19. Glass (Patreon)

Even if Aloe was blinded, she knew that Laraib had instinctively enclosed the Myriad glass between his hands. His face told it all. The massive man took a few steps backward in confusion. His mouth was agape, but no words left it. His first action was to search and sit down on a stool.

Aloe's mind purely worked on how to justify all of this as the glassworker’s daze still lingered. Her eyes were directed to the streets, but thankfully, this district didn’t have a lot of people passing by. And the workshop just right before Laraib’s had a closed façade, so she doubted anyone had directly seen the Myriad glass.

At most just a flash of light. Which could be very alarming.

“What...” Laraib started, finally recovering from his stupor. “What was that?”

The sheer confusion displayed on the burly man’s face almost made it worth it to have Evolution’s secrets revealed. Of course, the sake of comedy could only get you so far.

“Hyper-reflective glass,” Aloe responded as a matter of fact. Her voice confident, her visage a sculpture.

She knew that in these types of situations the best set of actions was to appear confident, to have the situation under control, even if you very much didn’t have it.

“Hyper-reflective glass?” The glassworker inquired, even more confused than before.

“Exactly.” The girl nodded, her mannerism that of confidence incarnate.

Everyone in Sadina assumed that you couldn’t show weakness, it was something they had all been taught since little, but Aloe – or more exactly, her father – had discovered that it was way better to project strength. It didn’t need to be actual strength, neither of them had been blessed with a strong body, but the feeling of power.

Amid had told her this on repeated occasions:

“The thing about people asking for loans is that they are already in a position of weakness, even if they aren’t showing weakness. They need outside help, so they are already playing in an unmatched ground. So, a good banker not only cannot show weakness – everyone already does that by default – but you need to act like someone on the high ground. You need to project strength.”

Such projections of strength came in a lot of ways, her father explained that theirs came from money. Others needed it, so the money became their power. However, the power could come in many shapes and forms. The imperials and nobility used their lineage and authority, whilst scholars their knowledge and clerics their moral high ground.

Aloe opted for a share of the latter, combining her superior knowledge and her standing as a customer to appear overly confident, even if she was clearly not.

Her charade, no matter how fast her heartbeat may be going, worked as Laraib undid the clasp on his hands.

“I see...” The man expressed with doubt and started inspecting the piece of glass once more.

The art of rhetoric involved more than just words, what a shame that Aloe was innately cowardly and that prevented her from using her knowledge and tactics most of the time when she felt intimidated. Her saving grace this time was that Laraib, no matter how many muscles he may have, was just a glassworker.

Not exactly the most intimidating of professions. She reassured herself, even if she had been very much intimidated only a few minutes ago.

“Can I...” Laraib shouted his mouth, thinking his words twice, but nonetheless decided to continue. “Can I shatter it?”

Aloe’s visage remained unmoving.

If someone had asked to break her possessions, twitching her brows would be the least she would have done, but this piece of glass was mostly worthless and already broken.

“Why?” Still, it wouldn’t hurt to hear the reasoning.

“I want to comprehend it.” There was a spark of curiosity in the glassworker’s eyes. “I cannot understand it if it’s whole.”

“Go for it.”

Aloe observed as Laraib grabbed a small hammer and very carefully hit the Myriad glass piece with it. Even though the hit was incredibly shallow, the man managed to cleanly bisect it. That speaks well of his capabilities.

She wordlessly observed as the glassworker appraised the glass. With his fingers, he traced the cut of the glass, seemingly counting something. Then, when he was satisfied, he brought it to his furnace and stopped as the light of the fire made the piece glow.

The Myriad glass once emitted a powerful rainbow, but after Aloe separated it that chunk of glass, the inner rainbow became fainter. And now that Laraib shattered it too, it was almost imperceivable. If the glassworker saw it, he didn’t show it. Though it would be easy to mistake it for a normal prism rainbow if he did.

Laraib turned his face and looked at Aloe, his eyes pointed at the furnace behind him. It was obvious what he wanted to do. Aloe nodded in affirmation.

The glassworker grabbed the two pieces and placed them in a rock-looking bowl. Then with a pair of big pincers, grabbed it from the sides and pushed the bowl into the furnace.

“How was this glass made?” Laraib asked with a mixture of confusion and curiosity. “This isn’t like anything I’ve seen before. It feels like a... I don’t know actually. Normal glass doesn’t have the patterns this one had. Normal glass doesn't have really any pattern, it’s like a solidified liquid. Any patterns you may see come from the light refracted by its specific shape or in how it was broken. But this... it honestly feels like a plant, however crazy that may seem. It’s like it has been from layers upon layers.”

Oh, if only you knew. Aloe smugly thought in the confines of her mind. And even if he was uncannily right, she couldn’t disclose the secrets of the Myriad to a stranger.

“Trade secrets.” She added with a smile.

So she repeated what the glassworker had said before.

“I know I said that...” Laraib instantly regretted his choice of words. “But it’s truly amazing.”

“Is the glass that good?”

“The glass?” The glassworker frowned. “I meant the crafting method. The glass is mostly normal... Except for that ‘hyper-reflectiveness’ you mentioned.”

“You think it has potential in the market?” Aloe asked; her arms crossed, and her hips slightly shifted to the side.

“For sale?” Laraib closed his eyes. “No, not really.”

“Oh.” The sound subconsciously left Aloe’s mouth. She hadn’t expected that answer. “How’s that?”

“Well, overall, it’s normal glass.” He commented. “Higher-than-average quality, but nothing striking. And whilst that hyper-reflectiveness may be desired in pieces of jewelry or decorations, it will be more of a nuisance than everything.”

“I see...”

Aloe hadn’t had much faith in the Myriad glass since the beginning, those brutal shines were a dealbreaker. Sure, maybe a noble would like to have a really shiny statue, but even if she were to sell the product to a glassworker, she wouldn’t make much from it.

She was honestly ready to make her way back home, but Laraib seemed to notice her intentions.

“Wait!” He cried out. “At least wait until the glass is cooled.”

As she didn’t have anything to do, she listened to the man. Her desire to go away wasn’t born out of time strains but discouragement.

Laraib grabbed the rock crucible with the pincers and decanted the melted glowing glass in a bucket of water. The water boiled away and sizzled strongly, but after a few seconds, the glassworker grabbed the remaining product with the pincers.

The somewhat satisfying Myriad glass piece had obviously not kept its original form after being melted, but its current one was horrendous. An amalgamation of shapes, with holes everywhere, with the main body being a thin strip littered with small cracks that blew occasional air bubbles and steam.

As Laraib himself was unfazed by the result, Aloe supposed this was the normal outcome.

“What? Any new insights?” She asked at the glassworker.

“Hmm...” He didn’t respond, limiting himself to grunt.

Wordlessly, he guided the piece before him to the outside of the workshop. Aloe tried to stop the man from doing so, but she was late once again. As she prepared herself for the blinding, putting her arm before her face, the girl was surprised to find no shine.

“Huh?”

“As expected,” Laraib sighed. “Melting it removed its properties. Now it’s just somewhat better glass.”

“Is that good?” Aloe approached the glass and it truly had lost the Myriad’s capabilities. It was just regular glass.

“Depends on what you consider to be good.” The burly man shrugged and made his way back to the workshop. “Without the hyper-reflection, it’s just – and I cannot stress this enough – slightly better glass. The quality of glass isn’t the best either way. If we were talking about Asina sands and glassworkers though, it would be average at most.”

In short words, there was no potential for sale. His face said it all, he would have it easier and cheaper to make the glass himself, rather than buy it from her at a higher price.

“I see,” Aloe said defeatedly at walked to the entrance.

“Wait.” Laraib stopped her once more. “Could I have this piece? I would like to try to replicate the effect that it once had.”

“Sure, it’s all yours.” She commented absentmindedly.

Aloe highly doubted the man would get nowhere near close to replicating the magic of the Myriad plant. But above all else, she wanted to leave.

And she didn’t just mean the workshop.