Chapter 51: Ores
The woman in the ore shop stood behind the wooden counter, her weight resting heavily against her palms as she leaned forward. She let out a long, slow sigh.
*The sun is about to set again. I knew it, he's not coming back. Using that money for that contract was all for nothing.*
She lifted her gaze, looking out the open shop front. The fading daylight cast long shadows over the thick crowd of people passing by in the bustling marketplace.
*Things are never easy, are they? He probably found someone who made him a better deal.*
She pressed the heel of her hand hard against her forehead, her fingers curling into her hair. "Why did I want to split fifty-fifty?" she muttered, breathing out a heavy gust of air. "I should have just let him get the sixty percent. Grandpa said I shouldn't be greedy. This is the result."
Heavy boots stepped through the threshold. Tyler walked directly into the store.
The woman gasped, her spine snapping completely straight as she registered his tall frame. A massive smile broke across her face, her bright brown eyes widening in pure shock.
"Hey! You're back!" she shouted, her loud voice echoing sharply off the stone walls of the large room.
"Yeah, sorry I couldn't come back that time. Something happened," Tyler said. He rubbed the back of his neck, the friction betraying his slight embarrassment.
She quickly walked around the edge of the counter to close the distance between them. "It's fine," she said, waving the apology away. "I've got some good news."
"Really? What is it?" Tyler asked, his curiosity peaking as his hand dropped loosely to his side.
"The baron approved of our contract."
"Oh, that's great," Tyler responded, nodding.
"But that's not all. Remember all those ingots? That you made that time?"
"Yeah?" Tyler said, one eyebrow rising.
"They all sold in one day. Both the craftsmen of this town approved of the price."
*Both?* Tyler thought, slightly confused by the number.
"I even told them about the prices of the other ingots, and they approved of those as well," she continued, her words spilling out rapidly. "They've been coming and sending people here non-stop while you were gone. They were a bit disappointed that I kept telling them we didn't have any. But since you're back, we can actually make some! Come on."
She reached out, her small fingers wrapping tightly around Tyler's rough, calloused hand, and pulled him forward.
"Oh," Tyler said, stumbling a half-step in surprise.
She dragged him all the way back to the dim storage room where the heavy metal crates sat.
*She's pretty happy. I thought she'd be mad,* Tyler thought, a genuine smile forming on his face.
The woman's boundless, childish excitement suddenly triggered a vivid memory. James's young child, Heather. In an instant, the warm relief and happiness pooling in Tyler's chest completely vanished, turning to ice. The heavy memory forced its way to the front of his mind—the last moment he had looked at Heather. The absolute fear in her eyes. The way her small body shrank away, hiding behind James's leg as if Tyler were a dangerous, terrifying monster.
The woman turned around to face him. "You can make more, right?"
She paused, catching the sudden shift in his demeanor. The smile had entirely dropped from his face, replaced by a dark, serious expression of deep concern.
"What's wrong?" she asked, tilting her head in confusion.
Tyler blinked, forcing the memory away. "It's nothing," he said, his voice flat. He cleared his throat. "So, you want me to make more?"
"Yes, I want you to make lots," she said, curling both of her small hands into determined fists.
"How many?" Tyler asked. He walked past her, reaching into one of the heavy metal crates, and hoisted a medium silver ingot into his grip.
"As many as you can, until your mana runs out."
"Wow," Tyler breathed out. "That's a lot," he said, flashing a tight, nervous smile.
He turned his back to her, looking down at the heavy silver in his hands. Safe from her view, the nervous expression instantly melted away, replaced by a massive, completely unrestrained grin.
*This is awesome,* he thought.
His eyes swept over the massive metal crates filling the storage room, the rough ores piled high. His grin widened, knowing full well he couldn’t run out of mana. He quickly wiped the smile away, forcing his expression into serious focus as he turned back to face the woman.
"Which one should I start with?" he asked, rubbing his chin. "Hmm, we did the bronze ores last time, right? Hector said he needed more steel and iron, and the old man also needed more steel, but also bigger bronze ores."
She tapped her index finger thoughtfully against her cheek. "Can you do... seventy large bronze ingots? Along with maybe... eighty... No, one hundred large steel ingots."
"A hundred?" Tyler asked, his eyes going genuinely wide.
She dropped her hand from her cheek. "Is it too much?"
Tyler did the rapid mental math. *One large steel ingot would give me 1.5 silver. Making a hundred of those would just give me 1.5 gold.* He swallowed hard, his throat dry.
"No, I can," he said.
"Great!" she said, clasping her hands together in excitement.
"But do you have the money for all that?" Tyler asked, a sudden sliver of doubt creeping in.
"Oh no, don't worry. I told my grandpa all about it. That part is already completely covered."
Tyler's heart hammered in his chest. "Alright, then I'll start."
He walked over to the crates holding the large bronze ores. He grabbed one of the heavy, jagged rocks. It was massive, totally filling his hand.
*This is going to give me three copper each,* he thought.
The heavy stone disappeared into his inventory. He mentally commanded the extraction, and a second later, summoned it back. A perfectly smooth, large rectangular bronze ingot materialized in his open palm. It gleamed faintly in the dim light, feeling completely warm and satisfyingly smooth to the touch.
*This process happens so fast. Every time, I'm thankful, though.* He crouched, placing the heavy metal block carefully onto the stone floor.
He found his rhythm, mentally drawing thirty ores into his inventory at a time, converting them instantly, and pulling them back out. He placed them methodically on the floor, stacking them like heavy, glowing bricks until the pile perfectly reached seventy. He glanced over his shoulder, catching sight of the woman turning left to enter the small front office, leaving him to work. He immediately shifted to the steel ores, repeating the exact same rapid process until one hundred perfectly refined steel ingots were stacked neatly beside the bronze.
"Hey, I'm done!" he yelled out, his voice echoing off the stone.
"I'm coming," she called back.
She hurried out of the office, stopping dead in her tracks. Her eyes widened massively as she took in the towering stacks of heavy metal. Hundreds of perfectly uniform ingots gleamed under the warm orange sunlight filtering through the tall, dusty windows.
"Wow," she breathed out, completely awestruck. She walked forward, brushing past Tyler, and rested her hand gently on top of the massive steel stack. The metal was piled higher than the original wooden crates. She traced the perfectly smooth edges, feeling the pure, absolute density of the refined material.
She turned to look at Tyler. "These look incredible. That must have been an incredible amount of work. Did you run out of mana yet?"
*Should I tell her?* Tyler thought rapidly. *I mean, this is probably more than enough to repay James, right? But since she's asking, she must have more money to spend.*
"I have a little mana left," Tyler lied smoothly.
"Okay. If you don't mind, can you turn the large iron ores into ingots too?"
Tyler let out a long, heavy sigh, expertly faking absolute exhaustion as his shoulders slumped forward. "Alright, how many?"
"Fifty will do."
"Fifty?" He exhaled again, resting his hands heavily on his waist. "I'll try."
*I get to do fifty more?* he thought inwardly, his pulse racing. *Great! This means even more coins.*
He moved over to the heavy iron crates and repeated the hidden process until fifty solid iron ingots joined the gleaming piles. By the time he finished, a significant amount of time had passed. The sun had already dropped halfway below the horizon, casting deep orange shadows across the room. The bustling marketplace outside had quieted down considerably as the crowds scattered for the evening.
"Done," he announced, looking over the final stack.
"Great. Here's the money for all your hard work," she said, holding out a small canvas pouch.
Tyler took the small, closed bag. To his absolute surprise, it felt incredibly light, there couldn't be many coins inside. His eyebrows rose as he pinched the fabric, pulled the thick string open, and peered inside.
Two massive gold coins stared back at him. They were significantly larger than both the copper and silver coins, meticulously stamped with three thick concentric circles. The gold color gleamed brightly, looking incredibly fresh and heavy.
"Wow..." he breathed out, completely mesmerized.
"I calculated the amount," she explained cheerfully, "and it was one gold coin and ninety-six silver coins. I decided I should just make it a clean total of two gold coins. So I added four silver coins as a bonus."
Tyler looked up from the bag, meeting her eyes. "Thank you."
"No, thank you. You have absolutely no idea how much this is going to help us. Since we agreed to split fifty-fifty, we're getting the exact same amount as profit. Well, before the bonus, of course."
"Yeah. Again, thanks for that," Tyler said. He tied the string tight and slipped the heavy pouch securely into his pocket.
"No problem," she responded with a bright smile.
"It's getting late, so I have to get going now," he said, turning to walk past her.
"Alright, I'll see you tomorrow," she called out, her voice bright and cheerful.
"See you then."
She stood by the metal crates, watching Tyler walk out of the shop and disappear into the dim, shadowy street of the evening marketplace. Once he was completely out of sight, she inhaled a massive gulp of air, barely containing her silent excitement. She squeezed her eyes tightly shut.
"This is great, he actually came back! Grandpa isn't going to get mad at me."
She clenched her hands into tight fists over her chest. "From today onward, Tyler is going to be our benefactor. I really hope he comes back tomorrow."
Outside, Tyler walked the cooling street, a heavy sense of accomplishment settling in his chest. *I basically have two thousand copper coins in my inventory. This is awesome.*
He stopped mid-stride, taking in a deep, grounding breath of the evening air. "Man... I can finally repay James now." He resumed his walk, a determined stride carrying him forward. "After that, I'm going to make so much money that is entirely my own."
He passed Hector's closed weapon store. The warm excitement bubbling in his chest instantly curdled into deep doubt, a heavy knot of nervousness tightening his stomach. *Lisa must hate me right now, but I hope she at least forgives me once I pay them back. And Heather... she's totally scared of me.*
To his left, he spotted the old woman he had bought bread from earlier, quietly packing up to close her small stall. He changed his path, walking straight toward her.
"Hey, excuse me," he called out softly.
The old woman turned, squinting in the dim light. Her wrinkled face softened into a warm smile as she recognized him. "Oh, hello there, young man. It's nice to see you again."
"You remember me?" Tyler asked, smiling back.
"Of course," she said warmly. "I have a very good memory, despite my age, you know."
"Wow," Tyler said, letting out an awkward, nervous chuckle. "I know you're closing, but do you sell sugar crystals?"
"I do. Did you want some?"
"Yeah, how much are they worth?"
"One sugar crystal is worth one copper."
Tyler shoved his hand into his pocket. He willed a single silver coin to materialize, pulled it out, and handed the heavy silver over to the old lady. "I want ten of them."
"You must really like sweet things," she said, turning around to her supplies. She opened a heavy metal bucket, digging her hand deep inside.
"No, they're for a kid."
"Must be a good child to get this many." She withdrew her hand and sealed the bucket closed. She turned back and handed him ten rectangular, brown-colored sugar crystals. Tyler cupped his hands, carefully accepting the fragile sweets.
"She is," he said softly. "Alright, thanks."
"Thank you."
Tyler turned away, pretending to shove the sweets into his pockets, though they instantly vanished safely into his inventory. He continued his long walk toward the residential district.
*I'm not expecting this to fix anything,* he thought, *but I hope she likes them.*
He walked until the familiar shape of James's house loomed in the dark. It was completely quiet. He pushed open the small front gate and entered the yard. Faint candlelight flickered softly through the main windows, though the room where he normally slept remained entirely dark.
He took in a deep, shaky breath, letting it out in a long, nervous exhale. "Okay."
He stepped up and knocked firmly on the wooden door.
"Coming," Lisa's muffled voice called out from inside.
Tyler's heart instantly spiked, beating rapidly against his ribs. The latch clicked, and the heavy door pulled open. Instead of Lisa, James stood in the doorway, dressed down in comfortable, ordinary home clothing.
"Tyler," James said. He immediately stepped out of the house, pulling the heavy door completely shut behind him.
"You're back?"
"Yeah," Tyler said, shifting his weight.
"I'm assuming you didn't get hurt?"
Tyler offered a tight, nervous smile. "Well, I did. But after leveling up a couple of times, I kept healing, so..."
"Right," James said, a faint, understanding smile touching his lips.
Tyler cleared his throat, suddenly feeling the immense weight of the moment. "James... I'm here to repay you."
James's eyebrows shot straight up. "Repay me?"
"Yeah," Tyler said firmly.
"So fast?"
"Yes," Tyler replied, his eyes dropping, actively avoiding James's direct gaze. "I found a quick way to get money, and it worked out. So I'd like to pay you back completely before you leave."
James frowned deeply, studying the younger man's face. "Alright. Come in."
He pushed the door back open, stepping aside to let Tyler in. Tyler crossed the threshold, stepping back into the warm, familiar, candlelit living room.
James walked over and sat down heavily on one of the wooden chairs near the dining table. "Have a seat," he offered, gesturing to the chair opposite him.
Tyler scanned the quiet room before slowly sitting down. "I thought I heard Lisa earlier."
"You did," James said quietly. "But she's in the bedroom, bathing Heather."
"Oh," Tyler exhaled, a mix of relief and lingering anxiety washing over him.
James leaned slightly forward, resting his forearms on the table. "How much do you have?"
Tyler reached into his pocket. The heavy leather pouch materialized into his grip. He placed it gently on the wooden table and slid it across the surface.
James picked up the pouch, a look of distinct confusion crossing his face. *It's so light.*
He let out a soft, almost patronizing sigh. "Tyler, I know I said we're leaving in a couple of days, but you really shouldn't rush like this," James said gently, his thick fingers pulling the thin string open.
His breath hitched violently in his throat. He stared down at the two massive, pristine gold coins resting at the bottom of the bag.
"What?" he breathed out, completely stunned. "But how?" He snapped his head up, staring at Tyler in absolute disbelief.
"Well," Tyler started, keeping his voice steady, "you said I owed you about fifty silver coins for that healer healing me. The rest of that money is for the other healer who healed me the first time."
Tyler paused, finally meeting James's eyes. "That other gold coin... is just me thanking you for all that you've done for me."
"Tyler..." James stammered, the words catching in his throat. "I don't know what to say, this is... How did you even get this much money?"
Before Tyler could answer, the bedroom door clicked and swung open. Lisa stepped out into the living room, holding a freshly bathed Heather securely in her arms.
Tyler's gaze shifted to the little girl. Heather's eyes instantly locked onto his, and they stretched completely wide.