Outside Grathok's shop, Jax stepped toward Llandra and gently took her hand.
Then, without ceremony, he authorized the transfer.
SYSTEM TRANSFER
6,800,000 GOLD TRANSFERRED.
Jax hadn't said a word to her what he was going to do. He just did it.
"Twenty percent of the sell of the dragon. Here is your share of the sale."
There are protests from Llandra and even the other Vixens. You have paid us too much for something so simple. We simply showed you how to use your system. This is way beyond what we are owed.
Jax simply said, "Deal is a deal. And I fulfill my agreements."
Llandra thinks to herself, "This amount alone eclipsed her family's treasury.
And he'd done it within a week of arrival."
The other Vixens are ecstatic. They just can't imagine spending this much money. They were pretty low maintenance before, but now they are thinking of what to buy the next time they go shopping.
Their next stop was Brannic's forge.
Merriweather greeted them with her usual flair, hovering close and studying the girls with a knowing grin.
"Oh my stars…" she sang. "You became women last night."
Every single one of them blushed.
Jax included.
"Well," Merriweather added brightly, "you'll have to take me to brunch sometime and tell an old woman like me, all about it. I want to relive my life vicariously through the youth of today."
Nyxian smirked and glanced at Brannic. "I don't think we were the only ones who got lucky. Merriweather, I think you can live your life vicariously though your own experiences from what I'm detecting."
Now for the first time, it was Merriweather's first time to blush.
She flies into the circle of Vixens. "Can you blame a girl like me. He looks gruff, but he's just so handsome."
The Vixens look at the 4.5 foot tall pudgy but stout dwarf with full beard, gruff eyes and messed up hair.
Brannic said nothing — but the color rising beneath his beard told the whole story.
Nyxian tries to sound enthusiastic, "Oh Yeah."
Llandra adds on, "Who can resist such a man?"
"Let's get to work," Brannic said gruffly, getting the meeting back on track.
Jax laid out the plan.
A new building. Larger. Better equipped. Merriweather would design the showroom. Brannic would build the forge.
"I already bought it," Jax said simply.
Brannic stared at him. "A man who puts his gold where his mouth is."
They moved to the forge.
Jax summoned dragon materials from his system — scales, organs, bone.
Brannic watched, eyes narrowing.
"Up until now," he said slowly, "I had about a twenty percent doubt about you."
He looked up at Jax.
"I don't anymore."
Jax followed his system's guidance, initiating Transmutation. The mixture glowed, heat and power swirling as magic took hold.
Merriweather gasped. "You're doing it… You're creating enchantable material."
Jax handed them schematics.
"Two weeks," Brannic said firmly. "We'll have it ready."
Hands were shaken. Deals sealed.
As they left, Bunny finally asked, "So… what now?"
Jax smiled.
"Now we register at the guild," he said."We plan our next mission."
His gaze hardened.
"And then," he added quietly, "we train."