"Holy...is this real?" Alea said as she examined the purity of the salt.

"I watched him do it, Guild Master. Shaala asked that we send some to Steepbell as well. Should I head out with more barrels?" Jarbuk asked. Alea looked at Zentha, who rolled her eyes.

"Alright, I'll ask. Give me a few minutes. If she's not in the mood to....wow." She was shocked to immediately hear a message from her goddess. "She has her eye on him, and on us." Zentha said in a voice that slowly trailed off.

"What's wrong?"

"Nuella said to go out with more barrels this time. And crates. For ore. She also says that we are not to give him things. Let him work, and use his abilities. It helps him while it helps us." Zentha swallowed a lump in her throat, while Alea frowned.

"That sounds like he's one of her agents." Alea said quietly. Zentha nodded.

"It wouldn't surprise me." Jarbuk said. "The way he formed those magical skills was not normal. Also, his thoughts on the fairy land is not the way most people, including us, would think. Did you know that when he cleared away the sod from the salt deposit, he had to uproot a blueberry bush? He replanted it. The bush grows food for people and animals. Digging salt would only destroy the area."

"Hm. Agreed. Tools then?" Alea asked.

"Shovels and picks. Nothing else. Show respect for the land. It feels like he might not appreciate those who damage it for coin. He only took what he can eat from the fairy grove, and he wasn't piling up corpses while hunting. What he can use, eat, or maybe sell. No greed." He said.

"Are you reading too much into it?" Alea asked. She wasn't sure he was wrong, but she wanted to ask. Jarbuk snorted.

"He didn't ask for a single coin for the salt. You tell me." After Jarbuk left the room, it wasn't long before Alea groaned softly. She reached down and held the affectionate elf by the horns and pulled her in.

"Only you can deep throat a stallion like this." Alea said and smiled. "Only my Zennie can suck on my dick while it's in her throat."

* * *

Baris picked up a piece of tin that he dug out of the deposit he found, and took a piece of copper ore. He frowned when he took it back to his camp, and tried to think of a way to smelt the ore without using a furnace.

"Magic is the only way, right?" He said quietly. He put his palm facing the copper piece. "Purify. No, that doesn't work. 'Smelt Copper'. Oh, that's a surprise. I thought I would have to take out the impurities first, but smelting removed those impurities." He watched the debris fall away from an oddly shaped piece of metal.

"However, that was expensive. A hundred points of manna as I am still in the novice range. If this is like the material processing, then I will need to level each one up, but still get the reduction in manna when I hit beginner." He waited patiently, or almost patiently for his manna to recover before he looked at the tin.

"As I thought. I have to wait for my manna to recover again. Smelt Tin is a similar spell. Can I remember how much tin is used? Is it fifty percent?" He asked himself.

"Not a chance." Baris lifted his eyes and saw a familiar face.

"Jarbuk! Back already. Oh, you know about bronze? What percentage is it, or can you tell me?" Baris asked, while Jarbuk smiled.

"I'm going to help you to help yourself. Remember your bronze knife?" Baris nodded. "Scan the material. It should tell you how much tin to copper is used for the metal itself. Don't scan the knife, as it won't work the way you want it to." Jarbuk said and watched Baris ran for the knife hanging on a tree.

"Son of a goat!" Baris used a curse that he had heard on a show before he came to Ceru. "Only fifteen percent tin? That's quite low, but bronze is a bit coppery in color, so that makes sense." He walked back to the metal, while Jarbuk watched, just in case there was a problem. Not that there would be. He just wanted to see someone other then a Mastersmith dwarf do metal manipulation.

"Smelt bronze." Baris scrunched up his nose. "I blew it. I left the entire piece there and it combined the two in total. Ugh. I think I need a way to measure the weight." Jarbuk laughed, but though it was a failed product, it showed the man had the ability.

"The best way is to get a small container to put your ore in. Fill it with smelted ore eight and half times. Then fill it one and a half times with tin. That will give you the proportions. Normally, it's done in ingot form, so when you cast your smelting magic, picture a block. It's all about intent with magic." Baris grinned wider.

"I understand. I see you brought more barrels this time. I take it they liked the salt." Baris said with a grin.

"Like? You have no idea. Here. I'll show you what they sell us." He opened a small container and watched as Baris' eyes twitched.

"It's not white." Jarbuk nodded. "It's not even tan. It's brown. What in the actual fuck." He held out his hand. "Ingredient scan. Thirty percent salt. Dirt. Stone. Grass. And....Jarbuk, you know what else is in this?"

"Yeah. Crap. We melt it in water, filter it, purify it, boil it down until we get enough good stuff. There are enough people in Noobville that the town goes through half a barrel a week, just salt, not this. Steepbell needs a full one, due to the higher population." Jarbuk looked a little bit unsure, which made Baris frown slightly.

"Is something wrong, Jarbuk?"

"Well, we hate to ask, but is it alright to mine the salt for our needs? We'll pay...what?" Jarbuk asked as Baris rolled his eyes.

"Idiot. I'm using your salt! This belongs to Noobville! I'm just using a bit of it for my needs." Baris watched Jarbuk's mouth open in shock.

"But this is worth a fortune! You found it, and you know that we won't ever try to take it away from someone that Nuella approves of!" Jarbuk said, but Baris smiled and shook his head.

"Jarbuk, if she approves of me, why do you think that is? Is it because I'm greedy, and horde something your town desperately needs?" That simple question made Jarbuk smile wide.

"You sure you're a human, Baris?" Jarbuk laughed a bit, but began to look a bit uncomfortable again.

"Just down the mountain edge, to the south." Baris chuckled. He could read this dwarf like an open book. "You'll find two ledges where I dug. Like I said, I would like to use what I can, but the rest belongs to Noobville, unless Nuella says otherwise."

"It doesn't belong to me. I just found it."

* * *

"Zennie! Are you alright?" She pulled out of the mare and watched her choke for the first time in nearly fifty years.  Her two hundred year old mare was the reason she came to this town.  She had been smitten with her since her coming of age ceremony, and the older woman helped to take the edge off her lusts.

"I was just surprised by Nuella." She coughed and cleared her throat. "Jarbuk is bringing back salt, and the rights to mine the salt. She said that he only wants to have some for his personal use." She coughed again.

"Really? We can mine it?" Alea said eagerly.

"Within reason, Alea." Zentha said as she caught her breath. "That deposit is large, but not infinite. Don't share it with the west, and only a little to the east and north. Don't draw attention, or let others know about it. Also, he's letting us have the copper and tin deposits as long as he can use a bit." Zentha took a large breath.

"All that in one message?"

"A series. Nuella is admonishing us. She knows he will travel around Noobville, use his skills to find stuff, and probably let us mine it for free. If we get greedy, we'll get nailed with so much negative karma, we'll think she believes we're demons." Immediately after she said what she needed to, Zentha pushed Alea's now firmly erect member back into her mouth and down her throat.

"I do not know how you even breathe with my dick down that far, but you keep it there for minutes at a time." Alea said softly. "Won't you give in, Zennie? Won't you give me a colt?"

Alea groaned as she felt Zentha's throat firmly clasp onto her member and bob her head faster. She only hoped that action meant yes as she blew deep within her lover's throat and let it all spill into her stomach.

Alea loved this woman more than she's ever been able to tell her.