The sun starts peaking over the horizon and I get up. There is so much to do today. I prepare myself for the day. I eat, place more wood in the pit of the drying room and get to the forge early with some scraps of dry wood. I lit the forge to pre-heat it. After organizing the forge for the day ahead, I go to the meeting.

The mayor this time has some new information and I pay attention.

The system has existed since time immemorial. Nobody is really sure who created it but some suggest it was an effort from a group of the most powerful people of the time. We have accurate records from the last 14 billion years. The system however seems to be at least 40 billion years old…

…Changes have been observed in the system over the years. However, the system we know, seems to be fairly similar from what was in place from as far back as we have records…

…It is considered extremely rude to inspect someone without their consent and duels to the death have been known to occur. In the tutorial, inspection of other people has been disabled as to provide a more amenable environment, and not prejudice the new people to the eyes of the original settlers…

…the council has been a stabilizing force to the multiverse and improved the culture level of many more war minded nations. It has been in existence for 13 billion years, and many acclaim it will continue for just as long…

There is quite a bit of useless stuff there, but I extract what is useful from it. I can’t be sure how much of it is true. At least I will know key pieces of information they want to pass as truth as I find sources to credit their accounts or disprove it.

Without losing time Charlie goes up and starts:

“Good morning everyone. I have a few announcements to make. We are very happy to inform everyone our industrial efforts have begun to bear some fruit. There is nothing industrial about it, yet, but we are hard at work to ensure every single person’s work is the most effective possible. There have been stumbling blocks but we are doing our best and we have begun to the fruits.

“Today we had about 200 paper sheets done and will soon increase production to 500 per day. That is 1 silver coin saved every day. The work at the cot is one of the most important industries for now, but we will be opening more soon as time and effort bear fruit. We can also easily scale production to export the material to other villages.

“A second industry we have put into place is the textile one. For now we are only buying cloth and using it to make simple clothes. We will attempt to make cloth but our initial impression is that it is not practical at this time. Our technology and know-how fall far too short. We will be selling them for approximately 3 copper a piece, instead of the 5 copper from the general store.

“The starting clothes seem to be quite resilient but fighting has damaged them and some people have taken to walking around almost naked. We are in trying times and it is not our intent to tell anyone how to live their lives. Few people have the money to keep buying clothes every day. Now there is a cheaper option that comes with a reasonable repair policy. You can also contract the people working for the seamstress to repair your starting clothes.

“Last but not least I would like to inform all that while most have been more than generous some have neglected to contribute to the guild. We understand the concerns of those that have brought this to our attention and we are keeping a close track of all the contributions. We have begun to consider all physical coin donations, and other kinds of donations that we receive, the equivalent of buying war bonds.

“Given our unique circumstances – he chuckles and gestures around - We have settled on a 1% flat interest rate per day. That may change in the future, but it will not reduce the value of the bonds you hold. Anyone can check how much they have contributed and the expected payout. If anyone wants documentation in paper they can pay a one copper fee to get a physical copy of your bond. This bond can be updated as the person further contributes.

“We will only start to pay as our economy hits its stride and that could take a little while. We think this a fair system and we urge everyone to contribute as much as possible, especially right now. We are in the most critical stage, as our operations are starting to ramp up.

“Now, that is all for today.”

The crowd disperses and I approach. Charlie is talking to an assistant or a passenger I assume. A young girl, she is probably 12 or 13 years old. That about the youngest I have seen around. The system perhaps requires a minimum age to integrate or at least send them in the tutorial.

He fishes speaking with her and I step up.

“Hey, I want to talk to you for a minute. Do you have the time?”

“Sure. Fire away.”

“I got an idea for an industry. And that idea is actually close to being feasible. It also helps with multiple of our problems. Some of it is…”

“Come on, Just spit it out.”

“Selling wood to the blacksmith.”

“We thought about it but we don’t have magical wood, and we also can’t wait months for wood to dry. We are getting away with using dead wood to boil paper and a couple of other things but I doubt the Blacksmith would accept it.”

“I worked around both problems. The wood is in an enclosed room that I keep quite hot. I dug a pit under it and am keeping a fire burning. Not sure how long it will take to dry and it might be bad to build anything with it. Given it’s gonna be burned anyway, structural integrity and grain alignment or whatever is not a concern”

“And about the magical properties?”

“I got a handle on that as well. It took me a while, but I managed to infuse wood with magic and it works. For now it isn’t very mana efficient but I can get 50 to 60 logs with my entire pool. That’s about 50 copper per day. Over one silver If I spend my mana on nothing else.”

“That’s…” he pauses for a moment to think. “That is wonderful. That’s another money stream. It prevents money from accumulating in the pockets of the Blacksmith and keeps it in circulation. It might also speed up his production of weapons.”

“Exactly and it might let us see a few more powerful weapons if we concentrate more mana on a few logs. Yesterday, when I helped the forge get hotter, he produced a +3 long sword.”

“That’s an excellent weapon. It would be a boom to anyone wielding it. It could provide a massive Exp boost to a few of our hunters more suited to a long sword.”

“My thoughts exactly. Given my help we got a discount from 3 silver to 2. The normal process would be to use coal, which is more expensive. My guess is that the system limits his fuel use, so for now he can’t use coal.”

“Ok. I will be going there as soon as we finish here to buy this sword.”

“Let’s go.”

We head to the Smithy at a brisk pace.

“So how would we work out the logistics?”

“For now, just make sure every hour someone passes by the house and puts more wood in the fire. Make sure it’s someone who knows how not to screw up a fire. I don’t want it burning down anything or going out. Later we will need to get someone to cut and bring wood so I can infuse it. He also needs to cut and organize the wood in the house. And to take the dry wood out of the drying room.”

“We can figure all of that out. I think a single person can do all that and still hunt or do other odd jobs around the city. Would you agree to a 50 percent stake in the enterprise?”

“Seventy-five percent.”

“Sixty percent.”

“Seventy-five and I only take twenty-five, the rest counting as contributions.”

“Agree.” And he shakes my hand. “I would have agreed to one hundred percent if you had left the money for us to use.”

I shrug my shoulders.

“I don’t care about the money, as long as it is being used I’m happy.”

“If you don’t care about the money give it all to us.” He says for the sake of argument, just so he can gauge Nash’s reaction.

“If I don’t care, other people might mistake for it being unimportant and we are not in a society ready to live without money. I care a little, I realize its importance and how it affects people. It’s an illusion we believe in so much, it almost becomes real. When you break this illusion, things become different. One day we might learn to live without money, but with the multiverse and the system…” I just shrug and enter the smithy.

I head to where the sword is hanging and I hear a squeal behind me. Looking over the spokesperson for the guild I see he has been lifted in the air without apparent cause. I wonder if there might be some security system but ignore it for now. I go to his side and gently push him outdoors. When he is outside whatever force lifted him is released and he sprawls in the ground.

“Maybe there is a security system in the shop. Are you hurt?”

“No.” Hee responds, getting up and hitting his clothes to get rid of the dust. “Is that the sword? Well I should be going. There is too much to do.”

He gets the money and counts to make sure it’s 2 silver. I give him the sword and say.

“Wait a few minutes, Mr. Blackwood is almost here and you might want to be in the conversation with our new client.”

“That is a good point.”

I take my tools and dagger and present them to him saying.

“Here take these; I don’t use them during the day. You can consider them a loan to the guild.”

He chuckles and answers.

“I hadn’t thought of that. We could also add a small stipend to the eventual pay off. I mean, there are people loaning each other tools but nothing more centralized.”

I head inside to light the forge and I stack the wood in the forge in record time. I light it and put mana on the magical blower. The entire time I nod and grunt at the right places as Charlie speaks. He goes on in how the loans might work, but soon he stops and starts to think silently. I go back to the door and we wait for the smith. In only a few minutes he gets walking at a leisurely pace and we greet him. With a grim he says:

“So it was you I felt trying to sneak in and steal everything? And you, my very own disciple, were helping him?”

I take out the 2 silver and give him. He pockets them without counting.

“I see you have some scuff marks. I hope the security system didn’t hurt you?”

“No, thank you. I forgot all the shops had this field up.”

I look at him but Mr. Blackwood says.

“So people have already begun trying to sneak in.”

“On the very first night.”

I interrupt and ask:

“Am I on the authorized list or something?”

“I got your mana and the two helpers that were here later than usual, to mark you as authorized entries. I’m still notified, but it doesn’t block your entry.”

Smith, wanting to get on with things waits a second or two, and begins his pitch.

“Well regardless of all that, we have a business proposal and opportunity for you.”

“Huuumm, an opportunity, sounds interesting go on.”

“The council has been made aware that you require big amounts of magically enhanced wood. We in conjunction, with Mr. Nash have sought to remedy the situation by providing wood for you at a reduced price. For now, our production sits at around the equivalent to 50 or 60 log equivalents to your own. And we would be open to selling them at 80% price.”

“I’m listening.” He says, interested. I feel, however, his interest has less to do with profit, and more with our progression. If we can depend less on the village’s economy and other factors outside our control, we will be in a better position. It seems he is genuinely interested in helping us. The other workers get to the forge and look over everything to make sure I set everything and look to see if there is still something to be done.

“We would bring the wood here at around this time. We are still drying the wood, so it might take a day or two to get the first load.”

He thinks for a moment and asks me:

“How did you figure out a way to dry wood so fast? Or did you use a different infusion method? You don’t have the magical skills to do that yet. It will take you months to figure it out.”

“I am not drawing the water out with magic. I’m putting the wood in a really hot environment to dry it fast.”

“Wood done like that is not quite as good as naturally dried wood. But it’s all going to burn anyway, it will not make a big difference.”

He shrugs at his last statement and shakes both our hands. Now we can get the economic engine started and snowball. Terra Mystica, now those were the good times. Charlie buys a couple of other weapons along with a tool or two. I put this all out of my mind and focus on the work with a giddy feeling. We are starting to get things on track.