Chương 9: Chapter 7 — Apparently, America's Best Crafter Is Skipping School

By Day Twelve, North Ridge had acquired a problem Jack had not expected this early. Consistency. He stood beneath a blue canopy and examined a belt. Then another. Then a pair of gloves. Then a helmet. Maximum Life. Resistance. Maximum Life. Resistance. Maximum Life. Resistance. Different Bases. Different sellers. Different rolls. Same pattern. Jack frowned. Once was luck. Twice was interesting. Twelve pieces spread across three neighboring stalls was production. He picked up another helmet.

SCRAP IRON HELM Rarity: Rare Required Level: 4 Maximum Life +7 Cold Resistance +9% Jack put it down. The seller watched him.

"You buying or grading me?"

"Neither." Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

"You've checked six pieces."

"Eight." The seller stared. Jack pointed toward the helmet.

"Same Crafter?" The man's expression changed slightly.

"Why?"

"The modifier combinations are too consistent."

"You an Appraiser?"

"Something like that." That was becoming a useful answer. The seller leaned back in his folding chair.

"Kid over there." He pointed farther down the market row. Jack followed the gesture. Another folding table. Another handwritten sign. A short line of Delvers. Jack read the sign. CUSTOM CRAFTING PICK 2 MODS YOU BRING BASE + MANA STONE $50 LABOR Jack stopped.

"Two?" The seller smiled.

"That's why everybody's buying them." Jack looked back at the twelve pieces. Life. Resistance. Two selected modifier families. Over and over.

"How many can she do?" The seller shrugged.

"As many as people bring her, far as I can tell." Jack looked at him.

"No daily limit?"

"Not one I've seen." That was wrong. Not impossible. Wrong. Ordinary low-rank Crafting Skills had limits. Jack already knew examples. Vital Imprint. Ten uses per day. Elemental Ward. Ten. Iron Vitality. Eight. Heartsetting. Five. Different Skills had different limits, but limits were normal. The market was already learning to price around them. If someone could produce two selected modifier families without a daily cap— Jack looked toward the folding table again. The person behind it was fourteen years old.

Maybe fifteen if he was being generous. He was not. Dark hair tied back badly. Oversized hoodie. Plastic safety glasses pushed up on her head even though nothing she was doing appeared to require safety glasses. A half-finished bottled soda sat beside a pile of Mana Stones. She took a belt from the customer in front of her.

"Life and Fire?"

"Yeah."

"Stone." The man handed one over. The girl put the belt on the table. One hand touched the leather. The other closed around the Mana Stone. Jack focused. Appraisal responded. HAPPY BLUEPRINT — S Type: Unique Crafting Skill Craft a compatible piece of Dungeon equipment. Before Crafting, designate up to two valid modifier families. Both designated modifier families are guaranteed to appear on the completed item. Exact modifier values are not guaranteed.

Normal Base, Item Level, material, and compatibility restrictions apply. Requires external Mana input. Compatible Source: Mana Stone Usage Limit: None Jack stopped breathing for approximately one second. Then the Mana Stone in the girl's hand dimmed. Light moved across the belt. The surface changed. System text stabilized. The girl looked at it.

"Plus six Life. Eight Fire." The customer leaned closer.

"That's good?"

"You paid fifty dollars."

"Right."

"It's good." He grinned, handed over the cash, and left. The next person stepped forward immediately. Jack remained where he was. S-rank. Fourteen years old. No daily limit. Guaranteed modifier families. External Mana requirement. He knew this Skill. Not personally. He knew what it became. More importantly, he knew the girl. Emily Mi