"We’re not done?" Jax asked.
"Of course not," Mel said. "That was just the price for the armor. Now for the price of the runes. I will be using only the best runes, so it will cost you on average 10 stones per rune."
"10... 10 per rune?" he asked. "Isn’t that too much?"
"Of course not. I need to buy materials for them. Do you know how difficult it is to get elemental Opal stones? There are barely any around at all."
"Do you need one?" Jax asked.
"Some runes work better when powered through an elemental Opal stone," she said.
Jax thought for a moment. "Would this one have any rune that can make use of Earth elemental stone?" he asked.
"I was thinking of using Metal stones, but Earth ones may work as well. There is a hardness rune that can increase its defensive capabilities even more than normal. I could use that if you want me to."
"I do. How much would it cost if I provided the Earth stone?" Jax asked.
"What? Do you have one?"
Jax pulled out his Earth stone. "Just the one."
"An Earth stone!" Mel said with a slight interest. "That should work. It doesn’t take me much to use the spell, so I will do it for free with this stone."
"And what about a rune with a Light stone?" Jax asked.
"Light? On armor?" she thought for a bit. "I should be able to add a Light-elemental aspect to it. Maybe one that will improve healing effects on you, or reduce effects from Shadow element."
"Oh, that sounds good," Jax said, bringing out a Light stone as well. He had received it after killing the lone sorcerer who had baited him into the boss’s room with a floating Ticket.
Mel reached out for both the Light and Earth stone, but Jax pulled it back.
She looked confused. "What?"
"I need to confirm the prices first with this Karran person."
Mel rolled her eyes. "Fine. Come, let’s get it over with. He should be working already."
Mel got up from her chair and dragged Jax away to a place in the back of the smithy where a man with a chiseled body hammered away on a piece of hot metal. She called for him by his name, Karran, and the man turned around.
"What do you want?" he asked, seemingly annoyed at her presence.
"He wants to know what’s the price for a Black lead armor weighing 200 slimes," Mel said. "He didn’t trust my words."
The man turned toward Jax. "Depending on the design, anywhere from 40 to 60 stones."
"What about with runes?" Jax asked.
"15 stones per rune."
"15?"
"See? I’m cheaper. I will do it for just 10," Mel said.
Jax was genuinely surprised that he wasn’t being ripped off by her. "Do you recommend her?" he asked.
The man paused for a long moment before finally answering. "You don’t have to worry. You’ll get your armor."
Jax did feel weirdly relieved upon hearing that. "Alright, you can work for me."
Mel’s face blossomed into a wide smile. "Thank you! I’ll make you the best armor. Don’t worry."
Seeing her smile, Jax was reminded of how just last night he had thought she was the most beautiful woman he had seen in his life.
She took him away from Karran, who went back to work. "I’ll need some payment right now. I need to both buy the Black lead from the smithy to work with, and rent out the workspace too since I’m technically not an employee of the smithy, just a disciple of the head blacksmith."
Jax nodded. "How much do you need?" he asked.
"How much can you pay?" she asked.
"I would rather I pay half beforehand and half afterward when you’re done," Jax said.
"Sure," Mel said. "Give me 40 stones right now, along with those other 2 stones. I’ll get started right away."
Jax opened his inventory and sighed looking at the amount he had inside of it. After the 40 stones spent yesterday for the room and the extra service, he had 124 stones remaining. Of that, he had to give away 40 more now, and over 20 after the armor was ready.
That would leave him with just 100 stones. Which meant, he had to gather 1900 stones in addition to pay back to the man named Carlton. That was if he found him, of course.
Jax pulled out the stones, the 40 stones nearly spilling out of his hand.
"What are you doing?" she asked with an annoyed look. "Just send them to my inventory."
Jax paused, his hands still so as to not drop another one. "Do what?"
"Do you not know how to transfer stuff to other people?" she asked. "Just think about transferring something over to someone you’re in contact with, and the items pass from Inventory to Inventory."
"I... wasn’t aware of that," Jax said. "Let me try."
He placed the stones back into the inventory and tried to send them over to Mel. It didn’t work at first, but then Mel propped her hand. "Physical contact," she reminded him.
"Ah!" Jax nodded and grabbed her hand in a shake, ready to send the stones. However, he paused.
"You aren’t going to take it all and run away with it, are you?" he asked.
Mel seemed flabbergasted at that assumption. "I can’t believe you would think that way about me," she said. "In the first place, where am I even supposed to run off to? It’s a forest for miles and miles in every bloody direction. And I stay in the same tavern as you. You could ruin my business if I stole from you.."
Jax thought for a moment and nodded. "Alright, let me do it."
He willed for 40 stones to move, at which point he was prompted a notification.
<You have established an Inventory Transfer>
<Waiting for Approval>
Then immediately, another notification came.
<Transfer approved>
<Transfer completed>
Mel took back her hand. "It is done. You can leave now. I will start working on your armor."