Mathew stood in his personal crafting area feeling slightly amiss. His mind went back to the possible rewards and couldn’t help but see what he missed. The new Workshop was beyond anything he expected.

“Ragnork, I have a question I hope you can help me with.”

The giant looked down at him, “I can’t answer most things, unless it’s about crafting, or this building. If you try to ask me grander questions, about Axioms, or non crafting related skills, then you are out of luck kid.”

“What rank is this place, let alone how expensive?”

“Ha! Not what you expected right? What rank was your reward?”

“Apprentice. I’m severely impressed that a rank that starts at Level 25 gets me all of this.”

Ragnork snorted, “That’s because you are confusing two things. Firstly, that ranking is based on your performance. You, a Beginner rank, performed at an Apprentice level. Which means you were doing things above your paygrade. Granted, I can tell you are almost at Level 25. Probably 23 or 24.”

Mathew nodded, confirming his level. If the giant could just tell, there was no use lying to the man…giant…statue. “Then, what’s the difference?”

Ragnork scratched at his head, as if he could feel an itch there. “That’s hard to explain. Pushes the limits of what I can and can’t say. However, let me put it this way. This building is ranked Apprentice. The building, tools, and all it can do are probably Beginner rank at its best. The enchantments and such are between Beginner and Apprentice ranked. Your problem is what you are comparing it to. This” Ragnork gestured around them. “Is usually seen in low tiered crafting guilds. Typically rented out to random people to use. This isn’t made for some grand powerful clan or family.”

Ragnork went over to the lone worktable. “This floor here is typically rented out for an extremely high price. Depending upon the location, a single day’s use with no limits ranges from ten to fifty thousand UC. That’s not including materials.”

Mathew blinked. “Just how rich and powerful is the rest of the universe?”

“What rank are you then? What can you perform at?”

“Ahh, a Guardian is equal in rank to the environment around him.” Ragnork said with a wink. Mathew smirked, already liking the giant more and more. He was a businessman, Mathew could understand what he was doing.

“Right. So, my next question is simple. How do I improve this building?”

Rangork waved a hand, “That’s a question to ask once you aren't a kid anymore.”

Mathew sighed, “And why do you call me a kid? I’m a grown adult. By human standards anyways.”

“Ha! He thinks he is all grown up.” Ragnork patted Mathew on the shoulder, almost knocking him to the ground. “You are what? Twenty? Fourty years old max? You are but a blink in the eye to the real adults out there. Me? I stopped counting years forever ago. I count by the centuries. It's around 500 last time I checked.”

Blinking, Mathew looked up at the man. “That’s over 50,000 years old. Our planet's history barely goes back a couple thousand. Modern day conveniences only started a couple hundred years ago. Just how old can you become?”

“Depends upon a lot of factors. To say the least, I am not that old. Depends on who you ask of course. I consider myself young and spry enough to take this…occupation.”

Mathew was satisfied with the questions. “Works for me. So long as your actions don’t interfere with my plans, you are good to do whatever you think is best here.” Mathew put his hands on his hips, looking around. His mind was running fast. Idea after idea appeared and disappeared.

“So, you mentioned renting this place out? What about something other than the system currency?”

Ragnork shrugged. “Only thing that I can monitor is the storage area, UC, and mana here. I will say, smart idea placing a mana condenser upgrade on this place. It will help a whole bunch. Before you ask, no I can’t suggest upgrades. I can, however, tell you if one will harm this building either in production or physically.”

Mathew nodded, glad for that information as well. “I’ll keep that in mind in the future. I need to talk with one of my aides about taxes. The price to use this place will start small, but for now keep it open to the public. If anyone causes problems, lock them up in the storage room until someone comes to collect them.”

“Got it kid, anything else? You do have an entire crafting area you can use for free.”

Mathew eyed the table and stone slab. “I absolutely will come back here tomorrow. I just have more pressing issues sadly. Primarily materials to do said crafting. Once I get everything, you and I will be sitting down and making works of art.”

“Sure thing kid.” Ragnork said with a thumbs up. “Don’t worry about thieves or trouble makers. I’ve smashed a few heads together before. Granted, I’ll need to hold back my umpf. I wouldn’t want to kill any of your people.”

Mathew shrugged, “A few broken eggs won’t be horrible. Might be a wake up call for would be trouble makers if death is a possible outcome for their actions.”

“Oof, harsh. I like it. You might have some giant in ya kid.”

Mathew didn’t deny it, but doubted he was related to the statue like man. “Is there anything you need specifically from me? Or can people start working here now?”

“Nope. This place is ready to get to work. Just let everyone know to put their tools back. If they don’t rerack their tools, it just makes things a huge hassle. I’m here to keep this place working, not a nanny.”

“Of course. You could always tax people for not doing so.”

“Oh, that’s a good idea. Didn’t think about cleaning fees. Most crafters have more respect than to leave behind a dirty public workbench. How much?”

Mathew waved a hand as he started to walk down the stairs, “Make it 100. Small enough that people won’t care, large enough that it stacks up over time. I’ll see you tomorrow Ragnork. I feel you and I are going to be great friends!”

Walking to the bottom floor, Mathew noticed several people were already hard at work. That included Zack. “Mathew! This place is amazing! What is it?”

“A reward from The System, I already told you.” Mathew said flatly. “I take you and the others are enjoying it?”

“No shit. We can do so much work here! Even the tools are a higher quality. Those with identifying abilities have been checking everything. If you used it on an old world tool, it came back with nothing other than its simple name. Now? The tools have ranks! Everything is Novice for the most part, but they have ranks! We can make better quality goods Mathew!”

“I didn’t even consider that. Be sure to remind everyone who to thank for this. Myself with Agnox and Alan. Throw in Jeffery too, but it’s hard to thank him without food in your hand.”

“Oh yea, I need to repair his armor.” Zack blinked and his face lit up brighter somehow. “Which I can do faster now! If only I had my forge, is that in the storage area too?”

Mathew pointed up the stairs, “Nobody went up there yet?”

“Not since you and the statue went, why?”

Mathew shook his head with a grin. He couldn’t help but catch the happiness coming off of Zack. “I’ll let you figure it out yourself. If I had a camera, I would go up there with you for the reaction. Third floor is just a lame storage closet type place. Nothing important for anyone unless they want to help with the business side of stuff.”

“I can’t have people snooping at my own private place to make rituals can I?”

“Probably not, but is this all for free?”

“For now. There might be a fee in the future, so make sure everyone uses this place.” Mathew patted the large man’s shoulder. “Enjoy it Zack. Blue Oaks is going to have a crafting boom.”

A small group was starting to go up the stairs and poke their heads around to explore more. Mathew left everyone to further explore and test out the newest addition to Blue Oaks.

He was still surprised at how great the quality was. Just for a few days worth of work, he exploded the quality of goods Blue Oaks could make.

Speaking of quality goods, Mathew drove over to Di’s shop. Not surprised as more and more people wandered closer to the new crafting area. The outside of the shop had practically no people.

Entering the quaint building, Mathew noticed a few additional shelves with items. Nothing he was interested in, but it was something different. “Di, I heard you were looking for me.”

“Mr. McGonald! A pleasure as always to have your presence inside of my store. Come, let’s talk. I want to know how your affairs with the undead went. I’ve only heard rumors and passing stories.”

“It was an experience to say the least.” Mathew walked over by the counter and leaned up against it. “Tell me Di, you wouldn’t happen to have anything on cultivating one's soul do you?”

Di’s expressionless face was always hard to decipher. “I have one or two things about such a topic. It pleases me to hear you mention cultivation, I’ve been worried so long about my customers well being. Nobody cares for strengthening their foundations!”

“I understand, that is something that will slowly be resolved. However, I am more worried about my own health. I had an unlucky encounter. One that almost killed me. I’m looking for solutions. You are my last resort here Di, don’t hold out on me.” Mathew was serious in his words. He hoped there was more than one solution to his problem.

“The soul is a tricky thing, Mr. McGonald. Very few choose to choose it as their primary foundation. Typically seers, psychics, priests, or other risky professions go that route. Even fewer make it far on the path of cultivating.”

“What if I were to mention necromancy as an option?”

“I would kindly ask you to leave my shop. You remember what I told you about the Black King and his story don’t you?”

Mathew nodded, “Let’s just say, that is the reason for my current health status. Nothing to worry about, I just need something to fill in a few holes. Any treasures, manuals, spells, something to fix me?”

“Mr. McGonald, what you are asking is an unorthodox topic. And there are ears everywhere. Information has a price, I have things you can buy, but I hope you keep a keen mind on how you use this information. Fixing yourself because of an unorthodox opponent is one thing, using such acts is another.”

“I knew you had something. I also have a few items I wanted your expert opinion on. Care to take a peak?”

“Items from you? Of course. I’ve had dozens of new toys to look at. Some from other shops if I had to guess.”

Mathew started to pull out all the new items he had acquired. He could use his own ritual to examine them, and he plans to. Yet, he wants to compare the results. “I’ve acquired some new assets. You are still my number one though.”

“And it brings pleasure to my face to hear you say that Mr. McGonald.”

Mathew pointed to the charm he recently acquired. “Let’s start with this. Most of these are System rewards. A few others are weapons or materials I've picked up from enemies.”

“I’ll add it all up on your tab. I’m sure you can pay it off later.”

“With my current funds? Absolutely.” Mathew thought to himself.

“Hmmm. A simple item. Charms are typically a lower tier of items. This one just gives a minor layer of protection against a single attack. Useful for anyone who opens up with something strong.”

“How does it work?”

“Just keep it on your person, and if you are attacked, it will block most of it. There are better versions that lets you choose when to activate the shield, but are all heavily more pricey. This is only Novice ranked, but at the higher end of it.”

Di moved on to two spears. One was Mathew’s quest reward, the other that belonged to Tyrone. “The first one is a simple magical spear. It’s enchanted to pierce through armor more easily. The second one is much more interesting in my professional opinion. It isn’t enchanted, but the material is of high quality. Somewhere between Beginner and Apprentice ranked. It’s hard to tell since it’s not a System made reward.”

“The spear came as a reward from the System though.” Mathew stated.

“System Rewards, and rewards given from The System are two different things. The first is created by The System. The latter are any item given out. Given its name, it was a quest from a god or similar entity.”

Mathew blinked at that answer. He already came to the conclusion that the rewards he received were also the rewards Bob and Tyrone were promised. He out did both of them, accomplished their own quests, and took the rewards for doing so. The class upgrade was something Bob already informed him was his reward. The spear must have been Tyrones.

“What god?” Mathew asked.

“No clue. It wasn’t made by one, just a reward. The material has a wind affinity. If you throw it, it will fly further and ignore the air resistance. It would be prized by any spear thrower.”

“What about the book?” Mathew asked, anxiousness filled him. This was the main item he wanted to look at. He had yet to read it, but was still skeptical of what it contained.

Di picked it up and started to flip through the pages. “A cultivation manual is the obvious part. It will instruct you on how to further build upon your dedicated path. Another non system made reward. It’s interesting, but I don't recognize it. That means either it is a uniquely specialized one or a higher tiered version. It could also be a closely guarded secret from any number of families, clans, sects, or lone cultivators. Whoever Trinity was, wrote it. I don’t recognize the name.”

“What kind of cultivation is it?”

Di smiled slightly. “I’m getting there Mr. McGonald, patience. From what little I am looking at, it’s something very odd. It’s almost backwards from what I can tell. Most culviation manuals have you build upon one or two foundations. The third isn’t left behind, but isn't’t focused. This manual has you cultivate all three to support each other. It will weaken you overall, but create a foundation revolving around using any two to support a third. Why anyone would do this, I haven't the faintest idea.”

Mathew pursed his lips together. That did sound odd. Why would he be given this? “Does The System ever give bad rewards?”

Di put the book down with a sigh. “That is a great question. Most people would say no. The System gives exactly fair rewards for the work done upon a quest given by it. Others would say The System loves to play games, and give joke rewards now and then. What you choose to believe is up to you. I’m just a merchant. I never think anything is fair.”

Mathew nodded, and started to take back everything. “Thank you for looking at everything. Now I have a different request.” He pulled out the ritual book he purchased from Di a couple months ago. “I want two of everything in the materials required for every ritual in this book that you can get me.”