Back and forth, back and forth. That's all Ozlo could think about as he ran to and fro filling the devices with shards every few minutes. It wasn't particularly demanding work, and Burgin's work was far more demanding, but Ozlo still wished he didn't have to do it.

Ozlo's master was periodically heating the metal via the magical tool that they discussed earlier and activating his ironhands card in order to forge the mithril. "Alright lad, it's time for a break. We've been at it for a while."

Practically falling over in relief, Ozlo slumped into this chair while Burgin grabbed the two of them a large pitcher of something fruity. "Drink up boy, a little cider will do you good."

Nursing his cider, Ozlo had one of his increasingly more frequent thoughts and found the courage to voice it. "Master... Wouldn't this go a lot faster if we could use uncommon shards, or even rare ones?"

To his credit, Master Burgin kept a straight face. "Aye lad. It would be faster. Like how dumping your eggs straight onto the stove might cook them faster than using a skillet." Burgin gestured to the mithril. "Think of this like a nice cake. If I were to throw it in the oven on high heat it would surely bake faster, but it would be a burnt, nasty mess. I'm sure there's others who could pull it off, but my hands can only move so fast. Besides, you need to think of the cost."

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Ozlo nodded along, understanding Burgin until the last part. "Wait, the cost?" Ozlo inquired, voicing his question.

"Yes boy, the cost. Shards don't grow on trees and rare ones especially. You likely won't touch more than a few rare shards in your life, let alone a card. They're uh, well rare. Sure you could theoretically go down to the bank and exchange a bunch of uncommon shards for some, but that's provided they have them in stock. And if, if you're willing to pay their thieving fees." At this point Burgin slapped his knees and stood up.

"Up. Up boy. We've got metal to forge and shards to burn so let's keep at it. Roland may have mentioned bonus pay for getting the job done early and I'm nothing if not monetarily motivated." Following his masters lead Ozlo stood up from his seat and grabbed another handful of shards to feed the magical devices. Though he tried to remain positive, Ozlo couldn't help but think. "Man, this is going to be a LONG day".