Elrick did get faster. His skill increased drastically as well.

By the third day, he produced two swords each and every day. His hands were raw at first, but blisters formed. His arms ached, but then his muscles grew even more. His skill in Coppersmithing had increased all the way up to 62.4.

With his higher Coppersmithing skill, he no longer spilled bronze when he poured the crucible into the mold. His hands were steady, and the muscle memory that came with his higher skill took over.

On the fourth day, Owen threw one of his swords right back into the forge, saying that he’d rushed the mold–that the channels weren’t right–and that air pockets had formed. On the seventh day he was chastised for not making the blade sharp enough. On the tenth day Owen actually interrupted him and showed him a better way to hammer. By the time all the swords were finished, Owen had begun to teach him real tricks of the trade. Not every day, but most days, Owen would drop whatever he was doing–usually some intricate decorative armor or weapon–to teach Elrick something. Each time this happened, Elrick’s skill gains shot up much faster than when he was just grinding away on his own unsupervised.

By the time all twenty swords were finished, Elrick had 76.8 skill in Coppersmithing. It was his highest skill now. Higher even than his Mining.

By contrast, his skills in Sword Combat, Hiding, and everything else were still pathetically low. That was okay though, because now he could earn serious money. Money to learn Red Magic, or proper equipment to fight with and increase his combat skills. He wanted to be well-rounded, but his new ability in Coppersmithing would act as the base for everything going forward.

“Go to the Agora,” Owen said. “And sell your swords.”

“You want me to sell them?” he asked.

“It’s a good skill to learn,” Owen said. “And I don’t like doing it. Bring my banner with you so everyone will know it’s quality. If anyone asks, I made all these swords. Not you. Got it?”

Elrick had Bartering skill, but it was not high. It was the skill he’d used the least next to Red Magic.

“But…”

“Look,” Owen said. “It’s good work. Don’t take it personally that you don’t get to put your name on it. Be glad I’m willing to put my own name on your work. Customers are fickle, and they won’t pay the heavy gold for something an apprentice made. You understand, right?”

Elrick nodded.

“You’re getting 50%! That’s more money in your pocket. Cheer up! You originally agreed to take 2 gold for those ingots? This will make you more!”

He had a point. Did he care more about his pride, or more about having more money? It was an easy choice.

Elrick gathered all the swords, wrapped them up in cloths to load into the packhorse, and stopped when he realized there were only 19. Shit. Had he somehow miscounted? If so, had Owen realized he hadn’t finished all 20? No, there would have been an extra ingot leftover if he’d miscounted, and there wasn’t. He’d definitely made–

“Looking for this?” Owen asked, stepping into the workshop with a sword in hand.

Elrick recognized the blade. It was a sword he’d made himself, but...the pommel was different.

All the swords they’d made had very basic wooden grips. This was different. It had a lustrous white grip with engravings on it. All of the swords Elrick had finished were beautiful. Bronze had a certain quality to it that iron lacked: its color was deep and complex and warm, where iron was cold and lifeless. But this blade, something had happened to it, it was almost golden.

“What…” Elrick started.

“This is your sword now,” Owen said. “It’s the first sword you cast. I just did some touch-ups on it. Don’t sell this one, it’s yours to keep. I’ll put another basic one in your pack to make it an even 20.”

“How did you polish it like this…” Elrick started.

Owen shook his head. “It’s enchanted,” he said. “It’s nothing crazy, just a basic bit of Red Magic, but it will keep the bronze from bending or warping if you hit something too hard. For a while at least. Enchantments never last because they are just cast over the bronze. You’d have to somehow use magic while casting to really do more than that...and who’s ever heard of a Red Mage slaving over a forge. Ha!” Owen laughed hard at that, as if it were a funny joke. Elrick laughed so Owen wouldn’t feel weird laughing by himself, but he wondered why a Red Mage had never worked a forge. It seemed like a good combination, one he wanted to try.

When Owen finally stopped laughing, Elrick studied the sheen of the sword and the intricate engravings on the pommel and smiled. “Thank you, master.”

Owen shook his head. “You made it, now come on, go make us some money!

* * *

Elrick wore clothes he’d bought a few days ago. They were similar to the wool clothes he’d started with, but his tunic was dyed a pale green, and the pants had more intricate stitchwork. They weren’t as comfortable as anything he’d wear on Earth, but he felt less like a total noob wearing it than his starting outfit or his bone armor.

He’d left his bone armor and turtle goblin helmet in his bag at Owen’s. He didn’t need that unless he was going to be fighting, though he hoped to make himself a full suit of bronze armor as soon as he got enough time and money to make it happen.

Elrick set up Owen’s banner in the Agora. He brought a small table with him, and he placed five of the bronze swords onto the table. Each time he sold one, he’d replace it so that there were always five visibly available.

Owen’s wife had told him that if you put too many items out at once, people would think they weren’t worth as much. If you put too few out, people would think it’s just some random junk you found and are trying to get rid of. Five identical swords shows that you can cast with precision, and besides, the bronze looks good all lined up and glimmering in the sun.

Owen told Elrick that each sword needed to sell for no less than one gold. He’d nearly spat out his drink when he’d heard that. Had Elrick just sold the ingots off, he would have earned two gold total. Now, if he sold all twenty swords, he’d earn ten gold. It had taken him just over ten days of extra work to make the ingots into swords, and a bit of tin and wood, but the increased value was astounding.

Elrick stood there, with his decorative and enchanted sword in his scabbard. He kept thumbing the ivory grip, and he was constantly tempted to pull the blade out and gawk at it, but he didn’t want to look like some idiot who wasn’t used to being around quality swords.

He stood for a long time, waiting for the swords to speak for themselves. Many people stopped and looked, and a few shot him lowball prices, but no one was biting for one gold.

He was itching to head back to the goblin cave, grab his little band of goblins, and go find something to kill with his new sword. Instead, he had to stand around here acting like a merchant.

A very bad merchant. One who couldn’t sell a single sword.

After what felt like endless hours of no sales, a woman set up a stand next to him. She opened a large satchel and placed ornately decorated books onto a luxurious felt cloth. Elrick could smell the leather even over the pungent odor of the Agora’s food vendors.

She then set several pieces of jewelry out. Some glowed as if they were enchanted.

“What does that jewelry do?” Elrick asked her.

Before she could answer, two or three people wandered over to her table and started eyeing the books. She smiled wide at them, ignoring Elrick for the moment. She threw her cloak off and revealed a low-cut blouse, and a chest that filled the blouse out. Elrick felt like he was a middle schooler in the park again.

She turned back to him just in time to catch him looking, and she grinned at him. “I’m selling much more than you are.” She winked at him, eyeing his table of unsold weapons, and his full packhorse.

He watched her as she worked. It wasn’t just her fancy felt table cover or her low-cut blouse. She was always calling out to people who walked by. She didn’t get everyone’s attention, but anyone who made eye contact with her, she didn’t let them go. She got them talking, and at least made them walk over. Once they were over, even if they had no interest in the books, she switched over to trying to sell them jewelry. If they didn’t want any for themselves, she guilted them about not buying gifts for their wife or daughter.

“Hey,” Elrick said to her when she finally had a break with no customers. “What kind of enchantments does that jewelry have?”

“Do you have any money?” She asked. “I haven’t seen you sell a single sword.”

He frowned. “I thought maybe you could help me with that too.”

She laughed. “I’m a bit busy.”

She was strikingly beautiful. It wasn’t just the boobs either. She had a kind of elegance or radiance to her. She was quite a bit older than him, but she was the kind of woman who only looked more beautiful with age. Her hair was a blonde so fine that in the sunlight it almost looked like a pale golden white. It took a lot of his willpower to not just gawk at her and drink in her beauty, but he knew he had to get her to help him, and he had to keep his cool if he wanted to achieve that.

Elrick shrugged. “You probably couldn’t sell swords anyway. Selling swords is much harder than selling trinkets.”

She rolled her eyes at him. “Just because you’re awful at it doesn’t mean it’s hard. That sounds like a poor excuse to justify your own failures. I could sell all five of your swords in the time it would take you to eat a kebab,” she said, glaring at him.

He could see from her eyes that she was truly insulted, which is exactly what he’d wanted.

“These are quality swords,” he said. “Made by Owen the Coppersmith. People aren’t willing to pay the two gold it takes for true quality. They’d rather skimp and go for cheaper equipment. It’s hard to see the difference in quality on the blade itself, unless you’re a true swordsman, or a Coppersmith.”

“Of which you are neither,” she said, narrowing her eyes. “Two gold you say? Go get yourself something to eat, apprentice, and I’ll have sold all five of these by the time you finish your meal.”

“You’d help me that much?” he asked.

“No,” she said. “I’ll take 50% commision for my work.”

“That’s insane!” he shouted, not letting on that the swords were only meant to sell for one gold in the first place.

“It’s 50% more than you’ll make selling these on your own.”

He paced back and forth, eyeing the swords and shaking his head. “My master is going to kill me if I come back empty-handed. Time spent on the Agora is less time working. I might have to just take you up on your deal…”

“Shake on it,” she said, reaching out her hand. “I’m Taalia, by the way.”

Elrick reached his hand out and took Taalia’s. Her palm was so soft and warm, and his heart started pounding in his chest as he touched her.

“Elrick,” he said, his voice cracking.

She let go of his hand and smiled as he blushed. “Now, Elrick, be a good boy and get out of my way so I can sell these.”

Her table was nearly empty already. She put what was left away, then moved his swords onto her felt-covered table.

He knew it was a risk to leave her alone with his stock, so he kept her in eyeshot as he went to get some food. He bought the cheapest meal he could find: a dry meat that he didn’t even want to ask what animal it came from, and he rushed back in case she was planning to run off with his supply.

Already a few men were eyeing the swords when Elrick returned.

“You’ve only got five?” the potential customer asked.

“Yes,” she said. “Fifteen gold for all of them.”

“I’ll give you eight gold,” he said. “I’ve gotta outfit a whole militia. Five swords isn’t going to cut it, but it’s a start.”

Fifteen? So she was trying to show him that she could sell the swords for three gold each? She really wanted to prove to him that he was a terrible salesman. He only needed her to sell them for two each. She was going to ruin this potential sale because of her own ego.

She laughed in the customer’s face. It was a brilliant laugh. Even though she was insulting his offer, it was playful, and the buyer smiled back at her. He stroked his moustache. “Alright, ten. I can do ten.”

He checked her Bartering skill. It was 93.8.

Elrick whispered into her ear. “I have fifteen more in my packhorse. Get him to pay 40 for everything.”

Her eyes lit up. “You wanted more than five? I can sell you twenty. For 60 gold.”

What was she doing? Shouldn’t him buying more lower the price? Or did supply and demand work a lot differently in this world? On Earth, the more of something you bought, the cheaper it usually was. Here, where everything was made by highly skilled labor at a glacial pace compared to mass production, it was probably more valuable to be able to get more in one purchase. It’s not like you could just place an order online for as many as you wanted.

The buyer made a big show of sucking in air. He whistled and shook his head. “Twenty swords...hmm. 60 is too much. I can do 45.”

“50,” she said, crossing her arms.

Elrick held his breath. If she took 45, he’d be done, his trip a full success. He’d go back to Owen having shown himself able to sell above and beyond what was expected, and he’d get to keep even more gold than he’d originally thought. He wouldn’t need to spend the rest of the day here–and probably even longer–struggling to sell the swords one by one. But if she drove too hard of a bargain and the customer walked away, then Elrick might be screwed.

He kicked her shin beneath the table.

She kicked him back, much harder.

“Owen made these?” the buyer asked.

“Yes, sir,” Elrick said.

The woman shot Elrick a look. He probably wasn’t supposed to talk.

“Where is Owen then?” the man asked.

“I’m his apprentice. He’s hard at work in the forge, sir. Making more fine swords just like these for me to come sell here.”

“45 is my final offer,” he said.

“Fine,” Elrick said, not letting Taalia get a chance to mess things up.

She was all smiles as he handed the gold over, and as Elrick unloaded his packhorse full of swords. Once the buyer was gone, Taalia’s smiles were gone.

“You idiot,” she said. “That 15 gold you lost me is coming out of your cut.”

“Come on,” Elrick said. “It barely took you any time. It’s a free 22 gold for you, basically. Pure profit! Do you know how long it took me to make these swords?”

“It would have been 30,” she said. “And what is 22? Half of 45 is 22 and a half, and I’m not splitting silvers with you. You get 22, I get 23. And you made these, not Owen? You little shit? Our buyer better not come back to me saying I ripped him off.”

He wasn’t going to risk her getting greedier, so he nodded. “Deal.”

She handed the gold out to him, and he tucked it away in his pouch, and then he secured his pouch away under his shirt. This was a fortune, and he could not risk losing it.

“This jewelry is all junk,” she said, smiling at him. “The enchantments just make it look pretty enough that you hopefully don’t realize the gems are fake.”

“Oh,” he said. “I was hoping it would make me stronger or something.”

She looked down at his arms and smiled. “You look plenty strong already. Why not buy a book instead?”

He told himself that he wouldn’t let the obviously fake compliment sway him, but he found himself walking toward the books anyway.

He looked through the books. They were all in that strange writing he’d seen on the sign to Antia, but he’d grown so used to reading it that it only seemed strange when he really stopped and thought about it.

There were a few pieces of fiction. These didn’t interest Elrick quite as much as they should have, because everything around him felt like fiction already. Having fiction written in an already fictional world would just confuse him worse than anything else. If someone from Antium came to Earth and read Lord of the Rings, they would have no idea which fantasy elements were similar to the real world of Earth, or made up.

He skipped over those, resolving to read fiction once he’d been in this world long enough to know what was fantasy and what was reality.

The main book of interest leftover was an anatomy handbook, full of detailed, hand-drawn illustrations. He flipped through it until he came onto a page about how various poisons worked on the human body.

Your skill in Anatomy has increased by 0.1, it is now 54.3.

What? Reading could increase his skill?

“How much for this book?” he asked.

“For you? One gold,” she said, smiling at him.

Your Skill in Bartering has increased by 0.3, it is now 50.3.