Chapter 74 : Chapter 74

Chapter 74. Negotiation

Fulan’s quick agreement left Krich momentarily at a loss.

Still, he did not mind earning a higher commission.

In his opinion, offering this commission rate already showed considerable sincerity. Normally, when an unknown craftsman came to him, he would take a 30% cut.

For someone with some reputation, he would reduce it slightly to 20% or even lower.

“So, what commission price are you planning to set?”

This was also part of his job—to help these craftsmen determine a reasonable price for their commissions so they could receive orders. That was one of the reasons his commission rate was so high.

Many craftsmen never considered supply and demand and simply kept raising their prices. Krich had spent a great deal of effort persuading several of them to lower their prices.

However, some people were stubborn. No matter what he said, they refused to reduce their prices and even suspected he was trying to cheat them.

His commission was fixed. If they earned more, he would earn more; if they earned less, he would earn less. When he advised them to lower prices, it was only so they could secure more orders.

In the end, those stubborn craftsmen often returned dejected after failing to receive any orders. Only after adjusting their prices did they finally start getting commissions.

Although Krich had never dealt with the spell ring business before, based on the prices he had seen for spell rings, he could estimate a reasonable range.

He believed that a custom spell ring should cost around eight gold coins. After all, his society had never handled spell ring commissions before.

If they immediately charged the same prices as famous masters, customers might not even glance at them.

Ultimately, it was a matter of reputation. If someone had a sum of money and wanted a spell ring crafted, would they choose a roadside stall to do it?

Although his society had a strong reputation for crafting high-end equipment, its reputation for spell rings was nonexistent.

He believed that setting the price at eight gold coins would encourage the shop’s regular customers—those who usually purchased equipment—to try ordering a spell ring. If the price were higher, they might feel it was not worth the risk.

Once they built a reputation, they could raise the price later. If Fulan earned more, he would also earn more.

“I think crafting a basic spell should cost three gold coins. Spells exclusive to specific schools should cost four gold coins. If the client brings two sets of materials, the price can be reduced accordingly.”

Fulan spoke casually, confidence radiating from the Extraordinary level of Forging skill she possessed.

Before coming here, she had already tried engraving spells herself. The only thing she had never attempted was engraving spells for someone else, which left her slightly uncertain.

However, during the earlier test, she realized she could use the Master Craftsman trait to strengthen the gemstone in the ring, making it far more stable during the spell engraving process.

That alone was sufficient. With that method, she believed her success rate could reach 90%.

The only remaining risk was the possibility that the gemstone itself contained flaws she could not see.

Combined with the fact that the engraving process had not felt particularly difficult during the test, she simply set the price immediately.

After all, she was here to steal spells, not to make money.

Although she had set two price tiers, she understood clearly that anyone commissioning a ring would almost certainly be a member of a school, and they would choose spells from their own school.

After all, school-exclusive spells were far stronger than basic spells. If someone wanted a spell engraved, they would naturally choose something powerful and useful—surely they would not engrave Ignite onto a ring.

Moreover, apprentices who had joined schools were usually the only ones wealthy enough to afford such commissions. Someone who had not even joined a school would hardly have that kind of money.

Her extremely low price left Krich completely stunned. Beside him, Baul spoke helplessly.

“Even though I’ve never made a spell ring, that price is a bit too low. If your success rate isn’t high enough, you might not earn anything.”

Normally, Krich handled negotiations about commission prices while Baul only conducted the craftsmen’s evaluations. But this situation was so outrageous that he could not help speaking up.

“Ahem.”

Krich coughed twice before speaking.

“That’s acceptable. However, I still recommend raising the price to eight gold coins. I believe that would be a reasonable price.”

“That won’t be necessary. I think this price is quite good.”

“Then let me clarify one last thing. My commission is 10% of the commission price. If you lose money, I won’t be responsible.”

“If you ever want to adjust the price, come here and speak with me.”

“Alright.”

Fulan nodded to show that she understood.

The reason Krich agreed to such an absurdly low price was simple—he believed that the spell ring business required reputation first.

For such an expensive item, if you had no reputation at all, why would anyone place an order?

So he did not object strongly to the low price. After Fulan completed a few successful commissions, he would persuade her to raise the price.

There was also another consideration. If Fulan failed and ran away, the amount he would have to compensate would be much smaller.

The reason his society enjoyed such an excellent reputation was that whenever a craftsman failed to produce equipment according to the promised description, Krich would personally pay the customer for the loss.

Afterward, he would demand repayment from the craftsman responsible.

It was through this policy that his society had become the largest high-end weapon society in the City of Apprentices.

After all, compensating four gold coins was far better than compensating eight.

Thus, his real goal was not to earn short-term profit from a few commissions. Instead, he wanted to see whether Fulan could help open the spell ring market.

If Fulan succeeded, the scale of his society would rise to an entirely new level and firmly surpass other societies.

After all, if your society could craft spell rings, that alone proved the value of its craftsmanship.

At that point, the number of orders would likely double.

After settling a few additional details, the two men watched as Fulan left.

Baul spoke first.

“Do you think she can actually handle those commissions? That price is ridiculously low.”

Krich did not turn to look at him. He replied slowly,

“Although the risk is high, if it succeeds, our gains will far exceed the commission from spell ring orders alone… and the low price reduces our risk.”

Baul scratched his head. He did not fully understand what Krich meant.

But he had never been particularly sensitive to business matters anyway. That was precisely why he had chosen to become a craftsman.

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Fulan returned to her house and took out the two rings from her pocket.

“I shouldn’t have hidden one earlier. I forgot that the rings from the test would belong to me afterward—they weren’t part of a commission.”

Fulan put on the ring that was still glowing faintly and pointed it toward the air.

She infused it with mental power and felt a mysterious connection form between herself and the ring. Then, guided by her intention, the ring released the spell toward the direction she indicated.

A streak of fiery red light appeared in Fulan’s house, then disappeared a few seconds later.

【You successfully cast Ignite using the ring. Your powerful mental strength allowed you to release the spell without difficulty. Ignite proficiency +3】

Seeing the message displayed on her panel, Fulan revealed a delighted smile.