There were a few things that he needed to do now, things far more interesting than reading over the city’s records. First up was delivering some of those static bladders to George, to see if he could do something useful with the wrinkled organs. Jeffrey still had those things hidden away in one of his pockets, and Sam got up and walked off in search of the man after finishing his reading.
Jeffrey was, of course, engaging in a fair bit of lecherous activity in a back alley. Judging by the number of women surrounding him, he was doing quite well. Sam cleared his throat as he approached, and the women scattered. Raising an eyebrow, he approached Jeffrey, who was in a considerable state of undress.
“Jeffrey, what the hell are you up to here? I understand the company, but don’t you have somewhere else to do this?”
The man gave Sam a devious smile and then shrugged.
“What can I say? I like to live dangerously.”
“Yeah, well don't live too dangerously. I don’t want some random hooker to clear out your bank account.”
Jeffrey withdrew in mock astonishment.
“As if I would let such a thing happen! I have had years of experiences with some of the wiliest women of the Salvinii System. No offense, but a few humans aren’t going to be an issue.”
Sam was not sure which was worse. The fact that Jeffrey was so freely admitting to all of this, or the fact that he clearly was experienced in the matter.
“Look, just keep it professional, ok? I need that static bladder thing. Do you still have it?”
“Of course. I kept it safe, along with my other prized possessions.” Before Sam could realize what Jeffrey meant, the man started rooting around in his pants, before pulling out one of the bladders. He threw it at Sam, who caught it on reflex, and then gagged.
“Do I want to know what else has been in there?” Sam asked after recovering.
“No, I don’t think you do. Do you want the mithril too?” Jeffrey asked. Sam had forgotten about the metal, but he quickly nodded. Jeffrey tossed over the bar of metal as well. Sam was about to thank the man, but Jeffrey turned around and struck both fingers in his mouth before whistling loudly. “Ladies!” He shouted into the alleyway. The sound of quickly approaching feet told Sam that it was time to go.
Sam pocketed the organ and the metal, and averted his eyes. By the sounds of things, Jeffrey was reverting to his chicken form.
Sam ran across the city towards George’s forge, which had become far larger in the time since he had left. There was a small line of people waiting outside, and every few minutes, George would emerge with a suit of armor in his hands. The person he gave it to would smile and thank him before carrying the armor off. Out of sight of everyone else they would put the armor on and walk down the road, drawing looks from everyone else. This was definitely a helmet on situation for Sam.
He took his helmet off of its hook on the back of his suit of armor and put it on his head before stepping out of the alleyway that he was standing in and making his way towards the smithy. To the people in the line, he was just another customer, albeit one with a very fancy suit of armor. Sam slid into the back of the line, and was immediately surrounded by a swarm of intrigued people.
"Where did you get that armor? It’s pristine!” One man said, reaching out as if to stroke the armor. Sam frowned and moved back.
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“Hey, don’t get handsy with the armor,” Sam said as he moved backwards. The other man kept reaching out, and Sam sighed. No matter where he went within the city, he attracted attention, and not always the good type. He kept trying to fend off the man, but without being able to use his full power, Sam was eventually caught. All that the other man wanted was to touch the armor once though, and it was quickly over. By that point Sam was next in line at the smithy, and the man who had stroked his armor went in. Sam heard what sounded suspiciously like a metal implement striking flesh, and the man stumbled out a moment later, clutching his head.
“Stop trying to molest my wares!” George shouted after the man, completely unaware of what that sounded like. Smiling slightly, Sam walked in the door.
“Hello, George.”
“Have we met before?” George asked, staring at Sam’s armor. “I’m sure I would have remembered someone with such fine armor. Is that my work?”
Sam pulled off his helmet and swirled his hair unnecessarily. The image that he projected was a bit strange, as his hair was quite short.
“Sam? Sorry, I mean faction leader. Where on Earth did you get that armor?”
“In a canyon near this city. I got it for killing some cyclops with the help of the others. I was hoping that you could improve it though?” Sam unequipped the armor and laid it out on a table in front of George. The man bent down to look at it, and he started to whisper to himself.
“The hell? Do all crafters become like this eventually.?” Sam wondered. His thoughts were clearly evident on his face as George looked up self consciously. Sam plastered a smile on his face, and George looked back down at the work.
Sam stood there for a few minutes, shifting from foot to foot as George started to lose himself in a trance. Eventually he snapped out of it, with a big grin on his face.
“This armor is a piece of art! Just studying it increased my smithing profession experience. You must have really lucked out with this. However, I doubt that I could improve this armor any more than it already has been, unless you have some additional aspect that you want me to add.”
“Aspect?”
“Oh, right. You aren’t a crafter. An aspect is a potential crafting material, specifically one that is being used to improve an already existing piece of work. If it was simply a raw material, it would be a component.”
“Ah. Makes sense. As it happens, I do have some aspects for you. Here,” Sam said, throwing the static bladder and the mithril over to George. The man caught them and analyzed them briefly before whistling loudly.
“Damn, you really rake in the good stuff. I’ve never seen anything like this organ before. It’s basically a free ticket for lightning elementalization. Now, as to the subatomic weight displacement that this mithril will encourage…” George started to mumble incomprehensible words to himself and Sam watched as he started to root around for tools. All the while, he was muttering to himself about esoteric crafting theories and the like. How Sam had ever considered this man dim, he did not know. In any case, he was a genius at this craft. George looked up at Sam a few minutes later, a frown on his face,
“You should sit down. We might be here for a while.” Sam looked around for a place to sit, and finding no chairs, he settled for the anvil. It didn't look like George was using it.
Over the course of the next few hours, Sam watched in awe as George perfectly blended the static bladder into the suit of armor. How he was doing such a thing with an organic substance was beyond Sam. The man was forging the wrinkled organ into the armor like it was a piece of malleable metal, and the entire time a stream of mana was coursing down his fingertips and into his hammer. George had vastly increased in proficiency since Sam had seen him last, reminding Sam that he also had his own physical path to follow. Ever since gaining his weapon style, he had been complacent in relying on that. However, his mastery was not going up at all, and he would have to start learning his own techniques if he ever wanted to progress further. Using someone else’s mace knowledge was good in a fight, but not particularly good for forming one’s own path. In addition, he would have to adapt his moves slightly to Mjolnir. The weapon functioned the same as a mace, but it was weighted a bit differently, and his high level of power meant that Sam had to be careful about using too much of it in one go. He had to be careful about breaking himself, not the weapon.
When George finally finished, a flash of lightning broke Sam out of his introspective reverie, and he saw that the armor was finished. Tiny sparks danced along its surface, and the metal had taken on a glassy finish. It felt more complete to Sam’s metaphysical sight, and he could feel the elemental energy dancing along it. Despite what one might think, static electricity was actually a sub element of Earth, and as such Sam felt intrinsically attracted to it as soon as he saw the suit of armor.