Solution?

"I will make a hydration talisman, a nutriment talisman, and a mana-regeneration talisman."

Hearing this solution, Jake witnessed the subtle change of expressions again.

The expression of the loyals went from hopeful to disappointed.

The expression of the actors changed from 'nervous and tense' to 'relaxed and relief'.

Jake lightly flicked his brows. Looks like Badger was not that popular here.

"Master Collins, this is your solution." Nathaniel looked at Jake with a questioning gaze.

Why did Badger seal himself in the first place? Out of hunger? Out of dehydration? Out of mana? What a joke.

So how would these three talismans save the day?

"Yes." Jake nodded.

"I'd suppose... we have no other solutions. In this case, I will have your ride ready as soon as possible." Nathaniel 'powerlessly' sighed.

"We have a crafting station here." Nick Rogers interrupted.

"We do?" Nathaniel looked 'confused', as if he'd never heard of this before.

Nick Rogers took a cold glance at his older brother. "Follow me."

This young guildmaster led the group out of the cellar. Turning right and left from time to time, the group entered a large hall.

This place was like the court of a two-storey motel. There were rows of doors on each side. Two sets of stairs led up to the higher floors.

At the spacious public area here, there were various utilities. A coffee bar. Some tables and chairs. Billiard tables. Ping Pong tables. A TV set and couches in a corner. Except everything here was covered in a layer of dust.

Walking up to a small stage, Nick Rogers pulled off the cloth cover off a station. Yep, as expected. A crisp-looking crafting station. Looks pretty new, as if it's never been used before.

"We'd have the materials ready in a moment." The housekeeper lightly bowed.

"Sounds good." Jake nodded. Turning on the crafting station, Jake focused his mind to get used to the mana flow.

"Old rules?" Jake asked. Free materials. 20 grands each.

Looking up, the housekeeper seemed to be moved by this offer. For some reason...

"Thank you sir." The housekeeper firmly bowed.

Jake could have raised the price to an astronomical number! It's not like they could refuse in this situation. But Jake didn't!

Kindness and generosity really does pay back!

"Oh." Jake nodded.

Jake realized this too. However, Jake didn't want to give Nathaniel an excuse to cancel the deal.

The small gains at the moment wasn't worth it. Having an iron-tier ally seemed more important.

If Badger was a reasonable person, Jake could ask for favors from this iron-tier.

After all, Jake couldn't stay in Shine city forever.

'After I leave, maybe Badger can take care of uncle Chad's family.'

In a moment, the bodyguards returned with three suitcases.

"Only 3 portions?"

"What's the meaning of this."

"Is the guildmaster's life only worth this?"

Some explorers glared at Nathaniel.

Some members of the Rogers family stared at Nathaniel, waiting for an answer.

"I heard master Collins have 100% success rate with basic talismans. So three portions would be enough. Would this be correct, Master Collins."

Jake lightly knitted his brows.

Three portions, three talismans needed. To an aspiring artisan, this would be an unseen form of pressure. Under stress, it'd be much harder to focus. In turn, reducing the success rate.

Also, where did this guy hear about this? What's up with the 100% success rate on all talismans? At shine city, Jake hadn't sold any nutriment or hydration talismans.

'If I ask for more materials, this guy would attack my credibility.'

'If I fail once, this guy would question whether I can actually succeed or not.'

'Even if I succeeded, the product has to be convincing, or he'd question whether my product is faulty or not.'

Jake squinted a little. Requiring 100% was no problem. But this guy's attitude was ticking him off a little.

Not planning to hide anymore? This guy was a hindrance after all.

Jake knew this guy's true face. By the looks of it, this guy knew that Jake knew his true face. Jake... Erhm...

Either way, Jake had no firm evidence though.

'If I quit now, I would be giving up all the profit. This guy wants me to do just that right?'

'Well, not today.'

After saving Badger, this dude would definitely see a tragic end.

In this case...

Jake carelessly shrugged.

"No problem." Jake nodded.

No matter. In the end, it's just basic talismans. How hard could it be.

This was not Jake's first rodeo. He had an entire set of 8 talismans on himself at the moment.

Also... Jake took out his artisan pen. It's not the $49 practice model anymore.

Jake's new pen looked like a fat fountain pen with a red metal casing. Cost Jake three grands. Professional Crafting Model. About the best pen on the market. For better models, Jake would need to place an order on the waiting list.

Receiving this answer, Nathaniel warmly smiled and looked around. Some looked satisfied with this answer. Some explorers looked concerned.

About half of the people here faintly smiled, as if subtly saying: 'good job.'

Jake opened a briefcase. The chatter here quickly died down. The people here seemed to be holding their breaths.

No sound at all. Could hear a pin drop now.

'Do these guys really have nothing better to do... Is crafting really that interesting to watch.' Jake casually placed a monster core onto the refining burner.

A moment later, Jake continued with the procedures.

"Erhm. Master Collins." It was the big dude with a metal cane speaking.

People here glared at the big fella.

"Yes?" Jake continued with his work. Something like this was not enough to make his hand shake.

"How can we know that your talisman is not faulty."

"Oh. Failed talisman have no glow. Faulty talisman glows with the wrong color. Subpar talisman have a weak glow." While responding, Jake continued writing strokes.

"Master Collins is really good at this."

"Looks like this is easy to him."

"He doesn't need to concentrate while crafting? Impressive!"

All the compliments were in an admiring tone. But the intent... Hmm...

The chatter quickly got louder.

With a flick, Jake finished drawing out the runic character. That runic character quickly self-folded into a chip, emitting a light-blue glow. Without doubt, this was an easy success.

Add casing. Grab the slowly descending talisman. Hydration talisman completed.

Nick Rogers opened and closed his mouth a few times. He probably wanted the people here to quiet down.

Jake shook his head. "It's fine."

They could jump around all they want for now. After Badger is saved... Heyhey...

Either way, Jake was not quitting now.

Open another briefcase. In this noisy environment, Jake continued working.

In a minute or two, a talisman emitting an orange glow was completed. Nutriment talisman. Completed.

A moment later. Mana regeneration talisman completed.

Nathaniel Rogers started clapping. The people here followed.

Jake lightly knitted his brows again.

At the Artisan Tower, when those explorers clapped, it was out of genuine celebration. Those were actual cheers out of admiration.

Here... These guys looked like an audience clapping at a performing clown.

Jake knitted his brows further. Even as a mild-tempered person, he was getting a little fed up.

'Looks like Nick Rogers is a much better collaboration partner after all.'

'Can't be helped then. In this case, I'll definitely try my best to remove Badger's curse.'

Looking around, nobody here looked convinced that this was the solution.

"Well, master Collins. Let's test out the solution, shall we." Extending a hand to the door, Nathaniel warmly smiled.

It was still his win in the end! After Badger had fallen, under his leadership, their family would certainly prosper like never before! Nathaniel was confident of this.