Christmas Gifts in June

At the same time, across the hall...

"The materials will be ready soon." Nick Rogers gave Jake a heads-up.

Walking up to the crafting station, Jake replied with an affirmative nod.

The crowd naturally parted away from Jake, giving Jake some working room.

"Before crafting the talisman." Nick Rogers continued.

"Master Collins, we have ordered a Christmas present for you."

"However, I think it would be more fit to give this to you now, as a celebration gift from the Rogers family."

"Congratulations on passing the certification exam." Nick Rogers handed over a gift box. Shiny red gift wrappings. Tied up with a golden ribbon. About the size of a pillow. Even got the Christmassy To-and-From tags on it.

"Thanks." Jake nodded and opened up his gift.

Flipping open a metal box, there was a black robe inside. A lowkey and plain design. Got no decorations. But in the eyes of a detector, this robe was covered in mana circuits.

Sitting on top of that robe was an artisan pen. A slender black casing. Looked like a fountain pen.

Jake widened his eyes a little at these two articles. Even without any descriptions, Jake recognized these two items.

Artisan robe. An outfit specifically designed for artisans. Keeps the artisan at a comfortable temperature regardless of the surroundings. Helps with mana regeneration. Improves the artisan's focus. Also got some defensive capabilities.

The newer generations even had calming effects. However, this black robe was the common 2015 design. A little old, but still good.

Jake felt the fabric. Smooth like silk, but without the cold sensation.

Looking at the pen, it's a 2016 limited edition. Without doubt, this was one of the best performing pens on the market.

None of these could be bought with money. Had to be at least high-level materials. Most likely yellow-tier monster cores.

Even at that lucrative practice, there's still a long waitlist.

Jake lifted his brows.

Christmas gift? Ordered early for him? Really? These two gifts felt way too expensive to be just Christmas gifts.

Nevertheless, Jake didn't feel like thinking further.

'K.' Jake nodded at himself, accepting the situation. 'I'll take it.'

"Thanks."

"My pleasure." Nick Rogers tiredly smiled. "Would you like to try them on?"

Jake took a look at this young guildmaster.

'If these guys didn't need me to save Badger, would they really give these to me?' Thinking of this, Jake raised a brow.

Either way, Jake was not giving these back, regardless of the result.

"Sure." Jake casually took off his grey hoodie and put on the artisan robe.

Yeah... Unfortunately, in order to take effect, the artisan robe required skin contact with the user.

At the same time, at the entrance of this hall...

"Did you know master Collins entered a realm by himself. Without any protection?" The housekeeper continued with his persuasion. "You know how dangerous that is."

"Also, you should know the tension between us and the wolves."

"This task is critical. Just in case they play underhanded moves."

"Emily. Emily?"

*Sniff*

The short girl seemed rather focussed with Jake's clothing change.

Six packs... Well-defined muscles... Not a haughty mid-aged dude.

Rich. Genius. Not married. And Young. Also Good looking... And good looking.

Something felt right.

*Sniff*

"Emily?"

Without hesitation, the short girl ran off to the door.

"Emily." The housekeeper followed the short girl into the hallway.

"What." The short girl turned around and lightly pulled on her pajamas.

"You think I'll present myself in these?" The short girl puffed up her cheeks again.

"Yeah. Yeah. I'll take the job. You can go back now." Emily flicked her hand impatiently at the housekeeper.

Without further hesitation, this girl ran off.

Seeing this result, the housekeeper rubbed his chin.

So in the end, looks are the most important...

Back to inside the hall...

The materials were being brought in one suitcase after another.

A table got moved over to hold the materials.

During the wait, Jake got used to his new artisan pen. Mana control had never felt easier.

Jake closed his eyes and thought for a moment.

This pen was one of the 'once you use it, you never go back' type of article.

If the artisan pens were eating utensils, the limited edition pen would be a spork (spoon+fork).

The $3,000 dollars artisan pen would be a stick.

A stick. As in those thin fallen branches on park grounds. It's... kind of useful. Just not ideal.

And the $49 dollars pen would be a brick. It's... workable... Workable. *Sigh*

With his eyes closed, Jake nodded. 'And yet, I managed to make a talisman with a $49 pen somehow.'

Looking back now, Jake felt a little impressed with himself.

'Neat.' Jake nodded at himself, accepting what he's been through.

'Now. Focus.' Jake took a deep breath and opened his eyes.

"Whenever you are ready Master Collins." The branch master tiredly smiled and nodded.

"There is no failure limit on this test."

Nathaniel raised a hand and interjected. "Sorry. But we only have 1 portion."

"The materials for advanced talismans is rather rare." Nathaniel 'sighed in defeat.' "I apologize about this inconvenience."

The branch master took a cold glance at Nathaniel.

"Heh-hemm." The branch master continued after a cough. "Successfully build one of the level 1 advanced talismans, and it's a pass."

"As reward, you will gain the level 2 blueprints, including Cleanse, Clairvoyance, and Clarity."

Hearing this, Jake nodded. He needed the cleanse blueprint. These talismans were perfect for removing curses.

"The talisman cannot be subpar grade."

"Please take your time."

"Would you like to commence the exam now?"

Jake took a deep breath and looked around. After hearing the branch master's view of the situation, nobody was hopeful now.

Success after 1 year of studying would make that person a genius.

Success after 1 month of blueprint studying would make that person a genius among geniuses. There's a good chance for this person to become a master artisan in his/her lifetime.

Master artisans!

The peak of the artisan hierarchy. The rulers of the guild. Only got 42 of these guys in North America.

Success after one hour of studying. Unheard of.

Nobody expected Jake to succeed now.

Wearing tired looks, they were here just because Jake demanded an exam.

Well. Taking a look, it's almost 4AM already. Can't blame these guys.

Jake took a moment to sort out the 45 materials on the table. Magical alloy blocks. Crystals. Gems. Rocks. Gels. Refined material orbs.

Only got one chance.

The consequence for failure could be... troublesome. Badger's likelihood of survival would be close to none.

Nathaniel would become the representative from the Iron Sparrow Guild. Not interested in that to happen.

Throwing those thoughts out of his mind, Jake focussed at the current situation.

Thinking over the procedures one last time, Jake turned on the crafting station.

'Let's begin.'