An hour after Jack was finished with his list. He decided to take a look at the city he was in.
Word of Jack’s recovery had spread like wild fire. The Kaiser’s being the only family in Sorne to have white hair, made Jack stick out like a sore thumb.
Jack and Seraphina took a horse drawn carriage around the city so Jack could familiarize with the city.
After a couple of hours, Jack realized that some areas of the city were not that great.
The horse drawn carriage stopped. Jack stepped out of the carriage and observed the buildings.
The whole street looked like abandoned houses.
’This must be the closest thing to the slums.’
On the surface, you could see traces of repairs done. A trained eye could tell these were rushed jobs that didn’t look so good. And with Jack’s analyze skill, it was like he had a trained eye now.
’Seraphina, why is everything so shabby?’
"This is the slums of Sorne. People lost their jobs because of a new way to make certain health care products. So slowly over the years it’s gotten worse." Serphina said softly.
Jack looked down an alley and saw a man who looked like the light in his eyes were gone.
"What do you want?!" The bum said.
’Tell me, why are you on the street?’
"Because of Phallanx Solutions. They took thousands of jobs from hard working people like me in all the neighboring cities! We were making 2 copper coins a day with no day’s off."
’So tell me. If I could help you get back on your feet, would you work for me.’
"You must be some spoiled rich brat! Think you just hand out a job and fix everything!"
Jack smiled at the man. ’I’ve been asleep for 10 years. I just woke up and I want to help.’
"What help can you do? The Kaiser’s don’t help anyone. They just line their own pockets."
’My name is Jack Kaiser. I may not know your pain sir, but I will help you. Here are 10 copper coins. Now I’ll pay you to work for me. Eight hours of work for five days a week. I’ll pay you 6 coppers a day.’
"Why would you be so generous?"
’Because, my family might not help you but I will. I will take care of you, and anyone like you. Seraphina here will give you all the details. You can start tomorrow.’
Tears welled up on his face as he began to cry and prostrated himself.
’You don’t have to thank me. I will help this whole block. I’ll need more hands as well. Anyone who was affected by Phallanx Solutions, you bring them to me. I’ll help them.’
’It’s not a difficult job. And you will be compensated for your time.’
The bum stared at Jack as he walked away.
Jack had learned how money worked in this world. To get a nice meal for an average person costs 2 copper coins. To get a basic meal to get by cost 1 copper coin.
One gold coin is equal to 1000 silver coins. One silver coin is equal to 1000 copper coins.
[Help a citizen in need.]
[Reward: 10 Reputation Points.]
[Congratulations. You have helped your first citizen. Continue to help your citizens and you will both grow.]
’What are reputation Points used for?’
[Reputation store is locked. The reputation store will be unlocked when you gather 100 Reputation Points.]
Jack Kaiser: Level 2 (50/200)
Class: Lightning Mage (Rank 1)
Reputation Points: 10
Martial Talent Rank: S
Blessings: Draven’s Pendant
Skills: Scan (level 3: 22%), Polearm Mastery (level 2: 5%)
[Quest 1] | learn who tried to kill you. Reward:??
[Quest 2] | Conquer a Dungeon Floor. Reward: 500 EXP. 2 Reputation Points.
The next day production had started. The bum had brought 3 others to come with him.
’As a show of good faith, I will pay you for the week today at the end of your shift.’
Cheers erupted from the struggling men.
Suddenly the doors to the workshop that Lady Genevieve had arranged for Jack to work out of opened.
"Jack, what plans do you have that you’ll want me to see?"
’Yes I have two items here I want to show you. But first answer a question. If you were to go into a dungeon with only martial artists, how would you produce heat for survival?’
"Well it would have to be a dungeon littered with fire creatures to survive."
’Wrong. I present to you a way for anyone to have access to fire as long as they have wood or something flammable. This is a match and a match box.
This rough surface here contains ground glass and fire crystal dust. When you drag the match head across it, the friction creates heat that ignites the fire crystals, which then lights the chemicals in the match head. Let’s go outside, I’ll show you.’
In the next moment, Lady Genevieve, Seraphina, and Jack stepped outside.
With a quick strike, Jack lit the match and threw the match on the pile of wood that was placed outside. After a few seconds the wood lit on fire, and Jack had made his first fire.
[Congratulations you have created a fire. Welcome to the world caveman.]
Jack chuckled at the news.
"Jack. This is astounding. I didn’t think you would ever come up with anything ."
’Yes, now we need to get this to someone to market it. Being able to have this in your home, or in a dungeon, or on a long journey is remarkable.’
"Jack, how did you make this?"
’It’s quite simple really, we have all the materials here for it.’
’The process is quite straightforward, Mother. We need two main components. The matches themselves and the striking surface.
For the matches, we take thin wooden sticks and create a special paste for the tips. The paste contains fire salt crystals, volcanic ash, charcoal powder, tree sap, and water to bind it all together. We dip each stick into this mixture and let them dry.’ Jack’s eyes began to light up as he told his mother how came up with this idea.
’For the striking surface on the box, we mix fire crystal dust, sand, glass, tree sap, and ash from the workshops. We coat one side of the box with this mixture.
The genius is in keeping the ingredients separated. The match head has the fuel, and the box has the ignition source. When you strike them together, the fire crystal reheats creating an instant flame.
The materials are all readily available. We have the mines for the fire crystals and volcanic materials. The workshops provide ash and charcoal, and tree sap is everywhere.
The most expensive part is the labor to make them, which is why I hired those men.
One small box of matches could last a family weeks. Or could last a dungeon party one or two dungeon excursions depending on their situation.
We can produce hundreds of boxes a day with just four workers.’
Jack had a big sense of pride with this accomplishment.
[Reputation Points gained. +5 reputation points.]
Jack smiled wide with a grin.