“I thank you on behalf of all dwarves, Master Bennett!”
Wizard Hutton seemed extremely satisfied with Master Bennett’s suggestions. The number Abel’s offering was far from what the Wizard Union had in stock, but he wasn’t planning on supplying everyone on the central continent. It was an easy deal that got him what he was content with.
“Let’s talk about it as we go,” Abel replied, then brought the two dwarves towards the restaurant.
Wizard Hutton was very quick about asking, “About the monthly supply, Master Bennett, what is your preferred means of receiving payment?”
That was quick, given how they literally just sat down at the table. The dwarves here seemed like doing business very quickly. They were participating in the fight on the frontline, but in truth, most of the stuff they were doing was just construction and not much to do with combat. They were thinking about getting this deal done quickly, and in truth, they already got something ready to trade with Master Bennett.
It was the light stone. It was not the rarest thing there was on the central continent, but since Master Bennett was only trading his potions for this, it made the value of this mineral go up exponentially in just a few months. Right now, the light stone was nowhere found to be available for purchase because all the big wizard organizations had put them in stock. For those who owned them privately, every time there was a conflict with the nation of evil, they would have to trade the points back first and foremost. To put it simply, the light stone’s sole purpose was for trading with master Bennett. It was the same even for the dwarves, and they were starting to run out in just a few months.
Wizard Hutton was embarrassed about it, obviously. He didn’t want to make himself too clear, but he trusted that Master Bennett understood what he was talking about. The dwarves wanted to trade the potions with something other than lightstones.
Abel laughed to show his understanding, “I’m not asking for a lot, Wizard Hutton! Um, still. I need to make sure that it is just my trusted friend Bernie who’s acting as the middleman. This is my condition for all my trade with the dwarves. On top of that, yes, you can trade your monthly potions with some other materials.”
“What materials might they be, Master Bennett?” Wizard Hutton rushed and asked, “No the potion materials, right? If it is, you wouldn’t have to ask us for it.”
If Wizard Hutton had to guess, it’d have to be the alchemy materials.
“For the sky ships. As for the specifics on negotiating, I’ll have to let my followers talk about it,” Abel smiled, then thought about something else, “Also, can I ask the dwarves to make something else for me? I need a sword and shield that the giants used to wield in the ancient times.”
It seems like a fitting role for the dwarves, as they always liked to brag about being the descendants of the giants. Abel assumed that they would have a lot of equipment from the ancient giants, and he wasn’t asking for a lot. He just wanted something of the right size and durability.
Wizard Hutton smiled in confidence, “Yes, of course! How about I have a set just for you, Master Bennett?”
Abel smiled and bowed, “That’s very generous of you, Wizard Hutton.”
“You all done talking so we can get something to eat?” Bernie interrupted. He’s been waiting for a while. He’s not an occupation holder like any of the people in front of him. He needed more to eat than what’s available for breakfast. He needed more of those fine dishes Abel was making. He needed more of that goodness that would make people start a war for them.
Abel turned to Butler Meyer and nodded, “Ready to serve, Butler.”
Very quickly, a few half-elves came and served dishes to them. Bernie was staring at the food with fires in his eyes, and Wizard Hutton was kind of confused about it. It wasn’t until he actually smelled the food that he realized what was happening.
“No fine wine, Master Bennett?’ Bernie said in disappointment as he realized.
“Right, about that,” Abel replied, “Red wine only. We don’t have your favourite rum, sorry.”
Abel came to the central continent when the Holy Continent was suffering from mass starvation. He left all the rum he had back there after turning them into the grandmaster’s wine. He had to make sure that there was still enough supply to trade with the dwarves before he left. After he came to the central continent, he had been too busy to interact with the dwarves. It was why he didn’t bother making more of this wine.
“A shame!” Bernie shook his head.
Abel smiled at Meyer, “Have two good cups for them, Meyer. Hey. Use these for the time being, alright? I’ll make more after I’m done recovering from my shutdown training.”
Bernie seemed to complain even more, “What? Fine… You know, I was going to bring my own, but the elders just didn’t let me.”
Understandable, given how Abel was still the sole supplier of the grandmaster’s wine. Before, Bernie was free to drink as much as he wanted, but ever since Abel left, the dwarven elders became very concerned with how much they could store. Still, Bernie could enjoy his very fine cuisine here.
Wizard Hutton was shocked just with his first bite. He could literally feel himself becoming more intelligent with this food he was eating. He was a fire element wizard, and one bite was enough for him to gain a whole new level of understanding of his element. It was actually the equivalent of my days of his training. He did not know what to make out of it.
And it was all because Bernie was here, by the way. Abel was using pure rabbit essence, and that was actually something that was rarely done for his restaurant business on the Holy Continent. He didn’t need to keep these things secret now, given how powerful and influential he had become after a few months. He didn’t have to worry about people preying on him for his food, so he was starting to feel comfortable treating potential business partners with it.
Bernie praised as he sipped on the wine, “This is some good red wine, Master Bennett. It’s very comfortable to have this!”
Abel replied with a wink, “Great tasting skills you have, Bernie.”
Wizard Hutton was still recovering from his shock. He only realized that there was wine after hearing what the other two were talking about. He took a sip of his glass, and very quickly, a hot stream slowed inside him and started fixing him little by little. He could feel every detail of what this splendid liquid was doing to his system. From what he could observe, even the most minute injuries that he got from all his training, practicing, and diet were being fixed. It was the first time he’s ever had something this find.
With that, one impression popped up in his mind.
“Master Bennett, you are literally a gold mine.”
Yes, just that. The man in front of him was literally a fountain of wealth.
Back to Bernie. He would still say something random when he was eating, but he retained his table manners and tried not to go to the sensitive topics. Once the meal was finished, they went to the resting room and had servants serving juice to them.
Abel asked, “What’s your plan after coming to the central continent, Bernie?”
Bernie was just a regular dwarf here with no real influence. It was ridiculously good for him that he had close ties with Abel, but it was hard to see that he would get anything other than money from his distant relatives who lived here.
Bernie seemed to not know as well, “I want to be a wizard, Master Bennett, but I’ll have to give up if I find out I don’t have the talent for it.”
Without his family’s support, Bernie couldn’t even run a business here. He couldn’t even sell his weapons because the central continent was always so occupied with threats from the nation of god to have internal conflicts. He couldn’t sell knight equipment because it was just illegal to become a knight. He had no connections, so it wasn’t just like he could blend in with the other dwarves to do business. Hierarchy seemed to be a lot more important here, and that really left him with not much choice.
Abel was quite surprised with what he heard, “So you want to be a wizard? I thought you’re always about, you know, trade and coins and all that.”
Bernie didn’t reply directly, “Well, actually, Master Bennett, do you have any potion here that can grant me wizard skills? Like, if I’m not talented enough, it can make me talented enough?”
Abel let out a dry laugh, “What do you mean? No, we don’t have potions for that! Everyone would’ve been a wizard if that existed.”
That being said, it wasn’t like he had no ways of helping Bernie. He’s never really considered this possibility, actually. If he could find a way to help people become wizards, he might just do that to his family as soon as he went back to the Holy Continent.
Abel looked up, “What can ordinary people do to become potential wizards, research spirit?”
And no, he didn’t need to hide the fact that he owned a spirit.
The research spirit replied, “There are three ways of doing it, Master. One is repetitive exposure. You put that person into an environment of high mana concentration. Once his body can no longer tolerate it, you take them out and treat them with potions. Repeat for twenty to thirty years, and the likelihood to develop wizardry potential will increase.”
Abel turned to Bernie, “Well, why not? Don’t worry about the potions, Bernie. It’s all from me.”
Bernie shook his head immediately, “What? No! I’m not going with that ever! That’s physical torture for decades!”