Joe's creation of his new armor gave him 2 levels in his Arcane Gadgeteer profession from the Work experience and 1 level in his Mage class due to the Treasure experience its creation granted. He got a new spell from his class, and a new ability from his profession.
Invisibility (Level 1). This spell allows the caster to make himself undetectable to all visual senses. This spell lasts 1 minute per spell level.
Mana cost: 200 mana per casting
Miniaturization (Rank 1), Active. The ability allows the crafter to work with precision in smaller areas. The area to be worked on is displayed above the work surface in a larger scale. Interacting with the displayed area applies the same results to the actual work surface, scaled down per the difference between the original and the displayed area.
Stamina cost: 200 stamina per minute
Joe was really pleased with the way his armor turned out. He donned the armor and looked at himself in the mirror in his workshop. Well, okay, he was pleased with the armor's functionality, but it didn't really go with his hat. While he could now put the Keen Senses enchantment on something else, he really liked the hat as well as the way it went with his gun. An idea came to him and it only took him another day to craft a leather outfit to go over his armor. Now he really looked the part.
- - - - -
“With spring around the corner, it's a new year, and this last year Rust's Edge actually had enough revenue to require us to pay taxes,” Ferric explained to Joe later that evening. “I keep excellent records of our finances and the numbers are undeniable. Can I trouble you to take a copy of our revenue logs and this pouch of platinum coins to the tax office in Trenos?”
“It's really no trouble at all. With my recent efforts in creating my new armor as well as the power of the armor itself, I can get to Trenos and back with very little loss of my mana pool.”
“Fantastic,” Ferric said. After a moment another thought occurred to Ferric and he asked, “How about that portal of yours?”
Joe looked at his mana total in his CGS HUD and informed Ferric, “I can open 3 portals from full mana and still have a few hundred points left. What were you thinking?”
“I think it might be good to send Otto to make some sales of stuff people in town have been making. I know Malcolm and Melanie don't make things people can't find readily in a town like Trenos, Tess's silk clothes as well as your inventions and enchantments would definitely be unique enough to warrant sales. They might draw enough attention to get the stuff made by those other two enough eyes.”
“That's a good idea. Melanie has been making and upgrading weapons for people quite often, so all of their old stuff can be sold.. When do the taxes need to be paid?”
“Not for a few months yet, but it's better to do it early, of course.”
“Certainly. I have a couple of ideas that can help Otto in his sales, though. I'm thinking a large Chest of Extra Storage to make it easier to bring everything through the portal at once.”
- - - - -
Joe spent the next week making chests of Preservation and Extra Storage for everyone in town so he could level up his Imbue Wooden Object spell to level 3. His normal activities with his greenhouse also leveled up his Speed Plant Growth to level 6, and Move Water finally got to level 5.
Move Water (Level 5). This spell allows the caster to move up to 1 liter of water per spell level for the spell's duration. The caster can control the water to a greater degree while being moved by the spell, such as diffusing it into a light rain or mist over an area.
Stamina cost: 25 stamina per minute
Finally Joe was able to create a much larger Chest of Extra Storage, both in its physical dimensions, as well as its magical space, thanks to his new spell level. Otto appreciated its function and went around to load it up with everything that would be for sale.
The next day Joe opened a portal for him and Otto to travel to Trenos, with Otto having loaded the sales chest onto Joe's steelwood handcart. Otto didn't wear his armor or carry any weapons openly, but Joe had to wear his armor to make the trip. Fortunately his leathers covered it up, mostly.
Joe and Otto separated after passing through the gates into the town, with Joe promising to catch up to Otto in the western market after he was done with the job Ferric gave him. The tax office was in the central part of the town, but Joe was able to Backtrack to get closer thanks to his many travels in the town over the past year.
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The tax office was an unimposing structure of stone and wood with a simple sign out front denoting its purpose. Inside was quiet, with several desks in the front room, although only one had anyone sitting at it at the moment. Joe figured the other desks would be manned closer to the tax payment deadline, but in these early months fewer people were needed.
“Can I help you?” asked the orc woman sitting behind the desk.
Joe sat down in the empty chair on the other side of the desk and brought out the ledger and pouch of coins from his original Leather Satchel of Extra Storage. “Yes, I'm here representing Rust's Edge and have been tasked by our mayor, Ferric Rustkeeper, to deliver last year's taxes.”
The woman looked towards the ceiling for a moment in thought, “Rust's Edge, you say? This would be the first tax payment in twelve years. Did you also bring enough to cover the penalties for the late payments?”
Joe looked amazed, “Wow, it's incredible that you had the information about our small town so readily available.”
The orc woman looked unfazed by his flattery, “Not really. My highest skill is Reading, so I take the time to go over the kingdom's tax records and retain the information very well.”
“I hope my Reading skill gets that good some day, but that's beside the point. We don't owe any penalties or back taxes, as Mayor Rustkeeper says that we have never made enough profit to owe taxes before this past year. Here are our records for your verification.”
The woman took the accounting journal from the desk and flipped through its pages. She was done in under two minutes.
“You are correct, my apologies. But I believe your town's accountant made an error in their figures here. It is reporting a profit of tens of thousands of gold, but in all prior years the profit was in double digits only.”
“No mistake. We had a few lucky discoveries that led to a couple larger than normal sales,” Joe explained.
“Is that so? Well, alright then. All of your paperwork appears to be in order.” The woman proceeded to write down some information on another sheet of paper, sign it, stamp it, then hand it to Joe. “Here is your receipt to include in your town's records. Your kingdom thanks you, citizen.”
With that job complete, Joe decided to swing by Davis's smithy to see how he was doing, and find out if he'd be interested in buying any arcane devices for his smithy. As usual Davis was hard at work crafting something amazing. This time it was another sword, but this one looked more like it was for fencing rather than the slashing sword he made the first time Joe came to the smithy/shop.
Davis was engrossed in his work and didn't notice Joe for a few minutes, but when he finally did a big grin appeared on his face. “Joe! How wonderful to see you again? Did you bring me any more good supplies like last time?”
Joe laughed at Davis's unabashed request for more magisteel and replied, “No, not this time, but I did want to talk to you about something related to that.”
Davis nodded and went to lock the door, as he usually did when discussing magisteel. Returning from the door Davis said, “I made a really good profit from that armor I crafted. The buyer is asking for more like it, but I told him that he would need to provide the magisteel. None of his contacts nor any of mine have been able to do anything about it, though. How have you fared in that area?”
“Well, using the funds from selling the magisteel to you I was able to set things up with supplier who has been able to get some for me. Before you ask, no I can't get you in touch with my supplier. I will make some inquiries on your behalf, though.”
Davis looked relieved when Joe said he'd try to get some more magisteel for him. “I'd really appreciate that, Joe. You have no idea.” Davis's expression changed when he thought of something, “But hey, what are you using magisteel for?”
“Well, a couple of things. One, I've learned to incorporate magic into items without a direct enchantment, using magisteel wire to give a pattern to the manachlorian flow through an object. It's really effective with things that run on fire as the fire will power the magic of the device. For instance, I have made furnaces where you can set it to a specific temperature. I know you have a spell for that, but this will do it indefinitely without you needing to recast the spell all the time or expand your stamina, so long as you have the fuel for it.”
“I'll be honest with you, Joe. I like the concept, but it's not something I need. And it's definitely not something I'd pay magisteel prices for.”
Joe looked thoughtful at that response, “Yeah, I guess that makes sense.” Suddenly an idea came to Joe. “Oh! I know what I could offer you. I could make a smithing hammer that functions as a spell conduit for your spell to enchant your products. It will multiply the effectiveness of the mana you invest into your creations.”
Davis's eyes lit up, “Now that would be something that deserves magisteel prices. Do you really think you could do it?”
“No reason I shouldn't be able to. I understand the way the spell works, so I should be able to put it into a magisteel pattern in the hammer itself. I can have it for you next week at the latest.”
“How much would you charge for it?” Davis asked.
“Well, let's see how much magisteel it will need, and how much of an increase the final product gives to your spell. I trust your judgment on these matters,” Joe assured him.
“Well, alright then,” Davis said. “Oh, yeah, what was the other thing you mentioned in regards to magisteel?”
Joe opened up his jacket to show off the armor underneath. Davis took a moment to Inspect it, then let out a long, low whistle of appreciation. “Well, Joe, I no longer have any reservations that you'll be able to deliver exactly what you promised in that hammer.”