Construction Mage - Chapter 32: Water Crystals

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“The rate at which nobles had started adopting the teachings of the church was alarming to the Royal Court at first, but they calmed down when they found out the reason. The nobles in question all happened to have selected a mage class, which meant they chanted the name of what the Church of Life claimed to be subordinate gods daily to produce miraculous effects. From that, it wasn’t hard to imagine why their faith was strengthened.

Upon further investigation, they no longer feared the change, but instead saw it as an opportunity. It was the court’s chance to weaken the rising power by dividing the church into factions based around all these new so-called gods, but what they failed to see was that it divided the nobles themselves into new factions as well.”

-Journal entry from Royal Scholar, Aedric Quillborn, 8 AD

***

“My name is Liorana, but most people just call me Liora. Nice to meet you!”

A woman with midnight blue hair politely introduced herself with a curtsey as soon as Clay peeked out of the house. Standing beside her was a flustered Malik, as if he were unsure how to react to such high enthusiasm so early in the morning.

Clay’s gaze alternated between the two without a word, pressuring the young man even more.

“I can explain!” he shouted in a panic. “This is Liora—”

“Yes, I know,” Clay cut off, finally speaking. “I heard her introduction just now. I’m not deaf.”

“Umm, she’s a Delver who has the Jeweler class we discussed yesterday. I told her about your deal, and she was excited to come find you.”

The towering man took a peek at the morning sun, which still had a tinge of pink mixed in with the blue, showcasing how early it was.

“And this couldn’t wait?”

“Well, I made her wait until morning already,” Malik weakly responded, his voice growing quieter and quieter. “It was the best I could do.”

“Umm, sorry if I am intruding, but I can’t wait any longer. Please tell me more about what you want to do with a water crystal! Only if you’re comfortable with it, of course. I can’t seem to contain myself when it comes to new methods of utilizing magic crystals.”

Seeing the sparkles in the woman’s eyes, Clay didn’t believe turning her away would be easy. Besides, now that they were on his doorstep already, he was too lazy to put up a fight.

“Come in.”

Ignoring the presence of guests, Clay went straight to the bathroom and resumed washing his face with a bucket of cold water, leisurely going through his morning routine.

Malik was just about to say something when he noticed Liora carefully scrutinizing the bathroom. Her eyes tracked the flow of water going down the gentle slope toward the strange privy she had heard about. It led her to the drainage hole that Clay had recently completed.

What she couldn’t see was the other end of it, where another bucket would hold the waste away from his living area. It wasn’t exactly well put together, being a crude creation that barely got the job done, but Clay was satisfied with it for now. During its construction, he not only gained valuable hands-on experience for future plumbing projects, but he also earned some levels with his skills.

It was the reason why he had been so adamant about only delving in the mornings. While it was true that he had so much else he had to do, improving his strength was near the top of the list, especially when it was risk-free. He wanted to make it a habit to only do morning adventures, as he would need the time to set up a guild in the not-so-distant future.

What he needed was just more time. Time that would allow him to accumulate a little more wealth, levels, and construction experience to build a proper Adventurer’s Guild.

“This is quite interesting!” Liora muttered as she kneeled down to examine the drain more closely. Clay had taken the time to carve out a removable drain cover using some wooden bits, but it was otherwise just a hole. “I can definitely see why it would need lots of water to work, but I don’t believe there’ll be a market for it.”

“And that’s a problem?” Clay asked with a raised eyebrow.

“Why yes! If it isn’t popularized, then the demand for water magic crystals will remain low. While it does cost some mana to use Refine Crystal, I’d prefer if magic crystal use became more common and varied. That way, the reputation gap between Jewelers and the likes of Weaponsmiths will close! Unfortunately, what you currently have here will be too expensive for commoners and too eccentric for nobles.”

“Water crystal prices can go down if supply increases, and why would its eccentricity matter? Nobles are people, too. They’ll learn of the convenience and cleanliness of having a privy with running water sooner or later.”

“I can’t speak to that, as I have no idea how you think we could increase the supply all of a sudden when most magic crystals are already being used for light crystals. As for the nobles, I’m certain they won’t bother familiarizing themselves with this. They’ll continue as they do, having the servants take care of everything. The convenience and cleanliness you speak of are for their servants to worry about, not the nobles themselves.”

“But there’s still one group of people that may take a fancy to it, though, right?”

“Who are you talking about?”

“Delvers like us, of course. Most of them are wealthy, but don’t have the practice of hiring servants to tend to their needs.”

Liora blinked blankly for a few seconds before she slowly nodded.

“You’re right. Most Delvers are commoners. I can see them preferring this to the chamber pots.”

“Well, then I’m sure you have it all figured out. As for me, I just want to purchase your skill in transforming this magic crystal of mine into a water crystal.”

“Oh, of course. I even have one prepared if you want. As thanks for the idea, I’ll give you a discount. I’ll just take ten silvers for refining your crystal, or twenty if you want to buy mine as well.”

Clay had been prepared for the cost, so he simply nodded and went to get the coins. After having sold the kobold longsword, he had fifteen thousand Lyons. Even after buying the backpack, there was still a healthy sum remaining. It was an amount that tempted him to buy a proper weapon, but as the old adage goes, ‘Don’t fix what’s not broken.’ There was no pressing need to do so if he was just slaying Feral Kobolds.

After exchanging his hard-earned coins, Liora took the small blue crystal shard, half the size of his pinky, and it began to glow within her hands for a few seconds before she returned it. He then immediately put it to the test.

“I just have to channel mana into it to make it start or stop, right?”

“Yeah! Should work just like the light magic crystals.”

“Should? Haven’t you used it before?”

“It’s been a while. I’ve only made one to test it out, back when I first obtained the Refine Crystal skill.”

Shaking his head at how unreliable she was, Clay proceeded to give it a try anyway. Channeling the mana into it was quite intuitive. As soon as his mana made contact with it, it felt like a switch had been flipped. A stream of water began trickling down his hands. It flowed at the kind of rate that would annoy anyone trying to wash their hands—too weak for a thorough rinse, yet just strong enough to keep you trying.

Seeing the results, Clay sighed.

“I’ll take the water crystal you prepared, too. I’ll probably need more in the future, as well. How long do you think they last?”

“Hmm, it depends on how much you use it, of course,” Liora said, with her head tilted to the side. “It’ll work for about an entire day if you leave it on the entire time. They are way less efficient than the light crystals that work for an entire three days. I have several of those with me if you want.”

“You’re really running my pockets dry, aren’t you? I’ll take one, I guess. It’ll work even when wet, right?”

The savvy saleswoman swiftly nodded.

“Hehe, I’ve learned to be efficient, and do as much business as I can when I have the chance! Otherwise, I’d spend more time playing merchant than being a Delver.”

“I’m sure there are some merchants who will happily deal with the hassle instead.”

“I’ll never work with those greedy pigs! They hear you’re a Delver, and the next second, they’ll use every trick at their disposal to squeeze every coin out of you.”

Clay shrugged as he activated the second water crystal, doubling the flow. It was just barely acceptable now. He could at least wash his face with it. A proper shower was still out of the question, unless he was okay with a trickle, while a bath wasn’t outside the realm of possibilities if he didn’t mind a cold one. 

Having thought of the possibility of a hot bath, he couldn’t let it go that easily. Taking a moment to assess his financial situation, he once again let out a sigh.

In for a penny, in for a pound.

“Actually, do you think you can make me a fire crystal as well?”

“Sure. If I don’t find any in the dungeon today, I’ll buy a crystal from the marketplace and refine it for you.”

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