บท 222: Formation Expert

The Bronze Ranked tasks, were pretty much all boring. Mostly low level jobs, where I would need to help someone move stuff, collect things and so on. Or very few that required fighting to some degree. Steel Ranked tasks were different. These tasks mostly revolved around hunting creatures, finding rare materials, or creating different sorts of tools, weapons and whatnot.

After a while of browsing, I managed to find another interesting task. I took it with me to the counter. The same Golem I just spoke with, read through the task, and asked "Are you sure about that? Given your reputation, I would not recommend it". I nodded, and said "I know, but there is a way to hide my identity, and carry out this task at the same time". He seemed interested, and asked "What is it then?". I said "I need a mask. Can someone here make one?". He realized what I meant, and said "I know a guy, who makes these type of things. I will give you his address. Tell him Graver sent you. Should I register that task for you?". I nodded, and said "Yes, I will also go meet that guy, before I head over there". He nodded his head, and registered the task on my stone. He then passed me a note, with the address.

I headed straight to that address. When I arrived at my destination, I stood in front of a simple house. It didn't look like someone traded from it, or even lived in there. I knocked on the doors, and waited. No one answered. I knocked again, but louder this time. Again nothing happened. "Weird. Is that guy not home? I don't really have time to search for him" I said out loud, then shouted towards the door "Hey, are you in there? Graver sent me". After a while, I finally picked up some kind of noise from inside, then the doors opened.

The creature that opened the door, was not a Golem, or a Lizard. He was just like a human, but very small. The small human asked, quite annoyed "What do you want?". I said "I need a mask. Graver said you specialise in those kind of things". He replied "So what?", and closed the door. 'If you want it the hard way...' I thought, and kicked the door open. The little humans shouted "What are you doing!". I said "I want a mask. I'm kind of short on time, so I don't want to spend it on bullshit. Make me one, and I'm gone".

The little human thought for a while, and mumbled "At least you have some balls…". He then said "Alright, come in, I will make you that mask". We went inside the house. When I looked around, I saw loads of scrap and materials, laying on the floor. The whole place was a mess. He said "Follow me", which I did and we went down the stairs, into the basement. Inside the basement, a huge furnace filled almost half of the space available. There were different types of ore, scattered around the floor. Some notes, papers and whatnot littered the floor as well. Besides that, there was a crafting bench in the corner, as well as smithing bench in the next corner.

The little human asked "Why do you need that mask? In such a hurry as well?". Before I could say anything, he added "I don't care, so don't answer. I just asked myself". He then continued "Did Graver mention, how expensive my stuff is?". I shook my head, and replied "No. I imagine that, I should be able to pay for a mask". He laughed a bit, and said "That depends on what you want". I didn't understand what he meant. 'I want a mask, does a certain design cost much more or something?' I thought.

With that in mind, I said "I want a mask, that looks like the face of a skeleton. Make it, and I will pay you". He laughed even more, and said "What? That's it? A plain mask? Why would Graver send you here then?". I asked as well "What the hell do you mean? I just want a mask, what type of mask did you want to make exactly?".

He mumbled under his breath again "That stupid Graver…". I interrupted his mumbling, and asked "Right, so why is your stuff so expensive?". He sighed, and said "Formations. Ever heard of them?". 'Now I know what he meant by "That depends on what you want". No wonder he said it may cost me a bit' I thought. I then replied "Yes, I know what Formations are. Doesn't matter to me, if you want to add Formations, just tell me the cost". He shook his head, and said "I told you, it depends on the Formations". I thought about it, and said "Something which you can make fairly quickly. If you have a Formation that will prevent someone from recognising me, that would be great. Make it though as well, and this should do".

He nodded his head, and said "For that type of mask, you will pay 10 Black Halls". I was a bit stunned, and replied "It's quite expensive, for a mask alone". He said "It has Formations, friend". I replied "Whatever, make it then", but before he went to work, he said "Not so fast. Money first". I handed him 10 Black Hals, and said "Can you now make it?". He nodded, and replied "Of course! Wait outside. When I'm done, I will call you in". I went upstairs, and sat on a chair. It was quite small to be honest, but then, the guy was small too.

I waited for over an hour, before I finally heard "Alright, you can come down". I went into that basement again, and the little human greeted me with my new mask. It looked like skeleton's face, just as I described. One could go even as far, as to say it was skeleton's face. He said "The mask is ready, and should fit you very well. Give it a try, and tell me what you think". I took the mask, and placed it on my face. Indeed the fitment was perfect, and the mask was quite light. 'I was kind of scared, he would make it from metal. He didn't, which is good' I thought. Before I left, he asked "Do you need anything else? Your clothes don't look very well".

I said "I don't have time now. Besides, you charge 10 Black Hals for a mask. How much would I need to fork out, for a set of clothes?". Now that I had the mask, I didn't need anything else, so I headed upstairs. The little humans shouted "Wait! I have a set already. How about you take it, try it out, and then pay me, when you have enough money?". 'Something smell bad here, and I don't mean the guy himself' I thought. I looked at him seriously, and asked "What is wrong with it?". He smirked and exclaimed "Nothing at all!". I replied "Then keep it", and went upstairs.

The little human ran up the stairs as well, and called out again "Hey, wait! Alright, I want you to test it, so I don't want any money. Test it for me, and it's yours. Any problems you report, I will try to fix them for free. How about that?". 'Hmmm… a tempting offer, if it's for free. The problem is, something might go wrong with these clothes… I'm still curious though' I thought.

"Alright, show me that set" I said. The little human went downstairs, and brought me a set of clothes. The set consisted of a long brown coat with a hood, black boots, and brown trousers. I must admit, that the quality looked amazing. I took them, and asked "I need to know what can go wrong. I don't mind testing them, but tell me in advance. This way, I can make some preparations, when it does happen". He nodded his head, and said "Fair enough".