Above the streets of the town, a man clad in black could be seen hidden in the shadows of a rooftop.
"Report." A voice said through the magical transmitter that looked similar to a walkie-talkie.
"The target entered a shop by the name of Dragon's Smithy, permission to engage." The man said back.
"Permission denied, observe for now." The voice responded.
"Understood." The man answered with annoyance as he sunk into the shadows.
---
"ARE YA THE FUCKER THAT CALLED MY WORK TRASH!!!" The dwarf yelled as he looked up at Jayce.
Luckily Jayce was covering both of his ears otherwise, he might have blown his eardrums.
"Do you have to scream when I'm standing right next to you?" Jayce said with irritation.
"YES, NOW ANSWER THE DAMN QUESTION!!!" The dwarf as he grabbed Jayce's shirt.
Seeing that the blacksmith was getting out of hand, the attendant snuck away into the backroom.
"Fine, yes it was me. The armor and swords here are mediocre at best and yelling won't change that fact.
Now let me go so you can stop wasting both of our time." Jayce said as he tried to pry the hands off of his shirt.
But no matter how hard Jayce pulled, the dwarf wouldn't let go.
'Damn this dwarf is strong.' Jayce thought.
"IF YA THINK MY WORK IS TRASH YA MUST HAVE SOMETHIN' MUCH BETTER, RIGHT, SHOW IT TO ME!!!" The dwarf continued to scream.
Seeing that the dwarf wasn't going to leave him alone, Jayce reached into his satchel and pulled out his gauntlets from his inventory, making it look like they were originally there.
The second the dwarf laid eyes on his weapons he let go of Jayce and grabbed the gauntlets.
The dwarf pulled out a magnifying glass from his leather apron and inspected every inch of the gauntlets.
"Lad, where did you get these?" The dwarf asked.
"None of your business," Jayce responded.
The dwarf grumbled but continued to examine the gauntlets. After a few minutes, the dwarf gave them back to Jayce.
"Ya are right, my creations are utter shit compared to what ya have. But, if I had the right materials I could make something as good as ya gauntlets." The dwarf said.
"Essentially what you're saying is that you can't afford the materials?" Jayce replied.
"Are ya bloody deaf! That's what I said." The dwarf responded as he crossed his arms.
Jayce pretended to put his gauntlets back into his satchel as he placed them back into his inventory.
He then pulled out a bag of gold coins which he 'rightfully' received from Isaac during his duel. Making it seem like the coins were in his satchel, he chucked it over to the brooding dwarf.
"That should be enough to cover the cost," Jayce said with a smirk.
The dwarf caught the bag and opened it. His eyes couldn't believe the number of gold coins the bag held.
"There are at least fifty gold coins in there!"The dwarf yelled with surprise.
"I want you to use that gold to commission something for me, as for the rest, consider it as an investment," Jayce replied.
The dwarf couldn't believe how much trust Jayce was putting in him. Although crafting tools and equipment cost quite a lot, fifty gold was way more than enough for a few sets of high-tier armor or weapons.
"How do ya know I won't just run off with the money?" The dwarf said with suspicion.
"Let's be honest, you don't seem to be the type to go back on their word. But if that didn't calm your nerves." Jayce said as leaned down to the dwarf's ear.
"What do you think would happen if they found out some dwarf decided to run off with their cash?" Jayce whispered with a malicious tone.
The dwarf finally understood what Jayce was getting at. If he ran away with the money he would be hunted down, if his craftsmanship wasn't good enough he would more than likely disappear.
Jayce had never put any trust in him in the first place.
Jayce had a few reasons for planting such an idea in the dwarf's mind. The first was the most obvious, he needed insurance in case the dwarf had some other ideas about what to do with his money.
Second, he wanted to form a long-lasting partnership with the dwarf. When the dwarf had come stomping from the backroom, the first thing Jayce did was use his inspection skill.
---
[Name: Draven Greymaul]
[Race: Dwarf]
[Gender: Male]
[Age: 147]
---
[Stats]
[HP: 320/320]
[Mana: 240/240]
[Stamina: 350/350]
[Vitality: 32]
[Endurance: 40]
[Strength: 30]
[Dexterity: 18]
[Agility: 9]
[Intelligence: 12]
---
[Skills]
[Blacksmithing (B)]
[Talent (Blacksmithing)]
---
Jayce had skipped over the stats and went straight to his skills. He had expected him to have a blacksmithing skill but he wasn't expecting the other skill. Focusing on the skill, a description appeared underneath it.
[Talent (Blacksmithing)]
{This individual has been blessed by the gods with the talent of blacksmithing. They will receive benefits for as long as they choose to hone their given talent.}
The fact that it also didn't have a ranking just made it more unique, skills were rated by the system the same way mages were.
Jayce had seen more than a handful of them and they all had a rating next to each skill. Although he couldn't see the benefits of the talent, considering this was the only one he had seen so far must mean it was at least rare.
But there was one more reason which was far more important than the other ones.
He was still pissed about the dwarf screaming right into his ears.
Most likely due to being a demon, all of his senses were heightened which includes his hearing.
Jayce felt that if the dwarf had screamed one more time, he might have gone deaf.
"I understand lad. Was is it ya wanted me to make?" The dwarf spoke up after a few minutes of silence.
"You got a pen and paper?"
After a few hours of Jayce explaining his design and the explanation behind it, the blacksmith was able to understand it completely.
"How long will this take?" Jayce asked.
"Not only have I never seen this bloody design before, but it'll also take specific materials for it to work as intended. I can probably finish this within 3-4 months." The dwarf replied excitedly.
Jayce knew it would take some time but hearing it would take at least three months destroyed any hope of him getting it soon.
"I'll be back in four months, if you need anything you can find me at the Academy, Mr. Greymaul," Jayce said as he left the smithy.
It was around the middle of the day since he had spent the entire morning negotiating with the dwarf.
Jayce's stomach grumbled as he walked the streets, he hadn't eaten since this morning so he was quite hungry.
As he was deciding which food to get from the food stalls, his sensitive ears picked something up.
"Someone... p-please help."
Jayce's thoughts for food instantly disappeared as he tried to find where the cry for help came from.
Hearing it again, Jayce was able to locate the call for help from a nearby alley. Jayce followed the cries as he went deeper and deeper into the alley.
Finally, Jayce arrived from where the cry for help was coming from. Three large men were surrounding a little girl who was lying on the ground.
"This is what you get you brat! Blame your mother for not paying her dues." One of the men said as he kicked the girl, sending her flying into a brick wall.
Feeling a hand on his shoulder, one of the men turned around to see a kid glaring at him.
"What the hell do you think you're doing?"