Vampire Cultivation System in a Hidden World of Monsters

Chapter 53 Contracting Blackhammer

I would be surprised if they didn't have multiple mines going. Dwarves seemed like a self reliant bunch and I doubted they would import vast quantities of metal and other resources they could get from the earth themselves.

The town had mine cart rails running down the street. The buildings were short and stout stone buildings merged with metalwork. The doors had intricate metalworking designs on them. Some of the houses even had minor gemstones embedded in the doors.

The streets were lined by electric streetlights. Just what I wanted to see. I wasn't sure what level of technology the dwarves were using but I hoping for electrical expertise. I walked down the street and everyone stared at me. Not angrily. Just curious and confused.

The quest arrow had me turn right and I could see into a metalworking shop that had the symbol of a black hammer above the door. I assumed this must be the place.

When I stepped through the doorway, I had to duck my head to get inside but once I was inside, I had a decent amount of head room. Not as much as in human and vampire dwellings, but enough.

"Well, hello," said a jovial voice. I looked down to see a rather handsome dwarf of early middle age with a bushy black beard and black hair. He was wearing a leather apron over a rugged blue shirt with the sleeves rolled up.

He put his hand out to shake mine and I took it. He hand a very strong grip but he didn't try to crush my hand.

"My name is Galvin Blackhammer. What can I help you with today?" He said, rubbing his hands together.

A golden mouth floating next to Galvin said, "He expects good business from you since you came all this way down to visit his shop. He values money, business, directness, and transparency. He is one of the few dwarven business owners who is willing to work with outsiders, especially predatory monsters like vampires. Tell him you're here for a big job."

So that's why the system wanted me to visit him specifically. I like that. "I'm looking to get a big job done. Big job. Really big. Is that something you would be capable of handling or even be interested in?"

His eyes lit up when I said that. "Absolutely! I'm always open to new customers and new jobs. Especially big projects. What kind of job are we talking here and what's your budget?"

"Lights and roads. Infrastructure. The vampire territories are unlit and unpaved. I'm looking to change that. I want to be able to get to portals faster and I might be looking to expand in the near future, so I'd need the infrastructure before we start putting in any new buildings," I said.

"You're going to need a lot more than just lights and roads if you want to start putting any new buildings in. Especially if you want to build something like a town or a city," he said.

"I can't possibly list all the things you'd need right now or we'd be here for an hour, but to list a few things, you'll need systems for water, sewage, telecommunications, gas lines, electricity. You'd need a water treatment facility, a waste management facility, electrical substations, and power generation facilities."

"Those are just the basics. The list continues, but I won't bore you with those details. For one, those details would become my job if you contracted me for them, but also, I doubt you personally have the finances to implement something like that. How would you be paying for this? Is the Vampire Association going to back you on this project?"

"No. It would just be me financing it, and technically I would still need to get approval from the Vampire Association, but I have the lead elder and another elder on my side, so I should be alright," I said.

"You do realize how much this would cost right? And are you aware that the Vampire Association has 120 members?" He said, crossing his arms.

The golden mouth said, "He's not liking what he's hearing. He thinks you came into this project with too little preparation and research and political backing to get this done. You better reel him in with something big or you'll lose him."

"Ok. I'll admit I wasn't as prepared as I should have been for this project, but there is one thing I do have, and that's the money. I currently have in my possession, fifteen million gold giblets," I said.

"Ok. That's certainly impressive as far as individual wealth goes, and you could probably make a small town with a population of about 3,000 people with that amount. And its certainly more money than I've ever seen," he said.

"How about this. We'll start with the most basic aspect of building infrastructure down here. Pest control. We'll have to root out the monsters you have in your territories and remove them before we start on any construction. Does that sound like a deal?"

I put my hand out to shake his and he took it. We shook. "That sounds like a deal to me," I said. "What's your asking price?"

"Well, this would just be an estimate for now. I'll bill you based on what we actually do, but my estimate would be about 2,000 giblets," He said.

"He's testing you to see if you call him on his above average asking price. It's not outlandish, but it is high. Say 1,500 giblets." The golden mouth said.

"1,000 giblets and I'll help kill monsters. I'm actually quite handy with this sword," I said as I patted the sword at my side.

"Hmm. 1,000 giblets if you prove how good you are with a sword in front of me," he said.

"Ok. I'm quite powerful but I'll back off on that, because I don't want to collapse your shop. I'll go with fine control to demonstrate," I said, as I got a giblet out.

I was about to toss the giblet in the air, but the soul beast was staring at it like it was going to try to snatch it out of the air.

'No, no. Not right now,' I thought at it.

It whimpered and looked disappointed. The soul beast was currently invisible to everyone but me. I activated Blood Draw and pulled blood onto the blade, especially at the tip. I tossed the giblet into the air and swung at it once.

I put my hand out and caught the gold giblet that had been cut into twenty small pieces. I poured the small pieces into Galvin's hand. He inspected the pieces.

After a thorough inspection, he said, "How did you do that?"

"It's called 'fine control'," I said. I wasn't going to tell him the specifics because it would have removed some of the awe and mystery of it. I had created a grid of blood blades at the tip of sword and swung the grid through the coin. "You can keep that," I said.

"Huh," he said putting the pieces into a pocket. "999 giblets it is then."