Chương 167: Amos Flannery

"Do you have any suggestions for a good artificer?" Damion asked Elicia as he scrolled through the business listings on his tablet.

"There are a number of artificers in Argentum, but I'm afraid I don't know much about any of them. Our family has its own artificer and if he isn't able to make what was needed the elders would handle special requests."

"Must be nice to have someone capable of crafting artifacts on the payroll," Damion said, more to himself than to Elicia.

"It isn't like I ever had anything made for me. If not for becoming your attendant I would not even have the basic set of family armor I do."

"Sorry, just thinking out loud," Damion quickly apologized.

"Will you have to give back your artifacts when you leave the family?"

"Most likely. I don't know of anyone ever actually leaving the family. I'm sure there have been some that have quietly slipped away or been pushed out, but no one ever talks about it. So, I don't really know what to expect."

"In that case, perhaps I will have to have a set of artifacts made for you as well."

"What? No, you don't have to do that."

"After you get fired and I rehire you, I will have to pay you, right?"

"I suppose," Elicia answered softly.

"Then I'll pay you with the artifacts. I don't know how much attendants make, but a set of C Rank artifacts should cover your salary for the rest of the school year."

"That will more than cover my pay. You don't need to worry about me. I can get my own artifacts once I start working as an adventurer."

"You'll have an easier time if you go in with artifacts. Don't worry about the cost. I worked as an adventurer for three years. I have enough saved up to get you a decent set of gear."

"Fine," Elicia said, giving up on arguing with Damion.

"But just D Rank. I won't be able to make good use of C Rank artifacts for a long time."

"If that is what you want," Damion said as he finally located an artificer close to the school's entrance to Argentum. Quality Surplus Artifacts was the name. With a name like that Damion did not hold out much hope of finding suitable artifacts, but it was the closest and he figured if this store did not have what he needed he could always move on to the next store. In the morning, after his normal run, Damion and Elicia headed towards the front entrance of the school.

With his armor loaded in his adventurer backpack, they set off. Mage Teft was not giving them a ride to the city today, but that was fine. On weekends there were a number of students that went into the city for various reasons and, because of this, a ground car service was provided. Every hour a large ground car that reminded Damion of a bus came by and picked up or dropped off students at the school gates.

Some students were headed into the city to buy things, like Damion, some to blow off steam and some to do things they were not allowed to in school. Whatever the reason for the other students going to the city, Damion could care less, he was just glad he would not have to walk. Once in Argentum, Damion and Elicia headed to Quality Surplus Artifacts, which was not far from where they were dropped off. When he saw the store he could not help but compare it to Leland's shop back in Saung.

Leland decorated in bright colors and the style of many of his artifacts reflected his abundant personality. This store, however, was a hodgepodge of artifacts. Some were in good condition, while others looked quite old and some, Damion thought, might possibly be defective. This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it. The displays around the shop likely presented the best the store had to offer, which left Damion wondering if he should just turn around and leave.

Every artifact in the store looked like it had been through years of abuse. He could not help but wonder if the store procured their merchandise by picking up artifacts left by the dead after a beast wave.

"Welcome. Welcome," a man with black hair and silver eyes happily greeted them as they entered the store.

"I am Amos Flannery. Owner, Operator and Chief Artificer. What might I be able to help you young adventurers with this fine day."

"I'm looking for a set of C Rank armor for myself and a set of D Rank armor for my companion."

"Sets are hard to come by. Unless made all at once. And who has the time for that!? Just look at my inventory. So many things to repair. Pick out a few. If it is damaged I'll fix it up for you. So, pay no attention to the condition of the pieces. I only fix them up once they are ready to sell." Damion did as the man suggested and looked around. He was not impressed by what he saw. With True Sight he could see the Rank of all these artifacts. Most were E Rank, with a few D Rank artifacts mixed in.

Damion did spot a few pieces of C Rank gear, but they were heavily damaged and not in good condition.

"Do you not make any artifacts yourself?" Damion asked as he kept looking, but found almost everything in the shop was damaged. Damion did not know much about creating artifacts, but he was certain a number of these pieces were damaged beyond repair. The more he looked, the more he felt like he was at a yard sale, or better yet, a junkyard. Elicia was having the same thoughts and as she looked around she could not help but wrinkle her nose at the poor state of the artifacts.

"Who has the time to make something new? I take old pieces and make them like new. Very rough work you know. Not a lot of time to make something from scratch. Find anything you like?"

"How much would it cost to repair this?" Damion asked as he took his Scorch Asp chest piece out from his bag. When Flannery saw the armor piece in Damion's hands he rushed over and quickly began examining it. The armor had a few holes and a number of scratches and gouges across its surface but was still in better condition than most of the artifacts in the store.

"A fine piece. I'll buy it from you for 1 gold," Flannery announced as he reached into his pockets presumably to find his wallet.

"I'd like it repaired if you can," Damion said as the man continued to search his pockets.

"Hmm… Scorch Asp leather. The enchantments are all intact. I'll repair it for 2 gold!" Flannery said happily as he tried to pull the artifact from Damion's hands.

"For two gold I could commission a new piece from its maker," Damion said holding firmly to his armor.

"How about this. I have the rest of the set of this armor in my bag. The other pieces are almost all in near perfect condition. But they are sized to me. If you can repair this chest piece and the others and resize the whole set to fit my friend here, I'll pay you three gold."

"Let me see the full set first. Can't agree without examining the other pieces. I've made bad deals before on sight-unseen deals," Flannery said as he shoved a pile of artifacts off a nearby table to make room for Damion's artifacts.

"Not a problem," Damion moved to the table and placed his entire set of armor on it. Flannery quickly started picking up each piece of gear in turn. Examining each carefully before putting them back on the table. They were, as Damion claimed all nearly in perfect condition, just one of the vambraces had a hole. The rest merely a few scratches here and there, but no actual damage.

"This is great work. Very nice." Flannery continued to mumble to himself as he examined the artifacts.

"Alright I agree. Let me get my measuring tape." Flannery quickly ran to the back of his shop and returned a moment later with a measuring tape and began measuring Damion. Before he could tell the man he was measuring the wrong person, Flannery stopped and gave him a curious look.

"These don't need to be resized for you."

"They need to be resized for her," Damion said pointing to Elicia who was silently watching the whole affair.

"Right. They would need some reworking to fit her. Just a moment!" Flannery then set about measuring Elicia who was giving Damion a pleading look to get this mad man away from her.

"How long will it take you to repair the chest piece and resize the others?" Damion asked after Flannery finished measuring Elicia and started measuring the artifacts.

"Just a few hours. Come back after lunch. I should have it ready for you by then," Flannery said waving them away. Damion was hesitant to leave his old armor with this man, but Flannery appeared to care about his work a great deal, even if the content of his store did not show it, so Damion believed he would not sully his reputation by stealing.

"On to the next shop I guess," Damion told Elicia after they left Quality Surplus Artifacts.