The magic lanterns installed by the Alchemists' Guild came in handy today. As much as the organizers tried to reduce the pauses between the fights, due to the roughly equal strength of the opponents, the duels inevitably dragged on into the late evening. The last two fights took place after sunset, under the light of Seguna and the glow of artifact spotlights. The change in lighting added some variety and contributed to the victory of a fighter who, like me, specialized in Lightning magic. His Discharges and Sparks disoriented his opponent with their flashes, and this slight advantage tipped the scales of the evenly-matched duel. If this fight had taken place in daylight, it could have turned out completely different.
Before the official end of the second stage of the tournament, the main organizer announced that starting tomorrow, just before the fights and right after the draw, the Alchemists' Guild would be holding an auction sale. Right here in the Arena. And every spectator could participate in this auction. This was where the trading ingenuity of the Alchemists' Guild was head and shoulders above the other great Guilds and left many famous trading guilds far behind. I'm sure this auction, which will last several days, will not only cover all of the alchemists' tournament expenses but will also yield a good profit. Tries is a big city by local standards, but it's far from being the center of the world. Unlike Pentapolis, many reagents, compounds, and pills common in other parts of Ain are much more expensive and scarce here.
The mention of elixirs and other alchemy brought to mind that I should perhaps check out the shops in Tries and see if there was anything curious and useful. I had brushed off such thoughts before, as I didn't want to get tempted. I know myself, and just "looking" would be very hard. I would definitely want to buy something, and that's an extra expense. An expense I should avoid for now, as I don't know how much money I'll have after the tournament. Hence, any purchases could eventually lead to a situation where I won't have enough gold for a direct teleport from Tries to Deytran. If so, I'll have to minimize expenses and perform several shorter jumps, which has its own risks that I want to avoid.
In theory, Ain's Portal Network is an amazingly convenient thing. Even on Earth, we didn't come to technologies that would allow us to move across half a continent almost instantly. But the more you learn about these Portals, the less rosy this magic "technology" seems.
First of all, all Portals are gifts from the gods, and local mages are not capable of creating them on their own. That is, the entire Network was created before the Fall, and no new Portals have appeared in Ain for two thousand years. There was one semi-exception when the Artifactors' Guild managed to complete some unfinished Gates, but it took them over three centuries and an unknown amount of resources. Secondly, according to the myths, before the Fall, the Portal Network maintained with his Blessing Sundbad, the god of travel. And when he disappeared, it was up to the people to power the Gates. And these Portal Gates consume a tremendous amount of mana, which makes their use very expensive. Thirdly, the cost of using the Portal Gates is higher the further the distance of the transition. The price also depends on the mass, volume, and energy of the one who is making the transition. While mass and volume are intuitively understood, the energy aspect is a bit more complicated, although it is based on the same logic. Roughly speaking, the more potential energy you have, the more mana the Gates consume for your transition. This aspect leads to the fact that moving between Gates for people of the same mass but standing at different ranks of the Spiral will cost significantly differently. This creates a kind of paradox, due to which those who have reached the legendary Coil and are undoubtedly very affluent people practically do not use the Portal Network. They do not use it because even for such well-off people, these transitions become simply exorbitantly expensive! And if you consider that the more artifacts you have and the stronger they are, the more potential energy they contain, leading to even greater consumption of mana by the Gates, then the price tag for using the Portal Network at the legendary ranks goes into the orbit of Seguna.
My "past self" knew only one organization that could afford transitions of a Mithril-level group through the Portal Network over long distances - Antares' Paladins. But even they only used the Gates in the event of a real crisis. Of course, there are exceptions to everything, and sometimes, very rarely, but if circumstances demanded it, those at the legendary Coil resorted to the help of the Gates. It did cost them a lot of money, but there are situations when time is worth any expense.
These expenses could have been greatly reduced if one didn't travel vast distances all at once but made smaller jumps. In such cases, the price often dropped considerably. But this cost-saving method had a significant drawback. Every time a person made a Transition, their aura and Core received what was called a "spatial charge." Until this charge had "dissipated," one couldn't pass through the Gates again. The Portal simply didn't let you through. The "dissipation" time varied: for some, it was a day, while for others, it was measured in weeks. As for me, in the Previous Cycle, my time was precisely twenty-five hours. So, I could reduce my expenses in exchange for time, jumping to Deytran not in one go but in several. But this wasn't desirable. The issue was not time loss but the fact that after each transition, I'd have to spend more than a day waiting for the "spatial charge" to dissipate in unfamiliar cities. I was eager to avoid this at all costs, as I didn't mind adventures, but adventures on my terms, not those imposed by fate. And I was planning to get as quickly as possible across the Great Ridge - to places I knew thanks to the memory of the future.
Currently, considering my Bronze rank and the artifacts I have on hand, my funds barely suffice to cover about half the distance I need to travel at once through the Gates. In principle, I could now reach beyond the Great Ridge in three "jumps," and my current money would suffice for that. But "beyond the Great Ridge" is still over one and a half thousand kilometers to Deytran. And I also plan to raise my rank before the "transition," which will further increase the cost of travel. So, I really need the money. I need to at least double my capital before the Tournament ends, or better triple it, to have some sort of financial reserve. If my bets on Tayan Quarish come off, I'll have this financial issue sorted. But what if it doesn't work out? What if something goes wrong? I can't risk spending money on quality equipment right now. I already have the bare minimum needed, and the shops and stores aren't going anywhere.
My thoughts were interrupted by Aun, whose stomach rumbled audibly, after which the boy said that it would be good to eat as he hadn't had a crumb since morning. I fully agreed with him on this, as my stomach was sending similar signals. We waited for the bulk of the spectators to disperse before leaving the Arena calmly and without jostling. As we descended the stairs to the central square, Aun marveled at the massive crowd of people below, hurrying about their business.
"Today was a full house; people even stood in the lower cheap sectors because there weren't enough seats." The boy's voice was slightly contemplative. "Most of these people, like us, had been watching the fights all day..."
"Are you implying that it's going to be difficult to find a free spot in a tavern or inn now?" I asked for clarification.
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"Yes," Aun confirmed my hunch, "I, of course, know a few not very popular places, but the food there isn't exactly tasty."
"And what do you suggest? We only have cheese left at home," I complained.
"Let's go to the market, buy some food, and prepare it at home. It is on our way anyway."
"The sun has already set," I shrugged, "most of the market stalls are already closed."
"Street stalls are closed, but the shops are still open," the young man corrected me.
I didn't feel like cooking tonight, but Aun said he would prepare dinner using a family recipe, which convinced me. This conviction was helped by the fact that all the taverns and eateries on our way were crowded. When we reached the market square, most of the rows were already empty; as for those that weren't - their owners hadn't finished packing up and were busy with that rather than trading. But the sight of empty counters and stalls didn't upset Aun at all. The young man confidently crossed the square and knocked on the door of one of the already-closed shops.
"Yes?" A not-very-pleased female voice came from behind the door.
"Mistress Laori, it's Aun, Liao Duan's son. I apologize for the disturbance, but you know what a crowd was at the Arena today..." The youngster played his voice well, evoking sympathy. "You haven't put your famous eggplants in the cellar yet, have you? You see, I wanted to treat my guest, Raven from Seattle, with a family recipe of fried eggplants in sweet and sour sauce... And I understand that the sun has already set, but could you..."
Instead of an answer, the bolt clicked behind the door, and the boy was let in. It wasn't even three minutes before he came out of the shop with a small basket in his hands and an incredibly pleased expression on his face. Deeply bowing, Aun said goodbye to the shopkeeper and, nodding to me, hurried to the next door.
"Master Gormen, it's Aun, Liao Duan's son..."
In this closing shop, the boy got spices, onions, and garlic. Then, skipping three shops, he repeated his story to another trader, and more fresh vegetables were added to his basket. He not only managed to buy when the shops were essentially closed but also to get a small discount before paying for his purchase. After visiting a total of five shops in this way, Aun turned to me with a broad smile and patted his basket full of groceries.
"Of course, it took a bit longer than a usual trip to the market, but we've got everything we need for a fantastic dinner!"
"It's nice to know everyone," I replied with a smile.
"Tries is a big city," the young man puffed up with a sense of self-importance, "but I was born here and used to run around these shops when I was just this tall..." He gestured to his waist.
"That's what I'm talking about." I nodded at the boy and, after my stomach growled again, asked, "So we have eggplants in the sweet and sour sauce for dinner?"
"Yes!"
"Are you sure you can handle cooking it?" I asked, just to be sure.
"I've been the one cooking at our house for the last two years." The young man's voice was full of confidence. "First, I will..."
As soon as Aun said these words, I realized I made a mistake by asking my question. Now there's no stopping him! He won't cease until he has detailed the recipe and how he will cook it. With each word, with every explanation, my mouth filled with saliva and my stomach growled ever more insistently.
"Then I'll finely chop the onion..."
We had almost left the market square, and the boy hadn't even gotten halfway through the recipe when I heard a call from behind:
"Master Duan!"
"I'll cut the onions into rings..." Aun continued, not noticing the call, and kept going.
"Master Duan!"
But this time, too, the young man didn't even turn around, engrossed in his story:
"The garlic needs to be squashed..."
"Isn't that you being called?" I interrupted the boy and pointed behind us.
"Master Duan!" Again the elderly man, standing in the doorway of a wine shop, shouted toward us.
This time Aun heard, his whole body jolted, but he quickly regained his composure and explained:
"I just can't get used to the fact that Master Duan is now me... After my father's death..."
Having said this, the young man turned to the one shouting, and a polite smile appeared on his face:
"Master Vaaliy, how can I assist you?"
"Master Duan, could you please come over, as my knees are particularly lazy today and hurt a lot with every step I take."
I shrug, which Aun takes as my agreement, and we approach the wine shop. Its owner invites us in with a polite gesture, his walk slightly shuffling; apparently, his knees really do hurt.
"Master Duan," Vaaliy begins as he walks behind the counter, "I offer my deepest apologies," and this man, nearly three times older than Aun, bows low to the boy.
The young man had already opened his mouth, apparently intending to ask what caused the older man's strange behavior. But he received a painful jab from my palm in his side and instead remained silent.
"Master Duan, you have visited my shop more than once." For some reason, the shopkeeper's voice still had a guilty tone to it.
"With my father, yes, I visited," the young man says, struggling to unclench his teeth from the pain.
"Yes, your father, may Elai protect his soul, was a regular customer of mine." The shopkeeper nods, seemingly interpreting Aun's grimace as pain from the memory of his father. "I didn't mean to remind you of your loss... But my shop has a tradition." As he speaks, the old wine merchant straightens his back. "When you buy more than four amphorae of fortified wine, we gift the customer a bottle of 'Sunset Flowers'." With that, a bottle of clearly expensive wine is placed on the counter.
"One of the best young wines of Tries," Aun nods in agreement.
"The best," the shopkeeper corrects him.
"Yes, I remember this tradition." The young man has fully collected himself.
Like me, Aun doesn't understand why he was summoned or what the conversation is about, but like a true merchant, the boy pretends that the situation is entirely under his control.
"And I haven't forgotten it!" The shopkeeper raises his finger, shuffles around the counter, and hands the bottle of young wine to Aun. "And again, I offer my apologies. Four days ago, my young nephew took your order." The shopkeeper's face grimaces at the words. "A remarkable scatterb... young man with his head in the clouds. And he forgot to pass on our gratitude to your courier for such a generous order - six amphorae at once. Accept this wine from my hands, along with my deepest apologies for my nephew, who did not do this in a timely manner!"
To say that I understand at least something would be an outright lie. Four days ago, Aun was constantly with me and definitely did not place any orders, especially in a wine shop. More so in such large orders of more than forty liters of fortified wine. That amount of alcohol could knock a dozen hardened men off their feet. And the amphorae that stand along the walls in this shop aren't cheap, and I don't remember Aun spending so much.
"Four days ago," the young man articulates slowly, "six amphorae of fortified wine..."
"Yes!" The shopkeeper answers with a smile, clearly cheered up after Aun accepts the bottle of 'Sunset Flowers' from his hands. "Exactly, six amphorae."
An idea sparks in my head like a flash of lightning, and I turn to Aun as if remembering:
"That must have been the order you had delivered to the port." The boy looks at me, clearly not understanding what I'm talking about, and I add: "That was the day when there was also a fire."
"Yes! That day. And indeed, the order was for the port," the wine merchant nods, confirming my words like an energized toy, "my nephew even had to take the cart and transport the order himself. Because it was already late, and he couldn't find any porters..." He sighs heavily and adds, "Or he was too stingy to pay for them."
Aun's mouth opens again, but I'm quicker. Turning the boy around on the spot, I push him out of the shop and, bowing to the elderly merchant, apologize in a hasty tone:
"I'm glad this misunderstanding has been resolved, but Master Vaalii, please excuse us; we're in a hurry. Goodbye."
I realize this isn't very polite, but I don't have the luxury of manners right now. Before the old man can say anything, I bolt from the shop, grab Aun by the collar, and push him forward.
"Let's go! No questions! Not here! Not in public!" There aren't many passersby at this time, but they exist.
"But I didn't place any order! Master Raven, I swear on my father's memory! I didn't order anything here!" Aun stammers.
"Shut up!" I hiss at him. "All questions later. At home."