Chris woke up in a bed beside Amelia. He immediately remembered the passionate night they had. He looked over at Amelia who was still sleeping. He raised his hand and tenderly stroked her cheek.
She woke up by his touch on her cheek. "Good morning my big hero", she said and reached down to touch him.
They stayed in bed for an hour and enjoyed each other's bodies again.
Then Chris decided to get up and find some breakfast. He went out and found a villager selling some bread and fruit and then he went back to Amelia. She had freshened up and dressed while he was out. They decided to take a blanket and have breakfast or in the sun.
It was a warm and sunny day without a cloud in sight.
Once they were finished they decided to get to work. Amelia headed to the temple and Chris went to help Thor with his smithy.
Chris came up to Thor, "Hi Thor, what are you working on today?".
"My Lord, I am busy with various repairs. Would you like to try and repair a dagger?", Thor answered.
Chris spent the next week helping and learning from Thor. Amelia was busy with the temple.
...
Chris was channeling magic into a sword, trying to rearrange the material to repair a few chips in the blade, while also strengthening the entire sword. A few moments later the sword was even better than new. The past week he had been learning how to control the material in weapons and armor. He had made great progress the past week and could make a sword both lighter and stronger.
When Chris and Thor realized the great potential in improving equipment through energy crafting, they set out to improve all the equipment in the armory. This would both be good practice and improve the defensive capabilities of the village. After that, they planned to forge some new swords to try and sell in Harborton. They had already shown an improved sword to Harold and he was so impressed that he put in an order straight away.
Chris had also started trying to infuse the equipment with magical properties. Thor had then told him that he would most likely need to embed gemstones capable of storing magic. All gems could store magic. They would store different types of magic depending on the sort of gem. The size and quality would affect how much power could be infused and both the type of gemstone and the mage's magic control would determine the effect. Thor had learned all of this from Amelia, she had always been fascinated with enchantment.
Chris and Thor had also gathered material from the defeated enemies. The skeletons had old weapons that they could melt down. The imps had valuable claws. The imp commanders' claws were even more valuable, and they also had valuable horns and enchanted fire whips. The werebears' fur could be made into protective cloaks.
The plan was to add the werebear cloaks to the village armory. The claws, horns, and whips they would try to sell in Harborton, and the metal from the melted skeletons would be used at the smithy.
...
Another week went by and all the work was finished. They had upgraded the entire armory, added the werebear cloaks, and prepared all the wares they would bring to Harborton.
Chris and Thor loaded up a wagon with all the wares and headed to the teleportation circle by the shrine in the forest. Harold and the reinforcements from Harborton had returned a few days ago.
When they got to Harborton, they went to the merchants' guild to request a permit and stall in the market square. They showed and explained the wares they had and were quickly granted the permit. The clerk managing their request could quickly grant the permit as their wares were quite rare and would be of benefit to the town's economy. He even asked to buy most of the claws to export to other countries.
The clerk offered one gold, equivalent to one thousand silver, for the claws. Chris quickly accepted the offer as he didn't think that the market here in Harborton would be large enough for so many claws.
After receiving the permit and directions to their stall, Chris and Thor hurried over to set up their operation. The interest in their wares was great. Potion makers, alchemists, and mages were interested in the demonic parts, like the claws, horns, and even the fire whips. Soldiers, squires, and knights were highly impressed with the improved swords and they soon ran out. They had brought ten swords and sold them for fifty silver each. Adding the sold demonic parts, they made 1000 silver in just a few days.
Chris and Thor realized that they had a good business in the works, but Thor would soon need to get back to the village and his smithy there. Chris decided to talk to the other blacksmith he had met here in Harborton and see if he would be willing to cooperate.
Long story short, Chris merged his new business with that of the blacksmith in Harborton. They decided to brand the new business venture as Harborton's Refinest. The business venture would specialize in magically refined equipment that would be superior to any normally crafted counterpart. Chris also made a deal with the merchants' guild for any future demonic parts. They would buy them at 80% of market value and take care of everything else. This way Chris didn't need to open his own shop and the merchants' guild had seen the great demand and were ecstatic to have such a new supply of resources.
Chris and Thor spent one gold on materials for the village and then Chris brought Thor back. Chris gave Thor the mission to improve the village however he saw fit. He also gave Thor the second gold that they had earned on their business trip.
Chris would focus on building his new venture in Harborton for a little while. The main goal of this would be to gain a stable source of income which could be used to further strengthen the village. The village had not been under any taxation for a long time, and that would soon need to be changed, but first, he needed to increase the village's economy. The lumber export was lucrative, but it was not enough if Chris wanted to expand and improve the village without lowering the villagers' current living standards.