Seeing that the mysterious man in front of him was much friendlier than he originally thought, Thomas asked while also making sure to keep his tone polite.
"So if I may ask, what brings you to our job site?" Sadly, due to his line of work, Thomas forgot that his hearing was partly damaged, so him speaking was more on the line of shouting.
But Zaroth figured it out pretty much in an instant, so he didn't hold it against the man.
"I wanted to explore the city I am protecting, and honestly I have yet to see mining operations from up close so I was pretty curious," Zaroth replied with his usual calm tone.
Hearing his answer, Thomas couldn't help but smile. "That's great! If you want to learn more, you can always co and ask for details. Is there anything you want to know or see in particular?"
Seeing that this was his chance to acquire more knowledge when it cos to materials, Zaroth asked, "Yes, first what kind of ores are you mining and how are you processing them?"
Thomas pointed toward one of the nearby carts and began to explain.
"Thanks to the vast resources in the mountains, we have multiple mines that allow us to extract a variety of materials. One of the most important is coal. It's crucial—especially for the nearby cities where people need to keep warm during the cold seasons. If we stopped operations, it wouldn't be long before chaos followed."
"But I am sure that a fighter like you isn't interested in these kinds of materials." Thomas moved his finger to another cart.
"One of the more valuable ores we handle is obsidian. It's not abundant, since it requires deep underground mining—risky business with poor air quality—but it's one of the sturdiest materials for crafting weapons and armor. Especially when mixed with the right combination of other ores."
"I'm sure you've heard of tungsten and titanium, right? We have those too. The weapons a skilled forger could make with them… they're nothing to scoff at."
He moved to a third cart.
"Gold is also of great abundance. The armour and weapons one could create will not be that sturdy but as a trade-off, if enchanted with magic, said magic would have boosted effects. As such, they are great for creating magical gear."
Zaroth carefully listened to the explanation of the man. After the equipnt Elysia had gifted him had been destroyed, he was in dire need of a new one. He doubted that Elysia would have as good equipnt as his old one, so Zaroth wanted to buy or even find a person that could create a custom set for him.
"But, all this pales in comparison to this!" Thomas said with a smile as he gestured for Zaroth to follow.
They stopped before an unremarkable-looking cart. But the ore inside… it glowed, its color constantly shifting.
"This is Vanadium—the greatest ore we can mine here. What makes it so special? It's not that you can make sothing powerful with just Vanadium alone, but it can bond with nearly every other material. Want sothing as strong as titanium, but capable of channeling magic like gold? You use Vanadium to bind it together."
Zaroth gave an approving nod. "Thanks for the lesson." He turned to leave, having learned plenty for now.
"Wait!" Thomas called out, making Zaroth's steps co to a halt.
"If you're asking about materials, then you're probably planning to forge so new gear, right? If that's the case, I can recomnd soone—a forger. The best in the city."
Zaroth was hesitant for a mont. Was Thomas a person that just wanted to sell him so bullcrap? There was certainly a possibility.
But in the end, he decided there was no harm in checking it out.
Following the directions Thomas gave him, Zaroth arrived at a building with the na "Otherworldly Forger" carved into its stone fra.
"Well, this better be worth it," he muttered as he opened the door and entered.
A soft chi rang out as the door swung open, the bell above it letting out a clean, lodic sound.
Imdiately, his eyes narrowed as he heard the loud pounding of tal happening in the other room. It seed that the forger was busy at the mont crafting another of his creations. Since Zaroth wanted to speak to the man directly, he was going to have to wait for a little while.
"Welco to—" a small petite girl with brown hair and green eyes began to speak as she saw that they had a new custor, but the mont she realized who it was, her words got caught in her throat out of fear.
Zaroth didn't pay her any mind as he went about to appraise the weapons and armours on display.
Most of the weapons were fairly standard: swords, axes, clubs. The sa went for the armor—divided into two main categories. Heavy sets offered high protection, capable of withstanding a lethal blow or two. Light armor, on the other hand, wouldn't block much—but it allowed for speed and agility.
'I need to buy at least a leather armour. As things stand right now, I am wearing just robes. While they look cool, they do not protect at all. I can put the armour below the robes, and my appearance would not change at all while my protection would at least not be barebones.'
While the armours were not too bad, the sa could not be said about the weapons as most of them looked rather generic… that was until Zaroth spotted a few special-looking ones that were locked behind so kind of special protective glass.
Taking a step forward, Zaroth began to study them. These ones were rather different. So were made from gold, so they no doubt had magic qualities to them, while others looked so sharp as if one could be cut by just lightly touching them.
While Zaroth was busy looking at the things on display, the petite girl was hiding behind the counter. From ti to ti there were a few arrogant pricks that would enter and try to steal sothing, and the girl would stop them in their tracks as she was stronger that she looked, but one glance at the man that was hiding his face behind the white demonic mask told her that no matter how much she tried, she would not be able to stop this man from doing whatever he wished.
One look, and she knew. If he wanted to steal everything in the forge, no one—not even the boss—could stop him.
'Boss! Please co out already!' she pleaded silently.
Unknowing that his presence was causing the poor girl to have a mild panic attack, Zaroth awaited for the forger to co out.
After so minutes, finally the person in the back was done, so he exited his work room wanting to see who had just entered.
Zaroth shifted his gaze to the man as well, curious about how he looked.
Two ters, bald with not a hint of any kind of beard on his face. A very visible dragon tattoo on his bald head.
At this mont, Zaroth understood why Thomas had recomnded this place—the forger was obviously his twin!
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