Opening of the new shop

During their crafting spree, Shingi, as usual, tried to improve himself, but not by training what he already had, but to learn new Spells.

Most of his spells helped him defend or avoid a fight, but he knew he would need to get in a close confrontation with his enemies at some point, and he may not have the luxury of his students being with him to help him.

He could learn some Weapon Skills from his Player account, but this would affect his Class Selection, and he wanted to keep it at the Mage path as much as possible.

He had to learn some Earth-based Spells as they are more suited for combat than his Light mana.

Firstly, he used his Earth-Element mana to cover his body when he trained to create his MANA DOUBLE, but tried to make it thin enough not to restrict his movement but not too thin to be too fragile.

It took him some tries, and he had to start working to cover part of his body to make things easier after some point and move on to cover more.

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SPELL LEARNED

The spell STONE SKIN (Base Grade) has been learned.

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He could feel his defense increased while under the effects of the Spell, and they would lessen physical attacks in the impact they would have on him. But, of course, he had to feed it with mana if it absorbed too much damage, and it wasn't absolving everything, just lessening what would pass.

Following the same training, he tried to surround Earth-Element mana with his fists to make gloves that would help deflect or defend and increase his attacks with his fists.

He had noticed that the mana of the Dragon Scale was easier for him to handle than other mana, almost like it was his mana.

He used some of the Dragon Scale's fire mana, merged it with his Earth Mana, and strengthened its defensive abilities, making it harder close to iron.

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SPELL LEARNED

The spell METAL FISTS (Unfinished Low Grade) has been learned.

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The two Spells, especially the METAL FISTS, have helped him with his crafting Skills as he could use them instead of MANA HANDS or the special gloves with rechargeable Earth Mana Gems they created with Volig.

The fact that METAL FISTS were an Unfinished Low Grade Spell surprised him for a moment, but it made sense since he still seemed to lack on merging his Earth and Fire mana. The Dragon's scale felt like his, but it was still resisting being manipulated but was minor compared to other manas.

He trained with both new Spells even at his TRANCE ROOM when they had to call it a night, even if they took only a couple of hours of rest as they wanted to open the shop to Players the sooner possible.

As for material gathering, Greg, who was the one that Karemon introduced them, had organized it well and wasn't giving all the Quests right away. However, he also wouldn't allow one to take over one as if they needed many Players to get them, as it would make them succeed faster.

The stock of materials increased slowly, and he even made some deals for more normal materials brought by a few people he knew.

It seemed to Shingi that their new helper wasn't as simple as he thought, as he showed more charisma and was good at organizing and preparing for potential outcomes, which Shingi liked in people he worked with.

He asked him how he met Karemon, and Greg told him that he was just an Old Friend of him and used to be his father's helper, who was a traveling Merchant, so he had learned a few tricks.

During those three days, the Crafting Skills of Volig got better too. They didn't Rank Up to Master yet but seemed to get close to it.

On the noon of the fourth day, they had finished reorganizing the shop by not just being an open space but separating the forge and the rest of the crafting area. So when you entered the shop in the first room, there was a desk and counter for Greg to interact with the customers.

Then there was a door at the left leading to the crafting area for SMITHING, while a door at the right led to more clean space for LEATHERWORKING and WOODCARVING needed crafts.

There were also some glass cases in the first room with Weapons, wooden figures wearing armors, and every finished product they had decided to show for now. It did not include staves and wands in the showcases, as they weren't ready yet, but there were a few quarterstaffs.

In the showcases, some alarm Programming Enchantments prevented them from being moved unless the Enchantment was disabled. Karemon made those with the help of Phoenix to help with her training.

Karemon and Phoenix also helped create the Programming Enchantments they needed for what they had designed for their Mana Gems, who Karemon didn't ask how they found them.

Of course, Shingi wasn't planning to stop taking any orders from the townspeople, but since those were way less profitable, he had to focus on the shop to draw the attention more of the Players who had more oversized pockets than them.

Greg had made some preparations and advertised that their shop would be open for browsing and take orders, but there were some requirements.

Either they had to have finished ten material-gathering Guests, which was impossible for one to have done, for now, cause of the restriction of taking multiple Quests without completing them or on the same day.

They could also take orders by paying and earning a spot, but there was a limit, and the cost wasn't just coins but also some materials.

That was a suggestion of Greg, which impressed Shingi, and he wondered why he hadn't thought of it.

As expected, when the doors were open, many Players got in the shop and headed towards the desk with pouches of coins and original materials as Greg had announced the way to get a spot yesterday.

But it wasn't a case of first come, first served, as Greg would take all the offerings and at noon would decide who takes a spot and return to the ones who didn't take one of their offerings.

There were some requirements on how many coins and types of materials were to give, but Greg told them that if one had made a better offering, they would be a valid offering for the spot. In addition, Greg said to them that there was a limit of the gold part of the offering but no limitation of the materials.

It was a couple of hours before noon, and the offerings had reached three-digit, and they were getting close to reaching a thousand. It was a significant number but not as big as counting the billions of Players that play the game. But not everyone could make it in town fast enough for the opening, but it wasn't like it was their only chance. The spot was for up to three orders and would last for a month; otherwise, it would expire even if not enough orders got issued.

Since Greg was busy taking all the offerings, Shingi and his MANA DOUBLES, who drew a bit of Player's attention, were the ones to take them in a room at the back of the shop, which was for storing.

With Volig's help, they organized them to see which would most likely pass and earn a spot.

A few offerings had a few mana enchanted materials, but not as rare as Mithril, but close to the Iron Volig had brought.

One hour before noon and half an hour before stopping the gathering of offerings for the spots, there seemed to be some commotion outside the shop.

Greg called Shingi as he noticed a few Blessed Ones talking with each other, leaving the shop, and seemed to fear hearing something.

When Shingi got in the front room, he noticed an individual getting in with three figures following him, and most of the people who were in the shop to have left.

The three figures were two men he recognized, Fire Whip and Shadow Whip, while the third one was a wolf but not the one he had met the other time as his Students killed it.

The individual in front of them looked to be a Half-Elf blessed one, which was difficult for a Player to get as they had to complete some special Quests for some important Elf figures and get their blessings to turn into a Half-Elf.

He seemed to be also a Tamer, as the Wolf appeared to follow him and stay by his side.

By his aura that Shingi could see with his MANA SENSE, he could tell that he was at a much higher level than any of the Players he had met while being an NPC.

He didn't detect any mana coming from him, as with Fire Whip, so his class was Rogue based or Warrior based.

From his clothing, he could tell he was an essential member of the Guild as he didn't just have a side cloak with the symbols of the Guild as Fire Whip and Shadow Whip, but also at his armor.

Then he remembered something Fire Whip had mentioned in the past as he approached them.

The Wolf seemed to suspect the little boy, but its Master signaled it to stay still for now.

"Excuse me, but they informed me that someone started a commotion. May I learn the reason?" [Shingi]

The Individual looked towards Shingi and then towards Fire Whip, who nodded like they asked him a question and agreed.

"Hmm... so you are the young individual that I heard about. How interesting. My name is Master Whip, and I am the Guild master of the Whip Masters." [Master Whip]

The Guild's name surprised Shingi, not cause he had heard of it but cause of its similarity to his in-game name.

"I came here to make a deal with the owner of the store. We had heard of the new Blacksmith, but we know that this is something that belongs to your family. Am I wrong, Mister Shingi Maki?"

Shingi didn't even brink of him telling his full name as he knew not that hard to find, especially for one with resources as a Guild Master.

He could tell by the look of his equipment that he was a man who didn't have a lack of coins, and he knew the reason behind it.

He was taming beasts and selling them as pets to other players. That was something a higher Level Tamer could only do as most Tamers could only control themselves their teamed creature and not control someone else.

Of course, if the tamed creature were a powerful monster or a quick-mount, it would cost a significant amount of coins, but there were always customers in this kind of market.

"What kind of deal we are talking about?" [Shingi]

Shingi knew this king of people and usually wouldn't even talk with them, but he was curious to hear what he was going to offer.

The Guild master looked left and right and stared at every Player other than his Guild Members who were still at the shop.

They got the message as they ran outside.

It seemed like the Whip Masters had a reputation, and Players were wary of them, especially the Guild master.

After making sure they were on their own as the left of his group kept watch, Master Whip spoke once again.

"For all the spots in your shop and changing the limit of orders from three to ten for each. I will give you the location of an old mine as also the human resources to mine it." [Master Whip]

He gave a pause as waiting for something to happen.

Shingi knew that he was waiting to ask why that would interest him, but he wouldn't play by his rules.

Seeing that it didn't work, Master Whip continued.

"*cough**cough*.... well, as I was about to say. This isn't a simple mine, but it has some Mithril. High-quality Mithril." [Master Whip]