The First Legendary Beast Master

Chapter 820  Solutions

Now that everyone was gathered, plus one new addition, Karl began to explain the situation to the rest of the Guild.

”Alright, I will start with the core of the issue, then we can find solutions.

The Lord of Drodh has decided that letting us bulk sell Royal and Monarch Ranked items with combat buffs is encouraging merchants to violate trade agreements and weapons embargoes.

So, he is going to buy all the ones that we want to sell directly. The Overlord Ranked items we donʼt sell in bulk, and he has agreed to allow them to continue going to auction. We can keep selling Commander Rank items, noncombat items and potions. We can also do custom orders, one per customer per month. That didnʼt violate the agreements.

So, the question is: What are we going to make?”

Karl paused to let everyone mull over this new information. They had been making combat enhancements for so long, that they hadnʼt even considered doing something else unless the demand dropped.

But the advanced combat enchantments were the entire reason that two of the teachers from Lared Capital Academy were here. If they stopped making them entirely, it would stunt their growth in the field of Runic Weaponry.

Davis, ever the professional store manager, frowned. ”So, youʼre thinking of changing the lineup of items in the shop completely?”

Karl shook his head. ”The case with weapons will have to change. But we can keep the accessories case the same if we change the enchantments to be noncombat buffs.

Then we put up a sign that we take custom orders, and refer them to the Castle for purchase of the rest.” Davis nodded. ”At least there is a guard station right outside. Theyʼll be able to tell customers where to find the rest of the items, but this is quite the hit to our business. Who demanded this?”

Karl sighed. ”The Lord himself. I wasnʼt really in a position to tell him to pound sand.”

That made the Fallen Angel smile. ”But I would have paid good money to see you try.

Alright, we can work with this. We will inform them that the combat items have been made part of the strategic reserve and will be at the auction or available through the Castle store rooms. Then we can fill the shelves with day to day sort of magical items to show off the workersʼ creativity. But what about the apprentice works?”

Karl shrugged. ”He said that Commander Rank and under is no big deal. We can sell what we like at that power level. But the first thing that I am going to do is upgrade the workshop a bit for higher mana density. It might allow Loros to break through soon, and it will make items easier to enchant for everyone.”

That got everyoneʼs attention, but nobody followed as Karl headed to the workshop, they were all busy planning their next projects, now that there had been a change in the way that they had to do business.

The Runic Alchemy team, made up of Dala, Derek and Remi, had it easy. They would just keep making whatever seemed interesting for the day, as potions werenʼt a combat item unless it was a poison or explosive.

Ashbringer also wasnʼt concerned. He didnʼt really care about selling the items he made, he just enjoyed making them. Even if they sat in a box at the edge of the workshop for a year, it wouldnʼt bother him. The income from selling two Overlord Rank blades this month was enough for him to buy materials for his personal projects and keep working the forge through the rest of the year. Plus, this workspace came with the protection of the Gargoyles, so nobody would dare to interrupt him or make demands on his time the way that they would be doing at a smaller personal workshop.

Karl only took a moment to inscribe the runes on the inside of the wall above the door, and nodded in satisfaction as he felt the mana gathering in the workshop. That should be more than enough for their needs, and then he would do the same on the second floor, so that the workspace there had plenty of mana available for Runecrafting.

He didnʼt want to put it over the whole house, though. At least not on the first floor, where people would notice it more easily. This was a present for his Guild members and their guests.

Well, Karl said ʼhisʼ guild members, but he wasnʼt actually a Guild Leader. In fact, it was unclear if the Darklight Host did, or even could, have a leader. He was a War Champion, and nominally in charge of this branch, as he had a {Branch Administrator} authority in his list of Guild Titles. But he was not a Guild Leader.

They were still discussing the possibilities when Karl came back inside to add Runes to the second floor. This time, the runes were set to encompass the whole second and third floor of the house, so that even while asleep, the members would benefit from the extra energy gains.

Karl returned to the kitchen and grabbed a freshly baked croissant while he waited for the others to finish discussing the dayʼs plan.

Eventually, Davis finished taking notes and nodded.

”We have a plan for the next week. Instead of combat items, we intend to have you teach the others the sort of compound runes that will lead to increased skill aptitude. Compared to pure combat power, I believe that everyone here agrees that not only is that knowledge more valuable, but it will also be highly profitable.

We wonʼt put the higher ranked items on sale until we have cleared it with the Castleʼs personnel. But everyone does want to know the answers.” He explained on behalf of the group.

”Alright. And that will let us sell items made by Loros as well. Even Ascended Rank crafting accessories will be valuable within the community. Every bit counts.”

Remi was furiously making notes and throwing them in her space for Karl, as she had many ideas on this topic, but hadnʼt expected it to come up so soon, so she hadnʼt prepared.

[Thanks Remi. I will work these into the lesson plans. You know, once I have actually made one.]

Remi laughed, knowing that Karl had no actual plan, and likely wouldnʼt even when he was teaching the lesson.