How to propose to a mage

We eat a lot. I believe we needed the calories. This grandma's cooking is insanely good. Not to mention, the nutritional values of a balanced meal are all included.

After a very good meal, grandma proposes: -"So… I'm quite the chef as you can see. If you wish to reside here and have 3 meals a day, you can, but I'll ask you to help me with daily quests such as the one you already completed for me. Of course, you will also get paid similarly as if it was a request by the guild. What do you say, young ones?"

"Luna", I start whispering, "it seems grandma's kindness was quite sharp and not entirely unrelated to business. No problem with that of course. I don't mind helping people with their personal requests as well. But, is it legal to be a guild member and make official arrangements like this one, skipping the extra coin the guild would get?" I ask.

-"Yea, there's no problem with that. People who make requests to the guild pay a certain sum to put the request, and hand the guild an amount of money that is equal to the stated reward as well. These kinds of deals are rare to come by, but would essentially save some money for the person who makes the request", she explains.

-"Exactly!" Grandma says, challenging our false narrative that she wouldn't be able to hear well if we whisper, just because she is old. -"In fact, that extra amount one would pay the guild – I replace by offering you a place to stay and 3 meals! It does mean, however, that you won't make progress towards status in the guild", she admits.

"Ohh… I see. What do you think Luna? I think saying yes to this would prioritize making money while we improve our combat skills just as much, however, if we don't increase our guild level – we won't get help with buying a house in Quadmountia and such. I would believe those will might cost a lot".

-"Hmm… That is true. However, are we sure we want a house in Quadmountia?" She asks. It's a good question.

"I didn't think of that. Guild progress transfers between guilds of different cities but if we prefered living in a village or a town just like this…"

-"Now, now… No need to rush your decision. Sleep on it, talk it over", grandma says, -"I'm going to sleep", she adds, as she goes behind the living room area on the same floor.

It seems she sleeps there, this place is quite big if she has an entire living unit hidden behind the living room. I guess the shop area is relatively small, despite the huge amount of merchandise. The floors upstairs – albeit reaching high – are relatively narrow. Grandma is quite skilled in using her space efficiently.

We go upstairs.

-"Rune, let’s go to sleep and think about it tomorrow. It's a really good option, but just like she said – no need to rush it", Luna says.

"Yea, you are right. Good night Luna".

-"Good night".

The next day

I feel something soft and pleasant on the top of my head. It's striking my hair gently. Feels so velvety. It's a hand. The hand goes to my face, right to my cheek in a caressing motion. So soft.

-"Rune, wake up", Luna says.

I open my eyes and see her already dressed.

-"Get ready. A fun day awaits us!" She says with excitement.

I get dressed and we hit the town. We see tons of potion shops, some specialize in specific status and healing effects, but most commonly they deal with HP and MP.

"What's that place?" I ask, as I see a weird shop that doesn't seem like it's potion-themed.

-"I really don't know", Luna says. -"Wanna check it out?"

"Yea", I say in agreement. We enter the store.

We see a bunch of rare items, weird monster drops and crystals.

"It's relatively dark here, isn't it?" I say.

-"The sunlight might damage some of the crystals", a man replies.

I'm a little spooked since I didn't even notice him.

-"Oh! Hello", Luna says. -"Do you have anything for mages?"

-"Most of the items here might assist a mage smith. The only thing I have here specifically for mages is this staff. It's one of best staff I've ever seen, if not the best of them all, containing a huge amount of magic capacity", he answers.

"How much for the staff?" I ask.

-"You don't beat around the bush, do you? This one cost 50,000".

Me and Luna choke a bit on that new piece of information.

-"Rodo, this thing costs like a house. If most of what I do is buff, then we are going to be fine anyway".

"Luna, what if we agree to the nice grandma's offer?" I suggest. "We can travel back to Quadmountia just to deliver the items to the weapon shop owner, and then come back here and work for her until we have enough money for that staff".

-"But…"

"Then we can return to Quadmountia and keep raising our guild levels. Instead of choosing, we can do all of the above!" I declare. "I did promise I'm going to get you something like that ring. Remember?"

Luna smiles, she looks a little bit embarrassed.

-"Oh Rune! Before we get back to the weapon shop in Quadmountia, remember we wanted to get more of the rare materials to improve your dagger? We ended up getting extra crystal wings, 2 pairs, but we didn't get a red beak for ourselves. Let's take a quest today, and on the way - look for one or two red sky champions".

"You are right! Let's do that. You said we might be able to get paid here for the quest we already completed, right? Let's go to the guild stand".

We wave goodbye to the 'weird shop' owner and go to the guild stand. We receive 2,500 for the quest and take another one, asking for lots of yellow beaks. We march into the forest and hunt some birds until we locate a red one.

We quickly deal with it and take what we came for. Time flies and so we swiftly come back to the guild stand to get paid, planning on making it to the upcoming shuttle in a few minutes from now. We get paid a 1,000 coins, as this quest was easier and our choice to commit to red-beak-chasing as well - was entirely voluntary.

We run towards the wagon. It seems the carter is still preparing, and we made it in time.

-"Oh Rune! We forgot about the library…"

"It's okay, we'll come back for it", I reply.

I smile at her. I can see she loses her stress, and I'm glad my smile has a similar effect on her, like hers has on me.

We travel for around 4 hours back to Quadmountia. We arrive, but we skip entering the guild since we already got paid for the quest. We head to the weapon shop.

-"Ohho! Now look who we have here! You came back so fast!"

"Yessir! See? We didn't mean to con you of your dagger!" I say jokingly.

Luna gives him the items he asked for.

-"I wanted to ask", Luna says, -"are you a smith? Or maybe a magic smith?"

-"I'm actually capable of doing both. Normal smithing and magic smithing. Let me show you. Do you need your old dagger?" He asks me.

"Not really" I answer.

-"Give me your new one".

I give him the new dagger and he takes it to the back of the shop. We see a light and hear some noise. He comes back with my new dagger, only now it has an amazing look, with metallic lines on it.

-"This doesn't improve the stats, but it looks much better now. It also increases its' worth! That is one example of magic smithing I can do".

-"Will you be able to upgrade the durability on the dagger as well?" Luna asks.

-"I could, but that would require another red beak. If you wanted to reinforce it further, I would also ask of you to bring me another pair of crystal wings, but at that stage it might take multiple tries", he explains.

-"Perfect!" Luna replies. -"We got 1 beak and 2 pairs of wings!!"

-"Alright, bring it here, and let's give you an upgrade".

He takes the items and my dagger, and applies the items. The beak upgrade works, but the crystal wings upgrade fails. He then tries with the second pair, and it works.

"Wow. Thank you so much. How much we owe you?"

-"Don't worry about it, on the house. Oh, speaking of 'on the house'…"

He removes the casing from above his prized garnet ring and hands the ring to me.

-"Take it", he says. -"You'll have better use of it".