Amber hesitated. Adam's question had several answers, and he clearly couldn't afford to give the most complete ones, but the most basic ones didn't teach much that you couldn't figure out yourself by racking your brains for an hour or two.
Finally, she found a solution that she liked. "I have a book that contains information about fairly common talents that helps you guess someone's talents by observing their personality. Even though each talent is unique, I can tell you that there are identifiable patterns. In exchange, I'd like to learn more about your puppets." She was sure that her puppets were far from normal.
"Hmm, that's fine with me." Adam didn't really hesitate. After all, he didn't intend to hide these golems, and being able to guess someone's talents seemed like a good thing.
"As for my 'puppets,' as you say, they are golems created using my talents. Each of them is a conscious individual who obeys my orders absolutely. As for their quality and intelligence, it all depends on the amount of different energy I inject into their bodies. There's not much more to say without revealing information that's too important to be sold, but as you can see, I have warriors, builders, and two farmers who are hidden, so their range of use is really wide." Adam revealed almost everything except the most important thing, which is that with the right affinities, theoretically anyone could learn to make golems.
"HAHAHAHA!" Amber burst out laughing. "Light, oh Light, yet another living proof that your theory that all talents are equal is complete nonsense." The laughter continued for several long minutes.
Traal didn't seem to understand the situation, scratching his head, trying to think beyond his capabilities. Luna remained impassive, standing calmly beside Amber.
Seeing Amber's reaction and hearing what she had just said, Adam confirmed his suspicion that his talent was of a higher order than the others. "Seriously, I learned how to create life forms that are absolutely loyal to me, and they clearly have incredible potential too. I can also act like a normal mage, and I'm sure my potential to create very high-level plants is absolutely insane. The difference between my talent and that of the pyromaniac is like a common object compared to a legendary artifact."
"Excuse me." Trying to regain her composure, Amber's shoulders were still shaking as she tried to hold back her laughter. "Adam, you should know that one of the common talent models that you will learn about in the book is the puppeteer. It usually appears in people who have a manipulative personality. It allows them to control objects, corpses, and basic structures from a distance through thought or gestures."
Clearing her throat, she added, "It's an uncommon talent, but some known versions of the talent even allow the puppeteer to control living people against their will, while others allow the puppeteer to create their own puppets using elemental energy. That's why I took you for a puppeteer of this category, but clearly your talent is in a league of its own. As a gift for making me laugh so much, free information: the puppeteer who controls the most known puppets controls 55. Everyone knows he's hiding some of them, but it's clearly impossible for him to reach 100 before another 2-3 years."
She turned to Luna. "Luna, give him the book about the list and talent identification, the complete version, please."
Receiving the thick book from Luna, Adam glanced through it quickly (known talents and how to identify them). The book was a monster of at least a thousand pages, its leather cover a true work of art. "Wait, where did she get the book? It's impossible to hide something that big."
"Adam, what would you like to sell the information about the tree for?" Amber was extremely serious. "If the golems are that amazing, the tree must be really important. It's huge, the runes on the trunk are really weird, and no one builds their base around something that's not important."
"Not much. I know almost nothing about it. I'd like a book on affinities in exchange."
"Let's get to the end of things anyway. Hide these cards, these doubts about his strength. And given the speed at which I'm evolving, in a week what they know about me won't be worth much." Adam wasn't too worried about revealing too much. If he focused solely on strengthening his army, he could create three knight golems per day with their weapons, and he could feel his energy reserves growing every day. The snowball effect was clearly not going to stop anytime soon.
"We have a book on affinities, but honestly, there are many that we know nothing about except their names." Amber sighed, a little disappointed in herself. "Luna, give it to him."
With a new book in his hand, much thinner and less impressive, Adam smiled. "The tree was a perfectly normal tree, but thanks to my affinities, I was able to improve it. The only effect I know of is that it allows him to create a domain where the changes of night do not operate, only the life of the day remains. The undead, however, can enter the domain."
"Impressive." Amber thought carefully. "His talents and affinities are truly among the best talents, with so much potential and versatility. Very few talents allow for this. If he doesn't die too soon, he will quickly become a leader on the human side."
"Adam, can you create other plants that are permanently improved?"
He was a little surprised by the unexpected question. "Yes, but why?"
"Let me tell you something important. The fastest way to become a monster of vitality, becoming Superman's equal on a physical level, is to eat high-level food from high-ranking beasts or high-quality vegetables. And high-quality food is expensive, very expensive. People die hunting high-ranking beasts to make fortunes and live like kings for a few months."
A short silence followed, allowing Adam to fully take in the information, then Amber continued, "I would like to buy improved edible plants from you at a high price."
She hesitated for a few seconds before continuing with determination, "A complete alliance. I, Amber, Co-Leader of Golden Age, the largest merchant guild in Phaos, am ready to invest fully in you: materials, information, equipment, and artifacts, as long as it is within our means. Golden Age is committed to doing everything in its power to provide you with these things. In exchange, I will have exclusive purchasing rights on the plants you produce and the right to buy golems."