Elevation of Mana Chapter 55 House

It took me some time to explain to Ian, name pronounced the same as it would have been in English, that it wasn't a specific house I was looking for but rather a place to live.  By that time we'd reached the local guard station and they all had a good laugh at my mistake.

“Ah, first time in the city then?” Ian asked, sitting on a small stone bench, which looked like a massive rock brought in because it was just the right size.

“Yeah, needed a new place to live and Atal seemed the best of them around,” I explained, still a bit embarrassed.

“He was in the right sort of area at least, maybe not that street, but around there there are some good spots,” one of the other guards observed.

“Aye, what are you looking for?” Ian asked, his interest peeked like he might have something.

“Don't need much room for myself, but something near enough the market and an area for a workshop,” I explained.

“What sort of work you do?” one of the others asked.  I supposed if I was wanting to move into their city that was a fair question.

“Sort of hard to explain,” I said, looking for the right words.  “I work with pottery and metal mostly.”

“I've seen some of that, weird stuff.  You actually know how to work it?” Ian asked, one eyebrow going up.

“Yeah, if I can get the materials.  Some of them might not be available around here though.”  I had no doubt about my next plan, since it could be anywhere, but making more pots and the like might prove a bit hard.

“My cousin had a house over that way, sold it off to our grandfather when he left.  If you've got something to pay for it...”

“Maybe I should talk to your grandfather then,” I observed.

The guard's relatives all lived in the area he patrolled, a rather sensible policy, if one that would undoubtedly lead to a bit of favoritism.  Perhaps I should have worried about that, but since it would benefit me I was more than happy to be the one to benefit from it.

He even took me by the house that he thought might work, and I had to admit, it would.  It wasn't tall, having only two floors, but it was sturdy, and with a bit of work from myself would serve as an excellent workshop.  There were even a few extra rooms here and there for storage and any guests I might have.

Upon agreeing that it was a good place I was shown to a large house, one with many people milling about.  There were several floors, and more than a few workers attending to small tasks nearby when we approached.  It still had the standard architecture and build, but also had murals painted on the low stone walls, a way to display that the owner had wealth.

Ian disappeared while I was taken to a room with a well cleaned floor, and a small clay oven to the side to heat it.  There were even woven grass mats for sitting, and a small raised area to serve as a table, set with wooden cups.  As the guard left a woman appeared and filled mine with some kind of juice mixture, pleasant, if a bit sour.

When Ian and his grandfather returned I almost stood, only to be stopped by a raised hand from the older man.

“Elder,” I said, nodding.

“No elders here in Atal my boy, but I would be in the countryside.  You may call me Shorin.  My grandson here tells me you work with copper?”  The man had long hair with a white stripe off to one side in the otherwise brown locks.  His clothing was also longer and more covering than most people wore, and made of a thinner, finer leather.

“Yes, I do.”

The older elf pulled out a small skinning knife, one of mine.  I'd made a good few of these over the years, and gotten quite good at it.  As he turned it over the reddish metal gleamed.

“I bought this last year, and found it to be rather magnificent, but as time went on I find that the edge has dulled.  If you truly work with such materials, can you make it sharper again?”

He passed over the implement and the problems became immediately clear.  Nobody had given instruction on the proper care and maintenance.  We'd made sure to instruct people on how to sharpen them with stones, but somewhere along the line the method had been lost.  It pained me to see that someone had even tried to knapp the edge of it a bit, leaving rather ugly marks.

“May I?” I inquired, gesturing to the blade.

“Of course,” he nodded.

As I pulled some tools from my pack I used magic to reheat the metal.  Taking it to nearly molten and using planes of force to clean up the blade quickly.  That done I cooled it back down and with care began to hammer the edge.  That seemed foolish to most people, but copper needed to be work hardened, and a few moments here would make all the difference in the end.  Finally I took it through a series of stones to clean it down and bring it back to the proper alignment.  The whole process took nearly and hour, with both Ian and the older elf watching intently.  When I was done the knife could have sliced paper, and I handed it back to its owner.

Shorin tested the blade on a finger and when it sliced deep and drew a line of blood he began to laugh uproariously.

“I take it you're satisfied,” I asked.

“Oh, more than, more than.  Can you make more like this knife?” he asked, a smile on his face.

“There is a certain stone needed to make copper.  Without it I may be unable to make more just like that, but I have some ideas on how to make similar things,” I said, not willing to commit at this moment.  “I do have a merchant friend who's supposed to be bringing me more of the materials, but it may take time.”

“Good, Ian here will take you to the house, and if you like it I want one more knife like this for it.  If you can't make one...” he seemed to think for a few seconds.

“Done,” I said, pulling out a skinning knife of my own and setting it down before him.  Mine was a bit nicer, but I could make more.

Shorin began to laugh again as he scooped it up.  It was of slightly nicer quality than that he'd bought, as it was one of my personal tools, but something I could easily replace.

“You had another this whole time?” he said, smiling.  “What other things might you have?”

“I may have other things, but if I'm bothered and lose them now you'll not get more in the future,” I observed, which got me a more genuine smile.

“Smart as can be aren't you?  Good, if you need help moving some of your products, I'll do it, give you a fair deal too.”

“Perhaps I'll take you up on that Shorin, but not today.  The evening is coming and I need to get set up still.”

“Then go my boy, and enjoy your new house.”

Ian shook his head in good spirits as we left.  I knew the older man was overcharging me, but that was fine.  He had one of the city guards vouching for the place I was trying to buy and was ready to deal.  If I played my cards right I could get Ian as a friend, and have a good place to start my work here, which was worth far more to me than a skinning knife.

When I got to my new home I still used my magic to pry up one of the stones in the floor and hide my valuables beneath it.  There was no point making myself easy to rob.  Then I went about deciding where exactly I wanted to sleep, going up and down through the rooms until I found the old bed.  It was a group of vines, all soft and grown together to form a sort of net, and was as comfortable as I could really hope for on short notice, things to work on later.

As I drifted off to sleep I wondered briefly how my family was doing.