Andrew Gunnar stared at the list of the materials required by the head of the crafting department but couldn’t collect his thoughts. Why was he not warned about the arrival of Keynes Kid? Having another one of the Big Four in Emerald City had implications… Like throwing the resource allocation matrix completely off balance. What was Andrew supposed to do now? He couldn’t tell no to the direct request of Keynes Kid and yet, fulfilling the request would have dire consequences on their schedule. It would take them weeks to recover from this and time had the utmost importance.

As if invoked by Andrew’s silent prayer, Esopp Earl walked into Andrew’s office.

“You were looking for me.”

“Indeed, boss.” Andrew nodded then pushed the sheet with the requested material into Esopp Earl’s hands.

“What’s that?”

“I was told by Keynes Kid to allocate these resources to the crafting department.”

Esopp Earl frowned.

“So?”

“If I do this, we’ll face delays here. Many of these materials are used by our builders. I was hoping you’ll be able to clarify the matter. I cannot say no to Keynes Kid.”

Esopp Earl smirked, handing the sheet back to Andrew.

“It’s better to keep Keynes happy. Believe me.” Esopp Earl straightened. “On that note, I’ll be leaving in a week’s time, so you’re going to be in charge of the base until Wagner sends someone from Geneva.”

Andrew felt in the very bones that something bad was going to happen. He didn’t have time to take over Esopp Earl’s duties. He sighed, resigned. He knew he wasn’t going to win this.

“Can I at least ask for how long?”

“No idea, it isn’t up to me. But don’t fret, Andrew, soon, Wagner’s beloved resource allocation matrix will be a thing of the past. You’ll have anything you wish for. Our golden era is ahead of us.”

***

“How long have you been crafting items for?” Keynes asked as he and Haef sat down in the only operating longue in the base. They ordered food and something chilled to drink.

“Since I’ve received my Talent.”

“You’ve crafted items before the outbreaks?” That was unexpected. Unlike glyphs, Level 0 items didn’t possess modifiers.

“Crafted is a big word, sir,” Haef said. “Nothing as grand.”

“Call me Keynes, please.”

“Of course.” Haef nodded then quickly returned to the crafting topic. “So as I said, crafted is a big word. I never managed to create an item with a single modifier before the outbreaks, although these items were of a higher quality than their counterparts.”

“Higher quality?”

“Better durability mostly,” Haef explained.

Alice, thoughts on this?

She appeared on the table, scrunching her nose. Through the bond, Keynes sensed her intention which was to train her mimicry. Keynes was accustomed by now to her fluctuating moods and silly behaviour so he didn’t mention it.

Sounds like something to do with the spiritual energy of these items.

Spiritual energy? Did Haef have a way to manipulate the item’s spiritual matrix?

Do you expect me to answer your question, master?

No, not really.

“How do you craft your items?”

“I follow my intuition.” Haef shrugged.

He is hiding something, Alice said. Keynes, too, noticed something unusual in the other man’s aura but Keynes’s ability to read spiritual auras of other people was poor at this stage.

“You have a crafting-related Talent,” Keynes realised at last.

Haef looked around, except for them, a couple of people sitting at the other end of the spacious lounge and a waitress, they were alone and easily out of earshot. Unless some of these people were in the Medium stage and had their spiritual companions spying on them, no one would overhear their conversation.

“Yes,” Haef admitted. “My Talent had been deemed borderline mediocre before the outbreaks. Then everything changed. A month ago, some people appeared out of nowhere and offered me a job. I don’t know how they found me or how they knew about my Talent as I kept it private but here I am.”

Immediately, Persephone came to Keynes’s mind. Did she have her hand in this? If yes, it meant Haef was important to them. At least, as far as the crafting went.

“What can you do with rift materials?” Keynes inquired. “Can you use rift rewards to create items as well?” That was the hurdle Hadr and the tribesmen couldn’t overcome.

Before Haef answered, food and drinks arrived. They thanked the waitress and focused on eating until they finished.

Putting the fork and knife away, Haef spoke up.

“I haven’t tried using a rift reward. They are too expensive to be used for experimental crafting. I heard though that most fellow crafters experienced numerous issues with them. If I … can I speak openly?”

Keynes gave him go ahead.

“If I had a chance I’d love to try to use a rift reward.”

“You know what?” Keynes stood up. “Let's hit some rifts.”

***

Haef stared mesmerised as Keynes Kid killed a group of monsters without moving from a spot. Was this his Talent or did he have a skill that dealt damage over a distance? Either way, the showing was impressive, even though the aftermath wasn’t pretty. Some of the monsters straight up turned to dust or were liquified.

When they reached the reward chest, Keynes grimaced upon finding another Scroll of Identification. Their third. One item they found was of a common quality and returned a flat damage to enemies.

“Let’s go check another rift.”

It took them ten tries to finally find a piece of Level 1 iron.

“Will that suffice?”

“Absolutely!” Haef moved his hand over the metal, imagining possible uses. So far his crafts were following blueprints given to him by the company. Even though he failed to make a non-blueprint item with non-attribute modifiers he felt he was close. His Talent, Intuitive Crafting, was never wrong. He was missing something, he just needed to find the right thread.

They returned to his workshop where he immediately started collecting crafting tools for the project. He didn’t know yet what he was going to use the iron for but it had to be perfect. Haef didn’t expect to get another shot at impressing someone like Keynes Kid. His hands started to tremble with every passing minute, nerves were getting to him. Haef exhaled, he was Level 4 for god’s sake!

Keynes Kid stood next to Haef, his black hair cascaded to his shoulders. There was something about the young man that unsettled Haef. How did someone so young get so powerful? Haef was fifty and even though he’d been levelled to Level 4 very recently, his appearance only made him look around forty. Keynes Kid’s brown eyes were locked on the tools and materials scattered on the table.

What was his real goal here? Was this a test?

“What item are you going to make?”

“An iron ring.”

Heaf turned on the automatic furnace. It was an upgraded version, which took in consideration Level 1 raw materials. From there the process was straightforward and easy: melt the iron, pour it to an adequate form and after it cooled down, finish it off. Obviously, there were additional steps Haef could add, like making an alloy out of the iron or play with the internal structure of the ring and so forth but for now, he wanted to keep it as simple as possible. There were too many issues to consider with more complex projects. Even the blueprints he’d been following were difficult and caused unforeseen problems.

As they waited for the iron to melt, Keynes Kid walked around the workshop, looking at the raw materials currently in the room, something was on his mind but Haef wasn’t going to inquire.

“Where do you keep monster parts?”

“Monster parts? Why?”

The question was strange. Why would Haef bother himself with monster parts when there were valuable metals and wood? He was aware that some crafters incorporated monster parts in their crafts but they were silent about the results so Haef suspected that they’d failed.

“During my time in the World Reserve, we discovered that certain monster parts corresponded with attributes in the final item.”

Haef’s legs turned into jelly and an exhilarating rush hit his head. Monster parts had such an effect on the items? Impossible… Why Haef’s fellow crafters didn’t mention it to him? Because they are no longer my fellows. They are my competitors, he realised. All because of this new item exchange company called Artefact Exchange. He slapped his forehead.

“Everything’s alright?”

He turned to Keynes Kid, for a split second he forgot that the boy was here. His revelation shook Haef’s foundations. Being able to craft deterministically was Haef’s dream. So far, every craft that wasn’t based on a blueprint was fishing in the dark. Sometimes, even applying the same methods would yield different outcomes without obvious reason. Possibilities exploded in Haef’s head. Even though he aimed to finally learn how to make an item with a non-attribute modifier, targeting specific attributes could make him fortune. Or can it? Do I still earn anything if they sell my items? He didn’t know. Like with every contract, Haef hadn’t thoroughly read it. And whose issue is that, huh?

“Yes,” Haef replied when he realised that the silence had gone for too long. “I’m sorry. I just imagined what I could craft with monster parts.”

An overpowering urge seized Haef to run back to his room and check his employment contract but he forced himself to stay. He was in the middle of something with one of the most important people in the company. He couldn’t blow this up.

Still, he wondered how rich his crafts could make him.

“So, you didn’t know about the monster parts and attributes?”

Haef considered a lie but decided against it. Not only would he be foolish to compromise his current employment prospects in one of the most powerful companies in the world, but he didn’t want to lie to someone who had shown him gratitude. Even if Keynes Kid had a hidden agenda, his help in getting the required materials was priceless. On his own, Haef would not be able to access rifts at will.

“No. I didn’t know about it.”

“Hmm.” Keynes Kid walked around the table so when he stopped he faced Haef. “I went through a similar experience when I was learning about gardening. To think that plants with powerful properties and modifiers had existed long before the outbreak was a startling discovery. I couldn’t stop thinking about the possible applications. It took me a long time to cool down. So, yeah, I understand.”

Plants with properties and modifiers…

“I know what you’re thinking but unfortunately there’s a reason why Wagner makes potions out of plants instead of selling plants themselves. There’s always a catch. When it comes to the plants, the catch is the state of a plant, be it a fruit or vegetable. The moment you pick it from a tree or a bush, the degeneration of the properties quickly progresses until the plant is not much different from an ordinary one. Sometimes, the properties can change into something dangerous. So, there is no application in crafting, I guess.”

It was only natural that a big fish like Keynes Kid would know so much about gardening and crafting. He went to the freaking World Reserve after all. But what was interesting was that Keynes Kid didn’t look disappointed by this. Perhaps--the furnace bipped, disrupting Haef’s musings. He had work to do!

He took the liquid iron from the furnace and poured it into a tiny form. He was about to put it into the water to cool it down, but his Talent tugged at him to not do this.

“We have to wait.”

Keynes Kid nodded, not questioning Haef’s methods. As the metal stopped glowing, Haef’s Talent activated again but it wasn’t easy to interpret it even with decades of experience. It wanted him to heat it up again. Haef followed the intuition flowing from his Talent. After the iron ring started to glow again, Haef rapidly cooled it down.

As Haef was to heat it up for the tenth time, he felt a novel sensation, something he hadn’t felt before.

“Is something wrong?”

“No. It’s not that.” Desperate, Haef watched the ring acquire a yellow colour, Haef’s intuition ended, leaving him with nothing. His shoulders slumped. He was so close, again! If he only knew what his Talent wanted from him, he’d be able to finish off the craft the way it should have been done.

A few hours later, Haef and Keynes Kid stood and stared at the finished craft.

Iron Ring of Strength and Weakness (Crafted)

-

+6 Strength Attribute

-

-10% Attack Damage

-

[Ring]

Level 1

Haef’s excitement interwoven with disappointment. He did it but the effect wasn’t what he’d anticipated. The non-attribute modifier on the item was detrimental. But why? Was this effect of not following the Talent’s intuitive whispers? There was no other explanation.

“Interesting,” Keynes Kid said.

“I’m sorry, I … I feel like I’m close but…”

Keynes Kid raised his hand, silencing Haef.

“I know virtually nothing about crafting. It’s an alien subject to me, even though I am fascinated by its possibilities. However, I don’t need to be an expert to recognise a talented craftsman. I’ll help you figure this out but I’ll need you to craft me something in the meantime, okay?”

“Really?”

“I’m pretty confident. So?”

“Of course. As long as it’ll be something I can actually craft.”

“It will be. After that, I’ll help you reach new grounds.”