16
The bell above the door let out a pleasant tinkle as Milo stepped into the shop to find Spragg behind the counter carefully polishing a Machine Core.
“Ah,” Spragg called. “Welcome once more to the Crystal Cave, sir.”
“Um, yeah. Hi.” Milo gave the old man a nod and felt another awkward silence.
“Are you looking for another core, sir?”
“Actually… I was wondering about crystals.”
“Then you have come to the right place, sir. We deal with all kinds of crystals. Were you after something in particular?”
“Sort of.” Milo moved to the counter and placed the cartridge from his Mana Rifle in front of them. “I have a rifle, but I want to get a better crystal.”
Spragg set aside the core he was working on and lifted the cartridge.
“Hmm. Quartz,” he said, eyeing it critically.
“Common grade. Mostly used in mana lights. While it’s certainly possible to provide a crystal which can store more mana, I’m unsure it would provide more benefit.
A standard Mana Rifle is capable of only so much, sir.
Too much arcane force and you might cause an explosive deconstruction of your barrel… ”
“I know,” Milo said. “But I’ve been working on a larger prototype.”
“A prototype, you say?” Spragg put the sapphire down. “And how much more mana can this prototype safely fire?”
“Safely?” Milo rocked his hand back and forward uncertainly. “About five times.”
“Five?” The old shopkeeper blinked at that. “That is an impressive prototype.”
“If it works,” Milo added drily. “It might just blow up in my hands as you said.”
“Best you don’t test it yourself then, sir,” Spragg said without hint of humor.
“I plan on standing well back.”
“Very good idea.” Spragg frowned, thinking. “I do have a range of quartz, I suppose. However, perhaps I have something which might be better suited.”
“Oh?”
The shopkeeper moved over to a dull-looking cabinet which held small pale rectangular bars. Unlocking the cabinet with a little brass key, he pulled out three of the small bars and brought them back to the counter.
Each block was slightly different in size, but all seemed to be made of a chalky-looking material which had been molded into long bars. The largest was about one and a half inches long and looked like it would easily fit in his hand.
“Those don’t look like crystals,” Milo said.
“You have good eyes, sir.” Laying them out, Spragg gently touched the smallest. “They are a ceramic, I believe.”
“You believe?” Milo stared at him. “So, you’re not sure?”
Spragg stared back at him. “When it comes to dwarven materials, sir, who can be sure of anything?”
“They’re dwarven?” Milo turned his gaze back to the bars.
“Oh, yes,” Spragg said. “A very strange material. There are not many uses for it, I’m afraid, so I don’t sell very many.
They work very similar to a mana light which is made of quartz.
However, unlike quartz, they do not glow when they are charged with mana.
So, they’re not very good as a light source. ”
“But they can accept a charge?”
“In a way.”
Milo squinted. “What do you mean?”
“A quartz crystal is recharged with mana by using a recharger which injects mana into the lattice which forms the crystal,” Spragg said.
“This is not a crystal. It is a ceramic. We are unsure of its original purpose, but it does seem capable of soaking mana naturally when it is subjected to heat and stress.”
Milo shook his head. “That sounds more complicated than using quartz.”
“Perhaps. But you said this was for a rifle, sir.”
“Yes.”
“Then I would assume it is meant to be used in a dungeon, where there is limited access to a mana light recharging service.”
“I guess so.”
“Then this ceramic would be better suited.” Spragg passed one of the blocks to Milo. “Try squeezing it, sir.”
“Squeezing it?”
“Yes. Think of it like a ball.”
Milo squeezed the bar in his hand. It had a strange texture. At first he was worried it would snap or break, but after a while he grew more confident.
“Do you feel it warming, sir?”
Milo nodded. “Yeah, it’s a bit warm.”
“As the ceramic warms, it absorbs mana around you.”
“When will I know it’s fully charged?”
“When it starts to feel too hot to hold, it is fully charged.”
“It’s getting hot now.”
The shopkeeper reached out and plucked the bar from his hand. “This is about right, sir. If you attempt to take it too far, the bar can break apart.”
“Oh.”
“Now it’s charged, you can release the mana in it using a modified Mana Ejection Unit.”
“Modified? How modified?”
“That I cannot say, sir.” Spragg gave Milo a thoughtful look. “This material is often used in firestarters, though. I would recommend purchasing one and disassembling it?”
“Right.” Milo nodded. “I can do that, I guess. How much are these?”
“I would sell the smallest here for fifty silver. And the largest is one gold.”
Milo winced. He only had about twenty silver left.
“Ah,” he said. “I might have to come back for it.”
“Very good, sir. I always have some on hand.” Spragg smiled gently, not showing offense. “This material isn’t in high demand on its own.”
Milo nodded, his mind turning over his options.
He needed to make gold somehow.
With that grim thought in mind, he started to turn away when another idea popped into his brain.
“Mister Spragg? Do you by chance buy cores?”
“I do,” the old shopkeeper said. “But I should advise you that I don’t pay very much for depleted cores. There’s no market for them.”
“I meant charged cores,” Milo said. “Hypothetically, if I had a fully charged core, how much would you buy it from me for?”
“A fully charged core?”
“Yes.”
“As in, completely charged?”
“Yes.”
“Tricky.” The old shopkeeper’s little eyes squinted at him as though trying to see through him. “Fully charged cores are quite rare.”
“Then they’d sell for a lot?”
“Most definitely, sir.”
“That might be troublesome for the seller,” Milo said. “It’d rouse some attention. Maybe too much attention.”
“Perhaps,” Spragg agreed.
Milo wondered if he could get the Workshop to partially charge cores instead. It would be safer for him. There’d be less questions.
“If I had one, though…” He leaned on the counter. “Could you guess its worth?”
“Fully charged core…” Spragg closed his eyes for a moment, thinking carefully.
“It depends of course on the quality of the core. But we shall assume it is an average core of, say, two or three times mana? I would suggest charging approximately, and I stress this as an estimate of value and not a certainty of sale, a minimum of two thousand gold.”
Milo froze. Nothing in the shop was priced that high. “That much?”
“A full charge is rare, sir.” Spragg gave him an intense stare. “Such a core would last for at least a few generations with careful use. Many would see it as a fine investment.”
“One wouldn’t hurt,” Milo rasped. “Would it?”
One would set him up well. He’d be able to buy as many ceramics and crystals as he needed. Maybe more Machine Intelligence Matrixes.
“You have one you would like to sell, sir?”
“Yes.” Milo nodded. “I think I do.”
“You understand I’d need to see it first.”
“Of course. I can bring it with me.” Milo pursed his lips and thought about his future. “I might also be able to bring other cores for sale. Not all fully charged, mind you. Partially charged.”
“How partial, sir?”
“I don’t know,” Milo said lamely. “What’s normal?”
“About a tenth is normal, sir.” Spragg waved a hand at the contents of his shop. “Most of what’s in here is one tenth charged.”
“So low?”
Spragg smiled sadly. “They are old, sir. Their charges have dissipated with time. Many are sold by families who no longer have any mages in their bloodline to hand them to. Although we can recharge a simple quartz with mana, recharging a core is another thing entirely. Even a core made of quartz will not accept a charge with any known method.”
Milo caught the insinuation and gave a tentative smile. “I wish I knew a way,” he said politely. “It would be a great way to make a living.”
“It would indeed, sir.” The shopkeeper returned his smile with one of his own which made him look like an old owl. “Such a thing would shake the very Republic, I would imagine. Not something I would wish to be part of…”
“Me neither,” Milo said. “Lucky I only have one.”
“Yes.” Spragg nodded sagely. “Very lucky, sir. And the Mage Court is not known for tolerating theft.”
“I haven’t stolen anything!”
Spragg’s smile suddenly looked cold and bitter. “To the Mage Court, young man whose name I do not know because you did not choose to give it to me, the mere possession of something they hunger for is good enough excuse to accuse you of theft.”
Milo gulped. “Thank you, Mister Spragg. I will keep that in mind.”
“A good idea, sir. A very good idea.”