Chapter 1044 – Promotion Condition

Despite Rodney’s excitement, Shi Feng did not hurry to answer the brawny man’s question. Rather, he observed the second floor quietly.

While there were various precious materials present, the place was considerably shabby.

The room’s Mana density was too low. The environment was nothing like that of a proper workshop.

Take Seliora’s smithy for example.

Although the woman’s smithy looked shabby on the outside, numerous magic arrays coated the building’s interior, constantly gathering large amounts of Mana and keeping the workplace’s Mana density high.

Yet, the second-floor hall of Dahl’s Workshop did not have any magic arrays. The density of the ambient Mana in here was the same as the building’s exterior.

Even a player would have a difficult time gaining the promotion to Master Engineer, not to mention an NPC.

Yet, despite working in such an environment, Rodney had eventually become a Master Engineer in the past. Rodney’s talent was obvious.

Back then, aside from relying on the super-rare materials players had collected, Rodney had become a Master Engineer because of his excellent engineering tools. These were similar to the hammer and flames forgers used.

Despite Rodney’s inheritance of Dahl’s Workshop, his current tools were only Bronze rank. Hence, the Hidden Quest’s final phase was to collect a set of Mysterious-Iron engineering tools for him.

To put it bluntly, Rodney’s promotion to Master Engineer had taken so long despite his great talent because he was too poor.

What would the deceased Grandmaster Dahl think if he learned about this?

After catching a glimpse of Rodney’s financial situation, Shi Feng shifted his gaze back to Rodney and asked seriously, “Your promotion is simple, but before that, may I know if you are interested in consulting for my trading firm.”

In God’s Domain, players were allowed to hire Lifestyle NPCs in the same way that they were allowed to hire NPC managers to manage their Shops. Only, hiring ordinary Lifestyle NPCs was not particularly worthwhile.

Lifestyle NPCs’ production was slower than players’. Although they had slightly higher success rates, when producing ordinary items, which already had considerably high success rates, speed was the focus. With the few items an ordinary Lifestyle NPC could produce in a day, the profits wouldn’t even come close to covering the employment costs.

Hence, when players hired Lifestyle NPCs, they usually only hired NPC Masters as they could craft rare and valuable products. The income from these products was enough to make up for the NPC’s slow production speed.

Unfortunately, it was extremely difficult to employ an NPC Master. Every NPC Master possessed status roughly on par with cities’ major nobles. For example, when Seliora was a Master, even Weissman, White River City’s Tier 4 Magistrate, had to take her seriously. However, after Seliora became a Grandmaster, her status surpassed Weissman’s. Even Star-Moon Kingdom’s King had to treat Seliora with respect.

Because of this, it was extremely difficult to hire an NPC Master.

Generally, there were only two methods to employ such an NPC.

The first method was very direct. Players simply needed to offer conditions that could even tempt NPC Masters. However, very few individuals or Guilds were capable of this method.

The second method was to recruit and invest in a Lifestyle NPC who was still at the Advanced rank but had the potential to become a Master. While this method was much cheaper than the first, luck would determine whether or not the NPC reached the Master rank.

Since Shi Feng already knew Rodney’s potential, he could not let this chance slip away.

Whether it was manufacturing boats or the Bronze Engineering Locomotive, a Master Engineer could achieve them with ease. If he had the help of an NPC like this, he could earn all the money he needed whenever he needed.

Hearing Shi Feng’s proposal, Rodney’s passionate gaze immediately cooled. Determinedly, he said, “Lord Protector, as the inheritor to Dahl’s Workshop, my only wish is to revitalize this workshop. Please allow me to refuse your offer.”

“Don’t be in such a hurry to refuse. I’m not asking you to join my trading firm. I just want you to help me with producing some items.” Shi Feng had not expected it to be that easy. Hence, he took a step back and loosened his condition. “No matter how I look at it, Dahl’s Workshop will need a lot of money to grow strong again. I’ll pay the normal employment rates even after I help with your promotion.”

“This…” Rodney hesitated. After pondering for some time, he said, “If my lord helps me become a Master, I will promise to work for my lord for three months. How about it?”

“Alright, then. Three months it is.” Shi Feng sighed helplessly.

He had to admit that Rodney was a tough nut. If he hadn’t had the City Protector title, Rodney probably wouldn’t have even offered three months.

However, during these three months, by on the Holy City of Titan, the Candlelight Trading Firm should be able to give birth to a Master Engineer. With Rodney’s help, the could make it through the next few months.

Following which, Shi Feng took out a set of Mysterious-Iron engineering tools and an old design that was as large as a table.

He gave Rodney the tools to ensure a high success rate with the new item’s production. As for the design, it was the Basic Mana Gathering Magic Array.

This was something he obtained when he had killed Stone Forest Town’s ruler, Sareya.

When activated, this item would increase the Mana density within an area of 30*30 yards. However, it had an operating cost of 50 Magic Crystals per hour, and barely two players had enough room to spar within its coverage. Using it to train one’s combat techniques regularly was too much of a luxury. Hence, Shi Feng had never bothered with it.

Now, however, the magic array was the perfect item to make up for Rodney’s poor work environment.

Following which, Shi Feng spent 50 Magic Crystals to set up a Basic Mana Gathering Magic Array in the second-floor hall before using the design to activate the magic array.

Immediately, the floor’s Mana density began to rise. In a short moment, the Mana density surpassed that of the Divine Colosseum’s Trial Tower.

“What a high Mana density!” Rodney could not help his surprise.

This was the first time in his life that he had experienced such dense Mana. Even a casual breath cleared his mind. He could maintain his calm and focus like never before.

“Try creating something now,” Shi Feng said as he pointed towards the workstation a short distance away.

Before this, Rodney lacked both good tools and a good environment. Now that these deficiencies had been supplemented, with Rodney’s talent, it was only a matter of time before he became a Master Engineer.

“Thank you, my lord!”

Rodney repeatedly thanked Shi Feng. He then went to his workstation and attempted to create an item.

Sure enough, half an hour later, an ecstatic expression brightened Rodney’s face. He had successfully created a boat’s power source. When Shi Feng looked at Rodney’s details again, the latter’s introduction text had changed from being an Advanced Engineer to a Master Engineer.

Suddenly, the sound of the quest completion notification reached Shi Feng’s ears.

System: Unique Quest “Master’s Dream” completed.

Following which, Shi Feng’s experience bar increased by 15%, pushing him to 19% of Level 44. The awarded EXP surpassed Shi Feng’s expectations.

“Lord Protector, truly, thank you! I finally have the chance to revitalize Dahl’s Workshop! I don’t have much to offer as a show of gratitude, so please, take this ancient speedboat. Lord Dahl crafted this speedboat personally, and it has always been treasured in the workshop. I hope that my lord will accept it.” Rodney revealed a palm-sized, glass bottle. Inside the bottle was a miniature speedboat, floating on a layer of water. Pulsating magic patterns decorated the speedboat’s body. At first glance, it was obvious that the speedboat was extraordinary.

Wasn’t it supposed to be Bronze rank? Shi Feng was thunderstruck when he saw this speedboat. He couldn’t take his eyes off of it.

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