Upgrading one of Leland's auto-mapper artifacts was done quickly by Damion right after dinner, but still wanting to keep up appearances, he stayed in his room. In the morning, Leland and Flannery were both happy with the upgrade of the auto-mapper from D Rank to C Rank and were impressed by its increased capabilities.

Flannery began tinkering with it to work out the way the new enchantments worked, while Leland helped Damion write up a standard service contract for anyone wanting to have him upgrade their artifacts.

"The contract is done," Leland announced, putting his tablet down. "All you need to worry about is not messing up anyone's artifact."

"That shouldn't be an issue," Damion said confidently. "Now I need to start advertising my services."

"Post a notice in the Adventurer Association. At first you won't get many takers, but with your skills, as long as you deliver, the news will snowball, and you will have every adventurer in the Green Zone wanting you to improve their artifacts."

"Thank you for the help. I think I will stay here for a month. After that, I want to start heading out to explore and do missions for the Crimson Order and the Mage Association."

"Not a bad idea. Not much money working for either of them, but you get to keep what you kill. I don't know what use you have for the Demonic Cores you are wanting, but those two groups have plenty of work and I'm sure you will amass quite a lot."

"Before I can head out though, I have need of a special artifact and I'm not sure where to begin with it, or if it is even possible."

"Oh? Another idea for a new artifact? That first one you gave me, the Necklace of Mend, turned out to be pretty popular. I've made quite a bit of money selling those for the last couple of years. What do you have in mind this time?"

"An artifact that can alter my appearance."

"Yes. That would be useful to you," Leland said before going silent for a long moment. "I don't know if I can do it. Creating an illusion over you would not be too hard, but anyone with aura detection would be able to pierce it. Not to mention the artifact probably won't work on anyone higher Ranked than it."

"That is why I'm thinking of something that can actually change my appearance, not just cover it up."

"You do like to come up with interesting problems for me to solve. But this artifact, if I can make it, would not be too good for the world," Leland said seriously. "If the wrong sort of people got ahold of it. They could do all sorts of evil with it."

"Then we just have to only make one. As long as no one else has one, they can't abuse it," Damion said.

"In that case, I can't make this one free like the Necklace of Mend."

"Don't worry, I'm willing to buy it. But I might have to pay you with upgrades to your inventory."

"Ha! That will work. Better stock will sell for better prices." Leland said with a laugh. "Tell you what, you go do your advertisements and I will set up a workspace for you here in the shop. Then I'll get working on your new artifact. Though, with your expertise, I might have to consult you on how to make it."

His order placed with a laughing Leland, Damion headed out to the Adventurer Association to post his mission. Phil was quite excited to get out of Leland's guest room and he had to warn the Snow Hawk not to fly too far. He did not want the Ferocious Beast to cause a panic.

'Hunt,' Phil demanded through their bond.

'Alright. Go east to the forest and hunt. But don't come back into the city when you are done. Let me know when you get close. I will come out to meet you.'

Phil let out a happy chirp and quickly flew into the sky and was soon out of sight.

This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience.

There was not much in and around Saung that could threaten a C Rank Ferocious Beast. The only danger Phil would face would be adventurers. Most would not bother a Ferocious Beast that was not part of their mission, but Damion still worried, which was why he warned Phil not to get close to the city without him.

Once Damion arrived at the Adventurer Association he wasted no time in putting up his advertisement for services. He left several flyers by the clerk's desk and more by the mission terminals. He did not bother to create a lot of the flyers, he felt that once he had his first customer, word of mouth would generate all the advertising he needed.

For A Limited Time Only

Have your artifacts optimized

Guaranteed to result in a Rank increase

For more information visit

Leland and Flannery's Artifact Emporium

Not long after Damion returned to Leland's shop did his first customer show up. He did not recognize the man, but with True Sight, Damion could tell the man was a D Rank knight and that all the gear he was using was only F Rank. The knight having lower Rank equipment was not a surprise, most did, new artifacts were expensive and the higher the Rank, the more costly they became.

This was exactly what Damion was counting on for his business. Adventurers that were not part of guilds or Orders struggled affording quality gear. Not only would he be able to provide them with higher Rank gear, but when the System optimized a piece of gear, it made it the best version of itself possible. Sadly, the Magic System could not add abilities to artifacts, so whatever enchantments were on the gear to start with were all it would have after the upgrade.

"Who do I see about Ranking my artifacts up?" the knight asked Leland when he came in.

"That would be me," Damion spoke up and offered his hand. "Mage Damion Wells."

"You? You are just a kid. Is this some kind of joke?"

"Careful, Knight Coleman, Mage Wells is a B Rank mage," Leland softly warned.

The knight's eyes bulged for a moment before he steadied himself. He had no reason to doubt Leland, but Damion was a young man, and it was hard to believe he was B Rank.

"I meant no offense," Knight Coleman said. "I was just surprised is all."

"It is quite alright. This is the service contract for working on your artifacts," Damion said, handing the knight a tablet to review. "I guarantee I can raise your artifact to the next Rank and optimize its current performance. You in turn, promise the agreed upon payment or forfeiture of the artifact upgraded."

"What will you be charging?"

"It depends on what you are looking to have upgraded. For most artifacts it is two Demonic Beast Cores of the Rank above your artifact."

"So, if I wanted you to improve my chest plate, which is E Rank, you would charge me two D Rank cores?"

"Precisely," Damion told him.

"What about my weapon?"

"Weapons are a bit more costly; the fee is three cores of the next Rank."

"What affinity of cores are you asking for?"

"Any affinity," Damion told him.

"You don't care what affinity?" Knight Coleman questioned.

Damion's deal was quite outlandish. If he did not care what affinity of core he received as a fee, the young mage would undoubtedly just receive the most common cores available. That meant for Knight Coleman, he could possibly get his E Rank Sword upgraded to D Rank for only about 15 gold, and about 10 gold for each of his other pieces of gear.

"You stand behind him on this Leland?" Knight Coleman asked the experienced artificer.

"I have seen his work firsthand. Mage Wells can do what he says."

"Alright, well I will have to buy up some cores and come back. Is the fee set in stone?"

"Barring an artifact that is damaged the fee should not change. If you'd like, I can examine the artifacts you wish to upgrade now. As long as you don't go and break them, the price will not change."

"For now, just my chest plate."

'System, analyze the chest plate this knight is wearing for upgrade to D Rank.'

{Affirmative.}

{Analyzing… cost to upgrade from E Rank to D Rank is 13 credits.}

Damion fought hard to keep a smile off his face when the System told him the price. For 13 credits he was going to get two D Rank cores that he could trade convert to 300 credits. And hopefully, once this knight was satisfied with the purchase, he would go off and tell all his friends about Damion's service.

"Two D Rank cores for your chest piece to be upgraded."

"How long will it take you to do your work?" Knight Coleman asked. It was a reasonable concern, if he did not have his main piece of armor, it would be dangerous to go on missions.

"No longer than a day. Unless I receive a large number of orders, I should be able to complete any work within a day."

"Then I will be back as soon as possible with your fee," Knight Coleman said.

"If you'd like, you can sign the service contract, and I can start working on your chest plate while you go and shop for cores. Payment is not required until you pick up your artifact."

Knight Coleman thought for a moment and read through the service contract again. The contract was straight forward and even guaranteed him the value of his artifact should Mage Wells fail to deliver on his promise. Since he had no objection, he signed his name and removed his chest plate and placed it on the counter.

"I will see you tomorrow with your payment."

"Excellent," Damion replied as he took the artifact over to the private workroom Leland had started setting up for him.

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