Age of Gods - A VRMMO Story

Thomas was rather concerned over the extreme reaction Rock was having to his creation of the pseudo-magical kukri. As far as Thomas was concerned it was no big deal, but it seemed like it was an extremely big deal to Rock. Thomas carefully patted Rocks wrists while Rock continued to hold him hostage, "Rock. Calm down, it's not a big deal. But if you want me to teach you... I'd need a stronger guarantee than your word that you won't spread the methods I teach without my permission."

Thomas wasn't an idiot. If Rock was this excited then Thomas knew what he had to have done was unprecedented. He was also aware he wasn't the only player with Blacksmithing experience. Thomas was very aware that several other people in the crafting lifestyle community considered him to be their rival. For his part, he didn't care who was better, he only cared that he got to make cool stuff. With Rocks excitement, he knew this could be profitable, but with his 'rivals' out there he also knew the monopoly on this wouldn't last indefinitely. Best to strike while the iron was hot.

Hearing Thomas's reply Rock eventually started to calm down a little and released his death grip on Thomas's shoulders, "Sorry about that, but you clearly have no idea just how big of a deal this actually is! My family has been filled with blacksmiths as far back as we can remember and never has there been a story of anyone creating a magic weapon without magic! It should be impossible! And yet..." Rock looked over at the kukri sitting on the table, "Proof sits right before me that it is possible."

Thomas walked around Rock to the table and stroked a finger over the belly of the kukri, "I can teach you what I did to make this. But before I can do that I need something to prevent you from teaching others and spreading it for the time being. I think you agree that if we were to flood the market with pseudo-magical items, they would lose their value." Thomas turned to look at Rock seriously, "So, we need something more binding than just our individual words."

Rock nodded along as Thomas he spoke, agreeing with him. He rubbed his short hair with his hand as he thought about the last part, "Well... we could get a scribe to create a binding contract for us."

Thomas tilted his head quizzically and asked, "Binding contract?"

Rock nodded and gesticulated with his hands, "It's a special contract created by scribes. Once the terms are written the contract is signed in blood by us, binding us to our word forcefully. If either of us breaks the contract the clauses covering compensation automatically kick in. For example, if there was a clause saying I had to pay you a hundred gold for breaking the contract the contract would force me to find you and hand over the money, regardless of my will."

Thomas nodded and looked closely at Rock, "I'm willing to sign a contract, so we should discuss terms."

The discussion took the rest of the day as they bartered back and forth over what they would each get. In the end, Thomas agreed to teach Rock the two methods he'd used to make the Kukri a pseudo-magical weapon. Rock agreed to give Thomas 25% of all sales of items using the techniques Thomas was going to teach him. At first, Rock refused such a high percentage, but when Thomas informed him that his two techniques could to applied to any weapon or armor made of metal, Rock caved and agreed to the 25%. Regardless Rock was still going to make a fortune, a magical grade item could easily sell for ten times more than a normal version.

With their agreement reached and the day coming close to ending, Rock immediately left to hire a scribe to create the contract that the two of them would sign tomorrow. Thomas spent the remainder of the day, a little more than an hour, to begin work on creating a sheath for the kukri that he was going to use as his main weapon for a while. Not that he had much use for a weapon at this point, he'd yet to even see a monster in AoG.

Arriving at Rock's Armory the next morning Thomas was 27 gold poorer after a night at The Swans Nest, but his 'All Seeing Eyes' and 'Serenity' had gained a bit more experience due to his relentless nightly grinding of them. Stepping into the storefront Thomas was greeted with the sight of the mountainous Rock waiting impatiently for him instead of the cold and somewhat beautiful Belle. Well, she was there, but Rock immediately charged over to Thomas with the contract in his hand and shoved it under Thomas's nose, "Here's the binding contract! Hurry up and check it, then we can sign it and you can show me your techniques!"