Chapter Forty-Seven: Real Estate

“Good job, lad! Now, we can get started on making those apartments! I’ll start getting things in motion right away!” Skori was rubbing his hands, an avaricious gleam in his eyes.

“Actually, I was thinking that maybe we could turn it into an inn instead.”

Skori glanced at him, the beginnings of a scowl on his face.

“An, just why would we do that?”

Ash rubbed the back of his neck.

“Your idea is good, but there aren’t a lot of people staying in Ivalia, are there? I mean, sure, a few, yes, but the vast majority are visiting adventurers, and the only place they really have to stay is the adventurers guild or the one other inn in town, which isn’t very big to begin with. I think an inn would just be more successful, especially if we provided better food and ale.”

Skori tugged on his beard, the scowl starting on his face turning thoughtful, his brows furrowing.

“Ya might have a point there. The ale would be costly to import, though, as we would have to buy it from wandering merchants. Making better food than the other inn would not be hard. They barely put in any effort.”

Lilith showed him the size of the mansion in his mind, comparing it to the other inn.

Ash nodded,

“The mansion is bigger, too. We will have more space. Maybe we could even offer singing, or shows or something.”

Skori laughed,

“Great idea! However, let’s take it one day at a time, eh?”

Skori turned to get to work, then paused, moving back around to face Ash.

“What do ya think we should call this place?”

Ash ran a hand through his hair. He looked at Lilith; he thought of the rocks in his room.

“How about Dragon’s Hoard Inn?”

Skori shrugged,

“Never been much for naming things. Sounds as good as anything to me. I can even make it dragon-themed. A call back to the old stories, perhaps use Drakosian architecture…yes. Alright, lad, see me in a week, and I should have more details. Now get out of my store!”

Ash laughed, leaving with Lilith. He wasn’t out of the woods yet, financially. He would need to keep gathering ingredients, monster parts, etc. Both for potion and oil making, as well as for padding his coin purse. Yet he could see the path to passive income.

It was frought with work, but he could get there with patience.

__________

This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

Ash began the first morning of what would become his regular routine. He got up a few hours early and worked out with push-ups, ab crunches, and a run down to Ivalia and back, which was about ten miles total.

Then he would shower and dress, then go and eat breakfast in the dining hall of Wyrmhaven while he studied the herbalist book and Curses for Dummies. Then, he would drop Lilith off at his dorm. The dragon hatchling wasn’t happy about it, but he couldn’t bring her to every class, as much as he might have liked to.

After that, he would go to his first class.

Bronze Understanding of Elan and Elar, taught by Master Magics, was in the South Tower. He sat in one of the many seats that fanned upward in a big cone shape, with an area cleared out at the bottom for the Master, who had a chalkboard and a desk.

Students began taking their seats. Ash saw Mina, the silver-haired elf who had beaten him in the duel portion of the exam, enter. Moments later, Nick followed her, and his friend grunted when he saw Ash, coming to sit by him.

“Haven’t seen you in days! Began to think the shadow really had taken you.”

Nick slapped Ash on the back. Ash smiled at his friend,

“I was taking care of some things. Might tell you more about it later.”

Darkness descended on the room moments later. People gasped, but before panic could set in, a rich baritone rang out,

“Every person’s elan has an aspect.”

Darkness morphed and undulated before fading away, giving birth to light. Ash blinked, and when he cleared his vision, Master Magic stood before them. He was a visenium, with long flowing black hair like brackish water and hawk-like features.

His skin was pale, his eyes dark orbs as hard as granite.

“I am Alistair, or to you, Master Magic, or simply ‘Master.’ Now that I have your attention…”

He turned, writing aspects in bold letters on the chalkboard.

“Some refer to elan as the core of a person; if this is true, then it might be said that aspects are the core of the elan itself. It is what your elan is made of. In truth, some argue aspects are the foundations of creation itself. I would make note of that last part, students. Aspects act according to their nature, and this is why each and every one of us controls our elar differently.”

Master Magic held up a hand, and a perfect ball of darkness manifested over his palm.

“What is the nature of darkness? Across Dominion, we celebrate Remembrance Day, and on that day, we remember Dominion’s creation and the Hero of Light’s sacrifice. It is well known that without Shadow, we cannot have Light. In the same way, without darkness, we would not understand good. I control the elar drawn from my elan by embracing the fear of the unknown darkness projects.”

With a flourish, he dismissed the ball of darkness.

“It is in the nature of fire to consume, to fight, to survive, and to burn away. It is a fleeting existence, that of fire. I have heard those with fire aspected elan control it by feeding it with their thoughts. Today, you will be attempting to find your elan and identify what aspect it is. Usually, it is fairly easy to do this. If we get far enough, perhaps we will even explore how to control the elar you draw from it. You start by closing your eyes and, with your thoughts, delving into yourself. Go on now, try.”

Ash was already very familiar with how to do this, but he did it again anyway. It was always good to practice whenever you could. Besides, he didn’t feel like setting himself out by saying he already knew it. As always, his elan was there, cold and numbing. He drew elar from it, enduring the cold, as he always did, to control it.

He let go of it moments later, choosing to pull out a notebook he had brought for class and noting down quick notes on all the Master had said about aspects. His elan must be the aspect of ice.

He raised his hand, and Master Magic raised a brow,

“Have trouble?”

Ash shook his head,

“No, sir. I am proficient with this already. I was just wondering if your aspect might affect more than just your elan. Could it have other effects as well?”

Master Magic nodded,

“Astute question, young man. Yes, they do. It is the topic of a future lesson, but someone with fire aspected elan and elar may not feel the chill of winter, or summers heat, for example. They may even be immune to fire itself, sometimes.”

Ash tapped his chin, thinking. It suddenly made sense why he never felt the cold and staved off the heat. He wondered what else might be affected by aspects.

The rest of the lesson was spent mostly in silence, with Master Magic going around the room to help students access their elan. Ash spent the time taking notes and reading his books.

He was finally attending Wyrmhaven Academy.

What would school life have in store for him?