Anthony turned around to see a young man roughly the same age as him with yellow hair and brown eyes. He wore a green apron with the apothecary logo stitched on the front, with a smile that could compliment the sun color of his head.

“I know the liquid soap is a little more expensive than the soap bars, but those are a very popular item. But just a little more silver, you’ll realize that it was well worth the expenses. The best part is, it uses an extract of seed and fruit fats instead of animal, so in a way it’s more natural and it’s been cleansed by a special process.”

“He’s not a customer Jason, he’s a guest.” Clio walked in the door after settling the horse.

“Oh, I didn’t realize Ms. Gaia had taken on another apprentice.”

“Well, that’s a bit of a story, Jason.” Clio corrected. “She said she’ll tell everyone later, but she wants you to show him around the back.”

“Why do I have to do it?” Jason asked.

“Because I’m unloading our supplies, and Ms. Gaia went around, Selene wanted to talk to Ms. Gaia again.”

“Just great.” He lowered his head. “Do you want me to get a broom for the aftermath too?”

“Not, just show Anthony around, introduce him to Iris, while Ms. Gaia deals with Selene.”

“Fine, once again, it’s up to the farm boy to do all the grunt work.”

“It’s not grunt work, it’s teamwork, remember what Ms. Gaia says.”

“It takes a team to reach a goal.” They said at the same time, one with a smile and one with a growing frown.

With Clio out of sight, Jason relaxed his guard and took on a whole new demur of someone who felt overworked and under appreciated in this shop.

“Well, at least you’re another guy, it’s been kind of rough working around all these women, you know what I mean?”

“I have three sisters...” Anthony didn’t exactly get his implication, but his confused expression made Jason smile assuming he caught his drift.

“I knew you’d get it.” He patted him on the back.

“Jason Tilt, third generation farmer, first generation shop worker, and you are...”

“Anthony Bios, hunter and acquaintance.” He recalled Master Zoe’s previous cover story.

“Well Anti, I think we’re gonna get along just fine.” He put his hand over his shoulders.

“...Alright.” He simply said as Jason led him through the back door into the area.

As they walked down the hallways, he began to point out various odds and ends in sight, nothing specific but more of a brief summary of what exactly they had in this little operation.

“Over there we have a lab, we make a variety of orders and medicines, tinctures, potions, that sort of thing...that’s the storage area, it’s where we mostly hold various odds and ends...file room, where Selene likes to spend most of her time... and over here...” He stopped when he saw the light and buzzing sound of grinding stone cutting through some unknown area. “Speak of the she-devil.”

They ended at a little room that was darkened except for a skylight that tried to extract even the light of the setting sun. Anthony believed these were called workshops, where master craftsmen sharped stones and polished fine jewelry to the utmost perfection. It didn’t have a forge, but a small fireplace that looked to have been modified for this intended purpose, melting or extracting minerals. Standing next to the bench of the running grind stone wearing a loupe set of glasses and holding something with a set of leather gloves she stood.

She was another young woman much like Clio but with amber hair that was cut short like boys, she was even wearing a set of men’s work clothing, boots and clothes. When she was done grinding her stone, picked up her loupe lenses revealing her green eyes as she gently blew off the dust of the stone she was working on. She looked at it like a fine masterpiece, smiling at the object that was no bigger than a chip of stone.

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“Hello Iris!” Jason called out.

“Waah!” Having been lost in concentration she nearly lost the object she was working on.

She managed to recover and breathe a sigh of relief, but turned to Jason and Anthony with a look of absolute disdain.

“You almost made me drop this, Jay. Do you know how long it took me to fashion this blade.”

“It’s just a rock Iris, don’t get too heated about it.”

“Just a rock, just a rock!” She sounded insulted as she waved the object in his face.

“This is a piece of Fire Gem, it contains traces of Orchialcum. Do you even know what that is?”

“The second rarest mineral in the world, prized by the Empire as a Sacred metal for its ability to retain heat and resist extreme temperatures while still maintaining its original shape and forged form.” Anthony answered impulsively without anyone asking.

“Well...yeah.” Iris finally noticed Jason was not alone in her workshop. “How did you know that?”

“I had my suspicions when I received my dagger, but an appraiser confirmed there were significant traces of Orchialcum in the blade.”

“What? Are you serious?” Iris said as if she had found a lost relic. “Can I see it?”

“Certainly.” He unsheathed his dagger placing it flat on his palm for her to examine.

It shined like pure obsidian but sparkled with traces of red flecks from the light of the sun, and she was certain that it was indeed made of Orchialcum.

“By the Sacred Kings, where did you get THAT?”

“It was an heirloom passed down from a dear friend, she claimed her father made it out of talon of ruby salamander.”

“A ruby salamander?!” Jason asked. “Isn’t that illegal?”

“Only killing a ruby salamander, farm boy.” Iris corrected. “The nobility and guilds like to keep them alive so they harvest parts like these for years. My father worked on a crew once. I never thought I’d see an actual claw dagger though, this incredible...You ever think about selling it?” Her eyes widened hoping she could get first dibs.

“I’m afraid I cannot.” He picked up the dagger and sheathed it back in its holster.

“Well, that’s a shame.” She pouted, before returning to her usual smile. “Just keep me in mind if you change your mind, I’m working on new tools that require rare minerals like Orchialcum and I’m always hoping to buy.”

“You’ll have to forgive Iris, she’s a bit of a rock enthusiast.” Jason tried to explain. “Her family used to work in the mines, so she has a good eye for rare minerals.”

“Not just rare minerals you garden goon, I’m in the look for all minerals.” She boasted with pride. “How do you think we found that lye to make soap, or the salt we used for preserves, and those bones that contained traces of Zinc from a rock lizard? They made good fertilizer for our herb gardens, remember?”

“Fine, whatever, you’re a real ass-et.” Jason said with a heavy emphasis on the first part.

“Well, enough about me, let’s hear about you Mr...”

“Anthony Bios.” He told her his name.

“Mr. Bios, did you happen to have any more heirlooms in your possession? I'd love to give you a second opinion, since appraises can be such crooks sometimes. Not to mention if you’re looking around it means Ms. Gaia must like you enough to trust you’re a good person. So, come on, just a little peek.” The way she was practically staring at him with her large saucer-like eyes was both intimidating and effective, as Anthony slowly revealed the three most precious items in his possession, one by one.

He started with his broach, recently cleaned but shining bright from its recent polish, she took out her loupe to examine each object more closely to get an enlarged look at its construction.

“While the common eye may mistake this element for simple bone carving, the distinct golden-ivory luster in its outer shell makes me think it contains high traces of Fortacillium, a divine element distilled in bone gems...Am I right?” She looked up to him with her goggled eyes expecting a measure of appreciation for her skills.

“You are correct, the appraiser reached the same conclusion.” He simply smiled and nodded, before putting away the broach and pulling off the ring on his right hand. “What do you make of this?”

“Interesting...” She said looking at its tarnished gray exterior. “...the common eye may mistake this grayish silvery expressions for tin or steel, but...” She blew on it slightly tickling his hand, but he kept his hand steady so she could get a good look at what happened after. “...I knew it! There’s a silvery inflection when it comes contact with wind, that means that it’s not an ordinary metal but actually made of unrefined mythril!”

“Now, that’s impressive.” Anthony said, looking at the ring. “I always knew this ring was special, but never imagined it could be related to silver gems.”

“That’s because they probably thought to see how it heats, but mythril is a wind element.” She began clapping and jumping for joy. “It is only found in windy mountains in its refined state, but in its raw state it’s almost indistinguishable from tin.”

“I think you’ve made her day, Anti.” Jason was sitting down in the corner minding his own business while they went about their examination.

“Do you have anything else?” She asked with enthusiasm.

“Just one thing and it’s something I’m rather curious about.” He pulled the leather rope around his neck and pulled it out of his shirt.

Around that leather rope were two objects, one a yellowish long fang with a point like a blunted crystal quartz that glimmered with bluish hue. This was more of an added object, for the real centerpiece was a large silky blue stone with a wood like grain. In the light of the sunlight it looked much like a seed, but sparkled like a polished opal. Iris examined this object carefully, but with all she knew there was only one conclusion she could reach.