[NR] Sell It To Me - Chapter 623 (Patreon)

Jason nods, “Those types of crafters are a dead end. You do need people who can make the same thing over and over. An army works best when everyone is outfitted to the same standards. But they probably only have a higher skill level because their specialized skill has so much less for them to learn.

“Still, I wouldn’t put down them mastering the skill. No matter how specialized, it still represents a ton of work. While transcending mastery will be a lot harder for them, if any of them ever manage to do so without external help, the results will likely exceed your wildest dreams. It would not surprise me if that pantheon happened to “gift” skill transcendence to those who seem like they might manage it on their own.”

Helina growls, “Yeah, I could see that. Those who transcend on their own are worshiped like gods, while those gifted such a thing tend to direct the worship towards the being who gifted it.

“But this is getting us distracted. These are quality pelts and show some form of special preparation method that manages to prepare the pelts without damaging the fibers. How many do you have?”

Jason, “Including that one, there’s nine pelts. Six at level 26, two at 27, and one a 30. All with the same grade.”

Helina runs her hand over the fur side again. “I’m sure our crafters would love to get their hands on this. Moles of this size are rare and so being able to make something with no need a bunch of panels would be amazing. These pelts wouldn’t even need to be dyed like is required to get an even color when sourcing from multiple animals.

“Now why do you think the settlement specifically will benefit from these over what you want?”

Jason, “I won’t go into the earth magic in them as that clearly isn’t the focus on these hides. Instead, I’ll focus on the pelts key feature, the fact the fur isn’t directional. Now, last I checked, Travellers only have a guess that the fur is an adaptation to make backing up in their tunnels easier. Which it can do.

“For you, this means equipment made with it will be easier to take on and off. Most places? Useful, but not the end of the world. Out here, though, the ability to gear up quickly will be highly prized by both defenders and adventurers. Not only that, but the fur is still quite short despite the increased size of the mole and so you won’t be sweltering when using said gear.”

Helina, “I can see that, but how useful it will be isn’t something we can know without an example being crafted. Besides, you’ve only got nine pelts of which only one is of the highest level. If I’m to be honest, we will probably end up wasting that pelt on getting a crafter used to the material since it is the odd one out.”

Jason nods, “Exactly, it is a limited resource, but you’re used to that out here. Despite getting waves of similar foes, the guards up on the wall don’t match as well as expected. The settlement is used to making do with bits and pieces.

“What I expect this to be used for is emergency gear for messengers and first responders. Maybe not the strongest gear available, but with even the slightest magical enhancement, I’m sure you can make it so the gear practically puts itself on.”

Helina, “All of that is still based on it being able to provide such a bonus.”

Jason, “Fair enough, I can’t guarantee anything after all. However, what I want isn’t going to be grabbing anything too important. Like I said, I’m making a book which needs to be a little special. With that in mind, I’m making my own materials.

“So far, I’ve gotten stuff for the ink and a few quills. Wood for the book boards will be easy enough. A metal clasp would be hard so I’m going to just have a button or some such. That leaves me looking for the untreated hides needed to make some vellum. More specifically, I want hides with inherent resistance to water. Not a lot, but enough to keep the humidity off.”

Helina rumbles, “Waterproof hides aren’t exactly a small thing!”

Jason shakes his head, “Not waterproof, water resistant and only slightly. Besides, the hide of anything you could label waterproof would be all marked up from when it died. I want the hides of weak monsters that had some innate resistance, but never grew into that power. Just enough so having it out there won’t ruin it before I even finish writing my book.”

Helina, “That is more reasonable. The more problematic part would be the need for an untreated hide so you can turn it into vellum.”

Jason waves her “worry” away. “Don’t try to fool me. I am far from original in my idea. The chances that you don’t have a supply of such untreated hides stored under some sort of magical preservation is non-existent. At least, as long as there wasn’t a large trade caravan in the last week. Which there wasn’t.”

Helina grumbles, “Archival grade vellum isn’t cheap.”

Jason, “And I’m not trying to buy any. Just some untreated hides with the potential for that. Not like I need too many. Plus, I couldn’t just buy standard vellum because my book is going to be a bit bigger to fit some diagrams and such.”

Jason holds his hands up to stop Helina from responding to that. “Yes, I know, larger sizes of vellum cost even more. But that isn’t what the merchants would buy your stock of hides for. Doesn’t matter what it actually is used for, they’ll buy it as if they were going to have to cut the smallest standard size out of each hide and some might not even make the cut.

“They’ll point to every minor defect and decry how the hide is ruined. Me? I can work with that kind of stuff. It isn’t like I’m going for the biggest size pieces of vellum. Offload fifty of the rougher hides and, if need be, I can throw in some extra gold to make up the difference.”