Single Spell Sorcerer-Chapter 84: Black Lead

"You arrived here just yesterday?" Mel asked. "Right, it was yesterday when the registrations ended. I would’ve gone too, but I haven’t had the time to search for a party, considering how busy I’ve been between learning how to make equipment and making a living to survive on my own."

Jax walked beside her in the early morning, where the air was still cold and very few people walked around. After finishing his breakfast, he had come with her to go to where the smithy was.

"Are you still looking for a party?" Jax asked.

Mel turned toward him, an eyebrow raised. "Are you offering me to join your party?" she asked.

Jax thought for a moment. "How good are you in a fight?" he asked. "You are a blacksmith, aren’t you? You might not have had the time to train."

"I will let you know that I am a pretty decent fighter. I got a 2-Star ticket when I came to this Carriage a year ago."

"2-Star... that’s not bad," Jax said before catching the other portion of her words. "Wait, you’ve been here for a year?"

"Around that," she said. "Like 10 months, I guess."

"So... you’ve missed two chances to register," he said. "Are you sure you even want to leave?"

"Of course I want to leave. I couldn’t help either of the two times. I hadn’t reached the 1-Star Emerald stage the first time around, and as I said I didn’t have the opportunity the second time around."

Jax nodded. "I see."

"So, do you want me to join your party or not?" Mel asked.

"Sure," Jax said. "But just so you know, I am alone for now. So you would be my second party member."

Mel stopped in her tracks and turned her head toward him. "So you don’t have a party? Why the hell would you ask me to join one then?"

"I wasn’t the one who brought up the idea of joining me. I merely accepted what you brought up," Jax said. "Besides, I have to start somewhere, and you seem strong enough."

"I need a party with actual people in it," she said before continuing on. "Let me know if you have an actual party I can join."

Jax shrugged and continued on.

The Oak village wasn’t so large that it took anyone more than 5 minutes to go from any point in the village to another. Jax arrived at the smithy in no time at all and saw a bunch of people working inside.

"Are you sure they can’t make my armor?" Jax asked, watching from the outside. "They look capable enough."

"Do you want runes?" Mel asked. "If so, I am the only one who can get it done for you."

Jax narrowed his eyes. "You said there was someone else here, didn’t you?"

"Karran is busy. Every 2 months, newcomers come and start commissioning him for things, so he ends up being swamped by the end of it. Which is why I am the perfect choice for you right now."

"I will choose to trust you for now," Jax said. "So, how does this work? Do I have to bring any material? Do I just pay the cost?"

"You have money, so don’t worry. Let’s first decide the type of armor you want," Mel said as she showed him the way into the smithy.

Jax followed her in, walking past people who greeted her along the way. At least he knew she worked there now. He went over to an empty room where they sat down to talk.

Mel brought out a notepad and a pen, and started writing.

"So, what type of armor do you want exactly? Bulky, slim. Is it more for showing off or do you want it to actually do something?" She asked a bunch of questions, which Jax listened through all of it before coming back with an answer.

"I don’t really care much for design. Make it a simple black armor, with relatively heavy material. It can be around 200 slimes in terms of heaviness. The armor itself I want is a tight-fitting one. I need it to allow my hands to move freely so I can fight.."

"Wait," Mel said suddenly. "You want heavy armor, but you also want to be able to fight?"

Jax nodded.

"You do realize that’s stupid, right?" she asked. "Regardless of how strong you are, you wouldn’t be able to move with such heavy armor. You should get one that has a weaker defense, but is also lighter."

"No, I want what I asked for," Jax said. "I can make it work."

Mel narrowed her eyes for a moment but didn’t say much. "Alright, if you want to."

She sketched a simple design and showed it to him.

Jax looked at it and made a few modifications. After a few minutes, the sketch of the armor was ready.

"That was fast," Mel said as she put away her notepad. "Per your request, Black lead should be what makes the main body of the armor. I have full freedom on the minor bits, right?"

"Yes," Jax said.

"Okay. That will cost you..." she paused for a moment, going through her mind. "50 Opal stones for the armor."

"50?" Jax’s eyes went wide. "That’s so much. How is it that expensive?"

"How would it not be?" she asked. "Are you looking at what you’re requesting? 200 slimes of Black lead. Do you know how difficult it is to work with Black lead? That thing only becomes workable at a very high temperature, and cools down extremely fast too."

"Not to mention, I’m turning it all into armor. So I will have to make it in parts, which will take me at least a few days, if not the entire week. I deserve that many stones for all of that work."

Jax supposed she wasn’t wrong. "Still, I want someone else’s opinion on this price," he said. "I want to talk to Karran."

"Sure," Mel said. "But let us finish finalizing the price first, okay?"

This 𝓬ontent is taken from fre𝒆webnove(l).𝐜𝐨𝗺