When they got back to the house he rushed to his work area, overflowing with confidence that even if it wasn’t as optimal as it could be, he’d be able to solve the issue of the vampire's enthrallment, and with that in mind was eager to get to work.
He did the same thing he’d been doing before, wrapping the model teeth with a wire that could sit on them comfortably, while still being able to remove them, but continued on past that, securing those wires to what would admittedly be a large hunk of metal, which he shaped to be filled with holes, allowing for easier breathing and blood consumption. It wouldn’t be the most pleasant thing to use, but since it would only be needed when they ate, it wouldn’t be too big of a deal.
Once it was done, all it came down to was properly applying the structure of the enchantment he’d decided on, and for that he would need Mercy.
He ran into the main house, searching around before he found her as she was going to rest and was shocked by his abrupt entrance.
“Hey, I may have figured it out. Come here so I can test it,” He called, and without waiting for a response or agreement went up to her with the item in hand, fully prepared to shove it in her mouth.
She saw the excitement in his eyes and remembering how unreserved he was in examining her teeth when she first addressed her problem, decided to make things easier on herself by opening wide and letting him place it.
“Now I can’t promise this will be comfortable, but just bare with it for a little while as I set up the enchantment. It shouldn’t take too long.”
With one hand on the vampiric leader’s face as he connected to her and the other in her mouth to touch the item and create the enchantment, he got to work, doing his best to finish it up quickly while ignoring the feeling of her teeth stabbing into his hand, his warm flesh causing them to extend and create gashes for blood to flow.
It only took a few minutes, though for the both of them it felt much longer, before Ben was done.
“Now that just leaves testing, doesn’t it?”
He couldn’t use a passometer for it, the same sort of device used to determine the amount of charm Thera gave off. Instead, they’d have to test it out the old-fashioned way, meaning asking the queen to set something up.
It was as he put the request in to Pelenia, only to be told it would have to wait until the morning, that he went to the room he’d been provided so he could get some rest, but instead seeing two unexpected guests.
“Leave it to a low worlder to make us wait,” Glob said with a voice filled with annoyance.
“I didn’t have anything scheduled with you. It’s Quilith I owe an apology. My bad, I forgot what time of the month it was.”
“It’s no issue, it gave me some time to talk with this one,” He responded calmly, though giving a deeply exhausted impression. “Anyway, shall we begin your lessons?”
“Sure, sounds good to me.”
For months now they’d been meeting, with the little grey providing him with information on materials and material science in general that he might not have otherwise been able to get. They didn’t bother with the more common materials though, the kind that he was already deeply familiar with and used on a regular basis, but on those that were rare in the world, some only just getting their refinement methods discovered thanks to the intervention and aid of the greys. It seemed like the little aliens were hard at work trying to get a sense for the structure of matter in the world and slowly building up a periodic table in the process.
Of course, from what he’d gotten the chance to see it was nothing like the one from his world. He may not have paid the most attention in the few mandatory chemistry classes in the first years of high school, but it was clear that certain materials were out of order compared to where their earth equivalents would be, with some missing altogether while other, stranger ones took their place.
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It was dull stuff, but despite that he did his best to pay attention and take notes. These lessons were already affecting how he worked with a few materials after all, and he was seeing great success from it.
The one thing he couldn’t figure out was what Glob was doing there. The racist little alien didn’t seem to need any of the information he was learning, not to mention the fact that he was falling asleep as the hours wore on, but by the end of the night he got his answer as Quilith stared into the other grey, eyes filled with a level of expectation that Glob seemed to want to avoid.
“Well?” The more mature of the two asked.
“Seriously, do I need to ask him?”
“Yes, obviously you need to.”
“Uhg, fine. Hey low-worlder, make me a weapon.”
“Nope,” Ben was able to easily tell him, not needing to give a second of thought.
“What, why not?”
“Because that’s not how you ask a favour from someone!”
Quilith could only groan as his fellow grey didn’t even pretend to have any manners, and seeing that trying to force some responsibility on the other alien wouldn’t work began talking in his place.
“Ignoring his terrible attitude, I’d like to request you make a weapon for him, as well as armour for the other nineteen of my people on this world, please.”
With Quilith asking it became harder to decline out of hand. Even if he didn’t want to get wrapped up in whatever nonsense the greys were dealing with that they wanted help for, he found himself liking the guy well enough, and realistically it was a small request. That didn’t mean he would just accept it though.
“Why me? The entire world knows about your people now, there’s no reason you couldn’t get someone better to make it for him when you’ve officially aligned yourselves as allies of the world, right?”
He received a funny look before getting a reply. “You really aren’t very aware of skill distribution in the overall state of the world, are you?”
“I think it’s pretty clear I’m not.”
“Alright, well to put it simply, you’re good. Usually, to be able to consistently make items that break into the rare quality, it’s either a team of individuals with more specialized skills than your crafting working together to make an item or else if it’s just an individual then it comes down to someone who’s just about to awaken their skill or who already has. From what we can see, there’s typically only two or three people at any time with an awakened version of any given crafting type skill. Probably less for the crafting skill you have since it’s typically supposed to be far harder to level due to being less specialized. Despite that, you’re doing quite well for yourself, and with the combination of your connect skill you’re able to make things that none of the others we might find would.”
“Alright, I love being buttered up and all so I’ll consider it. In that case, what do you want me to make?”
“As I’ve said, armour for most of them, it’s just Globolgork we have something a little simpler in mind for. You are aware of the issues we’re having in creating a general weapon that could be mass-produced for the population, are you not?”
“I am,” It had taken so long that he’d ended up solving the problem for himself, albeit in a way that couldn’t be mass-produced like he’d initially hoped. The materials that went into it weren’t the sort of things that an average person could get their hands on. Surprisingly though, it was exactly that sort of weapon that the grey had in mind.
“We’re specifically looking to have one of your guns made. We’ll also tell you the general measurements for armour as well, but that’s the goal.”
“Well, I guess I’ve got nothing against doing it if you guys manage to provide the materials and pay for the work. Speaking of, how do you plan on paying? I’m already getting most of everything I need from you guys, no offense.”
“Negotiations are currently underway with Pelenia to provide you with those materials. While I can’t get much, we should be able to convince her to provide a small amount of a magic material as payment, though it would be nothing like the scale you received as your dowry, maybe a little less than a handful. Aside from that though, we’re prepared to make an offer for the future. Should you be able to awaken your enchanting and connect skills, I’ll ensure that all of the greys on this world go to you to get their skills copied.”
That… that would be huge. While there was no guarantee that he would be able to awaken his skills, if he did it only stood to reason he’d be able to start enchanting with other awakened skills. I’m being paid more than enough to do it with just some magic materials alone, so even if I don’t end up managing that, this deal is heavily in my favour.
“Alright, you’ve got yourself a craftsman. Just one thing though, whatever amount of materials you get me, I want it to be rainbow mana crystal and in a perfect sphere.”
“An odd request, but shouldn’t be much more work for the earth spirit so I see no reason we wouldn’t be able to negotiate it. Why though?”
“There’s just something I’m curious about if I can make is all.”