Luca stared at the two brothers and couldn’t help but think that there was no way they were twins. While Timothy Silvan had brown, curly hair that ended at his shoulders, Duradel Silvan had short, silver-blonde hair that was straight and soft looking.

While Timothy was bulky, which, considering he was a blacksmith, was to be expected. Duradel was taller than him and leaner. But their eyes were the same. Both had pale blue eyes framed by brows that looked like brushstrokes over a canvas. Albeit different colors.

“Welcome, brothers Silvan, to Canyon Rush dungeon grounds.” Said Luca as he extended his hand for a handshake towards Timothy. It was Duradel who took it, as Timothy merely scowled at him.

“We thank you for the invitation, dungeon core, Luca. Now, you have a problem with your blast furnaces?” Asked Duradel, and he nudged Timothy.

“They are easy enough to operate, once you adjust the bowels. Your blacksmiths must be shit.” Said the werewolf, grumbling. His vampire brother nudged him again.

“But I will help.” Added Timothy after the prompting.

“Wonderful, now, on the method of payment. Your house is done and furnished in the month it took you to travel here. I have work clothes prepared for you, courtesy of the apple grotto dungeon worker elves, as well as tools I have purchased from the town Mirstone of the Dawn Empire.” Said Luca.

The werewolf nodded and there was something akin to a smile on his lips, but it was faint. Duradel looked around the canyon and noticed how there was a water wheel every 200 meters or so.

“You wish to become a producer in bulk?” Asked the vampire, and Luca nodded.

“It is my desire, yes. I have the workers for it and the land. I can do my farming up on the cliffs and dedicate the stretch of the river that passes through my grounds to smiting.” Said Luca. With the blast furnaces, he planned to revolutionize smiting.

Now, they were not something that he had invented. In fact, grandpa Thinker had plenty of blast furnaces on Alerion, and it was another thing he had brought the knowledge of from his old home, the planet Earth.

But most rules didn’t allow the blast furnaces to be built on their land, as they feared that their rivers will be polluted. Besides, fishing was the main meal ticket to villages close to a river, and no ruler wanted their people to starve. More because they wouldn’t have anyone to tax if they scared away the fish with waterwheels than because they actually cared.

But Luca wasn't concerned about fish. There were some bait fish species but nothing big. He was sure that it would be no great loss to drive them away. His goblins did drink from the river’s water, but he made them boil it beforehand anyway. There was no danger of a plague spreading. Now more so than ever as he forced the goblins to bathe three times a day.

“I suppose I can work with that. And you say you can only pay me with raw gold and other ores?” Asked Timothy, his expression unreadable.

“Well, for the first commission, yes. I have an order that will net me 100 thousand gold coins. I can pay you upon delivery, if you prefer?”

“Can you pay me in titanium and iron glass?” Asked Timothy. Those were very rare weapon’s materials and there was exactly a single mine for titanium in the world and two deposits of iron glass, but they were all in the Badlands of No Man’s Land.

“I can. Let me show you.” Said Luca, and he took out his black dungeon core crystal and concentrated on titanium. A big lump of the silverly ore appeared before him.

Timothy circled the titanium ore and poked it in different places. It looked genuine, but there was a slight buzz to it and a blue shine that smelled of mana.

“Does the aura around the ore disappear with crafting?” Asked Timothy. He supposed Duradel would still go hunting with weapons that smelled of mana, but he would lose some of the stealth he was so famous for if he did so.

“It does.” Luca took out a wood carving and handed it to Timothy. “This was made with aspen from the crystal. No mana lingers in it once its shape is changed.”

Timothy brought the carving to his nose and sniffed it. It smelled of regular aspen and nothing else. He finally smiled fully.

“I require a ton of both titanium and iron glass per month, each. As it costs you nothing to make, I find this most reasonable. In exchange, I will move into the house and work here for the next twenty years, minimum.” Said Timothy.

Duradel had long since pestered him to find a base from where Timothy could make weapons and people can find Duradel with their pleas to hunt this and that. He supposed that a dungeon was as good of a home as any.

Luca calculated that it would take him half his mana reservoir to complete such a payment and nodded. But he had a condition.

“You will also make weapons for sale, not just for your brother. For now, though, the commission that my fellow dungeon core has made requires gold.” Said Luca. He moved, and the Silvan brothers followed him. He showed them to a warehouse overflowing with gold and silver.

“I calculated that this will be enough for the entire order. On the table is a list with everything you need. We are behind by a week already, but Theanore agreed to give us another week before she gives the order to a giant tribe of No Man’s Land.”

Timothy grinned. He did ever love a challenge. And besides, he had workers under him. It would take a day to teach them how to use the bellows, and then both he and they are going to work night and day to complete the commission.

“On my honor as a Silvan of Rubik’s End Hallow, I swear your order will be done by next Wednesday.” Said Timothy, and he began to look through the list with trinkets. This was going to be child’s play.