'ll just pay you out in Gold. It\'s a rare opportunity to buy a shop here, most of them pass down in Guilds and families for generations." A fancifully dressed Gnomish girl smiles at Cain.
"Don\'t tell me that, I might have to jack up the price." Cain teases, making Sam, the innkeeper laugh.
"The Earl Passed a law against that, to stop land prices from skyrocketing. We can\'t build much further out without the new developments getting blasted by the desert winds above the ridge line that surrounds the port, and at one point prices for a shop were getting near a hundred thousand Gold, just for the chance to do business here. Afterwards, joining the right guild or marrying into the right family became the way to get ahead, and those with power got more powerful." Sam explains.
Which means he himself has some clout, because a large Inn by the wharf is prime real estate.
"The city is equal distance from the closest ports on the eastern and northern continents, and closer than either of them to the Holy Landis Kingdom, so it\'s a gathering spot. We get a fair number of ships from the western side of this Central continent too, if you need something really high level, or a ride to new places to level up."
"I\'d have offered to marry into your family to get my shop free, but I think the Dark Apostle over there might strangle me for suggesting it." The Gnome who just bought out her shop jokes quietly so Misha doesn\'t hear her.
"She\'s got a point, politics are a tricky thing. Getting out from under them will be a relief far beyond the cost of the shop." A hooded woman adds. Cain can\'t tell exactly what species she is, but she\'s tall for a human, so not an Elf, Dwarf or gnome for sure. That doesn\'t really narrow it down though.
"I run an alchemist shop. Various potions of all sorts. If you\'re in need of alchemy recipes, I\'ve got those too." She says in an amused voice, but her features seem to be shrouded in shadow.
"Kone is your go to girl then. She advanced a bit too quickly for her alchemy skill, so she\'s in need of a number of recipes to catch her skill up to her level." Cain says. Unlike gear, potions have the same effect no matter who created them. Meaning you need new recipes to build your skill so your potions do enough to matter at your level. A minor healing potion is great at level 20, but healing 50hp is pointless at level 100, where you would regenerates that every second in a close combat class.
Like Misha and the Orc, they head to another table and Sam brings them breakfast. That leaves only two more. The Inscriptionist and this very large berserker. Unlike the others, Cain doesn\'t see a Guild tag on his name, [email protected], which Cain assumes means Carlos, but he isn\'t flagged as a deserter either, so he was possibly an independent shopkeeper, which seems unlikely, or he was kicked out by the Guild Master Odin.
"I have an alternative proposal for you. I\'ve been in this city almost a hundred years now, and after a minor argument yesterday I was removed from my Guild. I would like to join yours, both for my own peace of mind, and to assist you in doing business in the city.
Myself, I trade armor to the ships, everything from top quality level 200 gear, to bulk low level items bound for the low level zones near the coast on the Eastern continent."
Joining the Darklight Host would protect him from others trying to force him to join them to take his shop, should he buy it out, or lock him in a contact if he doesn\'t, to gain control of his connections.
"We have some experience in trading already, and a Wave Rider with us as a connection to the fleets. How much benefit can you offer?" Cain asks.
"The difference between finding a ship through a connection and finding the best deal on a ship is about fifteen percent of the price of shipping. Plus, history matters a lot in this city, and I\'ve been around a long time. Finding a full ship worth of space lets you sell a lot more at once than piecemeal bargaining."
Cain wonders a moment why they don\'t just load every crew\'s inventory with goods instead of the ships, but then it occurs to him. The sea is supposed to be full of dangerous monsters. Losing crew overboard or having them eaten is always a possibility. If you can\'t recover the body, everything they\'re carrying is lost with them, so a few lost crew could be a financial disaster for a fleet operating that way. Losing the whole ship is presumably less common.
"We\'ve got the space for another member, if the group approves of you, but the question is why were you kicked out of your last Guild and do you want to buy your shop or rent it from the Guild? Trust is important to us, the Darklight Host is one big family you see." Cain informs the Berserker, who begins to laugh, drawing everyone\'s attention.
"I had a bit of an argument with Odin about him being reckless is all. He doesn\'t take criticism well." Carlos begins, before the last member, a human woman named Niki, cuts him off.
"Best to tell them everything, like the fact you broke a table over his head, called him a mentally handicapped, inbred donkey fucker that hasn\'t had two brain cells working together since the day he was born. That part might be important."
"Yeah, he took that part personally you see. He was born a twin, but only one survived the birth." The Orc adds from where he\'s negotiating with Misha.
"And the table was a family heirloom." The Gnomish girl adds.
"Carlos is really a decent fellow, he just never got along well with Odin. The Duke brought him into the Guild back when he was running it, but as Knight Commander he had to give up his position." Niki explains.
"I should also mention, that both of his little sister\'s kids are mine as well. But I don\'t hold a noble title, so her father wouldn\'t let us marry." Carlos adds.
"And you let Odin know? That seems like the sort of thing folks keep hidden." Misha comments dryly.
"He might have caught us in the garden at his father\'s house one day." Carlos says sheepishly.
"Is she here? Or still home in the Landis Kingdom." Cain asks.
"She\'s here. She travels with her father, who doesn\'t trust her unattended for long periods of time anymore." Carlos says with a smile.
Looks like even short periods of time unattended are enough for those two lovebirds.
"And the children?" Cain asks.
"Both are enrolled in the Landis Royal University.. They\'ll be graduating soon as some of the finest Holy Clerics in the Kingdom."