"Greetings good sir, my name is Husanda Likivo. I am a sales operator here at our Likivo Family Company. How may I help you today?" The fellow asked amiably.
Darius' eyes narrowed when he felt a strange mental charm imbued in the fellow's voice that was subtle and non-intrusive, mostly suggestive.
It had the effect of making his words sound far more believable as long as they made a certain amount of sense, but didn't force one to be beholden to his wishes.
This was quite smart, as it would make the weak-minded - or at least those weaker than this fellow - easily susceptible to his words while those like Darius who were stronger would merely shrug it off. They would either not be aware of it, or those more astute would realize that it was clearly a natural trait which bore no malice.
Darius hummed and smiled softly. "Let me see your stock of minerals first."
Noticing that Darius was one of the 'strong ones', Husanda became even more respectful and led him to a private room, where he presented his potential customer with a brochure of the company's various wares.
Husanda then explained. "Since I don't recall meeting you, Esteemed Sir, allow me to first state that there are two types of mineral-related sales we specialize in. Ore sales and ingot sales."
"If you are not familiar with these, ores are basically the raw state of the mineral. They vary greatly in nature, and what might be classified as an ore possessing a certain mineral usually only contains around 30% of the namesake within. For example, typical iron ore may weigh 300 grams, but only 100 grams or less of its composition would be actual iron."
"This then requires a person to use special filtration techniques to purify the iron and remove other metal that dilutes the ore, creating an ingot. The rectangular-shaped piece of purified metal can then be called a semi-finished product, which can easily be turned into a finished good."
"It is important to note that both ores and ingots have different quality ratings. Some ores might have better and denser strains of iron within, meaning you would get more iron when you turn it into an ingot and waste less of the ore."
Husanda chuckled. "After all, if you've purchased an iron ore, you most likely won't care about manganese or bauxite. Such things might be gathered by the purifier, but it costs more and adds a lot more difficulty to the work for a craftsman, so most just toss it away."
"Back to the topic, ingots also have different qualities, it mostly has to do with the technique or methodology used to purify them. Some methods work better to clean out the impurities - which are other minerals in this case - but yield less quantity while some cleanse a majority of impurities but leave tiny specks within in order to gain more quantity."
Husanda spread his arms out. "This is the difference between Pure Iron and Iron. Or any Pure metal ingot and a normal ingot. All iron ingots used for normal blacksmithing have little impurities in them, since smiths care about quantity over quality so they can produce more. These specks are tiny enough that they wouldn't cause much trouble anyway."
"But those who are looking for the best performance only go for pure metals. Such things can only be produced with a special methodology involving magical cleansing. It's why Pure Metal Ingots possess magical capabilities and can support great enchantments as well as augmentation." Husanda added.
Gunner and Xela had been listening attentively as they knew little about such things, while Darius had been fully focused on the brochure and was only half paying attention to the salesman. He already knew all of what was being told, anyway.
With a smile of amusement, he still inspected the brochure as he pointed out. "Mr. Husanda, I believe you weren't explaining all of this just for nothing. Essentially, you just want me to spend more by straight-up purchasing Pure Metal Ingots from your company, correct?"
Husanda's smile became a bit warped as his intentions were dragged to the light by Darius. He could only complain in his heart as to how little his natural persuasive ability affected the fellow in front of him.
Even if he was a powerhouse, there was nothing wrong with his words, and many like Darius had been eventually lulled into his tempo.
Of course, poor Husanda was unaware that he was dealing with a merchant even craftier than himself. Even if Darius hadn't neem powerful enough to resist the suggestion, pulling him into this train of thought would be tough based on his natural instincts.
However, Darius had to admit that Husanda made sense, no matter how you went about it. Anyone who listened to his explanation would agree that buying a Pure Ingot was better, especially Darius who knew the exact differences due to his wealth of knowledge.
Well, it was basically the equivalent of having a total budget of $50,000 and heading to a car showroom to purchase a new automobile. There, you would be presented with two options when you ask for a specific model car you were hoping to buy.
On the left was a brand new model that had suffered some manufacturer's defects that were not pressing and did not hamper the utility of the car, making it cost $30,000. On the right was a brand new model that was perfect, without any faults or flaws anywhere, but at a cost of $45,000.
Most would opt for the left car, as they could save an extra $15,000 that could be used for a variety of things. However, as Husanda said, although those small defects would not cause trouble on a normal day, what if the car was ever put under stress? You would have to live with the risk that it could erupt with a shocking power someday that could cause all manners of consequences from injury to death.
Same thing with metals that would likely be used to make equipment or a building. The last thing you wanted to do was be cheap and watch as some lout runs you through with a sword by striking a point of your armor that was weaker than other parts due to the impure iron there.
And so, if you had the money to buy better quality, it was always better to do so as you would save yourself many troubles in the future you would never even be able to predict at the time of purchase.
While Darius understood this, Husanda was making a slight oversight. Darius made sure to correct him on this as he closed the brochure and gazed at the semi-human with a slight smile.
"Don't worry, I have my own means of purifying and processing metals. My order today, is therefore solely in terms of ores, not ingots."
Husanda sighed internally, knowing that selling ores was nowhere near as lucrative as selling the ingots but he couldn't just force the things down the fellow's throat, now could he? As such, he put on a business smile and asked:
"Esteemed Sir, please let me know the specific ores, the minimum concentration needed and the quantity required in grams, so we can prepare your order."
Darius smiled at the fellow strangely. "Grams? I'm afraid my order is not that small. I will be needing at least one of the following each; High Iron, Oricalchum, Mithril, Elementium, Thunder Copper, Blood Metal, Corundum, etc."
Darius listed a whole slew of different metals, of which Husanda's face began to change with each one mentioned. Before he could even ask whether Darius was not pulling his leg, the fellow continued.
"As for the concentrations, it doesn't matter as long as the ores have a minimum of at least 1% concentration. Anything that has even a smidgen of the ore within will be acceptable."
Darius then leaned back in his head and folded his arms, gazing at the now sweating Husanda. "As for quantity, you can basically hand over as much as your store can afford to give."
Husanda was screaming in his heart. 'HUGE ORDER! THIS IS A HUGE ORDER! I AM GOING TO BE RICH!'
If he could pull this off, his standing within the Likivo family would rise exponentially and his commission alone would put him on par with some elders! As such, he immediately wanted to rush out and fulfill the order, but he had to be sure.
"Sir, about this…" He began, not sure how to put it without offending his customer.
As a fellow merchant, Darius immediately understood the other's worries. "What currencies does your store accept?"
Surprised and relieved that Darius was so understanding, Husanda replied. "We take any major continental currency, but we specifically accept the Dius from Elysium, the Spirit Stones from the Immortal World, the Mon from the Land of Samurai, and the Gold Coins of Fallon's major countries."
Darius nodded. "Here then. This is only a part of my funds for this purchase. Consider this my down payment to show my sincerity and to relieve the company of any worries."
With a wave of his hands, a Bag of Holding appeared in Husanda's hands. Surprised, he gazed within and saw that it contained almost 50 million worth of Dius, the global number one currency that was so hard to get!
