The Special Economic Zone Chapter 8: What it Takes

 

What it Takes

Two dwarven soldiers stepped in front of Thorn as soon as he left the throne room proper. Thorn stopped.

“Are you the ones who are going to be guarding me during my stay?”

“Yes.” The older dwarf was a bit taller than the younger one. Both had matching sets of armor and weapons. “My name is Cassiterite and this is Pitchblende. Call us Cass and Pitch.”

“Thank you. I put myself in your hands.”

Cass and Pitch led Thorn out of the palace, through the gigantic gold-leafed doors. The city was as bustling as any human settlement. It appeared that the siege outside was not putting a damper on their activity.

“You guys are self sufficient, right?”

Cass turned to look at Thorn. “Yes. We have enough mushroom farmland to support our entire population indefinitely.”

Pitch rubbed his beard. “Though I would like to eat a lot more meat.”

“And rice!” Cass chuckled. “But it’s not all bad. Those humans are going to give up eventually.”

Thorn shook his head. “I don’t think so. Humans can be very persistent.”

Cass scoffed. “They can’t budge our mountain.”

Pitch frowned. “I happed to overhear that you have come to our town to acquire some builders and smiths.”

“That’s correct.” Thorn put his hands in his pockets.

“Then we shall show you the best of dwarven smithing and architecture. Maybe we can meet a few possible candidates. I have many cousins who work in the forges.”

“Thanks.” Thorn looked ahead. “I don’t see any wheeled vehicles or pack animals.”

“Dwarves aren’t like you humans. We can carry twice our body weight in stone without breaking a sweat.”

“Cool.” Thorn raised an eyebrow. “If humans could do that, a lot of things would be a lot easier.”

“It’s not all fun and games.” Cass sighed. “We’re never able to get enough beer. No matter how much we drink. Always more, the dwarven stomach says.”

“So it’s a tradeoff.” Thorn smiled. “Well, I’m glad I get to know what’s going on behind that mountain gate.”

“You’re not a spy, are you?”

“Do you really think that the humans of this realm are sophisticated enough to insert a human spy into a dwarven city?”

“Yeah, you have a point. My Basic is so bad that I don’t really understand what any of you humans are saying.”

Pitch nodded in agreement. “Yes. Your Dwarvish is quite good, actually. Your accent places you from Amciri.”

“I’m sorry to tell you, but my language skills come from magic.”

“Still, anyone who bothers to spend effort to learn our language, even through magic, is worth knowing.” Cass made a face. “Well, at least that’s what I think.”

“And that’s a good thought.” The dwarves had led Thorn to a hot, loud, and smoke-filled location within the city. Dozens of open furnaces burned around him, with at least a hundred dwarves working on metal, moving bellows, and carting materials.

Cass stopped. “Welcome to the forges.”

Thorn wiped his forehead. “God, it’s hot in here.”

“Ah, I forgot. Dwarves are more tolerant to heat than humans.” Cass took out a small vial. “This is frost medicine. We use it to treat burns, but it can also be used to protect against ambient heat.”

“Thanks.” Thorn took the bottle. A shock went through him.

[New object registered. Ability God’s Pockets has been upgraded.]

Whoa. Thorn blinked a few times. That’s the first time I’ve heard something like that. He held out his hand and conjured another bottle of the liquid.

Cass tilted his head. “You already had a bottle? Why didn’t you tell us?”

“Uh, yeah. I tend to have things like this stored in my bag of holding.”

“May I see your bag?”

Thorn had a bag of holding, of course, but he thought twice about lying. “It’s …” Thorn sighed. “Okay, I’ll be honest with you two. I know I’ve just met you but this is the only way I see to get out of this situation. It’s better to just show you.” Thorn held out his hand and conjured a large diamond. It appeared in his palm with a small flicker of light.

“Ooh.” Cass raised his eyebrows. “Now that’s a skill that I’d like to have.” He clapped his hands together. “What else can you make?”

“I’m actually not sure. I know I can make money with it, but that’s about all I’ve ever tried to create with the ability.”

Cass sat down on a stone bench. “Okay. You’ve gained my trust. I heard King Dwargon mention your aura suppression ring too. Now I understand what kind of a being you are.”

Thorn did his best to smile. “Um, yeah. I mean no harm.”

“We know.” Cass looked to Pitch. “Okay. Try conjuring one kilogram of gold bullion.”

Thorn held out his hand and a kilo of gold dropped out of his palm.

[Pockets of God charge left: 75.6%.]

There’s that voice again!  Thorn shook his head.

“Now that’s good gold.” Cass picked up the bar.

Pitch admired it as well. “How many more can you make?”

“That took about a quarter of the ability’s power.” Thorn sat down, feeling a bit dizzy.

“So you can create four kilos of gold in a single day. Is that right?”

“That seems about right.”

“Then we should milk this ability to its limit. See how much creating various metals consumes your mana. Start with a kilo of copper.”

Thorn held out his hand and created a kilo of copper.

[Pockets of God charge left: 70.2%.]

“That was about five percent.”

“That doesn’t track with the value of the metal.” Cass rubbed his beard. “Well, we’ll see how it turns out.” He stood up. “Sorry to treat you like an experiment. I was just really curious, as I’ve never seen anyone with an ability like yours.”

“Did I also tell you I can fly?”

“I assumed so. There was no other way you could come through the back door.” Cass looked at the forges. “Well, let’s try and figure out what exactly you’ll be needing for that new settlement.”

Pitch rubbed his hands together. “But don’t think that exempts you from showing us exactly what your power can do. We just can’t really do that out here where everyone is watching.”

Cass and Pitch led Thorn to the middle of the furnace district. Hundreds of dwarves worked at anvils underneath awnings of stone. The sound was deafening.

“Have you thought about putting together an assembly line?” Thorn looked around himself.

“Assembly whoo-what?”

It appears dwarvish doesn’t have the words for this idea. Thorn tilted his head, thinking. “It’s kind of a thing where you share the labor among a number of people who do small pieces of the larger puzzle instead of the whole process by themselves, thus reducing the need for skilled craftsmen and speeding up the process.”

“I don’t really get it.” Cass scratched his beard. “Is that some kind of human thing?”

“No … Well, I guess.” Thorn sighed. “Yeah. Okay, I guess that isn’t going to fly here.” Thorn watched a dwarven blacksmith forging a suit of armor. “I have a lot of things that I know, but I suppose I can wait to implement them.”

“Eh?” Cass held his hand to his ear, his voice drowned out by the din of the forges.

“Nothing!” Thorn walked along the thin sidewalk between forges and furnaces. “So this is a dwarven forge?” He was almost yelling over the sound of hammers and anvils.

“Yes!” Cass held his hands behind his back. “We’re producing weapons for the military to use to hold back the siege!”

“Okay!” Thorn conjured some foam earplugs and fitted them into his ears. “Much better.”

Cass said something, but Thorn was unable to hear because of his earplugs. He motioned for Cass and Pitch to leave the area.

They came to a less populated, much less noisy area surrounded by mushroom gardens. Thorn took out his earplugs.

“What’s that you have there?” Cass pointed to the earplugs.

“Oh, these? They’re a special kind of noise reduction plug used in my homeland.” He handed a new pair to Cass.

Cass took the neon orange foam bits and examined them. “What is this made of?”

“Plastic, I assume.” Thorn paused. “It’s not a material you have knowledge of around here.”

“Pla …” Cass squinted. “I don’t think I know that word.”

“There’s no word for it in any of this world’s languages.”

“That means you know a language that’s not of this world, then.” Cass raised an eyebrow. “You’re a strange one for sure.” He placed the earplugs in his ears. “Hm. Quite comfortable. You could make a fortune selling these. How much of your conjuration ability does each pair utilize?”

“A negligible amount. Not enough for my ability to notice.”

Cass handed the plugs to Pitch. “If we sell these for a silver peace each …”

Pitch took the earplugs and looked at them under the light. “Hm. Now I know what we’ll be doing while we wait for King Dwargon to verify your story.”

“Um, I don’t know if a silver coin is a good trade. I mean, they’re really easy for me to make.”

Cass clapped Thorn on the back. “That never stopped anyone from charging what they’re worth to us!” He grinned. “Dwarves have always looked for ways to protect their hearing in the forges. These are ten times better than the cotton balls we currently use!” He grabbed the earplugs from Pitch and looked at them like Pitch had. “How many do you think you can make?”

“Hundreds, probably.” Thorn pursed his lips. “But …”

“No buts.” Cass stomped the ground. “We’re going to have to apply for a sales license, but that won’t stop us!”

“Okay, yeah.” Thorn sighed.

Cass led Thorn and Pitch to the other side of the city, where the merchant’s quarters were housed. The buildings and alcoves were much more regal than the forges. One building said “Merchant’s Guild” in Dwarvish. Cass approached it. He pushed open the doors.

“Hey, Cass!” One of the dwarves inside raised a tankard to him.

Cass waved. “Bismuth! How has it been going?” The two dwarves locked arms. “I’ve found a special guy you’d want to know. He’s got a product that could make us rich!” Cass motioned for Thorn to come over.

Thorn stood beside Cass as he talked with Bismuth. When they were done exchanging pleasantries, Bismuth took out a slate. “Okay. You want a license to sell, let’s see, earplugs?”

“Yes. How much?”

“Two gold coins.”

Cass gritted his teeth, and looked at Pitch. “What about it, cousin?”

Pitch nodded. “Worth it.”

Cass signed the slate. “Fine. You can have your due. Are we all done here?”

“Let’s go back and finalize things in a private room.” Bismuth led Cass, Thorn, and Pitch into a private room at the back of the guild building.

“So this foreigner of yours.” Bismuth leaned forward over the negotiating table. “He’s the source of the magic earplugs you’re talking about?”

Cass passed the pair of earplugs over the table. “Take a look for yourself.”

Bismuth whistled. “Looks like quite the object. It’s so squishy.”

Cass and Pitch nodded. “It works amazingly.”

Bismuth narrowed his eyes. “Okay. Let’s get down to the anvil here. How much?”