Ethan appeared in the middle of the desert. The clear starry sky and cold winds of the night gave the landscape a fantastical air, the sand dunes were a sea of pearly white dust bathed in the soft blue light of the twin moons above, it was a beautiful view.

In the distance, Ethan could see a lot of orange-yellow light dots, probably fire from torches in the city. Lauhr City was still buzzing with activity, even at night. And after the events of the last couple of days, they were right to be in constant alert.

Ethan turned his head and found a door of polished wood standing open near him. It was just standing there, no wall nor building around or behind the doorframe.

Beyond that door, there was a completely different image than the desert scenery around him. The comfy living room of a house that he was already familiar with.

Wooden floor, elegant furniture, some works of art as decoration and lots of books. This "house" had two floors, a kitchen, five bedrooms each with its own bathroom, two common bathrooms in the hallways -one on each floor-, a living room and even a basement and an attic, though Ethan had only used one of the bedrooms. Yet it was no common house.

On a nearby table, his Master was eating some grapes. He was still in the shape of a Phoenix, with crimson plumage that sometimes shimmered with lots of colors, golden beak and talons, plus a strange aura of warmth and soothing calm that Ethan still had conflicted feelings about.

Ethan walked forward, crossed the boundary into the warm house, and closed the door behind him. No matter how many times he did it or how much time he spent inside this place, Ethan always got the impression he was walking into a different world each time he crossed that door.

“You know; I have been wondering. Where is this place, actually?”

Ethan took a seat at the table as his teacher offered him some of the grapes. Biting one, he instantly knew these were not the kind of grapes he was used to. They were delicious though, so he didn't complain and took some more. The Phoenix in front of him tilted his head.

"I wondered when you would ask. What took you so long?"

A shrug was all the answer Ethan could give. While he had been curious, he simply hadn't asked. Maybe the fact that he had just been taken to a whole different planet by his teacher numbed him to the impression of having a magic door leading to a house. It was just not that flashy in comparison.

With a little movement of a wing, Navin produced a figurine of a house out of thin air.

“You are inside this. It’s a magic artifact that allows people to enter and enjoy the commodities inside.”

Ethan picked the figurine. It looked like a toy, but it was surprisingly hard and heavier than he had expected.

“So this house is an artifact like this one?”

“This house is that artifact you are holding in your hand.”

Ethan frowned, that didn’t make sense. Was he being philosophical or was this a real paradox of some sort?

“And how can I be holding the artifact if I’m inside it?”

“Magic.”

Ethan gave his teacher a reproachful look for that answer.

“Ha, ha. Very funny.”

Ethan deadpanned and put the figurine on the table again. His Master merely shrugged and distractedly levitated another grape into his beak.

“The inside of the house is a pocket dimension anchored to the outside world, the artifact itself is the house figurine but it only keeps the enchantment in place. That’s why you enter through a door, not a huge house outside. But it is this artifact I just showed you. I can give you a new one if you want.”

“You have other models?”

“Sure. There are a lot of types for artifacts like this one, each with different characteristics. Wanna see some others?”

“Hmm… How about this? We will come back to this subject when I actually know a bit of magic and can properly understand what you are saying and how they work.”

“Alright, fair enough. Did you decide where you are going next?”

The Phoenix conjured a rune-covered bottle and two glasses. The liquid that poured forth was of a golden color and had a sweet aroma that Ethan could smell even from where he was sitting. Curious, Ethan took a sip from the offered glass as his Master drank from his with a straw.

It was sweet like honey and warm like cocoa. Strangely revitalizing too.

“Not yet. But I have a… feeling. I can’t really explain what it is, but it’s there.”

The Phoenix hummed and nodded his head in agreement. It seemed his teacher was letting the decision up to him, even if Ethan only had a vague feeling that wouldn’t even serve as guidance.

“Going wherever you want to go and whenever you feel like it. Nice, I approve of that way of life. Then what will you do, pick up a random direction and walk to it?”

“I… I don’t know. Perhaps.”

“That’s what I suggested you to do in the first place. See? You should listen to your teacher. In the meantime, I guess we should discuss about something. The attack of that country, Feld-Ehia, means that they will be going to war against Sahbadia. Will you get involved in that again?”

Ethan really didn’t want to answer that. Mainly because he wasn’t sure of what the answer would be. He had no intention of fighting, but he also didn’t want to let people die in front of him. His Master didn’t want to participate but had already intervened twice because of Ethan. He couldn't keep forcing his Master's hand to act.

Still, he felt that he had done what was right, so Ethan did not regret it.

“I’m not judging you, Ethan. Neither am I recriminating you. If you choose to do something, I will support your choice. But you must know that there are consequences to your actions. Some will be undoubtedly good, but there will also be dangers and bad consequences if you are careless, not only to you but those around you. So keep it in mind.”

“I know, sorry.”

The Phoenix jumped to the backrest of the chair where Ethan was sitting and softly patted Ethan’s head with a wing. There was something absurd about a bird trying to comfort a person in that way. Besides, Ethan wasn’t sad and needed no petting. He gave a flat look at his teacher.

“You look ridiculous doing that.”

“And you look ridiculous apologizing for doing what you thought was right. Ethan, you saved people, there’s nothing wrong with that. You just need to be more aware and careful in the future.”

The bird took a step into the air and glided back to the table without even moving his wings. At this point, Ethan was sure that those were mere decoration and his teacher flew by defying every known law of physics and then some.

“As I was saying. There’s going to be a war. We have no issue traveling since I can take you wherever you want and I will take care of your needs, but if you want to enter the cities and interact with others, this state of affairs might complicate it.”

“Yeah, the King said something about that.”

Navin snorted out a laugh, which Ethan thought sounded very strange coming from a bird. His teacher was sneering as he took another sip of his golden drink.

“That guy thinks he is so clever, helping you in a way that helps himself. When you grow stronger, I’m sure he will try to recruit you as a war potential and offer you things in exchange for making you join his army and fight for his kingdom.”

That sounded like something plausible. To the eyes of everyone in Lauhr and to the King, Ethan was a powerful healer. But he was training in Cultivation under the tutelage of an extremely powerful being. Having a Master that was the strongest Cultivator, Ethan would undoubtedly become very powerful too.

When the time came for others to notice that, who knew what kind of view they would have of Ethan and what their reactions would be. They might try to recruit him, and what would happen when he rejected them? Would they see him as a threat and an enemy?

Ethan didn’t want to think about such things right now.

“He didn’t seem like a bad person to me.”

“Maybe he isn’t. But that doesn’t mean he won’t make schemes and weave ploys to manipulate people in order to benefit his country. He is a King, that makes him a politician, and any smart politician will try to get an advantage over the others. He is also smart, so he was a bit subtle about it and gave you something useful that makes a good impression. But if he wants to make use of you, you can make use of him too. Just be careful not to fall in his game.”

Ethan agreed to his Master’s words. It wouldn’t be funny if the King or other influential people suddenly decided to take a more forceful approach to recruit Ethan.

“Also, there’s the matter of money. The prince’s letters will save you trouble, as a foreigner traveling around Sahbadia when it is in a state of war, having a Royal Permit and Amir’s vouching for your identity will be very useful. But you also need money to go around.”

An undeniable truth of life, no matter what world one was in. Ethan pulled out some coins and a little bag from his Spatial Ring. Silver and copper that he had earned selling a couple of monsters he hunted in the desert and the bag that Kareb had given him for the body of the monstrous vulture he had dropped outside the city after driving the beast horde away. Navin glanced the money before looking Ethan in the eyes.

“Do you know the value of each coin and their purchasing power?”

“Ehmm…”

Ethan didn’t. He had only been three days in that city and hadn’t even gone to a store to buy anything.

“I only know some of the things that can be bought by a couple of silver coins, like a lunch or a room for a night at the Inn.”

“Well, I did some research while you were taking a beauty rest. This will be useful, so pay attention.”

With a theatric sweep of his wing, he made some coins appear on the table and arranged them in rows of three. Gold, silver and copper, but the design of every coin was different.

Navin started to explain as he pointed at each of the different coins.

“These are the coins used in the countries of this continent. Here we have from Sahbadia one golden dinar worth 25 silver dirhams, one silver dirham worth ten copper fulus, and one copper fals. From Feld-Ehia, one golden aureus worth 25 denarii, one denarius worth ten assarius or asses.”

“Haha, asses.”

“Not that type of asses. Anyways, those two are rival economies but hold an almost equal influence in the continent despite Feld-Ehia apparently having a rising tendency and being an emerging military power. It has been getting steadily stronger in the past decades.”

He pointed to the other rows of coins.

“From Rillosa, we have here one golden rillus worth 30 silver laurels, each silver laurel is worth ten copper penny. Formabisia has something similar, but they usually use the coinage of other countries, maybe due to being constantly invaded by their neighbors or because they are in the middle of the continent, sharing borders with all the other three countries so they trade with all of them. However, they do have their own coinage; Formabisia’s native coins are a golden beak, silver wing, and copper talons. One silver wing is worth twenty copper talons, and forty silver wings are equal to one golden beak.”

The mention of beaks, wings, and talons made Ethan recall something. He gave his teacher a glance and amusedly told him his idea.

“Elder Edek mentioned Avians living there, I guess they are like bird-people? Hey, maybe they will reverence you if they see you in Phoenix form.”

Navin seemed to consider this for a moment then made a face of discontent. It was almost creepy to see a bird making such a face.

“Hmm, true. One more reason for me to avoid appearing in front of them, then. But focus, those are the coins on this continent and their value, now for their exact purchasing power compared to one another…”

Urgh, that’s gonna be a pain to remember.

Ethan made a face as his Master introduced him to each of the coins in the continent. Had he stolen those coins or magically made them? Ethan stayed quiet, he didn’t know if he wanted to know the answer, and that was honestly not important right now.

The strongest economies of the continent were Feld-Ehia and Sahbadia, with Rillosa prospering thanks to their commercial routes. Formabisia, however, was practically bullied by the other three countries; ravaged by war, the tribes that comprised its ethnicities were divided and at odds with each other, often suffering from economic sanctions, stranglehold on goods, commercial and military pressure from the other three countries, not to mention the many monsters that inhabited the heart of the continent. Theirs was the weakest economy, and so their coin was apparently not as valuable as the others, despite being made of the same materials.

“Why can’t they just have neat and equivalent coins everywhere?”

“Because every economy is different. The resources and international influence of each country vary due to a multitude of factors. Different cultures value and handle money in their own way, and when they make commercial deals, an agreement is reached by comparing who has the most riches and influence. Hence the money from Formabisia is worth less than the coinage from Feld-Ehia, the country that has half of their territory under their control, or Sahbadia who is a power with a larger presence and commercial influence. These countries also trade in goods and services, like precious gems, raw materials, and other commodities.”

“Seems too complicated, they should all choose one coin and stick to using it.”

The Phoenix stroke a pensive pose by folding a wing under his beak. He considered Ethan’s words and tilted his head left and right.

“That’s not so easy to do. Currency values are determined by complex issues, like geopolitics, the abundance of resources, economic strength and international influence. That’s why a powerful country gets to dictate the terms of trade. Besides, a unified currency can only be implemented if true unification of the world is achieved first, like a world government or another such institution that all groups and organizations submit to. Even your world didn’t have a unified currency either, for all you claimed to be a globalized world. You know that already, each country has their own currency and they have different values on international markets.”

“We have the dollar, that’s close enough. Everybody uses dollars and pays attention to its value… I guess. And there’s also credits and cryptocurrencies. Everybody was saying that the whole world would move to use that in the future.”

“Ah, yes, fiat money and the virtual coins. Nice inventions, mortal worlds come up with very interesting concepts, even those without magic. Using data and abstract ideas such as digital assets with right of usage. A tricky matter and risky in my opinion, but with vast potential for the type of world that yours was, it was headed to the path of a highly technological world. Nevertheless, Greater Worlds would never use such vague things as digital assets.”

Ethan didn’t like that he was dissing the economy of his world. What kind of economy did the Deities use? Would that really be a superior one as his Master seemed to imply?

“Master, I’m curious about something. What money do you Gods use in the Divine Realm and those ‘higher worlds’ you mention all the time?”

“Not everyone in the Greater Worlds is immortal and powerful. Those wouldn’t be much different from mortals in that they use currencies like the ones in lower worlds, but with the difference that it would be made from materials with spiritual properties, like spiritual stones or energy crystals containing elemental essences. However, true Powerhouses are a different matter.”

So the money of the higher worlds has magical properties, good to know.

Ethan took notice of what his Master was saying. He tried to imagine what kind of money could immortals trade with.

“What about the Gods and the Divine Realm?”

“We trade in power, knowledge, heavenly materials and earthly treasures. When we trade resources or services, barter is the most common system of exchange. We can either be paid on goods or with favors.”

“Isn’t that like… really primitive?”

Ethan expected something better from the Deities that supposedly governed the Cosmos. Like some super advanced system of unified trade or something cooler like some abstract currency that had reality-warping properties. He was also very curious about what kind of economy such beings would have. Mortals needed resources to survive and live in comfort, but the Powerhouses of the upper worlds would be immortal and not riddled by the problems of ordinary people.

“Perhaps from a mortal’s point of view it might seem primitive, but try to look at it from an Immortal’s perspective, or rather, from the perspective of someone who has no need for physical money or access to near infinite quantities of it. Cultivators are constantly trying to acquire the power to advance, that’s what is important to us. We only have value for the things we can grasp, the only money we need is the power to further move forward. Spiritual stones that contain the Qi of the world can help us to gather energy for a breakthrough in Cultivation; Essence Orbs, Mana Crystals, and Aether Cubes are other examples of things that contain exotic and useful energies contained in them, those things have value for many races that use them to get stronger, so those types of things are accumulated and considered the savings of Practitioners in many worlds.”

As he spoke, Navin conjured different objects on the table. Some comma-shaped jewels that had a smooth surface with what appeared to be liquid flowing at high speed inside them. Orbs and beautiful gems of multiple colors, polished and cut into many shapes, when Ethan looked at them, he noticed they had strange things inside, like electricity and miniaturized snowstorms, even burning flames, some of those objects just had abstract colors inside flowing inside and gave Ethan weird feelings just by looking at them.

His teacher continued talking after giving Ethan a few moments to observe the crystals and orbs on the table.

“Treasures with practical uses, materials for crafting powerful artifacts and rare ingredients that can be used to refine elixirs and alchemic medicines have a value of their own too. We are practical people. We don’t give value to mundane money because we don’t have any use for it. We can transmute a sand dune into a hill of golden coins, so the value of gold is dust for a Deity. We value what we need and our luxuries and pleasures are such that the ‘complex system’ that mortal worlds use, simply doesn’t apply to us. Banks aren’t used either, because everyone simply carries their possessions with them or keeps them secure in personal pocket dimensions. It could also be seen as a ‘return to simplicity’ that is observed in the Cosmos at large, but that’s more of a subject for philosophical debates.”

Navin made gestures with his wings signaling the spread of something from a single point and then converging once again into a point, it looked as if he was delimiting a rhombus in the air.

Ethan glanced at his own hand, on his index finger was a Spatial Ring, and inside it was a huge pocket dimension. It was easy to imagine that the people with access to similar things wouldn’t bother trusting others to keep their riches unless they were personally weak. It would be meaningless to carry their wealth around if they lacked the strength to protect it, after all.

“So you don’t have coins in the top worlds?”

“Favors and barter are the most common, but we do have a type of ‘coin’. The closest thing to a physical currency in the Divine Realm is the Dzi. But it would be more accurate to consider it as part of our barter, something like gems of different size and purity.”

“Dzi?”

A smooth oval object appeared in the air and fell into Ethan’s hand. It was some sort of polished material, though he couldn’t ascertain if it was stone or metal. It was black and hard, adorned with golden lines that formed a strange pattern on the surface, like engraving some sort of rune.

Ethan raised the bead to take a better look at it as his Master continued explaining.

“Dzi beads are ‘the Pearls of Heaven’ and are infused with power by the Deity who made them. They are gifts, blessings, curses, hexes, spells, knowledge, mysteries, and miracles condensed into a single bead. They are the physical form of a shard of truth. Inside them is the essence of some comprehension acquired by a Powerhouse. They are crystallizations of an event or phenomenon, even a concept can be encapsulated in these things. They are invaluable in any world and are regarded highly by Powerhouses of Ninth, Tenth, and even Eleventh Stage because these beads possess a multitude of attributes and effects. They can be weaponized too, but their real value is as an object of study and reference for practicing Cultivation. They are also very tasty.”

Ethan watched intently the bead in his hand, it was the size of his thumb, and as he looked closely to the lines adorning it, the more Ethan felt some strange but fleeting sensations. It was like looking at something from the corner of his eye, or making an effort to recall an event, like having a word at the tip of his tongue but not quite managing to remember what it was. He knew there was something in this bead, he just couldn’t tell exactly what.

It was entrancing, in a way. And a bit frustrating.

“So this is what you meant by ‘Power’ when you said you traded with it? Is it the same as a Mage putting a spell into a gem or an artifact?”

“It’s a bit different, though perhaps this could be considered the most advanced version of that particular craft. For one, the scale is much larger in a Dzi, a normal object wouldn’t contain such phenomena, so the ‘capsule’ or rather the physical body of the Dzi is made from the power of its maker, isolating the mystery from the external world.”

“Like a black hole covering a singularity.”

Navin stared at Ethan for a moment with a surprised expression.

“You know about those things?”

Ethan laughed. He was no scientist, but the names and superficial concepts of a lot of physics terms were known by anyone who spent long enough surfing the internet or watching sci-fi series. He grinned as he replied to his teacher.

“I’m smart. My world has carried lots of research about space and the universe, it’s mostly theoretical though. I liked to read about that stuff online.”

“Fascinating. When your world is fixed, I will have to visit some of those scientists, I’m sure it will be an enlightening conversation.”

Ethan felt good seeing that is Master didn’t have doubts that it would be fixed, Ethan would trust him on that. However, he quickly steered the conversation out of that topic.

“There are lots of smart people in my world, in all sorts of subjects. Anyway, you said that Dzi have special phenomena contained inside, right? What does this one do?”

“I have no doubts about the skills of your people. The efforts of mortals are, in some aspects, arguably more laudable than the ones made by immortals.”

Navin pointed at the black bead on Ethan’s hands, and his next words made the young man drop it.

“That one is one second stolen from every star in the skies of Pereastra, a world only beneath the Divine Realm. It contains the entirety of their radiation and gravitational pull, the combined light and heat of millions of stars captured in a single instant. One second of the starry skies crystallized forever in that bead.”

The Dzi slipped Ethan’s hand and he tensely watched it fall to the table and roll. Part of Ethan even wondered if it would break and explode. His teacher just laughed as he picked it up.

“Don’t worry, I told you these things are made from the power of a Deity-level being. They are extremely durable and stable. You would need to be of Seventh or Eight Stage to forcefully break one of these.”

“How did you even make this thing? Wait, you said these are tasty. You eat these things? What the hell? How does that even work?”

His teacher shrugged and gave him a carefree smile as he returned the Dzi to Ethan, who grabbed it and alternated glances between it and Navin.

“When you reach my level of power, you will understand. You simply lack the necessary senses to appreciate these things. When you are older and more powerful, I will show you meals and beverages made from amazing things, like a caramel of starlight, a liquor from distilled murderous intent, or a muffin of poetic dreams, maybe you will like the Past Lives Beer. I have some pies made from Immortality Peaches that my friend Mahesh baked, and some whiskey made from the change of seasons that I won in a bet with the Fae King, that stupid old fairy was a stubborn and sore loser, hahaha.”

Ethan felt really weird when his Master started to name those drinks and meals. What kind of crazy things did the beings in other worlds stuff themselves with? That seemed like one hell of a trip on drugs and Ethan didn’t want to try any of that weird stuff. He was perfectly fine with eating human food and drinking cola, thanks. No need to mix up weird astral things in a cold beer, either.

“We’ll see about that when the time comes, Master.”

“Alright. You are right, no need to rush on those things, you are still a kid, after all. So as I was saying, there are Dzi with far more amazing things, like the murderous intent and bloodlust of an entire Hell, the furious force of the ethereal storms that strike the Divine Realm from beyond the void, a shard of the Heavenly Wall, the concentrated essence of the faith of the whole history of a race, the howling silence after the death of a world, the dreams about futures that didn’t come to be, the breaking of a thread of Fate, the gravitational collapse of an universe onto itself, and even a breath of life stolen to every living being beneath the Heavens.”

Navin enumerated multiple things like talking about the meals on a menu, as if he was remembering the items on a list about the goods kept on storage and not the great wonders that the Gods used to trade among themselves.

“Anything you can imagine, no matter how fantastical or absurd it may seem, if there’s a Powerhouse who has comprehensions on a related aspect of the Cosmos, they can put it into a Dzi. Of course, the stranger the better. That’s why Dzi don’t have equal nor regulated value and are better considered as bartering goods.”

Ethan wondered about the words of his teacher as he imagined how those weird things could even be encapsulated in the first place, but gave up after a while. There was no point in wondering about the powers of Gods when he was still in the First Stage of Cultivation.

However, the possibilities of putting abstract concepts and imagined phenomena into those beads made him very curious.

“How about a paradox?”

“Oh, those pack a good punch. Paradoxes are quite nasty weapons.”

“You weaponize paradoxes?”

“Oh yeah, and those make some truly spectacular attacks. Try hitting a guy with a punch that comes from the future or condense a thousand strikes on a single point at the same time, and you will see them freak out, especially since space-time gets rent asunder and then realigns itself, that backlash hurts a lot. Real hard stuff. Guys who don’t have some comprehension on the Way of Time and the Way of Space tend to be beaten really bad in the upper echelons of existence.”

His Master seemed to be excited as he talked about that stuff. As if tearing apart the fabric of reality was simply a sport or something to him.

Fuck, that might really be a sport for the Gods, crazy bastards.

“Paradoxes can be used for defense too, of course. Like a shield that forces stasis into whatever touches it a painting that goes into an infinite path, or a depthless well that’s used to swallow an opponent’s attack. Or sending any wound into a pocket alternate timeline to avoid injury. Turning your opponent's attacks into a lie or an immaterial illusion is an advanced technique too. Anything is possible when one is powerful enough and has high comprehension.”

“How do you even hurt them then?”

What would happen if an unstoppable force clashed against an immovable object? Or an endless stream versus a depthless well? An ever-burning inferno fighting an all-freezing winter?

Would those fights make sense or even be possible to happen at all? Ethan was confused.

“By wielding greater power or having deeper comprehension about the concepts and phenomena used in the fight. It’s not even a matter of who uses the higher principle or more complex concept. Although usually the more abstract a concept, the higher the comprehension needed to grasp it, that actually depends on individual talent. What’s most important is power and understanding. A guy wielding a representation of the passage of time or the decay of death can still be beaten and killed by a guy wielding tranquil water or ever-burning fire, and all the above can be sliced to pieces and killed by a girl wielding a sword if she has sufficiently high understanding of the concept of cutting.”

He had a strange smile as he said the last part, for some reason. He actually sounded smug. Like a father showing off his child’s achievements.

“Sounds very weird and complicated.”

“Because it is. What you need to understand is that these kinds of extraordinary phenomena and epiphanies about the workings of the Cosmos are the things that Cultivation Arts and Techniques are based on. That makes Dzi even more valuable because achieving a deep understanding of something will make a Cultivator stronger, it brings an advantage over others in a fight and makes one be a step closer to the next breakthrough.”

Silence lingered for a moment and Navin made a sweeping motion with his wing over the table and the magical objects disappeared, leaving only the coins.

“But well, you shouldn’t be bothered by these type of high-level questions for now. To you, who are in the initial stages of Cultivation, the battles between Deities are too far away and strange, it’s good that you are looking ahead, but you should focus more on the present.”

Ethan thought that Navin was right. But still, Ethan knew he will probably keep asking questions every day, there were just so many amazing things to learn, much that he didn’t know. And if he had a teacher that was expert about those things then Ethan would ask about everything that came to mind.

But it was true, Ethan should focus on the things that were of use for him right now. He gave the Dzi back to his Master and watched it disappear.

“Ok, let’s put aside the crazy, fantastical and nonsensical matters of upper worlds and focus on the now. Why did you show me these coins, Master?”

“Right, we got a bit out of topic there, sorry. Well, I figured you will need funds for traveling and doing things in any place you visit. I can cover your basic necessities, but it would suck if you couldn’t even buy candy on the street. That would make you seem like a poor and lame guy. I can’t let that happen it would make me look bad as your legal guardian and teacher.”

“Oh, geez. Thank you for such honest and selfless concern, Master.”

“So, I’m gonna give you some pocket money.”

Ethan saw his teacher wave his wings and the coins flew to the air, towards the center of the room. In the air, each of the spinning coins multiplied many times.

In less than five seconds, there were multiple piles of coins in the center of the room. Hundreds, likely over a thousand of each of the coins his teacher had shown him before. Ethan’s eyes widened at the sight in front of him.

Pocket money, yeah right. This is a fortune.

Ethan turned to look at his teacher. If he thought Ethan was gonna jump at the sight of money, he was going to be disappointed.

“That’s illegal.”

His teacher gasped dramatically and put a wing on his chest as he threw he head back staring at Ethan. He even floated out of the table.

“Are you accusing me of criminal activities?”

“Well, I wouldn’t exactly call you a criminal… but yeah, what you are doing is illegal.”

Ethan deadpanned and he saw his teacher drop the drama. His Master actually looked like he was about to pout, but changed his mind and merely took a pensive pose.

“Hmm… perhaps. We aren’t paying seigniorage for these coins, after all. But look at it this way: we are like a foreign merchant that comes to town carrying money. It’s not like they are fake coins or falsified banknotes; the gold, silver, and copper are real. This is commodity money; it won’t damage their economy unless we suddenly put absurd amounts of it into the market. Which we won’t do. Because we are responsible and honest people who abide by morals and all that.”

Ethan silently stared at his teacher, who raised both wings dramatically again.

“Look, you can get technical, philosophical and moral about this, or you can get the money. What do you choose?”

Ethan chose to shut up. But he still had moral objections about it. He took another look at the huge piles of coins. How much was there? Well, if he was careful about it, it shouldn’t cause any trouble in local economies. This wasn’t fake money anyways, it was real gold, silver, and copper.

Damn it, he’s actually convinced me.

Though it was definitely money obtained through illicit ways since it wasn’t actually coined by the countries. Real or not, it wasn’t obtained through the proper means...

Ethan let out a sigh, this wasn’t going anywhere. He was in a different world where magic existed and was being trained by a freaking Deity. Coins were the least important thing.

“Fine, I’ll take it. But for the record, I still object to this.”

“Of course. Look, I will record it for you.”

The Phoenix floated around and put his wings together as if he was holding a camera aimed at Ethan, who simply let out a sigh and ignored him.

Ethan waved a hand and all the piles of money moved to his Spatial Ring. There had never been lack for things during his journey with his teacher, but at least now there would be no lack of money to use if he wanted to buy something in the cities he visited.

Ethan yawned hugely. He had been sleeping until recently, but he was still feeling a bit tired. That sweet drink had filled him with warmth but now he was feeling drowsy.

His teacher seemed about to tell him something but stopped and seemed to change his mind.

“Hmm, I have to handle something, I’ll be back in a while, but if you want to go to sleep, we’ll talk in the morning.”

“Alright. Hey! I remembered something, tell me about Systems!”

“I knew you would be curious about them. Okay, if you are still up when I come back, I’ll tell you about them. If not, then tomorrow in the morning.”

"Alright."

And with that, his teacher teleported to some unknown location. Ethan wondered where he had gone to, but if Navin hadn’t said then either it wasn’t important or it wasn’t something he could tell Ethan.

Ethan grabbed a few grapes and turned to go to one of the rooms, maybe he should check some of the books on the shelves? He wasn’t so tired that he would fall asleep immediately, but the prospect of sleeping in a comfortable bed was very enticing. He would distract himself with something until sleepiness won.

He was munching the last of the grapes when his eyes caught sight of a framed picture that was hanging on the wall of his room, Ethan was sure that it hadn’t been there before.

When Ethan took a good look at what it was, he choked on the grape and started to cough furiously.

Hanging on the wall in a golden frame, was a large moving picture of Ethan sweeping his hand to put the coins on his Spatial Ring. A video that had captured the exact few seconds when he moved his hand and the piles of money disappeared at high speed before starting to play again in an infinite loop.

On the lower part of the frame were written some words.

––Ethan Bhreg objecting to illicit coins, for the record.

Sahbadia, 8th night of the First Month, 3000 D.F

Ethan steadied his breathing and glared at the video. He talked to the empty air, whether or not his Master could hear was irrelevant right now.

“One day, I’m going to be able to punch you hard on the face. And it’s gonna be a great day.”

He then turned his back to the video and dropped to the bed. Contrary to his expectations, he succumbed to sleep in only a minute, dreaming about light, fire, and life.