The early spring rains combined with the late winter chill turned rains into hailstorms one day. Made of doubly reinforced stone, first by magic and second by her [Architect] Skill, Cless new and unfurnished manor was just fine. The orchard took some damage from the hail but Vic was able to repair it. The drains to move water to the catacombs were working fine too. It is what happened in the aftermath of the hailstorm that pissed Cless.

"I'm sorry, guild master. My roof broke under the weight of the hail and the ice broke the glass panes. It also broke the windows at the Lord's estate and other high-class houses. An edict forced me to hand over all that was left of my stock to the Lord. I'm under my quota, actually. I'll need to work double-time just to avoid any penalties."

There was little she could do. Or there was a lot she could do but just a little that wouldn't land her in even bigger trouble. Cless asked the next question already wincing at the answer she was going to get.

"We'll need our advance payment back if you are not doing our order."

"I'm afraid I have no funds to spare. I used your money to buy materials," The glassblower lowered his head. Cless knew he was telling the truth.

She thought of her options. Probably she was going to hear the same from all the other artisans she hired. The prospect of living in a stone house made of only stone was not very enticing. But she remembered the only tenet from the Church of the One God she kept. Make good use of the opportunities presented to you.

"Two hours. I demand you set two hours of your day every day to tutor me in your craft. I'll come here and work under you and learn glassblowing. The advance payment I made will be my tutoring fee. This arrangement will last for as long as I need. I'll help you and learn at the same time."

The glassblower was reluctant. He should be as he had no idea of Cless' abilities. She repeated her offer, in a tone that indicated he'd have trouble if he didn't agree to. He made a counteroffer.

"If you can't learn or damage too many things, I'll have to suspend your lessons until a time where I'm not swamped with work."

"Only after the fifth day of training, you can evaluate if you want me to keep going or not. Do we have a deal?"

The glassblower shook Cless' hand. She left with the promise to be there one hour after sunrise. Cless left the glassblower and went to the blacksmith. She heard basically the same thing and made the same arrangement. She'd have two hours of blacksmithing training each day after she was done with the glassblower. Just to stay in the same district, as the sawmill was on the eastern part of the city near the river, she arranged to work at a potter's workshop for two hours. She'd have to pay for the teaching, twenty-five ducats per week but the materials were included in the price and she could keep anything she crafted.

A normal apprenticeship was beyond what Cless would accept. Apprentices lived in the workshop and had contracts that spanned a whole year. It was a commitment from both the master and the apprentice, as the apprentice's skills would reflect on the master. The arrangement she got with the potter was more like a lady picking up a hobby, and that was the reason for the high price. This would mean Cless would eat lunch an hour after midday.

After leaving the glassblower, they went to the sawmill, and the situation there was even worse.

"Master Nestor!" Heimdall called the man that was probably the owner of the sawmill. "Guild master Cless of the Blind Eye is here to talk about her request."

Nestor was a lanky man with a well-trimmed mustache and angular face. He sighed and approached with his shoulders slumped. The noise of the man's feet rustling on the dirt would be drowned by the sounds of the saw and the wood being worked on. That day it was painfully audible. He didn't react to Cless' appearance but she assumed he was instructed beforehand.

"Guild master, I'd like to say good day, but I'm sorry I can't. The hail and the sudden flood broke my water wheel and the saw has no power. This will take a month to repair."

"I see. I'll assume you have no funds to return my advance payment either."

"I do, actually. However..." He looked around. The riverbank where his power wheel was broke and the land was carried away by the river. Even now the water would crash on that spot and make a whirlpool. "I need the money to repair my sawmill. If you take it, I'm going out of business."

Cless sighed. She looked at the tall and skinny man with an expression of pity and steeled herself.

"We can become business partners. I can fix your lack of power and my guild will use your facility from two in the afternoon until sunset. Your personnel will help and instruct us on what we need to do."

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"If you can fix the water wheel we can work that out. The whole sawmill would just stop without power. We don't have wood to spare."

"I can't fix the wheel. I can use Earth magic so I can fix the riverbank and power your machinery without the water wheel. Can you do the repairs that way?"

Hope flared in Nestor's eyes. He looked at the place where a stockpile of wood should be and the hope vanished.

"Yes, we can. We don't have enough wood though."

Cless extended her hand. "We have a deal. My guild has experience with forestry. I'll harvest my own timber and even sell you some. Your workspace is mine at afternoons each day until we are done, however long this may take."

He looked at the hand and after hesitating for a while, he finally shook it. Cless went to the river bank and fixed the erosion by shifting and merging stones from underneath the river bed. The cost of hiring an Earth mage to do it was prohibitive and trying to fill the hole while the flooded river raged was impossible. She shaped a stone crank connected to the broken wheel axle and summoned a golem. Cless ordered the construct to spin the crank to turn the axle where the wheel used to rest on.

"Everyone, stay away from the machinery! It's coming alive!"

The gears and pulleys of the sawmill moved and soon the sounds of moving saws and wood being cut and worked rang again.

Cless went near Nestor to speak over the loud noise, "The golem will remain there as long as I want to. I'll be here tomorrow at the agreed-upon time. You and your crew will work on my projects. Good luck filling the city quota during the rest of the time."

The three-meter tall construct would crank as long as she wanted to. Nestor's mouth was frozen open but Heimdall tapped his shoulder.

"Think nothing of it, Nestor. Just do your work and save your business. Guild master is just like that. But don't ever get on her bad side."

She was glad the man stood up for her. It reminded her of the deadbeat brats back in Tambrill. She knew they were fine because she got faint trickles of Exp every now and then. it was only from the three idiots that badmouthed her, but if they were alive the others surely were as well. Musing about her path, Cless only noticed they were back home because Silverfang held her arm to make her wait for Heimdall to open the gate.

Once inside, she double-checked her plans. During the next days, she would train glassblowing, blacksmithing, pottery, and carpentry. She tallied her proficiency bonuses for the proficiencies. She had a 2x from her Master Instructor, 2x from Crafter, and 25% from Dabbler. That would amount to a 5x proficiency gain. Her average Agility and Intellect was around three-hundred-fifty. She could reach a decent level of proficiency within a week.

She didn't intend to leech the crafters for too long. She planned to learn the trade, learn of the tools they used and make the tools and workstations for herself. Then she'd make a workshop in the basement for herself and work from home. Especially the sawmill, carrying the logs all the way to town to cut them into planks was bothersome. She could have the golem haul the head saw to the woods and bring only the planks back.

Maybe she should make a second basement floor for her workspace. If she was able to make her own glass, she could start to dabble into alchemy. And with the alchemy lab, she could move onto enchanting.

Cless' musings were interrupted by Heimdall.

"Guild master, an envoy from the Lord is here to see you."

Crap. What could they want? The deeds in the bank vault? She didn't keep [Tremorsense] active all time because her range was too freaking huge. eight hundred and fifty-two meters. No way she wanted to know every single person in the streets around her house. Or that fishes were swimming in the flooded catacombs. How deep that thing goes?

"Where are they?"

"In the grand hall. I took the liberty of ushering them inside."

Double crap. "To entertain the guest, Heimdall. I'm coming down."

Just awesome. An outsider was looking at her unfinished house. One that would hurry to rat about her home and the stupid Heimdall let him in. Cless changed her clothes and blinked downstairs to the meeting room. She exited the doorless room into the great hall, noticing a humming reverberating in the great hall.

She also noticed that there was no access from the ground to the second floor that didn't go through the grand stairs. Double awesome.

Cless deliberately made her footsteps heard. When the man turned to see her, she greeted him. "Welcome. I'm sorry I can't offer any amenities but we are under construction yet. I don't have any staff."

"Don't worry. I am amazed at this construction. Tell me, who made it? This level of craftsmanship is worth of Kings!"

Better be, since a Queen lives here. Cless wiped her haughty thoughts and changed the subject. "What brings the distinct gentleman to my unfinished home? I'm Cless, but I believe you already know that."

He smiled like a politician, "The Lord sent me to pick up the deeds. Shall we go to the bank?"

About time to use [Tremorsense]. There are two quadruped animals outside. Two bipeds. Horses and an escort.

"Is that your carriage outside?"

"Yes, shall we go?"

Funny how he did not introduce himself. What in the Infernal realms is wrong with these people? No refreshments, no name dropping, just go and get what you want then discard the stupid peasant-like it is worth jack.

"I need my sword," Cless said feigning absentmindedness.

"You won't need a sword. You are safe with me."

"Do you promise to keep me safe to the best of your ability?" As if she would not bind him with her Skill.

"Of course. You are completely safe."

"I'm a Priestess. If you don't keep me safe, you'll be punished with extreme pain. By the One God." She kept the sentences disconnect to imply a causality that didn't exist.

"I vow to. Let's go," He frowned just a little bit to signal his impatience. But that was all she needed.

And done. Verbal contract established without notifications.

Cless entered the carriage and the vehicle went on its way to the bank. She was sure it should turn right on that street but it went left. Oh, sweet ambush.

"Are we going to the bank or to an ambush, mister... I didn't get your name, sorry," Cless told the man in front of her in the carriage's cabin.