Year 886
Thrush City is a bustling city in the middle of the desert. It had always been like this and as one
of the three prime routes for caravans in the desert there are always opportunities to trade.
Sun is a young boy of 13, he had a fairly average build and delicate features quite fitting for a boy his age. He unlike others his age didn't bother with dreaming of becoming a fierce warrior or a formidable mage. Instead his goals are quite modest, he simply wants to become a good merchant like his father and forefathers. To do that he had to amass a fortune and enroll in the merchant academy in the city of Verdun in the hopes that he can become a [Merchant Lord]
Indeed that is the reason why he was wearing a set of magi robes as if he were an apprentice mage.
On this particular day Sun was haggling with a merchant selling magic gems. The merchant looked to be a fat middle age man with shrewd eyes and a curly mustache.
"Young master, these gems have been imported from the Yarod province! That alone tells you the quality of my goods! I simply cannot part with these for a price less than 10 silver coins a piece!" The merchant said his voice confident and assured as if challenging Sun to try and contradict him.
Sun inspected the gems and even he had to admit that the gems were of good cut and purity.
However buying them at 10 silver coins would not make him profit.
"6 silver coins will do." Sun said, forcing indifference. Most magi were fairly detached because of the requirements to do magic therefore to emulate them he too would need to be detached.
"Young Master, a mage of your age needs these types of gems to cultivate your reserves,
perhaps 7 silvers will do you a more favorable deal?" The elder merchant said obviously trying to kowtow to him. Magi were rare and to have one as a regular customer would indeed be more profitable than to get profit now and so he was willing to break even just for the possibility that this young mage becomes a regular. After all when this mage grows so would his pocket.
"Very well, 3 Flamerite gems and 3 Stabilizers." Sun said coolly.
"Very good, Young master but first if you would provide proof of your magecraft?" The burly merchant respectfully asked. After all Sun wasn't the first one to try this trick.
Sun was however prepared for this and from within his cloak he withdrew a small wooden wand.
It was actually the low level magic tool [Fire wand++]. Normally people without magic cannot use it but this wand had a very high grade ore which allowed it to create a small flame even with
just a small amount of will. Even then it took all of Sun's concentration just to will out a flame.
"Ah, sorry for doubting you Young Master, but as you would know there are a lot of scoundrels impersonating magi these days." And so with those words the deal was set and the goods were exchanged.
After getting a good distance away Sun sighed in relief. That deal netted him about 12 or so silvers. Impersonating magi was indeed profitable and it was all thanks to the [Fire Wand++].
This wand had been a heirloom of the family, a relic of the only mage to have ever made it in the family. Just the wand alone could sell for 40 gold pieces. 1 gold piece amounted to 100 silver pieces from there alone one could see the value of this item.
Getting even a gold piece a month meant you could live for that month in a fairly expedient
manner for a merchant such as himself. High level warriors and magi though could get
hundreds of gold coins just by killing a monster and harvesting the remains. No one could argue that it is an easy life though.
One did not just become magi or a warrior. One had to have a [Proficiency]. Every child once they reach 7 years of age are tested for [Attribute],[Proficiency] and [Talent].
A magical device tested all these and gave results that would determine one's path of life.
[Attribute] refers to the ability of the body. For example if Sun had an [Attribute of Blades] or [Attribute of Vitality] then his body would have been suited for warrior training. Sun however had the [Attribute of Soul] which was an inferior attribute that gave him a stronger soul.
Perhaps a slightly useful attribute for magi but out of the 12 possible attributes his was ranked lowest.This is because there was no established way for a person to use his soul.
[Proficiency] refers to one's predisposition to certain skill sets. [Proficiency in Fire] Made people better at learning fire magic while [Proficiency in Spears] made people better at learning how to
handle spears.
Sun had all in all 3 Proficiencies. [Proficiency in Negotiation],[Proficiency in Calculation] and [Proficiency in Creation]. Pretty much textbook mercantile proficiency and to be honest Sun was glad for that since he detested fighting.
Finally [Talent] was fairly unique, a person had one talent and talents are ranked based on their usefulness. To be a warrior or mage one had to have at least a talent that reached [Rank C].
Of course Sun had a fairly useless talent, if he were to have gotten a talent like [Godlike
Regeneration] or [Unlimited Mana] both of which were [Rank S] perhaps even he would have been forced into being an adventurer but Sun only had the talent [Thrice bound] which was a fairly useless talent of [Rank E]. The only thing it did was make sure that nothing that if Sun tells an oath 3 times he would be unable to break it. Something like that was as useless as using a fork against the demon lord really.
Sun visited a few more merchants that loitered the streets till he was satisfied. In 3 hours he had bought 10 flamerite gems and stabilizers. That should net him about 30 silver coins should he sell them.
Sun lived in one of the inns in the central part of the city. Once he arrived at his room, he took off the apprentice magi robe he was wearing and with a huff he sank down on the bed drifting off to sleep with dreams of unlimited wealth and land.
The next day Sun once again donned his magi robe to try for good deals. This day would be his last day in the city as he would be leaving for the next in order to avoid discovery.
Right now he was browsing the wares in the Burke alley, this was basically the alley to buy
general merchandise like potions and stuff used for adventuring.
As he was walking towards another merchant stall a girl bumped into him.
"Sorry sir!" The girl immediately apologized her head bowed. She was wearing peasant clothes so she probably was panicking right now. To offend a mage, even one on apprentice level was
almost unthinkable to the lower class.
Sun took a moment to drink in her features. Smooth skin, Green eyes, brown hair. She was
beautiful in a sense, but her features were mostly plain aside from her eyes.
Sun nodded and went ahead a few steps before turning back as if to say something. The girl was already scampering away.
Feeling a bit of suspicion Sun reached for his pockets. His money's still there however his wand wasn't.
Sun felt a headache coming and he released a groan. Dammit he hated thieves!
----
Sun whistled and looked up to the sky. He smiled as he spotted a purple colored bird gliding above. This was Korua, a gift from his father. Sun's father's business revolved around selling magical creatures as familiars.
Usually only High ranking magi could afford them but as the third son of his father he received a bird like Korua easily. Korua was a [Vhiall Bird] they were good for scouting because they are attuned to [Magical Power]. Needless to say Korua was familiar with the feeling of [Firewand++].
With a mental command he tasked his bird to follow the thief.As for himself he forced himself to calm down, casually walking towards the place Korua determined the wand to be.
Plans upon plans upon plans flashed in his mind as he walked. He already passed the alley he was in before and before he knew it the place has transitioned into a more poorly maintained alley. Unlike before the place was dirty and an unpleasant smell lingered in the air. The people were dressed poorly but Sun could see a struggle in their eyes.
Even Sun knew that they were thinking of assaulting him, their vicious desires only held back by the light blue robe he was wearing. To assault an apprentice mage was to assault his master and to assault a mage willing to apprentice someone was beyond suicide.
Sun paid them no mind when he determined that they were cowed by his stature. Magi were simply too blessed, he mentally complained.
If he was not wrong the girl worked for a Thief guild and if she were to have stolen something like [Fire Wand++] She'd have to report it immediately to her superiors.
If that was so then he had a large chance to recover the wand. If he lost that treasure then he'd have no other way to get another like it even if he were to sell all the items stored in his [storage bag].
He eventually found himself in a clearing hidden between buildings. He counted 5 people
blocking his exit as soon as he entered. Sun saw a shady man wearing a rather worn mink coat,he had sharp features and beady eyes. The man was sitting rather confidently on a stool by other side of the small clearing.
"Tsk, Tsk I dunno how you found us, what is your business here mage? This isn't the usual
hangouts for highborn such as you y'know."
"You know why I'm here." Sun said forcing his voice to sound calm yet threatening.
"Woah, Woah little mage. You have guts, I admire that so I'll let you scram if you give us all your valuables." The man said as he slowly pulled out a knife from his mink coat. The other people watching also pulled out weapons of their own.
Sun's heart hammered in his chest but he in times like this he knew that to panic was to lose.
"Do you think I'm stupid? If there was a chance that I could lose would I have come here?" Sun said trying to make them stay their hand.
He could tell that it worked. The fire in their eyes lessened as caution started to sink in.The
opponent was a mage and depending on their [Talent] they could wipe a hundred monsters to a hundred thousand.
"You don't have a wand mage, how could you win?" The leader blustered as if remembering something once again the group's stances edged aggressively. Sun raised his right hand, he was hiddenly holding a flamerite gem. Mages used these types of gems for cultivating fire magic power. They broke it and absorbed the conflagration sealed in the gem.
A large flame burst out from Sun's hand as if summoned. Unnaturally it stayed in his hands not burning him nor dissipating.
"Ah, so you do have the wand. Do you know my talent Thief?" Sun said, his voice sounded like how one would sound when asking the weather. Inwardly he was elated by the group's reaction to his trick.
"W-what?" The leader's voice was shaken by the display and suddenly he wasn't as confident.
Time for the coup de grace.
"Out of all the talents in the world there are few which let's you summon flames,out of them
[Great Conflagration] ranks highly.I'm telling you to reconsider." Sun said as if saying he had a
[Rank A] skill was a bother.
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