After accepting Zoya's next quest for even more potions, he walked to next stop. It took some work to find Tavish. He still hadn't forgotten about essences and concentrates. The apprentice in the Smithy just hemmed and hawed, not ready to open his mouth regarding it. So, after lots of talk, Artha finally found Tavish.
He requested the same from him. Teach how to make concentrates.
"You think making concentrates is easier?"
"Isn't it?" Artha questioned back. Tavish was a hard nut to crack.
"It's not. We will not talk about bigger things but basic ones. I asked you to get ores and stuff. Did you get them?"
"Not yet. I haven't found a mine."
"No wonder if all of blessed immortals think that way." Tavish muttered. "We don't have mines here. Once, my grandfather's grandfather had mined somewhere nearby but that mine got exhausted within weeks. Thankfully, we can still get metals and ores out in open, in fields and rivers, sometimes even from monsters."
"Thank you for the heads-up. I will deligently search for ores and metals later. But what does that have to do with making concentrates?"
"Ores found in open or from mines have to be smelted, refined to make essences and concentrates. If you get a drop of item, you call it essence but if that item is covering your palms, you just call them concentrate."
"Hand span?"
" The definition I gave is the one I made up. If you talk with others, they'll say what you get from ores is called essence. If you smelted and refined the discarded weapons or equipments, what you get is chunks of concentrates. Me, I consider essence and concentrate as same. It makes no difference in the beginning."
"So I have to smelt and refine some weapons and I can get concentrates?"
"Is smelting easy? Is refining easy? Ask any of my apprentices, they'll tell you one thing - it's not easy."
"Why?" Artha became curious.
"Apprentices need not just strength to hammer a piece of iron hundreds of thousands of times continuously but also should have robust constitution. Even then, only part of smelting will be done by them."
"Why?" Artha always had believed that to be apprentice in Smithy, you needed more strength comparatively. Now, Tavish was saying constitution was important too.
"You work so near the furnace for so many hours. Then you still have to handle even hotter metals and alloys. Constitution is important, don't you think?"
"When you put it that way, yeah. Yeah, you are right."
" The reason why these apprentices do only part of the job is because their heat resistance is absolute zero. How long can they handle smelting and refining which needs to be done for hours together."
"Okay. For smelting or refining you should have strength, constitution and fire resistance. Got it." Artha nodded. Tavish used his trademark smile. Hopefully, this will ensure this pesky pest not to linger near Smithy.
Tavish was bound to feel sad. Artha had found a solution after all. " I will get few equipments and clothes which will give me constitution and heat resistance. Perhaps even strength. I can fill the gap with strength potions, heat resistance potions, even stamina potions will be helpful."
Smelting and refining were considered basic jobs. Train an unskilled labourer for few days and he was good to go, ready for working. For such a job, this spendthrift was ready to shell out hundreds of coins to get clothes and as such with buffs like strength, constitution, even heat resistance. On top of it, he was going to gulp all the costly potions. Where is the rationale in it? Are all blessed immortals this crazy?
"So, if I gather al the things needed, can I come here to do smelting and refining?"
Tavish's answer was very curt "No". You can't blame him. He had just believed that he had convinced Artha to give up only to realise that he was taking even twisted path.
"But why?"
" Only my apprentices can handle smelting and refining. Partly or in full. Become my apprentice before thinking of anything else."
Artha had to give up. If he grabs hold of even single ore or metal, he could have multiplied it many times to complete the quest. Unfortunately, he hadn't found any. Artha had lost another way to make money and save space. Temporarily.
He walked to his regular haunts now. Training with the guild people. A legitimate way of saying kill stealing from them. The guild people were counting the days till he left them forever.
"Sun Lord, Sun Lord, you busy?"
Yes he was. He had to arrange for map exploring, pioneering, also manage lifestyle players and now handle a big headache called dungeons. Thankfully, one of his subordinates was good in making cliffnotes.
"Speak."
Okay. This is a good way of replying that he was busy but would still listen to whatever nonsense he would be forced to hear.
" I wanted to thank you for your deals."
"Umm."
Artha wasn't detered. He plowed on. Being shameless and bootlicking was never this easy. A virtual space. A game. Receiving person far away from him. Ideal chance to practice. So he did precisely that. Only after sometime that he vaguely hinted the topic he wanted to discuss. " Sun Lord, I hope doing business with me hasn't hindered you yet. After all, I am responsible for nearly half of your guilds daily expenses in this village."
"Ah, forget it kid. Just cherish this opportunity.
It's not everyday that a merchant can say he supplies around one third of supplies that a guild needed."
"One- one third? Are you sure, it's one third?"
"I am sure. I sign the statements and report to finance department. Obviously, I am sure. Why?" Now Sun Lord got curious. Why would it matter to a money grubbing middleman that he was responsible for half or a third of guild expenses?
Wait! Is he trying mutiny? Hiking the price? All sorts of weird thoughts just popped into his head. Can't be helped. Sun Lord had worked for lots of years and he could even get away with saying he had seen everything.
Artha on other hand was getting shocked. The forums apparently don't tell truth always. He ever believed in everything news says and he went through trending topics as if they were fiction. Which they were, nearly all the times. But he had truly believed that the forums, atleast, would be telling the truth.