Chapter 9

Over the next few hours, Keith put together his sales pitch. First, he searched the auction house for potential materials to use with Material Synthesis and Fragmentation, then calculated the mana cost and profit. Once he’d built a small database covering numerous materials used in different industries, he calculated the hypothetical profit each week if he had unlimited mana to work with.

Halfway through, Keith felt like he was doing a homework assignment back when he was in school. The difference was, back then he didn’t enjoy it in the slightest, while now he was having a blast.

It was around 3 p.m. when Keith finished his project, yet with a little time remaining, he decided to add some more data. The numbers quickly added up, and by the time it was almost 5 p.m., he concluded Adeiv wouldn’t run out of materials for months.

Keith put his finished work in a folder and made room in his inventory to store it before standing up and stretching. Leaving his desk, he approached his wardrobe and wondered what to wear to the appointment. Probably something formal and refined?

It took a few minutes before he found something he was satisfied with. Sporting a low ponytail as usual, he wore an earring with a regal black jewel on his left ear, a white jewel on his right ear, a black vest with a white undershirt along with black pants, as well as a white cape draped around his shoulders. The vest had numerous white patterns running along its surface, combining to create a ferocious dragon. As for the cape, it had black flames running from top to bottom.

Keith called this outfit the Yin Yang Dragon, something he knew to keep to himself as his sisters only giggled whenever he told them his outfit’s names. Looking over himself in the mirror, he spent the next ten minutes putting his hair together, taking even longer than when picking his outfit. For the finishing touch, Keith used black eyeliner around his eyes. Finally, he put on the mask his mom gave him and randomly selected one of the preset faces. He watched as the structure of his face changed into something unfamiliar.

“Perfect,” Keith muttered as he made for the door, not forgetting to flap his cape with his arm as he did, inwardly thinking how cool he looked right now.

Unsurprisingly, Uncle Doven waited at the entrance of the mansion. Wherever Keith went, Doven followed. This was his mom’s ironclad rule, which he no longer questioned, as it had been this way since he was a kid. However, Keith had some speculations regarding the man after spending so much time with him. He had a hunch Uncle Doven wasn’t related to him by blood, but rather that he was a monster pet, and a mysterious one at that.

The only reason Keith wasn’t entirely sure was that Uncle Doven had thoughts, habits, likes, and dislikes, something all monster pets lacked. They typically behaved like puppets, while Uncle Doven seemed to have free will.

Regardless of Uncle Doven’s true nature, Keith treated him like family. Seeing the man wait patiently at the front door with that familiar goofy smile, Keith chuckled. “Ready to go?”

Uncle Doven nodded with a hesitant expression, pointing to his mouth a second after. Keith’s face dropped. “You need more candy?”

“Yes.” Uncle Doven repeatedly nodded, his eyes lighting up with joy.

“Fine, fine, we can visit Carmin’s Candy Emporium on the way home.” Keith released a sigh, knowing he’d have to fork out what little money he had left to satisfy Uncle Doven’s sugar addiction. He wouldn’t lack gold for long, though, as if this business deal went through, he’d finally have an income besides his allowance.

Entering the garden, Keith and Doven walked up to the pagoda atop the lake where the teleportation gate was. Even though there was a public teleportation gate in his neighborhood, something only wealthy neighborhoods had, his family and neighbors could afford private ones, resulting in a community that kept to themselves.

Keith eyed the base of the pagoda as he manipulated the teleportation gate’s interface. Down below, he could see a complicated mana gathering array formed from thousands of lines. This array pulled mana from the air to power the teleportation gate, so Keith wouldn’t have to spend his own mana when teleporting out. It was something he knew was there but usually never cared about, but after learning about mana earlier, he was now more mindful of its existence.

Focusing back on the interface, Keith recalled the location of Adeiv’s workshop. He selected Springsky, a city to the south of Adira’s capital, before vanishing in a flash of light. Many businesses used that city as their base of operations, so all Keith could see after teleporting was countless industrial warehouses and processing factories.

Pulling out his magic tablet, Keith opened the map function and made his way through the city, using numerous public teleportation gates to reach his destination quickly. Less than five minutes after leaving his house, Keith arrived before a respectable-looking building.

The workshop was surrounded by meticulously placed plants and trees to give it an inviting atmosphere, something Keith liked. There was even a tiny stream winding its way through the courtyard, where some fish played about.

The environment alone garnered feelings of goodwill in Keith, something a more experienced business person would’ve scoffed at. To them, a workshop dabbling in a controversial industry probably used the greenery to hide their dubious practices!

Pushing down his nervousness, Keith took a deep breath before entering the lobby in high spirits. The room had a few empty chairs and tables, which he ignored as he approached the receptionist’s desk. A pretty woman looked up at him with a charming smile after giving his outfit a once-over. “Are you here for an appointment?”

“Yes,” Keith replied as he fumbled his following words. “I’m Kei- Mr. K.”

“Perfect. Adeiv is waiting for you upstairs,” she responded as she stood up. “Please follow me.”

Keith followed after the receptionist as he adjusted his clothes a few times. After arriving on the second floor, they went down a long corridor with glass windows on the left. Keith looked over and found an enormous room on the other side, where he saw people of all ages sitting in the center of massive arrays with hundreds of thousands of lines. The mana in the room was so dense it underwent a qualitative change, becoming fog.

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The sight surprised Keith, as he knew gaseous mana only appeared when powerful adventurers and monsters used skills. He did not doubt that if he stood in that room, he’d regenerate mana at least a thousand times faster. Keith’s findings didn’t end there, as each person sitting at the center of an array wore a set of mana gathering equipment, their quality far above Keith’s set.

By the time Keith reached the end of the hall, he had a good grasp of how exactly this workshop functioned. He had a hunch that besides the arrays and mana gathering items, the people inside had innate skills revolving around mana, whether that was cost reduction or similar concepts. All these factors combined to get the most value out of every point of mana.

Before long, they arrived at the open door of an office. A middle-aged man dressed in formal attire walked out to shake hands with Keith. “You must be Mr. K, right? I’m Adeiv Strinde. It’s a pleasure to meet you.”

Keith’s back broke into a cold sweat as he tried to smile naturally. “Hello, the pleasure is mine.”

Adeiv turned to Doven. “This is?”

“My bodyguard,” Keith quickly replied.

Adeiv froze for a moment before his vast experience took over as he turned back to Keith and gave him a closer look. “I’ve never done business with someone so young before, forgive me. Let’s go inside my office and make ourselves comfortable before we begin, yes?”

The receptionist tactfully left as Keith and Adeiv went inside the office and sat across from each other in comfortable chairs. At this point, Keith wondered what he should say next. Should he pull out his folder now or make small talk first?

Perhaps after perceiving Keith’s uncertainty, Adeiv took the initiative to ask a question. “Do you mind sharing the two skills you mentioned in your message?”

“Uh, sure, no problem.” Keith opened up his skills list and selected Material Synthesis and Material Fragmentation before flicking them toward Adeiv. The action was purely symbolic, as the System only took into account Keith’s intention.

Adeiv’s eyes went wide as he read through the skills information, his breathing quickening as he lost control of his emotions. Only a second passed before he returned to his calm exterior. “Oh my, well, it seems you were telling the truth.”

Adeiv gave Keith a deep look, wondering to himself if he should take advantage of Keith’s naivety, or act with honesty and integrity as he usually did. True to his innate gift, Adeiv was a principled man with strict morals and ethics, so he quickly came to a decision. With a solemn tone, he said, “Are you aware of how alluring these two skills are?”

“Yes,” Keith replied. “Probably less than two hundred people have them. I can’t use them efficiently, so I came to you.”

“Good.” Adeiv smiled widely. “You’re lucky you did. If you met with my competitors, they’d surely have ulterior motives, and your life might be in danger.”

Hearing this, Keith snickered as he pointed to his uncle, who stood behind him. “I’m not afraid. Try inspecting him.”

Adeiv thought Keith didn’t understand what lengths those bastards would go to to make a profit, as Keith was too young. It was only after casually casting Inspect on Doven that his face drained of blood. The man’s dignified exterior collapsed as he looked up at Doven in horror. “Level 442?”

Doven glanced down at Adeiv with his goofy smile, scratching his cheek in confusion. His simple mind couldn’t comprehend why everyone cared about levels so much.

When a few moments passed, Adeiv withdrew a handkerchief from his pocket and patted the sweat on his forehead. “You gave me quite a surprise there, Mr. K. It suddenly makes sense why someone your age would have two skills of this caliber. With a bodyguard like this, I dare not speculate as to your origins.”

“I didn’t mean to startle you.” Keith gave an apologetic smile as, inwardly, he figured Adeiv thought he was a Guardian’s descendant. Whether the man had ulterior motives or not didn’t matter because as soon as Adeiv had the suspicion Keith belonged to a Guardian’s family, he wouldn’t dare cause any trouble. Even the cruelest villains of the underworld wouldn’t mess with someone with that status.

Wanting to change the subject, Keith pulled out his folder and handed it over to Adeiv. “Here’s some info I put together.”

Adeiv opened the folder as Keith waited patiently, somewhat afraid of being laughed at. Thankfully, Adeiv did nothing of the sort as he asked, “Did you pull this data from the auction house?”

“Yes.”

Adeiv repeatedly nodded as he went through Keith’s documents, closing them after a few minutes as he gave an honest evaluation. “You did a good job, but using the auction house would actually cut into the profit we could make.”

“Because of the fees?” Keith guessed.

“That’s a part of it.” Adeiv folded his legs as he explained patiently. “An advantage of running a big business like mine is that we can purchase materials in bulk directly from suppliers at a discount.”

“Oh.” Keith absorbed this new information, asking a question a moment later. “Why would they sell it at a discount?”

Adeiv didn’t mind explaining basic concepts like this, as Keith’s skills were too hard to pass up. “A supplier’s biggest worry is whether they can sell their products. This is when an agreement is made between a supplier and a buyer to enter a long-term partnership. The buyer guarantees to purchase the supplier’s products, and in exchange, the supplier offers a discount. Like this, both parties benefit. I bet you didn’t know the auction house, while wildly popular, only oversees a mere fraction of the items circulating in the economy. Most items get traded privately.”

“Really?” Keith laughed at his ignorance without worry. “I thought everyone used the auction house.”

Adeiv scoffed. “The truth is the business world hates the auction house. They’re merely supplying a platform, yet they dare demand such a big cut.”

Keith shared Adeiv’s sentiments before asking one final question, after considering his Collection Grimoire’s potential needs in the future. “How do you find a reputable supplier?”

“First, you need money,” Adeiv answered and raised three fingers. “Once you have sufficient capital, there are three types of suppliers: adventurer parties, the Mercenary guild, and the military!”

“Even the military?” Keith’s mouth fell open.

“Of course, how else can they fund their massive operations?” Adeiv chuckled, himself unable to imagine the costs involved.

“So, who do you use?” Keith bubbled with curiosity from the information Adeiv was sharing.

“Tsk, tsk, tsk.” Adeiv wagged a finger at Keith. “These are secrets I keep close to my heart. I can only tell you I use two types.”

“Hehe, sorry.” Keith belatedly realized he’d overstepped his bounds. Adeiv was more or less a stranger to him, so why would he share such important information?

Adeiv placed his hands on his thighs and grew solemn as the office grew quiet, deciding to move on to the main topic. “Mr. K, I’ll be honest with you, only skills that outweigh my workshop’s operating costs are worthy of consideration. Your two skills pass the mark, and if I can obtain them, they would immediately rank in the top five skills in my workshop. I can offer you a sixty-five thirty-five split, with me taking sixty-five. That’s the best I can do without taking a loss.”

“Hm.” Keith fell into thought as he considered the offer. Honestly, he’d been expecting a fifty-fifty split, though that was just him being greedy. He didn’t have to do any work, yet he expected to take half of all the profit? As Adeiv said earlier, he had to maintain the arrays, repair the mana gathering equipment, and pay wages to his employees, on top of sharing the profit. After considering all that, Keith felt too ashamed to ask for more.

Keith didn’t take too long to come to a decision. From the little he interacted with Adeiv, he felt the man was honest and kind, so he didn’t think the man was trying to scam him. Thinking this, he met Adeiv’s gaze and nodded. “Deal.”