Chapter 8: The Negotiations
It didn't take long for Silfy to answer considering they were in similar time zones.
"Sorry pal. I am not interested in finding a bf rn" replied Silfy.
Linri was kinda dumbfounded. He had only sent 'Hey' but he was instantly rejected. He was not ugly or anything..... right? Still, it would be a lie to say his confidence wasn't hurt a little. Also, what's with that reply. Just because he was a stranger didn't mean that he wanted to get in her pants. Did all the girls think like this? I mean come on! Girls might be right in that men were horny most of the time but it was not like they wanted to any living breathing girl okay! Then again he was not going to deny that Silfy's looks were a sight for sore eyes.
"First of all nice to meet you! Secondly no I am not hitting on you okay? Good now that we got that out of the way let me get to the real point. Since I didn't find any other way to contact the prodigal young blacksmith I could only pm you in here. Again! I am not hitting on you. Also before you say anything check the photo I am sending you rn" replied Linri and immediately sent his concept art of the flame thrower gauntlet. Still though he thought he was handsome. It was her loss for rejecting him.
Despite waiting for 5 minutes Linri didn't receive any answer so he started to think maybe she was ignoring him. Did he go too far with constantly saying he was not hitting on her and instead getting the opposite of the reaction he wanted... It was definitely possible. So sent her another message.
"So? Can you make it?" after sending it he was greeted with a reply soon after.
"Yeah, I can! Probably... maybe? Anyway, this is an interesting design. I don't think I have ever seen anything like it. Normally flamethrowers are only used for jungle warfare and they have limited range so it is quite curious to see someone designing a portable mini version of it. Even a hidden one at that. Since it is designed as a gauntlet it can also serve as a protection for the arm but the placement of the fuel source is wrong. Assuming that it is made of carbon it is quite durable and flexible so if the fuel source is in the shoulder's surface it's going to be susceptible to attacks and in turn making it useless. If some changes were to be made it can be made but I have to ask you a couple of questions first. Who designed this and what do you plan to use as a fuel source? P.S I still think this is a ploy to hit on me but I am going to play along for now" replied Silfy with a giant wall of text. Also Linri consciously decided to ignore the last part. He thought that the more he refused, the more she was going to think that so it was better to ignore it completely. You know what they say, out of sight, out of mind.
Still before answering her Linri thought about how to answer for a while. The problem was he was stumped. Currently, he didn't know of any long-lasting fuel source that can be used in a cartridge as small as that. So what were the alternatives? Since this world had both magic and science it shouldn't be hard to find an answer. Maybe just like he reached Silfy he can also reach someone else? Maybe he can also use a prana battery? Prana was the equivalent of the mana in this world and once he gained his powers Linri could also use it. Basically, every human had prana in their body and if you could manipulate it you could become a magician. So if he can use a chargeable prana battery he can use his own prana to recharge it. The problem is he didn't know if such a thing existed. Well, nothing was wrong with asking though.
"I was the one who designed it... Well I wouldn't actually call it a design per se, it's more like I created the concept for it but it's still in its infancy stage so I don't know if it actually can be made or not. That's why I contacted you actually. I need the help of an expert in this project. For the power source is a prana battery. To my knowledge, I can't think of a better source of power but I don't know how it can be converted into flames through the use of an enchantment. To my knowledge, your family blacksmith is the best in the world when it comes to projects like these but it is not good enough to garner the attention of your family. So I thought that maybe we can work on it together since we are of the same age. So what do you say?" replied Linri with another wall of text.
Linri was extremely nervous right now. No one except himself knew how much bullshit he just spewed. First of all, he didn't design anything and it's just a concept art he had found online. Secondly, he didn't know if there was such a thing as a prana battery or if it can be used to convert into flames. Lastly, he knew that Silfy's family could make enchanted weapons but he had no idea if Silfy could do so. His heart was thumping wildly when he saw her typing.
"Wow you really are something :) Seeing how smart you are I don't think I would mind dating you (✿ ♥3*♥). If we work out the kinks I can see this working. You were right about one thing though if it was my father he wouldn't be interested in this garbage so you came to the right person. No offence :P Anyway I like your idea of a prana battery but I have never heard of such a thing can you elaborate on that or do you want to make that yourself and do you just want me to make the others parts? Lastly, how are you planning to pay me? Since you are my first customer I don't plan to charge you much but we need to make things clear first." Seeing her reply Linri was elated but troubled at the same time. Especially because of her still not dropping the relationship thingy. Also as expected payment issue came up and if he can't find a reasonable way to pay her she wouldn't make the gauntlet.
"Well, prana battery is similar to the enchanted weapons your family makes. The only difference is its gonna be used for storing prana only and we can use a fire conversion diagram inside the tube to convert the prana into a fire source. It wouldn't be any kind of magical fire but regular fire this would make the use of the battery last longer. If you can create it along with the gauntlet I plan to order 2 batteries so I can change the batteries in case one of it runs out during use. About the payment, I was planning to offer some kind of information which might be immensely useful to you. As a form of goodwill, I can tell you right now and you can decide if it's worth the price. So have you heard about the Autumnfall High school?" replied Linri. He knew about the future happenings of the school so he knew lots of info Silfy might find useful. The only issue is if she accepts this kind of payment. I mean even if she heard about Autumnfall there were still a lot of different information he could pay her with.
Linri was also honestly surprised that Prana Battery was not a thing in this world yet. I mean it's such a useful thing and in every novel, he read about transmigration or reincarnation before there was something like that. Having a device in which you could store extra prana to use in fights was life-saving. Think about it. Both you and your opponent are out of prana after a fierce fight and then boom! You pull out the battery and recharge your prana and finish him off. It was also such a simple concept that he was honest to god baffled it did not exist.
Maybe it had to do with how there were not many magicians in this world so magic development was behind that of the science's. It could also be because of the industrial revolution. Before that technology was developing at a snail's pace. So maybe, before the revolution, they were at the same level but because there were not such breakthroughs in magic it fell behind the science. Or I don't know everyone was dumb and Linri was the only smart person around to think that...
Gifts
-- Gift
received Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
stone