The Crafting Guild wasn't hard to find after my visit to Iron Butterfly. It was a large building, with a much more organized look to its layout. While there were many shops attached to it, each one was a uniform size and seemed to offer wares in the same fashion. Some of the people I saw had a facial expression that I had seen in my own world that matched retail store clerks. They were people employed to sell wares but with barely relevant skills to match. It was an odd diversion from the blacksmith I had just met, who clearly made everything they sold and then simply placed it in a sales area.
The administration that ran the place was located in the heart, where I imagined the majority of the goods were actually created. There, very few people were actually hustling and bustling about, and instead I started seeing people with crafting based skills here and there running large machinery. Vats of mass produced potions bubbled, forges hissed, metal sang, it was all quite a sight. The air had an almost industrial feel to it, and it took a while before I could peel my eyes away from the large bits of machinery that were humming away.
"Can I help you?"
The voice caught me off guard and I turned to see a rather odd sight. A man dressed all in white, wearing what was clearly a very pricey business suit, looked me over as he played with a metallic object in his white-gloved hands. Amidst all the production tools, and the layers of dirt they produced, he looked like a clean spot amongst a pile of dirty rags. To add to his all white clothing, the man also had white shoes and white hair, which was slicked back and perfectly symmetrical. He seemed to be the embodiment of order, from the neutral look on his face to the very straight way he stood. It was very hard to gauge how old he was, as his face looked quite young in contrast to the white hair. I thought about appraising him but stopped short of actually doing so. If there was a place with items that stopped appraisal, this would be the one. It would be best not to start myself on the wrong track. I introduced myself while absentmindedly petting Kuro, who was still nestled on top of my head.
"Hello, my name is Barro. I am a wanderer of sorts and I was looking for a job. I can craft a variety of goods and I was hoping I could introduce myself here to either get a job directly or be referred to a place nearby that could put my skills to use." I reached out my hand to shake hands with the man in white, but he simply looked my hand over as if it were a strange beast. After an awkward moment I put my hand down.
The man in white chuckled as if he had been told an amusing joke and looked me over. "A rather direct approach, Mr. Barro. The guild takes pride in its crafting abilities and adheres to a high standard. We also create just about any manner of item. Despite that, you offer your services without naming what area of production you specialize in." He flashed a toothy white grin and played with the object in his hand more enthusiastically. I realized the metallic object was actually a pocket watch. In a city where half the roads were still dirt, this probably meant he was in a position of power. Or at least, one with a very large amount of money. "As such, I can draw two possible conclusions. Either you are a fool with no skills looking for an easy handout, or you are a smart man with many skills, who feels confident that he can meet any challenge I give him."
Was every person in this town going to figure me out within our first meeting? It felt like I needed to choose my words more carefully in my next set of exchanges with people. I was trying to keep some level of subtlety. "Well, I don't mean to brag, but I have some level of skill. I would be happy to take on any challenge you had prepared for me," I stated, eyeing the table near me with all manner of alchemical tools laid out.
This time the man openly laughed, and slipped his watch into one of his pants pockets. "A confident response. I like that. My name is Maximillian A. Nikola. I am a merchant and the head of the crafting guild here. I usually don't end up here, but a strange whim took me and I wanted to view my production facilities. I think it's time for an upgrade, what do you think?"
I let my eyes wander over the equipment, which was well kept and generally looked worn but functional. I shrugged. "I think I would personally love to work with this stuff, but I'm still getting a feel for all this. If you decide to upgrade it, I can only wonder at what would take its place."
The grin came out again, but only for an instant. "Indeed. Well, Mr. Barro, follow me. I know just the challenge I would like to give you. If you can overcome it, I'll let you into the guild without issue. But fail and I will never consider letting you in whatsoever. My time is valuable. Understood?"
I thought for a moment, then nodded slowly. Hopefully this was at least something I could manage with the few skills I had already managed to come up with.
Content, Max led me into another area of the guild where a few people stood in front of a table bickering. A series of alchemical equations were written out on a board nearby, and bits of various ores rested on the table. There seemed to be a heated discussion going on, but once the man in white appeared, all discussion ceased. The guild master waved a hand as if it was nothing to worry about, then motioned for me to approach. "This is Barro. Here's here to help us figure out the problem. Please tell him what you have so far."
A man sporting a curled mustache stepped forward and explained the problem while scratching the side of his head. "See, we recently changed one of our suppliers. We have two materials we used to melt together to make a type of ceramic. The ceramic is used for potion bottles and is very resistant to acid." He held up a sliver of glass that looked faintly green in color. I recognized it as the same glass I used to keep my poisons and potions in. "However, the newly supplied material isn't bonding the same way. It's brittle, acid breaks it down, and if you add magicly enhanced potion, it seems to leech the magic out and becomes heavier than sin."
I sort of understood. Some impurity was in the new material, and it reacted badly with magic and acid. "So try to take out the impurity? Or go back to the last supplier."
The man shook his head. "That's not the problem, lad. See, we can get the stuff out with the other impurities, but we want to isolate it. If magic makes it heavier, that's something worth checking out. We want to get the base material, see what properties it holds. Thing is, it's bloody hard to do. Most of our purification methods need magic, and melting it is a no-go. It seems to burn off the properties we're trying to keep. We need a better solution."
I thought about the problem more as the man explained, and I looked over the ore laid out on the table. An image started to form in my mind, and I focused on it while pondering the solution.
"Could I get a mild acid? Also, a tool to disperse mana into a solution... finally, a base solution with a potency similar to the acid."
Two of the people surrounding the table looked at me confused, and the others smirked like they were looking at a child. Max, however, nodded as if he was talking to an equal, checking his pocket watch as he belted out orders. "Silus, modify a wand so that it's mana distribution fizzles out. We don't need a masterpiece, pick a failure from the apprentice products. Artemis, gather what acids you have, and bring a matching anti-acid. Don't worry about the pricing, just forward the invoice to my assistant."
The two men nodded and walked off to their workstations. Max stepped forward and smirked, leaning in just so I would hear him. "Just winging it, or do you have experience with this substance?"
I smirked back and shrugged. "Nope, but I can guess a bit. There's something I remember from a chemistry class, and I think with the properties you described I have a shot. Still just a half-and-half chance. I might fail spectacularly."
Max winked at me as his men returned, backing into a corner of the room.
Sighing, I wiped the sweat from my brow and set Kuro down, since I didn't want to drop him in the acid. Several of the workers reacted with surprise at a juvenile monster hopping around, but I had him set to passive (or at least ordered as such) while I worked.
Taking a small chunk of ore, I dropped it in a petri dish of acid. The majority of the rock stayed unreactive, but a bit of grey substance started to leech out. It had hints of silver sheen to it, almost mercurial in its reflectiveness. After stirring the ore around for a bit, I had a small dish filled with grey liquid and a few inert stones at the bottom of the dish. The people crowded around me watched as if transfixed. A few muttered back and forth. I dipped my thumb into a drop of the acid as stealthily as I could, feeling a slight burn as I continued.
[Chemistry Skill Unlocked!]
[Acid Resistance Skill Unlocked!]
[Chemistry Skill Mastered!]
[Acid Resistance Skill Mastered!]
I took the "wand" from the gathered materials and looked over the mix before me. It more or less looked like a wooden stick with frayed strands of hair sticking out of the end. I assumed this was the modification they had employed. I made a silent prayer that this would work as I fed my tiny amount of mana through the wand using my Magic Tool Manipulation skill. The end I stuck into the solution, and I stirred for good measure.
After a few seconds, I felt a resistance that hadn't been there before. Then, the solution took on the consistency of mud. However, the change didn't stop there. As I continued to stir, it was like the liquid inside had become cement. Also, the table creaked as the dish became much heavier. Easily it had become ten, twenty, or maybe even thirty times as heavy. At this point, I added the base liquid, cancelling out the effect of the acid.
After a moment or two, the liquid completely solidified into a small coin-sized lump. While there were still some particles mixed in, the grey material seemed to be more or less purified. I appraised it and got something even more confusing:
[Magi-net]
Magical metal that converts mana into weight. This metal also has magnetic properties. Also known as "magician's folly."
I read off the details and Max smiled broadly. The people at the table seemed both pleased and confused. I explained the process as I looked over the small grey object on the table. "The acid breaks it down, but it's attracted to mana. So, I used a bit of acid to make it into a liquid, then I used mana to draw it to the center. Then, I neutralized the acid so that it could solidify. No heat, and assuming the mana didn't draw anything else, you get the purified form. But this stuff... is really heavy." I tried to pick up the petri dish but failed miserably. The piece inside had become too heavy for my level 1 strength. The large man with the mustache lifted it with a bit of difficulty.
"We could probably disperse the mana with some effort," Max theorized, looking over the finished product. "It depends on the mana retention of the... magi-net? But I doubt it would last forever. If it's using mana to be heavy, then it will probably run out quickly and become inert. Doing the math is the easy part." He looked me over and smiled, and I suddenly felt slightly nervous. I had just handed a businessman in another world a very strange substance. I wondered if this would have far-reaching effects?
"Well, Barro, seems like we'll be needing you after all. I'll draw up a contract for your employment. Do me a favor and keep this little exchange between us. I'll pay you accordingly."
I nodded as I crossed off another item on my list. It looked like my monetary prospects wouldn't be an issue for a while longer.