Chapter 27- Manufacturing Quality Goods

It took Sister Li two weeks to craft Tian’s darts. During that time, for no plausible reason Tian heard, the base was shifted from an Up to a Down posture. That is, it was no longer considered on the front lines, and so long as people earned their monthly quota of military merits, they could pick and choose the missions they took.

Brother Long Yichen came to find him when the darts were ready, and looked subtly disappointed to be called “Brother Long” instead of “Brother Supreme Art.” Tian was prepared to endure his disappointment. He agreed with Sister Li. “Supreme Art” was a ridiculous name to call yourself, especially when Tian hadn’t seen the man craft so much as a cup of tea.

Tian was still courteous to him. Other than his weird naming sense, Brother Long was alright and it was hardly his fault that he had been born into a good family. Tian just wouldn’t waste his good tea on him. It was a comforting thought, and it helped him forget that Brother Long had better tea than he did.

It also helped distract from the memory of the dead Brother Long in the desert, and the Grace Cloud Valley green tea that remained untouched in his storage ring. Tian sometimes found himself looking out over the wasteland, dreaming of adventuring down the Green Snake River. He had never been to a city before. He would find the city of osmanthus trees and drink in the tea house. Perhaps he would find a Xiaoxiao there. It was one way to leave the wasteland in his mind. There were other ways, of course.

“Do you have any hobbies, Brother Long?”

“Oh, well, I do try to cultivate my dao heart with the four arts.”

“The four arts, brother?”

“Yes? Ah… perhaps you know them by another name. Painting, calligraphy, playing the guqin and playing Go.”

“Go is the game with the black and white stones, and the table with a big grid on it, right?”

“Yes. You really never played?”

“No, I have seen the senior brothers play it, of course, but I never really understood it.”

“Would you like to learn?”

Tian thought about it. On the one hand, he had innumerable things to learn. His conversations with Brother Wong already had his head spinning and the other doctors were worse. On the other hand, his studies were expected to take decades, or even the rest of his hopefully eternal life. So it wouldn’t be terrible to learn how to play. And Brother Zhang’s little jab about not having any hobbies rankled. Brother Long looked hopeful. Tian smiled and nodded.

“I’ll have to trouble you.”

“No trouble at all! This is great! Everyone else here has been playing for a century or more. I get killed every time.” Brother Long rubbed his hands together. “But in the meantime, Senior Li is waiting. I think you are going to really like what she has to show you.”

Senior Sister Li looked like she was ready to fall over and die, but she was smiling. Or grimacing. Probably smiling.

“You owe me.”

“I thought you were taking the unused hairs as your fee?”

“Yes. But morally. Also practically, each of these darts took six hairs, considerably more than I thought they would. But damned if it wasn’t worth it. Look at these beauties!”

The older crafter waved her hand grandly towards a wide leather pad on her crafting table. The painfully white lights shown down on… nothing. Tian squinted. He could see faint glints of light on the stained hide.

“You made the darts even more invisible?”

“Oh they are so much more than just invisible. Watch this!” She gently blew some white powder over her desk. The fine particles settled gently on ten three inch long darts. Each dart was an elongated oval, nearly a cylinder, slightly wider in the middle but quickly compressing down to a sharp point at either end. “Are you watching? Don’t blink. If you blink after all of this, I’ll ban you!” She reached out and gave the leather pad a little shake. The darts and the powder shifted slightly, and the darts vanished.

“Sister Li?!”

The crafter smiled. She had been staring viciously at Tian’s eyes. He hadn’t blinked.

“Your eyes don’t deceive you. I have managed with craft what usually requires enchantment- environmental blending. Not only are the darts fully transparent, if they get covered in powder, smoke, water vapor or the like, so long as they move even slightly, they will simply appear as another part of that medium. It is possible to see them move if you look very, very carefully, but in most use cases, they can evade even the techniques used to find invisible enemies.”

“Amazing. Just… I don’t know enough words to say just how amazing it is. This is just incredible.”

“Now I know what you are thinking. ‘Sister Li, you may be the Heavens’ answer to the dream of Earthly crafters, but I am a hot blooded man. Excessively hot blooded. Just… so much blood, everywhere. What if my beautiful, highly technically complicated, made with unique ingredients darts become covered in something sticky and highly visible? Like blood?’”

“My exact thoughts… Supreme Crafter Li?”

“Crude, do better. But I appreciate the effort. The answer is, you are screwed. Except! I spent six damn hours per needle polishing them with increasingly fine powders and silks, as well as soaking them in hardening and preservative agents. You wouldn’t believe how many highly specific agents and reagents went into crafting your needles. The sheer quantity of Gold Thread Tree Heart powder…” She drifted off. Then shuddered a little.

A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.

There was a long pause.

“Senior sister, do you need a commission to go to bed?”

“Oh, I’m going to sleep for three days straight after this. I just needed you to understand, these things are absolutely amazing, sharp as a sword cultivator’s razor, and utterly precious. I don’t usually interfere with my customer’s choice of weapon art, but I swear on my eyes if you pick some cheap ass art as part of your broke ass lifestyle-”