With zero summons available for the journey, he felt quite unsafe. Any ambush might kill him, and it seemed far too slow. Since it’d be too inefficient to wait until Alta had learnt her first profession, he decided to wait two more weeks for something to happen to the Stormheart Oak overseeing the Hidden Grotto. That gave him time to explore the options available to members of the Pax Society and purchase a dwelling suitable for the auction. Meanwhile, Alta could learn more essential knowledge from available artisans to improve their chances for the quest.

They also had enough merit to request the craftsmen of the Pax Society to make something for the team. With fifty-five points accumulated for the both of them – forty from Rilia and fifteen from the seven regular members – there should be enough for something useful. He went to the main area of the society, where many people roamed or rested, and checked the exchange rates for available items.

Some items were unavailable to Caesar or Alta as regular members. For example, the wind barrier. He wagered one could only purchase it once they became as highly ranked as Rilia. Additionally, he didn’t see any Rare potions on this list. But there were two other boards at the front of the hall, which seemed reserved for team leaders. He hoped some important potions appeared there.

To hire a smith to forge a generic rank two enchanted item, it cost him twenty-five points on average. Although rank one artifacts were slightly cheaper, a full rank two artifact wasn’t even available to normal members. As for potions, they varied depending on how rare they were – specific effects like resistances cost more than generic effects such as healing.

I wonder if Rilia would make an exception? Probably not. This is supposed to be a test, after all.

Caesar walked over to one of several boards around the room which displayed tasks for its members to complete. These boards came in two sizes: one for rank one, and one for rank two. He glanced at both.

Taking certain missions was restricted to those of the same rank, possibly to give lesser members a chance to succeed. Rank two members could naturally clear most rank one tasks at a greater speed. Thus, they were only allowed to take them in an emergency. Some could lead important rank one missions, but rarely, as they usually involved rare events such as guarding a dungeon. And rank two members couldn’t simply choose which to take either. Instead, the choice went to the rank one members involved, who then notified them about their choice.

Still, those assignments were usually the simplest, and thus the most popular. And with the emphasis on reliability and charisma, Caesar doubted they could receive one of these missions anytime soon. Currently, none remained on the board, though he did overhear some people eagerly talking about them.

Before heading towards the front, he checked the board at the entrance of the building. This one dictated mandatory missions for members to complete, for no reward – but they were almost effortless. They consisted of menial tasks such as events to help the needy, cleaning places around the city, patrolling for criminals, and everything mundane that one could think of. He didn’t have to do these yet, as they were on a mission, but would if he wanted to stay in this society afterwards.

At the two boards for team leaders, Caesar quickly scanned through the items immediately available for exchange before leaving. What he saw did not excite him. There was an utter lack of Rare healing potions, and only a Rare Damage Resistance Potion managed to put a smile on his face. Furthermore, it’d cost over a hundred merit points before he could request someone craft a Rare artifact suited for his rank, and he’d need to provide the materials himself like regular members. Fortunately, there were ways to reduce the cost, and one of them was to learn some of the steps beforehand.

To create an artifact, one needed three things: the proper materials, the skill to forge it, and the skill to imbue it with greater strength. Lacking any one of these might result in an Uncommon item, which could be considered failures. With many steps in the process, and when a single mistake might result in the degradation of the final product, the creation of artifacts became an arduous task for multiple professionals at a time: butchers, smiths, and enchanters.

His father’s journal contained some information on how to butcher the more important monsters, like the manticore. His mother’s journal focused on herbalism with some minor notes on alchemy. Thus, he believed Alta would likely choose to try smithing or enchanting before focusing on the prior professions. He followed her trail and saw her and Rilia discussing something with a smith.

“Greetings,” he said to Rilia, the first word she had heard him speak.

“Oh, hello there. Caesar was it?”

He nodded. “I came to ask if something could be forged with these items.” A few pieces of rank two Common wood from the deceased Stormheart Oak, along with some tempest shards and the Discordant Core, clattered onto the smith’s table. These were items the ants couldn’t consume.

The man inspected each material for a few seconds before nodding his head. “I can work with these. What’d you like?”

“Javelins. Perfect for throwing at a very long distance, with the highest damage possible.”

“That I can do. Fifteen merit points per success – is that alright? Good.”

Rilia smiled and said, “Luckily, you came to the right person. Why don’t you two watch us work?”

“Oh, are you an enchanter?” Alta asked.

“Yep!” The elf beamed at the duo before continuing her previous talk with the Doppelganger. Caesar ignored them and instead opted to watch the smith work.

First, the man used a sleek knife to whittle a single piece of wood into a lighter version of his previous spear, making them suitable for throwing. It only took him a single try to complete this first javelin – about a few hours – whereupon Caesar then hurled it into a nearby target as a test. It embedded itself nicely into straw.

“You’re good at observing. How is it?”

“The weight is great.”

Staring at a single spot for hours was an acquired mental skill of Caesar’s, from the time spent with his insects back home. That allowed him to remain behind while Alta had already left with Rilia to investigate the other professions.

The smith then picked up two of the tempest shards with cut-resistant gloves and placed them into a stone bowl, also visibly enchanted. Bursts of wind sputtered upwards as he smashed them into little pieces with something reminiscent of a pestle.

“Will that really work?”

“Yep. Got a useful glue here.” He pointed at a nearby jar with a lid, marked with wavy symbols on its exterior. “Not much you can do with wood, without it.”

Caesar looked back at the shattered shards. His curiosity prompted the smith to hand him a spare glove, allowing him to pick up a handful. Each piece of glass still seemed to swirl with wind, remaining enchanted although the system refused to provide him with any hints.

“Can you identify anything special? I can’t.”

“Sure. If you pick up enough and have enough experience with the material, you can see what it is.” he said, cupping about half into his palms. “These are Tempest Fragments, still Uncommon, just with more scattered energy.”

After that short break, the smith wrenched open the lid on the jar, emitting a sickly sweet smell. Caesar frowned a little, but the man remained stoic and dipped the point of the javelin shaft into the mixture before immediately swirling it into the Tempest Fragments. He then hung the dripping javelin onto a string, letting it dangle in the air.

“Well, that’s it for now. Have to wait for it to dry first.”

“Amazing,” Caesar said as he clapped. “Can anyone learn this?”

“For these? Sure. This is real basic stuff. Well, not really. But there are people with skills or abilities that are much better at this than me.” The man shook his head, wiping off the sweat from his brow. He stood up and said, “I’ll work on your Discordant Core later, then the other two javelins on the next day.”

Caesar simply basked in the sun, eyes closed, until the smith returned in the afternoon. Two hours after the sun had reached its highest point, the man sliced the Discordant Core into three separate chunks – one for each javelin – and embedded one into the middle part of the shaft by carving out a small hole. With a little more glue, it fit inside nicely.

[Item]: Enchanted Wind Javelin – Rank 2

[Rarity]: Uncommon

[Effects]: When hurled, uses the wind to fly faster.

The first javelin was finished. Now, it just needed enchantments. While the man left to go find Rilia, Caesar moved around the workstations and looked at each tool. What he saw satisfied him. Each important item in the smith’s arsenal was at the very least enchanted. It was well worth it to work with them, as they could offer high quality equipment and perhaps training too.

When Alta returned with Rilia, he grew excited. Finally, Caesar could witness the mysteries of enchanting – a profession completely unknown to him. Smithing had its roots in basic crafting, and alchemy shared concepts with herbalism. So what about enchanting?

“Look carefully,” said Rilia as she picked up the javelin and a carving tool. “There are two ways to enchant an item. Simply imbuing the item with Mana will do, but that requires a certain Skill or Ability.” She began to etch little lines and curves onto the javelin, radiating spirals from the center of the Discordant Shard that lightly grazed each Tempest Fragment. “Professionals like us need to learn certain symbols instead.”

It seems to be a form of language. Caesar’s eyes drifted to Alta, who watched intently. Will Deciphering work?

After about an hour of careful carving, Rilia began to pour Mana into her finished creation. Sweat pooled on her brows and dripped down her face, but Alta helped pat her dry.

“Thank you,” she said once finished with her task. The center of the javelin began to glow dimly. Anyone with eyes could immediately tell it was an enchanted item, unless hidden inside a container. She handed it over to Caesar. “It’s a good item.”

He identified it and nodded in complete satisfaction. “I think I’ll call this a Squall.” After nicknaming the item, the screen displaying the item’s effects also changed like how he named his summons.

[Item]: Windburst Javelin (Squall) – Rank 2

[Rarity]: Uncommon

[Effects]: The javelin is sharper and lighter. When hurled, uses the wind to fly much faster and explodes into a brief windstorm once it collides with an object.

Happy with the smith’s work, Caesar smiled. As a thank you, he gave him the remainder of the Stormheart Oak’s wood, which helped clear his Skeleton Mage’s bag space. He also tried to hand over the rank two Uncommon Stormheart Acorn to Rilia as another token of thanks, but she refused.

“That’s not necessary, Caesar. Thank you for before.”

The smith preferred to work slower, and Rilia needed to rest after using up her Mana. Because failed creations would slow the process down, it would take at least two more days at the earliest before he could receive the last two javelins. A good thing – delaying for too long made no sense, considering the relative urgency of the mission for a bright and eager newcomer to the Pax Society.

For the final ten merit points he had remaining, he traded them away for Common health potions. Now, the party had four again.

Rilia agreed to leave the Pax Society area with them to meet with the owner of a nearby house to discuss their living conditions. Upon hearing from her personally that Caesar and Alta had joined the Pax Society, the man smiled in delight and allowed them to stay for as long as they wanted, even going so far as to give them a small discount on rent. As he left, he whistled a jaunty tune.

She turned to the duo and waved goodbye before heading home as well. After her footsteps had faded away into the distance, Alta scoped out the area for about thirty minutes before nodding to indicate nothing abnormal once she returned.