After he stepped into the office he felt a warm sensation of magical influence, 'Another soundproof magic.' Vilkar thought as he stopped before the wooden desk looking at the man before him.
"Please sit down mister Vilkar." The man spoke with a warm smile plastered on his face.
"My name is Arthur and I reviewed your application for a trading company license, from what I saw there is nothing wrong with it. But I must say it is unusual for someone to use the tent as their first shop even if it is enchanted for more space.
"While it is unusual it is not unheard of as few started like that when the city was being built around a permanent dungeon and because of it there never was any rule against it.
"And so it is my pleasure to accept your application. I believe you have an application fee of 2000 gold coins which you will need to pay downstairs." After he spoke Arthur took out a piece of paper on which he wrote a few lines of letters. Finally, he took out the stamp and used it on the paper.
Vilkar could see a few purple sparks shoot into the air after the stamp had hit the paper. When he took the stamp away Vilkar could see the symbol of Merchant Circle.
Then he gave the paper to Vilkar and spoke, "Here it is, give it to the person at reception with gold coins and your license will be granted."
After taking the piece of paper Vilkar said his goodbye and walked out of the office. When he came to the reception lines and it was his turn he gave the paper with the money to the receptionist. In exchange, he received glowing parchment with his name and the name of his new company on it.
"Nice, now I just need the tent to be finished and I can start packing. Now, what is my allocated shop placement?" Vilkar looked for information about locations and then he found it.
"Not bad, but it could have been batter." While he wasn't that far from the entrance thanks to his shop being a tent and not taking much space it was slightly overshadowed by a few buildings. But it is still worth it as he is only 84 meters from the entrance.
'Maybe poles with signs of my shop on them would be helpful to show directions.' Vilkar wondered while he walked home.
After entering his apartment he lay rested on his bed, one of the few pieces of furniture that remained. Soon after he went back and recounted his gold making sure that he did not lose a single coin.
Later that afternoon he received a magical letter which stated that his tent was finished and he could come to take it and pay the remaining sum of money.
Vilkar immediately left his home and went to Wizard Tower. When it was his turn he said his order and the receptionist confirmed his identity he paid the remaining sum and was called in the back.
The tent was disassembled and so it looked like a normal tent for four people. Its poles were one and a half meters long while being folded in half. He could see parts of the black exterior with golden hand prints.
After he inspected his new tent he took it under his arm and left the building. His next stop would be his allocated place for his tent.
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Passing through the guards was slightly strange as he held disassembled tent in his hands but after showing them his license he was allowed to pass and Vilkar was on his merry way.
Vilkar took the main road to the dungeon and while on it he could see that people were still going to explore. It was already late afternoon and Vilkar could see as the sun was preparing to pass behind Karpane Mountains in the west.
Berserker tribes would sometimes visit Malka city-state to trade their beast skins for weapons and armor. It was always a sight to see them, while they were humans they were allegedly blessed by the great spirit of bear Ursus.
While Vilkar never saw any animal spirits he could not deny their existence as after dungeons started to show up much had changed. When he thought about it dungeons served as the first wave of strangeness.
Berserkers of Ursus could be always seen as they were distinct with their red hair and pale white eyes. Not to mention they usually stood over two meters and fifteen centimeters.
When meeting berserkers it was wise to first observe them to determine to what tribe they belong. While most of them were calm and not threatening while being in the city some could be hot-headed.
By their beliefs, Ursus is neither good nor bad but more like nature. Sometimes helpful and kind other times cruel and bloodthirsty, and so two main ideologies arose from it.
Those that follow the wisdom of the bear are led by their druids to understand nature and seek balance, that is until someone pisses them off and then they start eviscerating limb from limb. While they stand on the light side they still seek to represent all of the aspects of Usus.
The second ideology is more bloody and primal. It's mostly the same thing with the exception of sacrifices. They have no problem sacrificing other humans and take their bear symbolism much more strongly as they partake much more deeply in their transformations.
Another difference is that they also use shamans to communicate with other spirits as well. While they scream about the truth of Ursus they are practical people and will use any advantage they will get as long as it aligns with their ideology.
Berserkers also held secrets of rune magic, while being more basic of the school of magic it was more natural and powerful than even reality magic. It could reshape very laws of the universe be it magical or physical. Wizard Tower was offering a great sum of money to anyone that would share such secrets, but unfortunately for them, berserkers are not willing to divulge it to anyone.
There was a rumor that to be able to use runic magic one needed to pass through some bloody ritual and because of it, they are keeping it secret.
When Vilkar arrived at his allocated place he looked around and saw that next to him was a tavern, "Nice." Vilkar said and started to assemble his new home and shop.
It was a bell tent and when fully raised its height was around three meters tall. When he entered through the entrance he could see empty counters and a door leading farther back.
The walls on the inside were much different than on the outside. Here they were made out of wood and looked like a normal wooden buildings. On each side of the room, he could see empty counters, some with racks for weapons and others with holders for different types of armor. On the walls, he could see shelves being hung and from the ceiling, a chandelier hung which illuminated the room in warm golden color.
He could also see the board on which he could put missions or information for customers.
When he passed through the door in the back he saw a long hall with a multitude of rooms leading to a vault at the back, "That will come in handy." Vilkar said as he inspected the vault door. Doors in the hall lead to a multitude of rooms, amongst them he found the kitchen, living room, study, toilet, guest room, and dining room which was connected with the kitchen, storage room, and even literal bathhouse.
Vilkar wondered how it was all operated until he found an operation room in which magic stones were used as fuel for functions and resources of the tent, "It should use space magic for well more space and conjuration magic for water. I can either add magic stones or fuel my own mana for it to continue working. It looks like it has enough juice for two years of operation."