I walked toward the table where Steven sat at.
"Good afternoon punk. Do you live in this tea shop or something?" I asked Steven.
"You are late old man. What did you find out?" Steven asked me.
I turned serious while remembering what John told me "We overlooked his soulless status Steven."
Steven looked at me in confusion while I carried on "He is planning to communicate with them."
Suddenly Steven's pupil narrowed as he desperately tried to restrain his anger at himself for overlooking that area.
"Stop it kid, none of us knew he would choose that assignment. In fact from what he said even he wasn't expecting to choose a grey zone mission." Steven relaxed hearing what I said.
"Whatever he has planned it is a last-minute plan. So far we have seen him in situations he took control over with his long plans, now we will see how he manages to do it under pressure and with limited time."
"Well lets just hope." Said Steven as he took the coffee in front of him.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
"It's a strange design, your highness have for a weapon, but I can do it." I nodded as I passed him the level 13 material require for the weapon.
"Also, can you craft few small components according to my specification, with the remaining materials?" I asked him while he examined the level 13 materials
"It depends how small they are." He said as he looked up from the materials, clearly annoyed at being disturbed from his time with the precious materials.
I passed him another paper with the drawing of things I wanted to be crafted with detailed sizes description and other things.
"Hmm it should be doable. This would take another 2 days on top of the 3 days of making that weapon."
"That's fine. I will come in 5 days to pick it up. Use the same material to make those components as well. How much would it be in total?" I asked him.
"The weapon would be 20,000 gold while the components will be 5,000 gold. Your highness, can also pay in plat chips, as most of my customers are from the nobles and royalty." I nodded as I passed him 25 plat, while taking note of the subtle warning that he said. It seems like he often gets young heirs who want him to craft things for free.
"If I am satisfied with the quality, then I will pay you extra along with a high levelled beast material." I said as I saw the fire in his eyes to do his best.
I left the shop, with Ellis who quietly followed me to the residence of Dr Whizz, in the heavy rain.
Ellis covered himself in a water barrier while I appreciated the feeling of being soaked in rain. Its been too long since I was last out in rain like this, feeling weak and helpless.
We soon reached a large mansion of Dr Whizz. I rang the bell outside the gate and waited for someone to open the door.
Soon a man with a potbelly who seemed to be in his late 30's with messy hair opened the door to greet us. "Ah, 3rd Prince John. You are 10 minutes early, but that doesn't matter. Please come in." Said Whizz as he welcomed both of us in.
"Sorry about the wet floor and thank you for your invitation." I said.
"Oh, it not a problem. Do you want anything warm to drink?" I shook my head in response as he casted a spell which dried the floor along with me.
"In fact, I have been wanting to meet the person who according to Titus mastered my Whizz board instantly. Seriously have you never practised with that board before." He asked me excitedly.
"My whole life was spent in the study among other things Doctor. I never had the time to play with it let alone afford something that expensive during that time. You can ask Smith or others if you doubt me?" I replied.
Whizz nodded as he understood what I said. "No need, almost every academic scholars are aware of your academic geniuses, along with the fact of barely seeing you outside of the palace, proves it. I was asking just to make sure. Please take a seat." He said as he pointed us towards the couch. Whizz and I sat, while Ellis stood behind me.
"So, I was told you wanted a customised board?"
"Yes, I want something with more speed that has an increased battery life before having to replace the crystal, along with adding a backup battery in case one runs out. Is it possible?" I asked Whizz. He tapped his forehead while thinking.
"Hmm, the request is hard not because of the speed. Increasing the speed is easy, as I lowered the speed on all the boards I designed due to expecting people to lose their balance at higher speed and not being too easily control it at a higher speed. I can remove that limiter for you, allowing you to travel about 300 mph. But the problem lies with the battery." He said while I nodded my head.
He sat there thinking for a few minutes about the additional battery and the increased duration of the battery life.
"Along with the longer duration of battery life and a backup battery in combination with adding a stronger crystal of holding in, so you don't fly off from the board at higher speed, a crystal of barrier to protect you from the wind and insects, you would have a board 3 times as thick and 2 times wider than a normal whizz board along with being 5 kg more heavier. Would that be ok for you?"
"That would be perfect, as long as the speed is not lost. What would you want in return for this?"
"Phew, that's good. It would have been troublesome if you had wanted it with the same size and shape. Don't worry I will boost the speed in proportion to the size and weight. As for the reward?" He said while looking at me. I suddenly knew what he wanted.
"I have heard about your cooking and had the privilege of tasting it once, during the plague. How about you cook for me a level 10 meal and we will close the deal of there?" He smiled as he asked me. This meant I have to provide the ingredient myself. Not to hard of a price considering the stockpile of ingredients I have in my storage.
"Should I send it here or will someone collect it on your behalf? Also, when can I expect the board by?" I asked him while smiling back at his grinning face.
"I will collect it myself when this weather calms down. I have been told to go out and get some fresh air. As for the board, I will bring it within 4 days." He said as I stood up and we walked towards the door.
I left the house as I looked up towards the still raining sky. "Let's go Ellis. Time for some fashion shopping." Ellis nodded as we walked toward the clothing district.
I was still wearing suits, and it is time to lose this stupid formal stuff, which is plain boring.
The clothing district was practically empty due to the heavy rain. No one wanted to go out to buy clothes this time only for it to get wet in the rain.
We walked past all stores as the shop owners watched in shock later in greed seeing me come to the clothing district.
They knew if I were to visit any of their store then it will be great for their store and its advertisement. But unfortunately for all of them, I walked past all the stores, as they sighed. They knew all too well where I was going.
One of the best textiles shop in the capital, Spider Silks. This shop only designs its products for the nobles and the likes, as their price was simply too high for the normal masses, resulting from the quality of their products.
I stood in front of the Spiders Silk. While some of the shop owners watched me waiting for me to go in. However, shattering all their expectation, instead of going towards the Spiders Silks I went towards the dark alleyway beside it.
I carried on walking looking for something. Seeing me look for something Ellis asked me "My lord what are you looking for? Maybe I can assist you?"
"Hmm, never mind I found it." I said as I walked towards the group of beggars sat outside in the dark, covered in torn worn-out blankets from the rain.
I walked towards the huddled beggars, who seemed wary of us, the two strangers. There seemed to be about 8 of them. "Hi, I am in need of something from you guys."
Suddenly they all stood up in fear. Few of them took out a shark object from their pocket expecting to fight. Seeing this Ellis frowned while he got ready to cast a barrier.
I took out 8 gold notes out of my pocket and showed it to them. Seeing the money, I could see them restraining their greed and hunger. I pointed toward 2 of them as I said, "Throw me those two blankets." I said as I dropped the 8 gold notes on the floor for all of them.
Suddenly everything was silent.