Chapter 56: Demonic Deals

Looking into her deep hazel eyes, I see the fire of a merchant. I shiver at the thought. Some people have it in the blood; the ability to barter and get every coin possible. Accepting my fate, I begin to make the trade with the demonic women.

She begins, confidence returning to her posture. “How much do you need? How many demon hearts or how much demonic blood do you need?”

Not beating around the bush, “ideally 3-4 demon hearts. If that is unavailable… 8 demonic blood portions should suffice.”

Tilting her head slightly, “Each heart produces 4 demonic blood samples, that math doesn’t add up?”

Smiling lightly, “I have other uses for demonic hearts other than demonic blood.”

She sits back slightly, “Odd, we only ever use it for the blood. What other uses?”

A giggle escaping my lips; “Is someone fishing for information? you should know; it's not free.”

Resting her head on her chin, in a sweet voice; “Not even for little old me?”

Leaning forward in a copy of her posture, “even for you.”

She slouches, immature half polite voice returning. “Worth a try.”

Leaning back equally so, “It was an admirable attempt, but I am not foolish. Tell you what; want a freebie?”

She replies quickly as if the offer would disappear. “Of course.”

Taking on a jokingly teaching tone. “You see, demon hearts contain powerful demonic magic. This magic can add to an altar's power slightly; with restrictions. Sadly, it’s a small boost, but with the correct additions to an altar, they can become important improvements.”

She grabs a notepad, almost from thin air. “You know of altars. It's rare to know how to improve them. Closely guarded for obvious reasons.”

I simply say, “Glad to help.”

Continuing on, “Now, how much can you offer me? I wouldn’t decline it if you had more.”

She ponders, although I know she should already have the information. “I can offer you 3 demon hearts and 2 blood. Does that seem reasonable?”

Lightly tapping the table, “Excellent, now; what would you like in trade?”

I continue my rhythmic tapping, a good mood settling into my bones. I helpfully add, “Information, rare resources; I have a wealth of potential things to trade.”

She is in deep thought. Allowing her to think, I ponder on what witches would want. From how she spoke, I feel my books would be of great value. I have a wealth of information they would love. Magical recipes, nuanced bits of information. They would eat it up like a tasty dinner.

Realizing I have the advantage. I have explored the mod witchery to a massive degree. Little is unknown to me.

She looks at me directly, clearly having come to some decision. “We wish for information.” Curiosity burns in her eyes. “You clearly know much of witchcraft.”

Grateful she made the best choice for me. “Okay, now specifics. What type of information? What specialization?”

She steels her choice, “we wish to know everything you do of circle magic. And anything you have on spirits.”

I hand her 2 books, containing the information she wants. “These books you may find useful. Read-only the first 3 pages.” I warn her. She must trade for them before reading them.

She quickly skims the pages. Surprise written on her face; she quickly reads the same pages again.”

Smiling behind my helmet, “do these meet your satisfaction?”

Seemingly having forgotten her plan to milk me for all my values, she hastily accepts. “Yes, we accept this trade. You will have your items within the hour.” She writes a small note. A bird flies through the window, she ties it around the leg before letting it leave.

She turns back to me. “I must ask, how did you get those books? They are the legacy of lost covens.”

I reply shortly and poorly, “Consider it an inheritance.”

After the trade, she was far more polite. She bullied me far less. I gave her a small supply of ender letters. I also gave them my address back home in case they wish to contact me. I also told them the mayor is a great person to get in touch with if they need to speak with me.

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And almost exactly within 60 minutes, a small package floats through the window. Gratefully accepting it, I deposit it in my bag of holding. Exactly what they promised was enclosed. Even having finished the trade. I noticed within general conversation; she attempted to fish for information.

At one point, I politely reminded her she is not a fisherman. I am sure she managed to gather a wealth of information from sneaky questions. I’m also sure she got equal parts of false information as well.

I bid her farewell, opting to leave a parting gift. All I told her was it may help if she wishes to visit me. Finding great enjoyment in hearing a squeal of surprise as I walk through the corridor. I left her a flying belt, they are cheap to produce; yet excellent as gifts for people. I think now, they will take me very seriously. I have a coven contact; this should help immensely.

I promptly left the building. Opting to just fly out the town. Enjoying getting a full view of the curious city. Noting a park shaped like a crescent moon, white lilies blooming through it. I call that a beautiful view. Not being in any rush, I take the time to appreciate the town to its fullest. It's not every day you see a real-life haunted town.

Landing outside the inn. I offer the barkeep my thanks for housing me. It just felt like the right thing to do. He reminds me of someone but I can't put my finger on it.

I was recently thinking, it would be great fun to create my own town. Not with the intent to climb the social ladder of the empire. Just for the fun of it. Perhaps making it an interdimensional town. The ‘Town in the fog’ I could call it. A portal the only way into and out of it. It would likely be a very defensible town.

I would hire builders to build the boring aspects of the town. Personally? I would install the intrigue and curiosity of the town. Hidden areas within mirrors, portals to and fro. I have always enjoyed non-Euclidian geometry. I believe it would be a fun project.

Lost in my own imagination, I find myself flying outside the town. I guess it's time to head home. Quickly, I write a letter to Cassie. A simple location and time for tea this evening. I didn’t have to wait long for a confirmation. She's free, lovely I have a date planned.

Creating an obsidian bunker a distance from the town. I prepare my Telepad for this location. I would like to say I enjoyed the trip home but… the Telepad is still slightly nauseating. Still, I find the air of my island – refreshing.

Being tackled by the pets who clearly missed me. I cuddle them lovingly. Appreciating their company for a time. I head around my island doing bits and bobs. Mostly, replacing my diamond hoes, disposing of excess seeds, double-checking my power system, and checking my storage. The only thing on my island that truly needs babysitting is my farm.

I suppose I should prepare to create a ME system. Likely one of the most convenient things in existence.

Taking the time, I prepare quarts seeds to be grown within my farm. Both nether quartz and the variety from the overworld. I plant elemental seeds as well. This allows for access to earthen products such as sand.

With those plants growing, I head into my castle. I create 5 ‘inscribing presses.’ All connected to power. I add one of each ‘presses,’ 4 in total. With that prepared, I add a hopper to the side with a chest on top. These hoppers supply different materials including, gold, diamond, quartz, and silicone. Each producing a different item such as ‘logic circuits,’ ‘engineering circuits.’ I add an export to each using hoppers all funneling into a conveniently accessible chest.

With the 4 primary ingredients being semi-automatically produced. I set the final press up for manufacturing the completed products. Adding 3 inputs, 1 for Redstone, 1 for printed silicone, and the final for each of the 3 respective press products. Now all I need to do is add which of the circuits I need and it will automatically pump them out until I wish for them to stop.

Of course, the only caveat is I need to manually add the materials to keep this whole system functioning. Yet with my farm, it’s a simple thing. I reroute the silicone presses products directly into the final press, cutting out a small step. A few more small changes and it won't be semi-automatic anymore.

While that is functioning, I create a charging station. Sadly, this part is… difficult to automate. It’s a relatively simple product. The only difficult material being charged certus quartz; which I gathered with luck previously.

With my new charging station, I can create more charged certus quartz. Simply add the item and wait, and wait. Eventually, the certus quartz will become visible energized. That is when it's ready. The biggest issue? The time it takes varies between 3 seconds and 3 minutes. It's very frustrating. I assume it's something to do with the subtle variations within each crystal.

Without having clear inputs and exports with a semi-random speed. It requires a logic system to automate. It needs a manual aspect to place the crystals, a mechanism to tell when it's done, and another manual aspect to remove it. I may be able to skip the middle step and just run it at 10% efficiency. Has it automatically remove the crystal after 3 minutes? It will be charged, but if it's charged at 3 seconds, I just wasted 2 minutes and 57 seconds.

I think golems may potentially be able to do it. Or I could figure out the normal method to automate it within the mod itself. Now that I think about it, I am sure I could hire a poor soul to do it for me. Paying them money to stand here and do it for me. It would be best if I moved the actual charging station within the town I suppose.

With all that prepared, I head to my date. Finding the café, we planned to visit. I notice a distinct lack of Cassie; must be running late. I wait for a short while before she appears slightly out of breath.

“So… sorry for being late.” She says in a nervous tone.

Putting on a calm voice, “No, don’t worry about it. Come sit down and have some tea.”

Making a hand signal the waiter to prepare the drinks I had on hold already.

She sits, taking a moment to get comfortable. Removing her particularly fluffy coat. I hardly notice the chill in the air with this versatile suit of Armor. Removing my helmet, I lightly smile at her.

I speak first, “So, how have you been? Anything interesting?”

She speaks quickly, a little surprised by my voice. “What? Ah yes, I have been good; very good in fact. Just finally paid off my house.” I hear her murmur under her breath “Damned thieves.”

Chuckling lightly, “Awesome, you must be happy at such good news.”

Are tea quickly appearing, 2 fruit teas. Recalling our last date, she mentioned she prefers it. She nods appreciatively at me before taking a sip. Recoiling at the hot beverage. I blow on it carefully before enjoying the drink. Noting a distinct apple flavor to this variety.

For the best of the evening, we enjoy a general conversation. Laughter a regular response. I find out about her family, her father a small merchant, and her mother taking care of the house. Her mother is actually slightly famous in the building industry, having an excellent eye for décor. She worked as a designer in her youth.

I found the whole date wonderful and interesting. Once she speaks for a bit that nervous jitter falls away like a foggy memory.