[Mothon - Lv. ??] [?? - B-Rank]

  “Can I help you?” Orion asked, clamping down on his instinctive urge to jump away.

  Today had already been very intense. He hadn't expected to encounter the mysterious elf again, nor for him—and he was pretty sure it was a male, though who knew with elves—to approach.

  “Can you? Perhaps. Do I need you to? No,” Mothon murmured in his soft, melodious tone.

  Deciding to disregard the nonsensical words, Orion focused on what truly mattered. Even with my level increase, I can’t see his, which means he must be at the upper end of the third tier. Or possibly the fourth, but that would essentially make him equivalent to a Veil Priestess. His rank is B, so either could be true.

  “What do you mean by ‘principle of Foci Refraction’?” He asked instead.

  Mothon pulled back slightly, letting his hair sway in the breeze. His cat-like eyes took Orion in, examining him from top to bottom and making him feel weirdly naked.

  He did his best to stay still. He wouldn’t let the elf see him unsettled.

  “I believe you might have stumbled upon it. You certainly looked interested enough in that light crystal. Was I wrong?” Was the reply, and Orion started to realize why the necromancers had gone to war against the elves.

  If all of them spoke in circles like this, it’d be extremely frustrating to deal with them. Especially because, apparently, they could live for a very long time. Humans got quite cantankerous after a certain age; who knew what centuries-old elves were like?

  “I have noticed a curious effect, yes, but I do not know if it is what you are referring to,” he said, deciding that two could play that game.

  If anything, that only made Mothon more amused. His laugh was like wind chimes, bright and crystalline, and the light hit his face just right, framing his features as if in a painting.

  It was annoying. Orion did his best to keep the scowl from forming, but the very existence of this elf made it hard to remain polite, especially since his social battery was already drained.

  “I suppose it might be something different,” Mothon finally chuckled, extending his hand as if to ask for the crystal.

  Orion hesitated, not wanting to risk such precious research material. Eventually, he handed it over, deciding that the knowledge he could gain from this elf outweighed the risk to his crystal, especially since he doubted Lucina had given him a very expensive one. She probably remembered his curiosity and chose to smooth over that morning’s tensions with a bauble.

  Mothon held up the crystal, allowing the sunlight to strike it. It refracted, splitting the light into multiple beams of color. Then, Orion felt something occurring, similar to the feeling of a spell being cast next to him, but subtler, noticeable only because he had been so focused.

  The beams of light condensed into a single, brilliant ray, hitting a cracked stone. To Orion’s surprise, where the magic touched, nature thrived. A dandelion transformed from a dry, sad little thing into a vibrant, luminous flower. Grass shoots rose several inches, filling the crack and creating a tidy little patch.

  Then the light cut off, and the growth stopped. Orion was left staring, contemplating the numerous implications of such a spell. He already knew the Sanctum magically enhanced the growth of certain plants, from fruit trees to more magical ones, but he had never witnessed such rapid growth.

  You’d be able to feed so many people…

  “You are from the Ranch, aren't you?” He asked, eyeing the elf with renewed interest.

  The Ranch was the name given by the locals to the nearest elven settlement, which, while nominally independent from the Greenwood Enclave, still adhered to its edict. It was also the most significant food producer in the South, and its recent lack of production was the cause of the tent city outside Silverpeak’s walls.

  They had plenty of farmland, but they were also known for their incredible Nature magic. Case in point, the elf before him, who was smiling kindly, as if he were a toddler who had just figured out something very simple.

  “Indeed, I am. But more importantly, you should note that I used very little mana to cause this growth. So little, in fact, that I should have barely caused the dandelion to heal. And yet, I did so much more, didn’t I?”

  This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

  That was a less suave deflection than earlier, but Orion decided that pushing now probably wouldn’t yield him any answers, so he hummed, eyeing the crystal. “Then I was right. The reflective properties allow for amplification… No, there is no mana being added, so it has to be concentration. The crystal allows the information package that is the spell to come through more neatly.”

  “Now, isn’t that something?” Mothon murmured, watching him with bright eyes. Orion realized he might have said too much. Before he could clam up, however, Mothon handed him the crystal back and stepped away. “Well, I am glad you were able to figure this much out. I will be remembering you, Orion Voidwalker.”

  And with that, the elf vanished, slipping into the crowds in the blink of an eye. It took Orion a moment to realize he hadn’t even mentioned his name.

  The lower portion of the market district was quieter, consisting less of stalls filled with screaming merchants and more of shops where artisans sold their crafts.

  It wasn’t the forge district, where blacksmiths worked their metal into art, but Orion was still curious, having enough cash to afford something good from both his mother’s allowance and what Lucina had given him.

  He doubted he would find anything particularly valuable, but his SDGs were working very efficiently today, allowing him to scan a person every few minutes without overheating, so he wanted to see if he could find a hidden master to buy from.

  His previous snooping had already revealed more than one surprisingly high-level person. Who was to say that no more hid among the masses?

  Sadly, it seems that the prevailing wisdom is indeed accurate.

  After searching through what felt like a hundred different individuals, ranging from mysterious old weavers to elegantly dressed young men, only to discover an average level of sixty— which was on the lower end for the Sanctum’s older students, let alone the more seasoned witches—he was beginning to lose hope of finding a rare talent.

  I should probably be satisfied with what I already have. I made a connection, received a potentially useful gift, and met a mysterious elf. That’s more than enough for a single visit.

  And yet, he kept looking through shop windows, hoping to find someone who stood out just enough from the crowds to warrant his coin.

  He was nearly ready to give up when something unusual caught his attention.

  He had nearly dismissed the young woman. She appeared neither particularly mysterious nor wealthy enough, yet something about her had drawn his eye.

  It wasn’t even that she was pretty, though he had to admit that the way her corset hugged her waist was very tasteful. Orion checked her out of habit, and he had to do a double-take at what he found.

  [Paula - Lv. 120] [Entangled Webmistress - C-Rank]

  Upon further inspection, it was evident that her clothes were a cut above the rest. From the sheer softness and luster of the fabric to the way it flowed with her movements—never crinkling or hindering her—she had clearly achieved a high level of skill as a mere seamstress. Her talent was undeniable.

  Orion entered the shop without hesitation.

  “Welcome, young lord,” came the immediate greeting, and he got the impression that within a single second, she had already analyzed everything he wore and concluded he could only be a student of the Lunar Sanctum.

  Admittedly, he hadn’t done anything to hide it, but it was quite rare for anyone to make the trip down, considering the coven had everything one could desire.

  Orion wasn’t content in that gilded cage, though, and so was very familiar with Silverpeak. He couldn’t recall ever having seen this particular shop, which meant that it must have opened recently.

  “Thank you. Is this a new shop?” He asked, eyeing the bolts of fabric neatly arranged in wooden cabinets, which reminded him of his mother’s potion laboratory.

  “It certainly is. I was fortunate to have the funds required to buy this shop after the previous owner, a candy maker, chose to relocate to Valderun because the troubles south slowed the delivery of sugar.” She explained, keeping her gaze fixed on him.

  However, her hands moved on their own, grabbing a pure white fabric and measuring it. She didn’t even need to look; such was her skill, and wherever her finger was dragged, neat cuts were made.

  Curious about what a high-level seamstress might be doing, Orion tilted his head. “Are you working on something?”

  “I am making your order, of course,” she smiled, revealing pearly white teeth. Human-shaped in this instance.

  “But I haven’t ordered anything yet? I don’t even know if I will buy something from you?” Orion felt even more confused now, a state of being he was beginning to find uncomfortably common.

  This is why I usually stay in my lab. People are too messy.

  Before his eyes, what had once been a length of cloth began to take shape. At first, he thought she had created a cloak of sorts and was about to tell her that his mother had long since filled his closet with high-quality items. But after a moment, he realized it wasn’t that.

  No, it can’t be.

  And yet, it was. Paula was stitching a lab coat right before his eyes.

  It was a piece of clothing he’d often worn in his past life, enjoying the numerous pockets and how it functioned as both a uniform and a shield. He could always just throw on his trusty lab coat and never look out of place walking around campus, and it immediately identified him as a scientist, even if most people tended to assume he was a doctor rather than a physicist.

  Orion had never seen anyone wear it in this life. He hadn’t even found any references to it in the multitude of books he had read or heard it mentioned by his mother, who was certainly no novice in a laboratory.

  “How do you know what that is? And why are you making it for me?” He asked, his voice low. Something felt off about this. Even if she knew he came from the Sanctum, there was no way she’d know he was into the more “experimental magics," much less that he’d like to wear such a unique garment.

  Paula looked up with a smile, “I do not need to speak with my clients to know what they need.”

  She gestured for him to move toward a changing room, where he spent the next few minutes being measured from head to toe. Tape whizzed around the shop, while needles and thread went to work as she hummed to herself.

  Orion was left blinking, genuinely unsure of how to act. Clearly, the woman had a talent for discerning her clients' favorite garments. He had some experience with seer-like individuals, Selene foremost among them, but he had certainly not anticipated such a valuable skill being employed in this way.

  Eventually, after a full twenty minutes of snipping, stitching, and tightening, Orion was presented with a snow-white lab coat, featuring numerous pockets, both internal and external. When he put it on, genuinely curious at this point, he had to admit that it was a masterpiece.

  The fabric felt soft, comfortable, and very sturdy all at once. The pockets appeared capable of holding more than he’d expected, as he slipped his pouch containing the crystal and his coins into them without causing the coat to bulge out.

  If Orion were being honest, he’d have to say that this was the best piece of clothing he’d ever worn.

  “That will be one gold coin, thank you.” The seamstress smiled, and he didn’t even try to bargain, emptying his pockets with little more than a sigh.