The Arcane Emperor

Chapter 177: A New Guild

With their future building in the process of being vacated, Elelaria and an Avatar of Rainer’s took the time to venture around the City of Wealth. Specifically, they headed to an area where rare resources, and the things made from them, were sold.

The building they were given was in a general district of no specific purpose, other than to denote the status and wealth of the individuals or groups that were allowed to have property there, be it owned or rented.

“What exactly are you looking for?” the Moon Elf asked, curious about this place herself. Especially given that Rainer through Frederick suggested that half of her 10% cut of the future Auctions she hosted be used solely to enhance herself. She wasn’t exactly opposed to the idea, but she wasn’t sure what they were strengthening her for at this point. They couldn’t possibly be planning on having her take another 2nd Tier Trial or even the 3rd Tier Trial, were they? She laughed off the idea.

“Anything interesting,” Rainer responded. While the Order of the Elements was by far the premiere seller of enhancements, both magical and otherwise, how could the entire City of Wealth ignore the massive money pile that was preparing people for their 2nd or 3rd Tier Trial? Or rather, the massive money pile preparing the powerful and wealthy’s loved ones for 2nd and 3rd Tier Trials?

So even though they were the best, they were far from the only ones who offered such services or items.

Entering the district, Rainer was surprised to find what felt like significantly powerful 2nd Tier users… manning roadside stalls. Alongside people who were otherwise ordinary. Personal power certainly had its limits shown in a place where a Divinity was law. Of course, someone powerful would still be able to gather more resources on their home planet or plane and could then leverage that for more things here, but if they came from a place of 3rd Tiers that wasn’t exactly simple.

The land itself was limited as well. He was planning to explore it later, but apparently the plane outside of what was the City of Wealth—and the current limit of the Divine presence that covered the city—was as welcoming and hospitable as a dragon’s maw. Tiamat’s not included. Given the difficulty and cost of transporting 3rd Tiers here, it was rarely explored. Once he had more leverage, he should really question the Divinity of Wealth on if and how he created this plane.

He scanned every stall with [Arcane Revelation]. Little attention was paid to the items, a combination of herbs, vials, rocks, and an assortment of trinkets; instead, Rainer studied the magic on them or the complexity of whatever energy filled them. Potions, such as ones that increased Mana regeneration rates, were not just simple blobs of magic nor could they be told apart simply by how strong they felt. The way the magic swirled inside them and its complexity was another factor.

Something few other than Rainer could see directly. His [Appraisal] was often useless, giving just a token description of the item, rather than revealing any secrets. Perhaps he should ask the Fae for a level 10 user of [Appraisal]? Luna was technically their Queen after all, even if she had sat in the throne exactly once. Though that just made her race like her more after the experience they had with the previous Queen.

Rainer’s eyes widened as he caught a slight glimpse of a familiar magic. He wrapped Elelaria in his own magic and took them with [Eldritch Flight] to the location. Their flight caught the eyes of several people, along with their appearance, but it was disregarded as the bustle of the crowds continued on.

He gently landed in front of the small stall. A regular Human of no particular note sat there, looking somewhere between asleep and hungover. The nightlife was certainly something Rainer would like to see with Kara and Luna, even if he didn’t feel safe enough yet to bring them here, yet alone his own main body. Elelaria knew the risks and considered boredom a greater one.

“How much?” Rainer said, pointing towards the item in question. His eyes practically burned holes into it. Even if he could ignore the omnipresent eyes of the Divinity who ran this city, he wouldn’t ignore the rules nor would he steal from someone who did him no harm.

“3,000 Tors,” he answered.

Rainer was too focused to bother chuckling at the self-important name given to the highest valued currency that belonged to the City and the Divinity behind it.

3,000...

He let out a ragged breath. That was a considerable amount. But he had no choice.

“Can you save it for me?” Rainer said, showing off the badge on his chest in hopes of making himself more convincing.

“No,” the man answered flatly and then returned to ignoring Rainer. Judging by the look on his face, he got a kick out of denying those who in any other world could command him with impunity.

Rainer’s face twitched as he considered breaking his recently set rule. But, there would be far more than this in this city he’d need. He was the leader of what would be an influential force. Acting like a child had to be left for in private. Not to mention there was probably a limit to what the Divinity would tolerate; even if he couldn’t see how the rules were broken, he’d hear of it for sure.

And Rainer didn’t want to cross that last line where his actions involved the innocent. Even if Francis already came close to doing so during his short existence.

“What if I offered 10% more?”

“Do you have it on you?”

“No, but I-”

“Then no. Only money. No trades. No holding,” the man flatly said and went back to ignoring him.

“I’ll be back soon, then,” Rainer finally said, wrapping Elelaria and soaring straight to their future auction house.

“What’s wrong?” Elelaria asked, looking slightly nervous at how fast they were flying. What if they ran into someone else?

“We have an auction to hold. In two weeks.” That was the time it took for even the slowest master Enchanters to finish a Trial armor set, with little time to spare. If they focused on nothing else and only stopped to eat and sleep. When you had access to infinite ‘Mana Crystals,’ enchanting was a far faster affair.

“What?! I don’t have any staff, and we don’t have lesser items ready.”

“We’ll be selling Trial sets.” He at least hoped the Trial sets they could currently make would be surpassed soon enough.

Especially since Rainer planned on explaining the Enchantments on the various Dungeon rewards they had gotten. Or rather, using [Arcane Revelation] to do so. Even if he couldn’t replicate any of them, just the knowledge of the Runes and how they were placed would be helpful. Any small increase in knowledge could be huge when applied to a lifetime Enchantment.

“But-”

“Not a request,” Rainer said, recalling what he had seen. He had been stuck on the decision of which Dragon essence to eventually merge with. After all, while Frost could be considered his currently strongest element, that was only currently. Not to mention that the innate magic he learned from Frost might end up being useless. However, what he just found...

How could he let the essence of a [Soul Dragon] fall into another’s hands?

Placing the Mana-Well into his [Dimensional Ring], Rainer sent his third Avatar to the City of Wealth to join the first. The stall needed to be watched closely. His second Avatar was in Alvra. They were already converging to the City of Four Towers in any case, so it wasn’t like he needed the protection of his Avatars in case those of the 3rd Tier came. As turned out, the other three Dungeons near the city were quite popular and farmed. It was the perfect place to get started.

In Alvra, and looking over the city he had met the boy and his dog in, Rainer gently flew down. Even though the pair was hard to miss, he didn’t even know where to really start looking for them.

It took only a few questioned civilians and one Hunter at the Lizard King’s Capital, or rather ‘Flame King’s’, to figure out just where the Half-Lizardkin and his black fur-covered dog was.

But arriving to the Dungeon, and all the accommodations surrounding it, his search turned up short. A glance with [Arcane Revelation] was all Rainer needed to know there was nothing of Draconic origin around.

Jack Bulhe stretched his arms as he waited for his best client. The Rank 3 Dungeon of the Fire King’s Capital was a challenging but profitable one. The final monster of the first stage was partially made of a particularly useful metal. It was unfortunate, however, said Monster held the strength of the beginning of the 2nd Tier. It meant that even if a party could beat said Monster, they would likely need the full 15 members to do so.

Even worse, this meant few visited this Dungeon, since the profit split amongst 15, with the chance any might be focused upon and die in a single hit, simply wasn’t worth it.

That was until a young boy and his strangely powerful dog came. With training from the old Monster tamer who ran the nearby Hunter’s Guild, he quickly became a force to be reckoned with. Or rather his Familiar did.

Following the sudden appearance of a Mage in front of him, Jack stumbled backwards before unceremoniously falling. Even as a merchant he had trained as a warrior for most his life, yet he had somehow lost his footing in such a silly manner. So the Lizardkin found himself quite embarrassed.

However his eyes widened upon taking in the figure in front of him. As impossibly beautiful as he was powerful, with a teleportation that was silent and untraceable. Hair that the noblest of ladies would kill to have a lock of and an array of Enchanted items capable of buying the world.

How could any merchant not recognize the man that is, or likely will be, the richest man in the world? Just that single auction of enchanted Items had caused the powers of the world to bring out long saved gold. It was unlikely there existed a single organization that now had more funds than his except perhaps the combined wealth of Neutral City, or the slavers in form of the Serpent King and the Flameborne.

Jack gulped as the man turned to stare at him. He quickly looked down, even if he had wanted to stare a bit longer.

“I’m looking for a Half-Lizardkin boy and a dog, have you met them?”

Jack nodded, not even thinking of lying, while sending a silent apology to Jean if the legendary [Archon] was here for unpleasant business.

“I-I’m w-waiting for h-him to come out of the D-d-dungeon,” Jack stuttered out, still avoiding looking directly at him and staring at his feet instead. What sort of God was involved in making a man have such pleasant to look at feet?

“I’ll wait with you, if you don’t mind.”

He minded quite a bit.

Jean narrowly dodged a swiped claw only for a sharp horn to stab into his armor. The steel was wrent and his heart punctured as the beast shook wildly and then flung him into the distance.

As if nothing more than an illusion, there was only tanned skin to be seen within the hole, and not a trace of blood. Quite a ways behind him, he could hear the buffet of wind produced by his familiar shaking her fur. It seemed she was brushing off the light ‘tickle’ she felt through their shared connection. His already inhuman nails suddenly turned far more claw like, a deep black tainted with just a touch of silver.

The level 25 [Draconic Dog] had long since been ready to advance her bloodline to the next point, but she was stuck waiting for her companion to be ready for his Trial. Her brown eyes, flecked with violet, watched with boredom as her master stood up and charged at the monster again. She could feel the usual pull of power as he borrowed her strength. Scratching behind her ear, she laid down and yawned.

This would be a while.

With his Avatar waiting for the boy, Rainer focused on his main body as they ventured through the city. It was Elelaria’s advice they buy land outside the city before building as planned with the help of the Ashen Dwarves. While they could just take it as it was quite desolate and not even apt for farming—the city thrived on the Dungeons it was near, and traded for much of its food—there was no reason to anger their new neighbors.

Even if Rainer planned on building the Enchanter’s Guild here in such a manner that they would only need to install the engine to get it to fly.

[Void-walking] with his five 3rd Tier allies in tow, Rainer suddenly appeared within the training room of the Lord of the city. Clothed in simple leather armor and a long halberd, the otherwise gruff-looking man barely managed to keep the appearance of a warrior at the sudden visitors.

“The Four Towers are quite interesting. We were hoping to buy some land a distance away from the city. Who might we see about that?” Rainer asked without any small talk. Prior to coming here, he had requested Locklar make the strength of his Soul known through magic.

Perhaps having dealt with the 3rd Tiers of this world before, The Lord seemed to recognize their presence.

“Exalted ones, I would be happy to help you.”

The Lord of the city wiped the sweat from his brow, not even paying attention to the enchanted items he was paid with. The city, and the country surrounding it, were all owned by one of the Seven Emperors. The person who gave him authority in the first place.

He had given them the land without argument. It had felt less a trade and more a demand, after all. They might not kill him if he said no, but they also likely wouldn’t have listened. So there was no reason to antagonize them. Not to mention their proposed plan of selling enchanted items interested him deeply. Especially if they were anything like the Sword he received as payment for the land.

There was also no sense in not believing their story. A group of otherworldly travelers looking for a new home. They had stated it outright when he had subtly questioned their origins. Having trained under the Fourth Emperor, he had spent a lot of time around the few 3rd Tiers of this world. And he could recognize the presence they gave off easily. So long as they weren’t trying to hide it.

All five behind the enchanted item-covered Mage gave him a greater sense of danger than any of the Emperors. There was no way such beings remained hidden, especially given their Mana. And even if they had, there was no need to lie about it. And the Mage was no slouch in making him feel life-threatening danger.

As soon as he calmed his shaky hands, he personally rushed off at his fastest speed, expending his Aura rapidly. The Fourth Emperor needed to know of this. But if he was honest to himself, he just wanted to wipe this headache from his plate. He was far too old to deal with something like this.

With the Ashen Dwarves and several mages from the Mana-Filled world working together, a foundation and then a large metal disc were quickly put together. The Enchanter’s Guild was being built a good distance away from the Four Towers, an open path existing between it and city, with the Dungeons off to Southeast.

The freed Dwarves seemed happy with the work; in fact, according to Elelaria, that was the only thing that seemed to make them happy. Their treatment by the Void Lords was not kind. Were Talvara anything really resembling a Human, he might blame her for it. But as it was, her actions were no different to a Human from Earth playing a video game.

They had rapidly figured out how to use Mana in the environment to create their unique metal. While the inefficiency was barely above using their own Mana, it did provide them things to do as repair men and women across the city.

Rainer rubbed his neck as he thought over how to help them. But he really had no idea. Now that Elelaria had a shortage of help in the City of Wealth, and there were tools sold by the Divinity’s followers to deal with language issues while under the Divine Presence, perhaps tapping Earth’s overflowing Human resources wasn’t a bad idea.

Including for how to best acclimate a race that was once enslaved.

They had been expecting a visit from the forces of the world, but even half-a-day later, when construction of a single tower of twisting metal, and several surrounding it, connected to it along with pathways for the Mana workshops, there was no such visit. The buildings, however, took up much of their stored Mana Crystals. There was no easy way to give the Dwarves access to the Mana-Well while building without revealing it directly.

During this day Rainer had gone between here and the Mana-filled world as he brought over more and more Enchanters to begin working on the Trial armor sets for the auction.

All of them would earn a considerable amount of free time with the Mana Workshops afterwards, but most looked forward to the [Archon]’s offer regarding Enchanting knowledge of Dungeon rewards.

Some people entering and leaving the city paid attention to them, but no one seemed to head over. It was likely news already spread to keep people from thinking this out of place structure was a Dungeon.

Rainer entered the highest point, quickly putting the Mana-Well in place, fueling the workshops for the Enchanters. It was with great trepidation he realized that until his Avatar came back with the young Monster tamer, he was stuck here.

Before beginning to work on Trial Armor himself, he went to Kara and found a better way to deal with his loneliness in the tower.

It was unfortunate that they were soon interrupted by a message from both Gunthar and Art as they sensed seven Souls of the 3rd Tier standing outside their recently built Guild. So that was why they took so long before anyone visited them...

“Are we allowed to kill them?” Kara asked, annoyed.

“Yes. Maybe? No, we should wait until they give us a reason. I’ll be back quickly.”

It took only a moment to gather the 3rd Tiers with [Void-walking]. It cost more but it wasn’t a big deal to transport them short distances without using [Living Storage].

Only Rainer and the 3rd Tiers were standing outside, across from the seven 3rd Tiers native to this planet. It wasn’t worth the risk, even if they would help in the fight, for anyone else to join in. As much as he was curious how the stronger amongst his companions would fare against them after the Dungeon and its after effects, this wasn’t the time. A [Sleep Learning] fight with their friendly 3rd Tiers was a much better method.

“So? What can I help you with today?” Rainer said, a full use of [Acting] in preventing his smile from looking too fake.