Chief Iromin tapped the table, listening to Sonarot’s words. He was a busy figure within the Iyr, especially after it was revealed that it would be happening so soon, but when it came to Adam, he made the time to listen.

“Do you think he told you this on purpose?” Iromin asked. What Sonarot had told him was truly outrageous, but when it came to Adam, Iromin could believe it.

“I believe Adam is showing his sincerity in speaking to me first,” Sonarot said. “I do not think he trusts himself in a matter like this. The things he thinks about are dangerous, and I believe he knows it.”

Iromin recalled their conversations previously in the year, about the item which could cost a handful of gold. The things it could do would revolutionise the world, but it wasn’t something the Iyr would allow to enter this world.

Creating a formula to mass produce magical weapons was equally as dangerous, in the right or wrong hands. However, he had offered it to the Iyr, and it was something which even Iromin’s heart was tempted by.

‘Will you continue to reveal so many dangerous things, Adam?’ Iromin thought, wondering how much stress the young Half Elf would bring to him. ‘How many times will you make me think twice about you? You have threatened the Iyr so many times, and now this?’

Yet, even Iromin knew how beneficial it would be if the Iyr got a hold of all these items. It wasn’t as though they could grab Adam and torture him to reveal all the information he possessed, not since he was a Nephew of the Rot family.

Iromin sipped his drink, before taking a bite of his fried dough snack. “I will call for the Great Elders. Bring him to us.”

Adam’s eyes glanced between all the Great Elders, noting Shamir taking his place where once the previous Elder Wrath sat. “Good evening, Great Elders.” Adam bowed his head.

There was something about the way Adam spoke and bowed which caused most of the Great Elders discomfort.

This was not how Adam behaved.

It was only Elder Wrath who did not feel the discomfort.

Adam did not wear his breastplate, and though he wore his ring, he understood that he was completely defenceless before the Great Elders. Even the new Great Elder would have been able to beat him down without much assistance. The silence caused his heart to pound harder, and his body to grow colder.

“Good evening, Adam,” Iromin finally said, breaking the tension in the air. “I have heard from your Aunt that you had a business proposal for us?”

“Yeah,” Adam replied, his eyes glued to Iromin’s. Iromin would at least warn him if he was in trouble, Adam assumed. “I mean, yes, Chief.”

Iromin’s face twitched slightly. He did not like this demure Adam. Though Adam was queer, and sometimes rude, he was still good at heart, and so he forgave the Half Elf for any minor, and sometimes major, transgressions.

“Please, tell us your plan,” Iromin said.

Adam explained his plan, including all the reasons why he wanted to do what he was speaking of. ‘I should have made a presentation.’

Elder Wrath was new, and had very few dealings with Adam, so he looked to the other Great Elders to judge the situation. They seemed to be listening intently, and were taking Adam’s words extremely seriously. It was no doubt they’d take his words seriously, but the way they looked at Adam, it was as though it was plausible.

Once Adam was done, there was a long silence. Iromin exchanged a look with the other Great Elders, before nodding his head.

“We had asked Romaezi to enchant the weapon which Elder Zijin had asked for,” Iromin said. “It worked.”

“Oh?” Adam said, surprised.

Quest Complete: Proxy Enchanting

XP Gained: +100

XP: 15 200 -> 15 300

“Nice.”

“It seems that you can enchant a weapon and Romaezi can finish the enchantment,” the Chief said.

“How long did it take?” Adam asked.

“Eleven days,” the Chief said.

Adam smirked, but only for a moment. ‘Stop trying to kill yourself, idiot.’ Adam blinked repeatedly, trying to get the words to stick within his mind.

Elder Wrath remained silent, but his face betrayed his surprise. Romaezi had finished an enchantment someone else had made? Not just that, it had taken such little time? He hadn’t been told of this, for he was still catching up on all the goings on in the Iyr, especially with it happening soon.

“We are considering your proposal,” the Chief said. “You wish to create your business, which will train youths to become members of your business in the future. You wish to gain a foothold within the region by the services you offer. You do not wish to make as much money as possible, but rather, to give your people a good life. You will allow the Iyr to design the layout of your buildings, including the secret corridors and safes, and you will give the Iyr preferential treatment?”

“I will give the knowledge of the safes to Aunt, but everything else is correct,” Adam replied. It was a small, but important, difference.

Iromin took the note into consideration. “You also wish to create a way to enchant using formulas to mass produce magical weapons, which will then be handed to the Iyr?”

“To Aunt,” Adam corrected, once more.

Iromin fell silent, and the other Great Elders also ruminated on the thoughts. Elder Wrath wondered what was happening. How could they all take the Half Elf so seriously? This was an impossible request.

“If the formulas you create are controlled by your Aunt, we will take it into consideration,” Iromin said.

“How do you mean?” Adam asked.

“You may create as many formulas as you please, but it is Sonarot who will choose which of the formulas you may use. She will also choose which of the formulas which will be passed to the Iyr, including those which she may not allow you to create.”

Adam narrowed his eyes, but not out of suspicion, he was trying to understand what the Chief was saying. “So I give all my formulas to Aunt. She will choose which will be given to me for me to mass produce. She will give the Iyr any of the formulas, which may also include those I am not allowed to mass produce?”

“Yes.”

“What if she doesn’t give either of us a formula?”

“That is acceptable.”

“What if she lets me make the formula, but not the Iyr?”

Iromin paused for thought. “That is acceptable too.”

Elder Gold and Elder Forest did not react, though they had disagreed with his statement. However, they couldn’t show Adam that they disagreed on the topic. Technically, this came under their jurisdiction.

“Will you allow us to request formulas?” Iromin asked.

“Sure. I was planning on making a shield which blasted out thunder, like the ones I made previously,” Adam said, nodding his head.

“We will not allow such a shield to be mass produced out of the Iyr,” Iromin said. He wondered if it was a coincidence Adam had mentioned that particular enchantment, because it was the enchantment which was to the forefront of his mind.

“You’re so mea-,” Adam began, before pretending to cough, clearing his throat. “It is a shame, but I understand.”

Iromin didn’t like the way Adam was behaving one bit. It made him feel dirty. This was not how he wanted Adam to act.

“If you are willing to accept the terms laid out, the Great Elders will discuss the matter further, and we will inform you once we come to a conclusion,” Iromin said. “If you have any ideas about formulas you may have in mind, you may speak them, for they may assist in we Great Elder’s decision, for better or for worse.”

“There was the thundershield, but also a firesword, a fire anything, really. Those were my big ideas, since the firesword is such a classic enchantment, but there’s also different kinds of fireswords, too. Those which deal a small amount of fire damage with each swing, or a burst, like…” Adam paused, wondering if he should mention Phantom. “There are also those which can shoot out fire in front, sort of like Burning Hands.”

Iromin nodded. There were technically many types of fireswords as Adam had mentioned, and even more that he had not mentioned.

“Then maybe I could make some iceswords, or thunderswords, lightning swords, basically all kinds of different elemental swords. Not just swords, of course, all kinds of weapons. There are probably better enchantments out there, but I think those may be the most popular.”

The Great Elders understood that the weapons would be the best selling, as they were also the most numerous among the magical weapons.

“I was thinking about selling different tiers of weapons. Those with a basic bonus, which could sell for slightly below the average price since, I think, they’d be the easiest to produce. At the same tier would be those which hold no basic bonus, but held the different abilities, like the fire sword. Then the tier above would be those which held both enchantments, of the basic bonus, and the enhanced abilities. Then maybe a greater bonus above that?” Adam wondered. “Greater enhanced weapons wouldn’t be mass produced, they’d be custom made by myself, though perhaps some basic enhanced weapons would be custom made too. The mass produced basic enhanced weapons would be weaker than those which would be custom made.”

It all made sense to the Great Elders. They could accept the mass production of basic weapons, and even the weapons with different abilities, depending on the ability, and perhaps even the basic enhanced weapons. Mass producing greater enhanced weapons was a step too far, so they were glad he had moderated himself.

“Oh!” Adam said. “I should tell you my story.”

The Chief raised his eyebrows in alarm. Adam was going to tell them all his story? He hadn’t been ready to tell the Great Elders, assuming it would have broken Adam’s trust.

‘Are you that desperate, Adam?’