I definitely didn’t ‘belong’ in the middle ring of Argenkeep. However, there was a general busyness to the ring that made it easy to blend in. With my academy uniform on, most people didn’t look at me twice.

In the inner ring, that changed. People barely walked on the streets, and even ‘busier’ shopping areas only had a small stream of people walking around. And it wasn’t just that there were less people here, but that they all walked in a curtain manner that radiated power and confidence.

In Eryndor, there were your commoners, like me. There were different ranks within that designation, of course, but in the end that's all we were. Above that you had your minor nobility, like Arnav. Out in the country they might’ve been the absolute picture of power, but in the city they were pretty much grouped in with commoners like me. The space between minor nobles and the king was filled with wealthy merchants and more powerful nobility, with money and power increasing the higher up the social ladder you went.

The inner circle was filled with people at the very top of that ladder, and I knew I didn’t belong. The weird looks I got just by being in the inner circle only served to prove that.

The search for the Notin mansion did not end up being a fun one.

In the end, we arrived at the mansion a little early. It was giant, bigger than all other mansions near it. For some reference, the path up to the house itself was as long as our dormitory building was was wide.

I walked up the path, admiring the beautiful decor next to it. Little bushes lined the path, with flowers placed carefully to maximize elegance. From the path, I could see two gardeners tending to the plants.

"Nobles." Mason muttered under his breath in an unflattering tone, almost too softly for me to hear.

The entrance to the mansion was a grand set of double doors. They were made up of highest quality wood- I shuddered to think how much the wood itself could be worth if it were made into wands.

Mason stood slightly behind me while I examined the doors, noting their intricate designs. I was partly interested in the doors, but the main reason I didn't make any moved to knock or open them was because I was unsure on how we were expected to enter. Arnav had told us to wait for a servant to let us in, but that servant was sure taking their merry time.

I found out that I was standing too close to the door when a woman opened the doors and exited. Not expecting there to be a boy right outside of the door, she walked right into me.

I got a brief look at her. She had stunning bright red hair and blue eyes that had absolutely no emotion in them. The latter was the most interesting thing about her, at least to me. Arnav's eyes reflected friendliness and ethanium, while Mason's reflected a cold determination that was sometimes mixed in with compassion. The bottom line was that everyone's eyes always reflected something about themselves- to have no emotion at all was unsettling.

The woman quickly left after correcting herself. A brief “sorry” was all I got from her before she rushed off.

“Not really the chatty type, eh?” I remarked as she left her, trying to play off my discomfort.

Mason didn’t seem to appreciate my joke.

Not long after the woman left, a servant came to let us in.

The foyer was as fancy as could be expected, with brown wooden walls accented with a spectacular chandelier powered by a white magic core. For just a light enchantment, the quality of the core was most definitely overkill- probably meant as a way to flaunt wealth. The clock on the wall told me that it was exactly noon.

From the foyer, we were led through a hallway deeper into the mansion. The hallway itself was lavish, but what really caught my eye were the glass cases that sat between the doors. Each case was lit by its own individual light, and once I got closer I could see why.

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Each case held a unique and expensive item. The first one had an orange thing that resembled a branch, but looked like a rock. Mason would later tell me that it was called ‘coral.’ Despite its oddness, it was really quite beautiful.

The next case I saw had a bright purple core inside it. As far as I knew, this was the highest quality core that could exist.

The items got higher and higher in value as we neared the end of the hallway, with the last item being a wand that resembled the wyvern horn one I had seen before at the wand shop. However, it was both longer and a deeper red. I assumed (correctly) that this was a dragonhorn wand, making it basically priceless.

Finally, we entered an extravagant dining room. In the center, there was a long table that looked like it could comfortably seat at least 20. An older man sat at the end of the table, but not on the leading seat. The two seats across from him were pulled out, so me and Mason decided to sit in those two.

As soon as I sat down, waiters came in with the food. Many plates of the fanciest food I had ever seen soon arrived on the table and were soon served onto my plate. I shudder to think about the cost of it all, especially when some much of it was bound to be wasted.

Unfortunately, I didn’t have an inkling of knowledge as to how I was supposed to act in this situation. It was common knowledge that manners were important when meeting with people like these, but I had no idea what those manners were. I decided to just carefully copy what the man did and hope that I didn’t mess anything up.

Since he didn’t speak and instead just went straight to eating his food, I started do that as well as well. I made sure to use the exact same selection of utensils that he used. Out of the corner of my eye, I could tell that Mason was doing the exact same thing as I was.

It was toward the end of the meal that the man finally spoke.

“I am Carus Fromi, the guardian of the young master Victor Notin.” He declared. He paused expectantly, during which Mason decided to introduce himself.

“I’m Mason, a student from the National Academy.” He said.

I waited for a brief moment, but this seemed to be the correct move.

“And I’m Alric, also a student from the National Academy.” I followed.

A lot of words and courtesies were exchanged afterward, none of which had any importance. The only important things said in the entire conversation were said in the last few exchanges.

Carus started it. “I’ve been told, by the academy, that you two claim that Victor and his company assaulted you during nighttime two nights ago?” He asked.

I could immediately tell that the tone of the conversation had changed. “Yes, we do.” I said.

“While I’m sure that the young master would never do such an ignoble deed, Mrs. Rema has told me that she supports your claim. As such, I am prepared to give you both 2,000 atlu to put this behind us. Is this acceptable?”

2,000 atlu. For just a small fight, that amount was crazy- I would be a fool to refuse.

Me and Mason both nodded at the same time.

“Good.” And with that, Carus snapped his fingers. Immediately two servants came in with pouches that they handed to us. I confirmed that mine contained the offered amount, and just seeing that much money put me in a bit of a trance. Even condensed into 100-bit gold coins, the amount of money in the pouch still weighed a good deal. I had never held this much money ever in my life before.

With business concluded, Carus prepared to lead us out of the mansion.

As we passed by the dragonhorn wand, my curiosity got the best of me. Perhaps I was still a bit intoxicated by the money, because I don’t think I would’ve otherwise had the courage to ask.

“Why display these items, instead of keeping them safe in a vault?” I asked.

It was as if Carus’ answer was scripted. “These items are on display at the request of Master Notin. Displaying rare items is one of his few hobbies, so we all do our best to make sure their exhibition is perfect.”

Asking about the exhibition also had the nice effect of Carus going into a full explanation about each one. The dragonhorn wand was apparently the wand of Eryndor’s last recognized hero. There was an arrow that Carus claimed had killed the general of a formidable army, winning a battle and likely turning an entire war.

The only item that didn’t get a great explanation was the purple core, which Carus just skipped over. This definitely piqued my interest.

“What about the purple core over there?” I asked, pointing at it.

“Oh that? That’s just the core of a high elf. Those things have crazy high magic capabilities and are also intelligent, so their cores are notoriously hard to find and kill, so it’s very precious.” Carus explained.

“Forgive me, but is there no historical significance or anything?...” I asked, trailing off at the end.

“No, it's here because of its worth alone.” Came the response. Given the tone, I decided that it’d be high time to abandon the conversation and just leave.

Stepping outside, I realized that time had really flown by. The sun was already setting, and the small stream of people who used to be outside was now gone. Me and Mason hurried back to the dormitory with our money, making sure to take the utmost care not to let anything happen to it.