Year 1, Spring, First Month, First Week.
“I agree.”
After thinking about the pros and cons for a long time and annoying Lana with dozens of repeated questions, Arthur finally signed the contract. Even though he was afraid of being deceived again, he felt relieved. He didn't have money and was counting on luck to survive in the Serion Kingdom until he found a job.
Instead of dwelling in his doubts about the girl and the contract, Arthur did what he was used to, he pushed the problem to the back of his mind, where he would only revisit when a follow-up problem arose.
Lana put the contract away smiling, now that she has a Spellcaster employee, her dreams are a step closer. She made a mental note to don’t leave any important decisions to Arthur's judgment, the Mage was too naive.
“Lana, can we eat now?” He asked in a childish tone that didn't match his Mage’s position.
“For now on, you have to call me Boss, OK? You just ate that disgusting man's bread and you still want more? I never heard that Mages ate more than common people...”
“Ahhh....”
Arthur was speechless. The girl changed her respectful manners faster than he could cast any Spells.
“I'm not stingy! Here... take this. The next meal will be after dusk, our food needs to last until we get to the Water Capital”
.........
Lana hugged her coat tight trying to fend off the freezing wind. Even the cold wouldn't prevent her from appreciating the fantastic view. Today was the last day of their trip and their destination was already visible from the deck.
As one of the four Elemental Capitals of the Serion Kingdom, the Water Capital couldn't be anything but magical. The symbol of the water Mages' power in the Kingdom was an Island in the middle of a gigantic bay. The city was also the largest port of the Kingdom and the first line of protection against maritime attacks.
In the center of the city stood the Crystal Palace, a 50 meters tall Castle built solely with Ice Crystals, surrounded by many Ice Crystal towers. The construction was on its own a true wonder, but what monopolized Lana's attention was the enormous Water Dragon that circled the Crystal Palace.
From the Dragon's mouth, water poured over the palace forming several waterfalls, which poured over ponds, lakes and fountains in the different levels of the palace before pouring into the city waterways and flowing to the sea.
The waterways that divided and ran inside the city were another wonder. The Water Capital was overflowed with boats instead of carriages and carts like the other big cities. Like roads, some waterways were wider and allowed the passage of big transportation boats, while others were thinner and only small boats could pass.
“Wow... It's amazing! They talk about the Elemental Capitals in the Island but I never imagined that it would look like this... Wow, that's the Elemental Spell...”
Lana spared him a curious and inquisitive look.
“They say that each Elemental Capital has one unique quality elemental crystal, which is used to maintain an everlasting Elemental Spell. I guess that the Water Dragon is the Water Capital's Spell”
“Ohh...”
.........
“Eh... Phew... I'm getting used to it”
Lana swapped a bitter smile for a proud one when she exited the boat without needing the paddler's support. She gave Arthur her small bag to carry and only kept her pouch, which helped her ease the exiting. The poor Mage was outraged to be treated as a porter but either way, carried the bag.
Soon, the pair arrived at a plain-looking Inn in the outer district. During the trip, the chatting Lana extracted the Inn's name from the ship Captain, she explained to Arthur that the best places were the options of regular visitors.
Many mistook the referrals given freely for the best options, but Lana knew that regular visitors would go for fair deals instead of those overpriced places. Of course, the Captain wouldn't easily confess that he was being paid to promote such places, but she could get it out of him with her “charming” attitude.
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“How much for a doubled-bed room?”
The woman smiled at Lana and look suspiciously at Arthur.
“Oh, he wouldn't dare!... Trust me, I'm good with a dagger and he works for me... I'm Lana, miss?”
“Just calm me Tania darling, I'm too old to be a Miss... If you say so... The room is one silver, breakfast and dinner included, make it two silvers and my husband can take you where you need in his boat… It's a little high but the prices in the Capital have risen recently…”
“For now, I'm staying for two nights and I can use your husband's help tomorrow... So, the prices have gone up, why?”
Lana placed the three silver coins on the counter, to which Tania responded with a smile before taking an old rusted key and passing it to her aid.
“Thank you for your patronage... The high prices? Hm... The usual reasons, war with Sandines started again and a dumb Lord let some beasts destroy a dozen villages, now his region has to buy food and resources from other places... Dear, take Miss Lana and her employee to the second room on the left.”
The excitement that shined in Lana's eyes didn't escape Tania.
‘What an interesting girl...’
.........
“Tell me about your abilities, Arthur...”
Lana asked him before taking another sip from the bitter taste ale. Arthur felt angry about his boss' disdain, was she even older enough to be drinking? He looked expectantly at the kitchen's door guessing how much time it would take for the food to be served before answering her.
“Humph... You know about the Spellcasters' five levels, right? Apprentice, Enchanter, Keymaster, Conjurer and Spellmaster. Advancing on them becomes more difficult for each level, which is also true for their abilities... Unfortunately, I'm at the low end of the Spellcasting path, so my abilities are unmentionable near an Enchanter, but that doesn't mean I'm useless. I might not be good in a battle but I picked up many charms along these ten years...”
Seeing Lana's confused expression, Arthur added excitedly:
“Ah... Charms are the name given to non-Key spells, which are the only spells that an Apprentice can cast. So, if we're talking about resourcefulness, I'm probably one of the most knowledgeable Apprentices... Don't look at me like that, it's taboo to ask about a Spellcaster list of spells! You might not know, but spells are our most precious possession… When a Spellcaster becomes a Keymaster it's a tradition to write our Grimoire, a Spellbook that can only be shared with our disciples...”
Arthur's complexion turned sad when he remembered that he never even saw his ex-Master's Grimoire. Lana had many complaints about her employee behavior, but she wouldn't allow him to be sad.
“So, how can you advance to Enchanter? I mean, if you knew the specifics you wouldn't be here, but I'm talking about the generic requirements...”
“Hm... Ok, I guess I can tell you... An Apprentice learns how to manipulate magic energy and how to use chants to activate charms, While an Enchanter learns how to draw Keys, which make the Spells much more powerful and give us a lot of options...”
“Just drawing? That seems strangely easy...”
“Not a regular drawing, It's a much more complicated technique, they have to draw it using Spiritual Energy, which is a whole new level of mastery over the magic energies...”
“So, you only need to train controlling magic energies more... Why do you need a Master for it?”
“That's not all... I also need to learn a Key form, which is a heavily guarded secret... Also, aside from the Key form, I have to learn the Key's concept, which is particular to each Mage and can't be taught... Anyway, I've been training my control over the magic energies and I'm confident that once I learn a Key I can advance...”
At this time, Tania finally arrived with the food, stealing all of Arthur's attention. After she served the simple meal, Lana invited her to seat with them. Surprisingly, she accepted and asked them to start eating while she went back to the kitchen to get her meal.
Tania came back fast and unceremoniously started to eat, disregarding any complicated table manners. Lana was relieved that she wouldn't have to follow any tiring table manners. As Merchant, she was taught etiquette and the importance of matching the other party's manners to keep them from feeling superior or inferior to her.
Lana finally started eating, she tasted the yellow-looking soup and became surprised to taste the presence of water energy ingredients, with two more spoons, she identified the special ingredients, it was fishbone broth and some other low quality (LQ) water herb.
Another useful ability for a good Merchant was to recognized the quality and ingredients of a meal. How could a capable Merchant be fooled by the prices of a meal?
Lana was confused about the meal's composition, why would they spend money to cook such a simple meal. Considering the ingredients and the good taste of the meal, they could even charge an additional silver for it.
Seeing Lana's confusion, Tania decided to explain.
“You have good eyes, or should I say good taste buds?... Haha... Don't be so surprised, we are in the Water Capital, this type of ingredients are more affordable here... Let me tell you my secret... My brother works in a high level restaurant, they throw away the fishbones and other LQ ingredients. He lives here and always brings me a portion of the unwanted ingredients... How did you get this skill?”
“Cool... Your idea is brilliant! Your prices are also very fair, every time I return here I'll be sure to stay in your care... I'm Merchant Tania, you can guess why I had to learn the skill, right? “
“Oh... That makes sense... Thanks for your preference. What is your line of business?”
“Hehe... The thing is... I'm still not sure, I just started and I'm looking for opportunities in the market... Just like what you told me about the Eastern region problem, coincidently, I'm heading there... Of course, it's just a short-time opportunity, I have to find something more in the long term, if you have any ideas, please tell me!”
Lana made sure to show her sincerity and youthfulness. She wanted to fish out any information and warnings that might help her later. They continue to talk until it was time for Tania to close and clean the kitchen.
“Let's go upstairs, Arthur... Tomorrow we'll visit the Water Capital markets!”