Raze ~ 10!

“You're telling me that there is no lumber, nails, or anything that I can purchase in bulk?” Joe was at the architect’s guild, doing his best to get a deal while he could. He had found a good lead at the library, so he needed to take care of a few other issues if possible. “What if I paid a premium? Ten percent over price?”

“I’m telling you, Mr. Joe.” The woman he was speaking with was adamantly shaking her head and holding her ground. “We are bought out for the next two months at the minimum. We honor our deals here. When we say you are next in line, you are. And, well, frankly you're not the first to try and get in good with us. You want lumber, you are going to either need to wait or get people to cut trees and make planks for you.”

Joe thought on that for a moment and bobbed his head in understanding. “I see. Well, I can’t say I don't like your honesty and sticking to your deals. Actually, it makes me want to work with you even more. Which is frustrating, because I can't for now. This is a conundrum.”

The lady seemed to relax a small amount and nodded. “Thank you for understanding. Not everyone has been so… anyway, is there anything else I can help you with?”

“Yes, well, while I am here, can I take a look at any blueprints that you have available for sale?” Joe asked hopefully.

“That's a no, sorry.” She denied him instantly. “Blueprints are essentially the secret techniques of our guild. Mages have their spell books, alchemists have potion recipes, we have our blueprints. Now, you are welcome to sell blueprints to us, but we can’t sell any.”

“I see, I see.” Joe knew right then and there that he would never sell anything to this organization. It might seem petty, but when a group refused to share knowledge that they hoarded for the simple purpose of making people work with or for them… Joe didn't ever want to get sucked into them. That was his real issue with guilds, unions, or colleges; a monopoly by any name is still hurtful to progress. Now people wouldn't even be able to build new homes without going through this group, and they were busy for the next several months? Despicable.

Well, he had his own method for creating blueprints and raising buildings, but he still needed supplies and a way to get blueprint paper. “Would your group be willing to sell blank blueprints so that I can attempt to create workable blueprints?”

“Oh, of course!” The seller gave him a charming smile and he could practically feel his wisdom trying to fight against her obviously high charisma. “Each paper costs two gold, but that won’t be an issue for an adventurer of your quality!”

“Or we could work out a deal where you don’t rip me off.” Joe chuckled at the pout that appeared on her face. “How about you let me take a look at the papers first?”

She walked out of the room and returned shortly with a stack of paper two feet high. The paper was a light blue, and she gestured for him to take a look. “Just so you know, any damage means that you have bought it.”

“Understood.” Joe carefully began going through the stack, separating the paper off and adding some to a pile on the side after starting at it, feeling it, and gently waving it through the air.

After he had gone through the entire stack, he turned to the paper he had set aside and made three piles. His Spellbinder skill was nagging at him, which was why he was taking his time to really look at the paper. He needed paper that could contain the magic that he would be putting through it, and there weren't many that made the cut.  When he had gone through everything, he put away the paper that hadn't been up to the standard that he felt he needed. “I’ll give you a gold each…”

“Highway robbery!” She gasped, putting both hands over her mouth.

“…or I can ask one of the other sellers if they could make a better deal.” Joe finished his sentence.

“And what a good deal it is!” She shook his hand and looked at the paper he had set aside. “That’ll be fifteen gold, then. Anything else I can get you?”

“Onto your waiting list for supplies?” Joe added an extra gold to the pile he was counting out, and when he saw her raised eyebrow, he explained, “That’s to fit me in right away if there is a cancellation. Not to jump into the current line.”

“I see.” She nodded appreciatively, Joe added the purchased paper to his storage ring, and they parted ways.

Joe still had a half hour until he needed to meet the others in the town square, so he went into a restaurant and ordered a coffee. He had a good view of the square from here, and was surprised to see that the place was packed. From all the starting gear, he could tell that this had to be a part of the influx of new people joining the world. Joe had taken a few minutes to watch the President’s speech, but frankly he was still shocked that so many people were taking it seriously even if it were a serious situation.

“A problem for future Joe.” He said aloud, shaking his head and pulling out a blueprint. The paper was the lowest quality that he could find that would still be useful. He was going to try and see if his hunch about creating a magical blueprint was correct. As gently as he could manage, he began flooding the paper with mana. He felt it strain and press against his power, and saw a few notifications appear in his view as the paper erupted into flames and burnt his hands and face.

Attempting to create magical blueprint…  compiling data from all relevant skills. Spellbinder increases strength of paper by 63%. Magical Material Creation allows for a 9% increased density of mana matrix. Attempt to make blank magical blueprint… failed!

Exquisite Shell absorbs 129 mana and fire damage! Your Exquisite Shell has been destroyed! You have taken 24 magical fire damage!

Skill increase: Magical Material Creation (Apprentice 0). Congratulations!

Skill increase: Exquisite Shell (Novice V). Blow yourself up again! For… reasons! Great way to raise this skill!

You have healed 24 damage. Current health: 230/230

Joe shook his face to get the residual water off and tried to calm himself. He knew that he should have refreshed his shell after getting smacked around, but he hadn't thought it would matter so much in the city. Ignoring all the strange looks he was getting from the people around him eating lunch, he released his mana and formed a fresh shell around himself. Joe hadn't liked the snarky message, but there was a hint of good advice in there. Might as well use his failures to grow!

He sipped his now-tepid coffee and waited for his mana to regenerate. When he was back to full, he pulled out another paper and concentrated on it, ignoring the people scooting away from him at nearby tables. Joe kept a careful hold on his mana, smoothly applying a layer of the powerful energy to the paper and attempting to get it to sink into the blueprint. He felt something in his mind *click*, and he cut off the flow of power.

Attempting to create magical blueprint…  compiling data from all relevant skills. Spellbinder increases strength of paper by 63%. Magical Material Creation allows for a 10% increased density of mana matrix. Attempt to make blank magical blueprint… Success!

Item gained: Blank magical blueprint (Uncommon). You have turned the mundane into the mystical by infusing this seemingly ordinary blueprint with mana! As an ‘Uncommon’ quality blueprint, it can store the information for a building at Uncommon quality or below!

“Nice!” Joe smiled and brought the paper to his lap, where it vanished into his codpiece. He tended to keep the rare and important things in there, as it was more likely that someone could steal his ring than his codpiece. Also, if they did steal his ring, they would think they got all of his valuables. A fresh paper appeared in his hands, and he started again. *Boom* Joe coughed a cloud of smoke, staring at his hands that should be charred. His shell had taken the entirety of the damage, but he still had at least half of it remaining. He had gone into the process too excited, and the result spoke for itself.

He tried again, and once again his shell took damage. As another paper appeared in his hand, the server came over and told him in no uncertain terms to leave. Joe checked the time, realized that he was already almost late and nodded. Since he had already paid, he simply turned and hopped off the balcony. Joe landed perfectly in the square below… then fell to the ground. His stamina had failed him, since he had needed to make so many adjustments as he fell so as to not crush someone. Whoops. He had forgotten about the new arrivals.

He got to his feet and brushed his butt off, then started walking to the agreed upon spot to meet his friends. Joe found that moving through the crowd was difficult, and very few of them, seemed to know what they were doing or where to go. It was also loud, and a whole lot of people were calling for help or directions while the kingdom’s people tried to direct them. There were also less-than-scrupulous people recruiting for guilds, and Joe made sure to remember their guild name for later, just in case. 

“There he is! Joe! Yoo-hoo! Follow the sounds of the screams!” Jaxon’s voice called through the crowd, but Joe couldn't see from where. Then he heard the trumpeting of a T-rex, followed quickly by screams of fear from people that had T-rex head hands snapping at them. “Hi, Joe! Glad you found us! Nice new gear!”

“Hi, Jaxon.” Joe tried hard not to laugh, but seeing his friend smiling at him while T-rex heads snapped at empty air was too much for him.