I stood on the steps in my black trench coat, fighting off the cold breath of winter. Staring at the falling of leaves, even the trees were shivering. Our servants were raking the lawn, keeping it green and beautiful. Some were picking leaves out of the fountains, others sweeping the dark green pavement.

It was a normal day for them, but for me, it was supposed to be a life changing event. Instead it felt more like I was just going out the gates to the local market. Picking up new toys to play with before returning to the safety of these high walls.

My knights dropped out the air on huge dark green and black feather birds. It reminded me of its more civilized kin, the swan. These species were notorious for being extremely aggressive to those they deemed inferior. Which is a huge downside to raising these very large birds, but the plus side was that they were almost at one with the wind. They were named as one of the fastest mounts and hardest to capture. Not to mention it is almost impossible to tame these beasts unless you were extremely strong to the point it had no chance to put up resistance.

My knights were just about to dismount and bow, but I stepped into my carriage. The flying mounts flew into the sky, pulling my carriage behind them, giving them no chance to dismount. They should have known my habits, but my father is watching from the upstairs balcony, looking down upon us like a spectre.

I spun a blank card on the tip of my finger. My mind cast out around me, but there is nothing interesting.

I sigh, tapping a gem and map materialized above. My location became cast in blue and the route to the academy was highlighted in yellow. There was a town that was supposed to be a major trade for magical races.

We were coming up on it faster than I expected.

“Let’s take a break at the second town.” I spoke into a communication gem.

“Yes, my lord.” someone replied.

***

We landed right out in the gate at the same time as another carriage. They had drakes which is the sign of royal family members or those with Royal bloods which were all Dukes and Marquess. The royal family would never permit outsiders to hold key positions over their lands.

My father is a Count, a mere Viscount and our ancestors sacrifice much for this kingdom.

“Give me two, rest of you rotate in and pick up what you need. We will be heading out at sundown.” I commanded.

A blonde lad walked out of the carriage, tossing around orders. I clicked my tongue, this is the guy he met before. Marques’ son, Terrance, a playboy. He spent a lot of quality time hunting brothels, stalking pretty commoners, and outright being a lousy son of a bitch.

I guess being the seventh son is hard enough.

I led my two guards in. The city is clean, lanterns floated, but were off due to the sky being bright enough. I noticed that the commoners were dressed decently enough. I didn’t see any patrolling guards chasing thieves which was a plus.

I waved my hand at a little lass, a copper coin flashing between my fingers. She came trudging over with quick steps.

“Yes, my lord?” She wasn’t shy.

“Take us to the best shops for purchasing rare artifacts.” I said, after a minute of thinking.

The girl nodded, spun around, walking with a brisk pace. We followed closed behind and she weaved in and out of the crowd. Making sure we were in sight the whole time, I guess someone taught her this. She perfected with practical experience.

She stopped right in front of an exaggerated shop. A book and quill sign hung over the door, the front display depicted moving pictures of epic scenes. If the book wasn’t over the door I might have mistaken this for theater.

I passed the girl the coin. “Follow us and you’ll earn more until we need to leave.”

The girl nodded and we walked in.The place is really out of mind stupid. Gems projected moving pictures, depicting epic fight scenes, replaying low level common spells, romance thrills. It is high level selling tactics, what fool wasn’t attracted by this next level imagery.

I was about to look over the summoner books to see if there is something new, when this scent caught my nose. Normally, I wouldn’t have been able to differentiate between all the scents with over a dozen people, but I am infused with a wind wolf. My senses were heightened beyond normal levels.

My nose led me to a small section of the magic section of books. There were three females, two in leather and one in women traveling clothes. Soft black leather pants that hug her slender long legs. Her body profile reminded me of the woman I met earlier today. I search for any signs, like on my finger I had a laughing flaming skull. It was gaudy enchantment that attracted eyes first and foremost.

She is clean, but I could feel the aura of the badge in her storage container. Her raven eyes turned to me from a book she held. Her little delicate nose turned up. Her eyes held nothing but contempt as she looked over at my knights. However, it widened slightly upon looking at me. The look of contempt faded into mutual respect, the aura of my badge is many times stronger than hers. It was a way to tell who is superior in authority during times of need. The highest ranking would always be the most proficient at killing and commanding.