Schneider was too good an opportunity for me to walk away from. In a featureless place like Obon where business was dryer than the town’s wells, out of town merchants looked like fountains of life. Of course, merchants were weary of offers too good to be true, especially in out of the way places like Obon.

Schneider took a good look at me. He knew there were only two types of people offering business to him from that region who would approach him with offers. The first type, desperate people who had either nothing to lose or the chancers who saw merchants as ignorant suckers. The second type of persons were those who offered genuine business offers. Unfortunately, the second type tended to be the exception. Luckily for me, Schneider’s relationship with Grenfell progressed well past the formal stage, something borne over decades of hard-earned trust. It was on that basis that Schneider based his first appraisal of me because in all the time Schneider knew Grenfell, Grenfell never once took on an apprentice other than his daughter. Earlier hopefuls tried to become Grenfell’s students, some of them offering everything they owned for the privilege and despite that, none of them were successful. Who wouldn’t want to at least try when the Dryad’s standard was well known to weaponsmiths around the kingdom and beyond? He knew that even in his older age, Grenfell liked challenges in life and any challenge that didn’t give him that, he simply ignored. For Grenfell to pay notice to me meant I harboured some exceptional skills. Grenfell was easy to read in that way and it was one of Schneider’s toughest challenges to keep the old man interested in business with him. Even then, he felt that his friendship with the old man was the well-worn crutch on which they did business those days.

Totally ignorant of the status attached to the Dryad by the kingdom, I only found out much later what a pot of honey I fell into. Grenfell’s eyebrows lifted; it wasn’t often that I caught him off guard as I pitched an idea to Schneider about marketing improved razors to the public. His interest only increased when I gave Schneider the prototype model for him to test out himself. I emphasised that I hadn’t personally used my razor yet, hence the butchered appearance of my face.

If he made a fifty small gold investment in the product, he got a 50% cut of any future razor sales. Twenty-five gold would be his contribution for his buy in to the deal, paid upfront. The other twenty-five gold would come in the form of a loan to me payable one silver a day until fully paid up. Schneider’s keen business sense told him something significant was happening, and the razor was only a part of it. He also realised that I was a newbie to the trading world and helping me learn the ropes of the merchant business could develop into greater things. As to the amounts I asked for, it remained small-change to Schneider, but he also realised that it was big money for a first trading deal for a blacksmith’s apprentice.

“I’m not a peddler, so I confess that I’m not normally keen to enter business with people that are unfamiliar to me. However, I’m intrigued by your candid approach and the potential for your product. Having said that, I feel that I’m taking all the risk in this deal, as all the finance comes from me. What guarantee do I have that you will deliver and that I’ll not have to bail you out later?”

Grenfell realised that Schneider had a good point. He was willing to step in as guarantor for me but realised that it might not be necessary besides, he wanted me to be independent, the quicker the better.

“Hey Shane, why don’t you show Schneider your skill?”

When Grenfell said that I confess I was shocked. He was openly recommending that I display the one thing he himself told me to keep to myself. On the other hand, I knew Grenfell well enough to know he wouldn’t make a comment like that without good reason. That reason I assumed, was that Schneider was an important merchant to my future, so I didn’t hesitate.

“Okay. Then would it be okay if I bring him to the back, where I can show him?”

Grenfell nodded and we then walked to the forge area where there was a worktable I could work on. Grenfell found a block of common iron he kept for future blade production and placed it on the worktable.

“Since you are skilled in making spearheads, why not try that?”

Making a spearhead was easy because it used less iron and needed less EE than other weapons. At the same time, spears were a specific weapon that only weaponsmiths were likely to manufacture and weapon merchants would sell. Spears could be easily handled with little training and at less expense than other weapons.

“Um, I apologise in advance, but I cannot wait until you fire your furnace. I have other business I need to attend to.”

It would take at least an hour or two for us to start a fire and stoke it until hot enough to soften iron and even then, the repeated firing of the iron in the furnace every time it cooled down would take far longer. Grenfell smiled at Schneider.

“You need not worry, just watch.”

I could see the interest in Schneiders eyes. No doubt he wondered what the blazes I planned to do with a piece of cold iron on the table. In his mind he probably thought I could only hammer the iron silly in a vain attempt to shape it. Schneiders eyes opened wide as his mind refused to admit what he was witnessing only a minute later. A glowing piece of iron started forming into the recognisable shape of a spearhead. Although Grenfell beat the iron with his hammer, Schneider witnessed the process enough times in his life to know we skipped a few steps out of the normal process. And yet he patiently watched as we worked. Twenty minutes later I handed the still warm finished spearhead to Schneider. I hadn’t used a form for the shaping which is why it took longer for me to finish but despite that, the spearhead looked fully formed and useable after a quick buff to shine it. He took it from me, ran his fingers carefully along the flat edge and successfully tested the razor sharpness on a nearby piece of cloth.

“Is this some sort of trick?”

Schneider immediately realised his mistake when he saw the serious look on Grenfell’s face, and he started backpaddling.

Stolen novel; please report.

“Uh, please forgive me, I’m not challenging what I saw, I’m flabbergasted at seeing something like that for the first time.”

A strange silence lingered, so to dispel it, I decided to put the cherry on the cake.

“Drop it on the table.”

Schneider looked puzzled, while pointing to the spearhead in his hand.

“You mean this?”

I nodded. He hesitantly did as I asked and before the spearhead touched the table it floated just above the table for a few seconds and then dropped with a thud. Schneider’s mind worked overtime. What he just witnessed nobody he knew ever witnessed before, with exception of the present company. Yes, there were skill rings used by various people for various things, but not to the point of melting iron or shaping it. He realised then why Grenfell asked me to show him the skill, although there seemed to be more than one skill. Then he noticed there were no rings on my hands and wondered where the skills were coming from.

“Eh, where did those skills come from, I don’t see any skill rings?”

Strictly I couldn’t say I didn’t have any, only that I didn’t use them. The point was that I couldn’t use the three rings for transmutation, so it was a moot point.

“That’s because I didn’t use any.”

Schneider quietly ruminated over the revelation that I generated those skills without using a skill ring.

“Having seen that, are you happy to take the risk and do some business?”

I asked with more than a little expectation, but my heart dropped when Schneider shook his head.

“No. Even with your amazing demonstration I’ll still not accept the risk, but if Grenfell is willing to be your guarantor, I’ll not hesitate.”

My hope rekindled when I looked at Grenfell. He realised that Schneider was playing hardball with me. Obviously, he wanted to teach me the basics of trading. Heck, not even Schneider gave his competition such a hard deal, he probably accepted because he felt sorry for me. Schneider knew my worth, the only reason he bothered investing with someone like me who had no financial surety to speak of. We concluded business quickly, and he transferred a bag of fifty small gold to me. Before Schneider left, he gave me a warning.

“Shane. I understand that you needed to show me your skills. However, I would keep low key on them if I were you.”

I nodded in affirmation after all, Grenfell had already warned me once before. When Schneider left, Grenfell walked out with him and couldn’t help but smile when he offered a small nugget of information to Scneider.

“Oh, by the way I thought you should know, Shane has an appraisal skill as well.”

“What, you’re sure?”

“Positive. I even tested it out.”

“Oh wow, that’s a big piece of news.”

Grenfell knew Schneider would be interested in that information. One could say that in the kingdom, the appraisal skill was of far higher value than the transmutation skill. That was because goods could be evaluated for their actual value, rather than their perceived value. Since lucrative trades could happen at short notice, a merchant who had a companion with an appraisal skill like that, could find profitable deals when they could fully confirm the quality of goods before buying them.

“Any chance I can borrow Shane?”

“Mm, I think we’ll need to negotiate more.”

Schneider felt it would be a pain to negotiate for use Shane’s appraisal skill however, seeing the old man’s enjoyment, he decided to just deal with the discomfort.

I knew nothing about the machinations of those two. When Grenfell came back into the workshop, I waited for him at the counter. He then opened a bag of coins onto the countertop and selected four gold coins that he slid over the counter to me.

“Are you giving this to me?”

I didn’t earn all that gold. Admittedly I was a little sceptical, little in the world came free.

“Yes. Schneider insisted that I give this to you. Even though it is twice the value of the equipment you gave him.”

That must have been the bartering that happened when Schneider first arrived.

“Why would he do that?”

“Call it a down-payment on a future relationship. He’s setting you up as a future customer by showing you favour now.”

“Oh.”

I could see how that worked. Schneider showed me a few favours and then in the future I would reciprocate the favour in a much larger way.

“Oh, by the way...”

Grenfell removed one gold coin leaving me with only three.

“That’s payment for the fire damage to the desk, and other things you are still probably going to mess up. Call it a down-payment of your future workshop fires.”

Bugger! I hoped he overlooked that small fire issue. I guess I deserved that, so I wasn’t going to argue the point, especially with my employer. My dad always said I should respect my employer, because you always needed a good reference for another job. Thinking about that, dad did have a lot of different jobs in his life. Perhaps there lay some wisdom in that.

Coming back to the point at hand, I was concerned with the amount of money I was carrying with me. Walking around town with fifty small gold while idiots like those tax bandits had ‘freedom of the city’ didn’t fill me with confidence. In Obon I felt that my money was only mine until somebody stronger came to take it from me. There were only two options currently available to me, hide my money or keep it with me. None of those options appealed to me. There were enough cases on earth, of farmers unearthing roman treasure while tilling the ground, to prove that burying my money in the ground could become a permanent deposit. With those two small gold coins, I gained another sixty-six nights’ accommodation, losing it would be a hard blow for me.

“Grenfell, how do I keep my money safe?”

“I can keep your money safe for you.”

“If there’s a bank, why would I want to do that?”

“What’s a Bank? There isn’t such a thing here. There are only people who might look after your deposit and charge a deposit fee of ten percent, but my offer is far better.”

He said that as if he offered a much better deal but when it came to money I naturally suspected his motives. Unfortunately, walking around with bags full of silver or gold probably invited robbers to lighten my burden, so a storage place it was. But I still but in a place where I could access my money at regular times to withdraw any what silvers I needed for the day. Now I understood the issue and judging by the smirky look on the old man’s face, he was no doubt waiting for me to come to the same conclusion. Why did I feel like a fish swimming into a trap, where there was only one way in, but no way out? Bugger, the realisation that he was going to charge me something for the privilege of depositing my money with him suddenly struck me.

“Okay. What are you offering?”

“Well, now that you should mention it, I charge ten percent for each deposit and withdraws are free.”

He said with the enthusiasm of a TV advert. But wait, there was more…

“But you charge the same as the others. What benefit is that to me?”

“They charge you 10% for deposits and withdraws. Just so you are aware, the only person that accept deposits here in Obon is your friend the mayor.”

Huh? That was daylight robbery and besides…

“What makes you think he’s my friend?”

“I’m being sarcastic of course and everyone in town is talking about your little mayorly spat at the inn.”

Goodness news travelled fast in that town. That was it, one day I was going to open a bank and break the system.

“Ok, I seem to have no other choice. How do I know my money is safe?”

“You don’t. But if you don’t trust me then you are free to go dig your money outside town in the dirt, which only idiots would do something as stupid as that.”

Why then did the mayor’s crossing my path the other night suddenly occur to me?