Thomas waited until he was about an hour into his two-hour shift on guard duty to make sure everyone was deep asleep. Once he was certain of it, he pulled out the amulet he'd been given that contained the materials for the sword he'd been requested to make. He focused on the amulet itself to get a reading on it with his 'All Seeing Eyes'.

Item Type: Storage Amulet Rarity: Uncommon Quality: Average Description: A simple amulet that has a total storage volume of ten cubic meters.

After looking the amulet over, Thomas just shrugged. It had the most storage space of any item he currently owned but it was still only equal to a rank ten inventory. On the bright side, he could give it to Snowlily and she would be able to wear it in both of her forms. It would help her store more items until he could get her inventory unlocked. Once it was unlocked he could teach her how to expand it using her own mana. He just didn't have a clue on how to unlock it, to begin with, or he would have done it for her.

After examining the amulet itself and finding nothing suspicious about it, he started to look at the materials that were contained within. He checked them one by one while transferring them all into his personal inventory to empty the amulet for Snowlily.

Item Type: Blacksoul Steel Rarity: Uncommon Quality: Average Description: This naturally occurring form of Steel can only be found in places or raw negative energies, most commonly Unholy or Darkness. It is most often formed beneath battlefields where many soldiers have lost their lives and is said to be filled with their resentment. Item Type: Infernal Lavametal Rarity: Uncommon Quality: Average Description: Infernal Lavametal is a form of iron that has bathed in molten lava for centuries before being extracted. It is softer and more malleable than regular iron but channels mana much better. Item Type: Osmil (Red) Rarity: Uncommon Quality: Average Description: Osmil is a naturally occurring gem found deep in the hearts of volcanic mountains. Osmil is a natural amplifier for fire magic with the color of the Osmil determining the strength of the amplification. Red is the most common and weakest version. Item Type: Murk Wyvern Hide Rarity: Uncommon Quality: Average Description: Murk Wyvern's are a moderately common species of Wyvern that prefer to hunt in the darkness of night. Their very minor draconic bloodline grants them extremely durable black hides that can be used to make excellent armor.

As Thomas read over the descriptions of each item while transferring them to his inventory he was pleasantly surprised. It was actually pretty uncommon for someone to provide such uniform materials when making a request. Every item was Uncommon rarity with Average quality. Unfortunately, they were all uncommon and average. It looked like the voice didn't trust him quite yet and was just testing his capabilities. He wasn't going to complain about that though. This was their first time working together and trust needed to be built between worker and client before bigger, more interesting things could be requested. He hoped that once he completed this sword he would be introduced to much more interesting materials.

Still, the Osmil caught his attention. Unlike the Frozentite or Fahrentite ore's, it was an actual gem with the purpose of amplifying fire magic. If this gem existed then odds were there were similar gems available for the other elements. If he could get his hands on a few more of them he could build something capable of inherently increasing his spells. He couldn't help smiling at the thought of making a piece of armor studded in gems that amplified most of his magic. He would definitely succeed on his first try making the sword so that would leave him with eight Osmil gems to mess around with.

Once everything was finished being transferred, he looked over his new loot with a smile. The materials were kind of interesting but only the Osmil really got his attention. Maybe once he purified a couple of pieces he'd find them more interesting. Until then, he just spent the remainder of his turn on watch keeping an eye out for critters that wanted to eat them. Nothing came near them and when his watch was over he was allowed to sleep through the rest of the night without being disturbed.

When the sun rose above the horizon, Thomas and the others woke up. He focused on making everyone breakfast while the others started breaking camp and packing everything up. There hadn't been anything interesting to happen during the night. Though Lexiana had spotted a few monsters during her shift, none of them had approached the group. It made for a calm and peaceful night and allowed everyone to get plenty of rest. Tonight they would be at Kafla and be able to sleep inside of an inn.

For breakfast, Thomas kept it simple and made some scrambled eggs, Orc bacon, and hash out of a potato-like root vegetable called a Chokko. He sauteed the small cubes of Chokko until they were a crispy golden brown and coated finely with salt and a little oil. Snowlily worked next to him while he directed her on how to cook the scrambled eggs. Oddly, the eggs were normal eggs from a chicken. He'd actually tried to find monster eggs but they seemed to be a lot rarer than he thought they would be. Another staple he found to be normal was milk, it was produced by common cows. He honestly couldn't help wondering how Minotaur Milk might taste... Then again he'd only ever seen male minotaurs so maybe he didn't want to know, after all.

When breakfast was ready, everyone sat around the campfire and talked a bit. It wasn't like they had anything important to say, they were just continuing to get to know each other a little better. They would be with each other for the foreseeable future so getting along was important. They continued to chat even after they finished eating and got on their way. The terrain between the two mountain ranges wasn't exactly easy to traverse but with nothing to slow them down the group made excellent progress and maintained a decent speed.

They only stopped for lunch so by the time the sun began to sink behind the mountain range to their west they could see the walls surrounding the entrance to Kafla. Seeing the walls of the city, everyone felt invigorated and put on a little more speed to arrive sooner. They managed to arrive at the only gate leading into the city just as the sky was starting to turn dark. As they arrived at the gate, one of the human guards on duty held his hand up, "Please hold for inspection and the entry tax."

Another guard approached as the group lined up. The second guard held the inspection orb in his hand, the one that would detect if anyone among them was a criminal. Everyone took turns placing their hands on the orb but only Aria and Minerva and Snowlily were required to pay the entrance tax as Thomas, Lexiana, and Selena all had cards from the Adventurer's Guild on them. Members of the guild were welcomed almost everywhere as their presence meant increased revenue for the city. Still, some cities charged an entry fee for everyone. It just depended on who was in power.

Once everyone was taking care of and given a clean pass into the city, they walked through the tunnel through the thick walls and got their first look at Kafla... It was not impressive, to say the least. The main street they found themselves on was lined with large inns and not much else. The area the walls were protecting was also insignificant compared to the other major cities that Thomas had visited. He looked around confused until he saw a massive set of double doors built into the side of the mountain at the back of the small town. He smiled as he recalled how much traditional dwarves liked to live underground.

The majority of the city was probably located behind the huge doors. He also recalled the rampant racism prevalent in the country so the dwarves likely kept themselves sequestered behind the doors to stay away from the humans that would disparage them. With the sun setting the group didn't take much time to look around and focused on finding an agreeable inn that they could stay the night at. Seeing as how the main street was literally lined with inns, finding one to stay at proved to be no trouble at all.

Once everyone rented their rooms and bought dinner, they sat around the table to discuss what would happen next. Selena started by questioning Thomas, "Now what?"

Thomas dug through his inventory and pulled out a small note he'd written back before he left Hekrin's place, "I need to find Fokgrag Coalheart, Hekrin's master, and talk to him. He's the whole reason I even left on this journey. He should be here and shouldn't be too difficult to find. Hekrin said he tended to make a lot of noise wherever he was."

Selena rolled her eyes, "Great, another you to deal with?"

Thomas laughed, "Nah. You guys can just go do whatever you want. I have no idea how long we will be here or what I will have to do to get what I came here for. Hopefully, he won't make it too difficult for me. If he does, then we might be here a while."

All of the women sighed. Sitting around doing nothing while Thomas was off doing his own thing was really starting to get on their nerves and drive them insane through boredom. Lexiana poked at her food, "Maybe the dungeon will be worth checking out."

The other just nodded. Unlike Thomas, none of them had a production skill so there wasn't anything else for them to fill their time sitting around with. Thomas just shrugged his shoulders. Their boredom was none of his concern. After everyone finished dinner, they all retired to their rooms for the night. Sleeping in a somewhat comfortable bed was always better than sleeping on the cold hard ground outdoors.

As he was getting prepared for the night, Thomas heard an electronic ding and checked his email. Inside he found that his request for a holy practitioner had been responded to. He quickly logged onto the forums and checked the reply. One of the members had a friend who had gained access to Holy magic and the Teaching skill. He was willing to teach Thomas in exchange for a Holy attributed sword. Thomas got excited as he read the message. He had no problem making a Holy sword for someone and immediately used the provided contact details to send an email to the Holy player.

He kept the message short and simple. He gave his location as Kafla in the country of Solvikia and explained that he had a few materials on hand that would be good for making a Holy attributed sword. He also explained that if he wanted it to be a true Holy sword he would need to be taught how to use Holy magic first so he could channel Holy mana into the weapon while making it. If he wanted the sword to be made from special materials he would need to provide them but Thomas assured that he would bring any materials provided up in quality and provide the best sword possible with whatever was supplied. He finished by adding that they could discuss the details of the sword in person.

After he sent the message off, Thomas got in a comfortable position and started to expand his inventory once more. However, he was interrupted when he received a reply to his email.

It'll take me about a week or so to arrive in Kafla. I'm to the north in the country called Kavetia. I only have one thing I would like you to use when making the sword, a special medal I got from a quest. My character's name is Dravenov Markenth. When I get closer to the city I'll contact you again.

Thomas sent a simple reply saying that he would be waiting and closed the email while smiling to himself. He didn't know how long it was going to take to get his hands on an U.L.T.R.A. but even if he got it tomorrow, he had no issues with sticking around the city for a week or two if it meant he could learn how to use Holy magic, finally. Once he did he would have full access to the benefits provided by his race and could produce weapons of any alignment. He was also curious if any angels might try to get in contact with him once they realize he exists. It didn't escape his notice that only demons contacted him and he could only use unholy magic. Using the magic must send out some sort of signal that the two opposing sides could recognize.

Thomas was starting to get excited. He'd already gotten his first contract from the demons, and now his second was with the man who would be teaching him how to use Holy magic. Things were starting to look up. Soon he would have his shop and really get his business rolling!