The next morning passed much like any other these last few weeks. John logged in to find it drizzling, then made his way to the Gateway of Worlds and spent the first four hours sending mana into the tree. He probably didn’t need to do that anymore, but something about the routine was comforting, and the tree seemed to enjoy it.

The roots of the tree had finally reached their destinations and had split, running to either side of each opening and started growing upward. Even now John could see little sprouts pushing through the ground at the base of the fifteen arches that had been chosen. He still wasn’t sure what the tree was up to, it seemed like it was sending out runners to create new trees, but why in those locations? Shaking his head at the mystery, John returned to the farm and his other chores.

The chookers had produced well once more, leaving him with another sixty-two eggs, forty of which he dropped off at the guest house. He gave a brief thought to how his guests must be doing. The house kept the weather off but it wasn’t exactly warm and cheery inside. With that thought in mind he made his way back to his own abode and checked in the work room. To his surprise BambooRooster was inside working diligently. He honestly hadn’t expected the player to be on this early.

“Morning,” John said as he fully entered.

BR didn’t look up from what he was doing. “Morning to you too.”

“I don’t suppose to have a half-dozen heating and light plates hanging around? I need some for the guest house,” John inquired.

“Not at the moment, thought I could make some if you’ve got materials; shouldn’t take more than a few hours,” BR replied.

“Will stone circles do?” John asked.

“Yeah, that’d be fine. How many do you need, and do you want them to hold mana stones?” Bamboo said, finally looking up.

“Six of each should do I think, and yes,” John answered as he created twelve stone circles the size of overly large dinner plates.

“I’ll have them done before lunch. Anything else? The gnome inquired.

“Nope, thanks for the help,” John said, then left after a brief exchange of goodbyes.

For the next couple of hours John checked on his plants, giving them a bit of water and spreading more sulfur and clay. The area around the greenhouses was still devoid of mana, and he could actively see the mana that trickled in being pulled into the plants. Given the rate at which the mana was flowing back into the area, it’d probably take days to even out once the plants were harvested, possibly longer.

John briefly wondered if this could have long term effects on the local mana. There had to be a reason that farmers didn’t just grow tons of alchemist’s sponge. By his calculations even a good quality crop of this size should pull in a fair amount of gold. He decided he’d need to ask Frank next time he was in town. The older man had mentioned having grown the plant before, so he’d likely know.

Finished with his plants there was only about an hour or so before noon, which meant his auctions should have finished running their course. Checking he found that the stones had sold for a solid thirty-three gold. Hopefully that was enough to cover the expenses of the next two rituals.

Heading back into the house he began preparing to activate the ritual of purification. The base purification rate would be Great if he used Good materials, but he was hoping he could find at least Great materials to run it with. Exceptional would be better, but they’d also cost an arm and a leg.

For the next fifty minutes he did nothing but search the auction module for ‘items of purity’. He’d easily found the three items he’d used last time, but the only one he could get in Great quality was the Cleanse compound. The Pure Philter and Moon Blossom both topped out at Good. So, he spent more than a little time whittling away at the problem. Eventually he managed to grab a vial of ‘Pristine Snow’, a bottle of ‘Glacier Water’, and a diamond. All together the ingredients cost around fifty gold, almost his total supply. He wasn’t particularly happy to pay that amount, but if that meant his Mana Well wouldn’t break, it was probably worth the cost.

The diamond had been the toughest decision. Diamonds weren’t exactly a symbol of purity; however, the specific wording was an item of purity, not a symbol. A clear diamond (which is what he’d made sure to get) is made of pure carbon. If being made of a single pure element didn’t count as being an item of purity, he wasn’t sure what did. Worst came to worst, the ritual simply wouldn’t work and he’d have to wait until tomorrow to try again.

Setting the items out he quickly placed the core inside the circle and then spun out four mana stones to power the ritual. Then, when the clock hit noon exactly, he activated it. The mana stones quickly melted, supplying the ritual with all the power it required, and the material components shimmered out of existence, melding into the energy flowing through the precise geometric lines. With a thought John Inspected the ritual.

[Name: Ritual of Purification (Active)]

[Quality: Exceptional]

[Description: Carefully constructed, this ritual is meant to remove impurities present in materials placed within it. Because it was designed and constructed by someone with the Ritual Master and Ritual Mastery abilities it is 50% more effective at it’s given task, which is the purification of materials placed within its confines.]

[Active Duration: 24 hours]

[Effect: Will purify contained items, bringing them up to a maximum of Exceptional quality and will take two hours per new quality ranking.]

A quick calculation showed him that it’d be about eight hours before the core was purified. That meant it’d be just before he logged off for the night. This was good in that he didn’t want to leave his massive mana core laying around for just anyone to waltz in and carry off. Though he probably didn’t have to worry about that with the knights standing guard. With that thought in mind he logged off for lunch before the game could kick him.

A quick set of exercises and a frozen meal later John found himself back in game staring at the final ritual. It was going to be the costliest of them all, requiring an item for each magical element. He also wasn’t entirely sure what it would do, or how a higher quality would affect the end product. Briefly he considered trawling the forums for information, but then he remembered that BR was the one who suggested the imbuing in the first place.

He poked his head into the work room once more, finding Bamboo still hunched over the table and working. Off to one side was the pile of stone disks he’d provided earlier, all of which now bore the signs and sigils of enchantments.

“Hey,” John began, but BR held up a figure, his concentration never wavering from whatever project he was doing. Going silent, John took the moment to examine the two enchantments.

[Name: Light Plate]

[Quality: Good]

[Description: Made from a slab of granite, this device is capable of producing a steady light of variable brightness. This device may be powered by an attached mana stone of the appropriate type, or by an external source. Because this enchantment was crafted by someone with the Enchanting Master feat and the Born Enchanter racial trait its efficiency has increased by 50%, allowing for either brighter, or longer lasting light.]

[Total Efficiency: 150%]

[Mana Cost: 70/Minute]

[Name: Heater Plate]

[Quality: Good]

[Description: Made from a slab of granite, this device is capable of producing a steady heat of variable strength. This device may be powered by an attached mana stone of the appropriate type, or by an external source. Because this enchantment was crafted by someone with the Enchanting Master feat and the Born Enchanter racial trait its efficiency has increased by 50%, allowing for a higher maximum temperature or a longer duration at lower settings.]

[Total Efficiency: 150%]

[Mana Cost: 70/Minute]

It wasn’t long after he’d finished reading when the gnome spoke. “What’s up?”

“I was wondering what exactly imbuing does? Also, what does its quality ranking mean for it?” John inquired.

“Imbued Objects are a bit of an oxymoron. They conduct mana much better than their unimbued counterparts, but at the same time are more resistant to being changed by magic. The higher the quality the better the efficiency, and the more effort required to achieve meaningful change to the object in question. A Deific quality imbued item will have a one hundred percent mana efficiency and require one hundred times the mana to affect one hundredth of the spell’s area. That is to say, if you put one hundred mana in one side then one hundred will come out the other and it’ll cost two thousand mana to affect a very small area. For each rank below deific you lose ten percent efficiency, so a poor rank imbued item will have an efficiency of only ten percent, which means your mana well will only regenerate at one tenth its maximum an hour,” BR explained.

John considered that for a moment. “Did you get that all from your books?” he asked finally.

“A good portion, yeah. Any enchantment that pulls in ambient mana, such as a mana well, has to go through imbued materials,” BambooRooster said. “For most basic enchantments it doesn’t matter, because you’ll be supplying the mana from a targeted source such as a stone or direct supply. But say I made a flaming sword that charges itself, the mana charging enchantment would need to be on imbued materials connected to the mana core used to hold energy.”

“Alright, anything else I should be aware of before I start the ritual?” John replied.

“Yeah, the quality of the imbuement can’t exceed the quality of the object being imbued, so don’t bother increasing it beyond that,” BR further advised.

“Got it, thanks. How much for the plates?” John said.

“No problem. A silver each, they’re super basic.” the gnomish player responded before returning to his work.

John scooped up the finished plates and dropped the requested twelve silver on the counter then headed toward the guest house.

Arriving at the door, John thumped on the thick stone and waited. A few seconds passed and then the door ground open, revealing one of the dwarven guards.

“Good day to you Mister John,” the man said by way of greeting. “Are you perhaps here to speak with her ladyship?” he followed, his tone indicating that John should indeed be here to speak with her.

There was a brief silence as John tried to puzzle through why it was important that he speak with Lady Oswald. Then he remembered, he was supposed to speak with her yesterday on the matter of payment, and that in all likelihood he was supposed to approach her, and not the other way around.

“Uh, yes, sorry about the delay,” he said awkwardly.

The dwarven man nodded and then stood aside in clear invitation. John entered the house and was thankful that he’d put in both windows and skylights, as it made the interior quite well lit. He would have felt a dozen times worse if they’d had to have this conversation in the dark.

The common room had been furnished with an assortment of stone chairs, benches, and a table made out of rock, and the front windows had been frosted over with translucent quartz, much like the greenhouses. Lady Oswald was sitting in one of the chairs at the table, drinking from a stone mug which she immediately put down as he entered. John hesitated upon seeing her, but then gave a reasonable facsimile of a bow.

“Forgive me Lady Oswald, I didn’t mean to keep you waiting,” he said politely.

The dwarven woman smiled at him. “Though my guards will protest, it is forgiven,” she replied. “Honestly, I might have resented it more had I not been able to see you working for myself; and had you not supplied us with breakfast these last two mornings. Although, I think you vastly overestimate how many eggs we can consume, especially without more appropriate cooking and baking apparatuses.”

John frowned and considered that for a moment. “Sorry, I hadn’t considered it, but yeah, there’s not a lot to burn out here and nothing in there is magical. I can probably have the stove enchanted, though I’m not sure how long that’d take. Speaking of, I thought you might like some light and heat fixtures,” he said, placing the twelve disks on the table.

One of the nearby guardsmen scooped the plates up and immediately began examining them. A moment later he gave a nod and set them back down where Susana could examine them herself.

“Thank you, these will be quite useful, and your offer of having the stove enchanted is most gracious. However, perhaps you should sit and speak with me, that we might come to an agreement on the price of our stay? I would not wish you to feel slighted after going to so much trouble, and I fear our finances are somewhat strained at the moment,” she commented.

“Alright,” John replied even as he took the indicated chair.

“Excellent, now, given the amenities and provisions provided, as well as the work you did to produce this abode, the enchanted plates, and your gracious acceptance of deferred payment, I believe it would be reasonable to offer you ten gold for the week. Does that sound acceptable to you?” Lady Oswald asked.

John smiled and shook his head. “I’m afraid you’re over-valuing what I’ve offered. The house is simple stone, nothing more, with no protections against magical intrusion nor amenities beyond the absolute basics. Even if I pay to have the stove enchanted it’ll be maybe three or four silvers, five at the outside. The light and heat plates cost me only a silver each, and the chooker eggs sell for only three coppers apiece. Even were I to give you forty eggs every morning for the rest of the week it’d only amount to a total of eight silver and forty copper. In total my expenses for this entire house would come out to maybe twenty-six silver and a bit of time. Under your proposed payment I’d be receiving almost thirty-nine times the cost of my labor.”

Susanna gave a small smile of her own. “Alright, what do you think a fair price looks like Mister John?”

“Three gold would be an acceptable amount. I’d still be making a hefty return on my investment, and I’ve been told it’s not an unreasonable price,” John suggested.

After a few seconds of thought Lady Oswald nodded. “While I think you value your services lightly, I am afraid we’re not in a position to turn down such largess right at this moment. You have my gratitude for your moderation and considerations.”

John bobbed his head. “It’s no trouble. Also, I’m hoping you’ll tell me why exactly all the nobles are showing up.”

The dwarven woman made a face. “I’m sure you’ve heard that this area is going to be folded into a new barony?” she asked.

“Yeah, I heard something like that not long ago,” John admitted.

“Well, originally there was going to be a minor event held in the kingdom’s capitol to determine candidacy for the position of Baron or Baroness. However, the Emperor recently received a gift that prompted his personal intervention. He’s decreed that within the week a Limited Trial will be held here in Runic Rock to determine which candidates are suitable, and further that the newly raised noble will become an imperial noble,” Susanna explained.

“I’m not sure what the difference between a regular noble and an imperial noble is,” John admitted.

Susanna took a moment to consider how best to answer before she spoke again. “The simplest breakdown is that there are nobles who are associated with one of the four kingdoms, North, East, South, and West. Then, there are imperial nobles who are associated directly with the empire. Mostly you find imperial nobles within the heart of the empire, as they’re the titles that belonged to the nobles who supported the first empress in the war of unification. After the war was over, she declared that her nobles would bow to neither queen, nor king, and that the dispensation of justice over them was imperial prerogative alone.”

John ran his fingers through his beard as he thought. “So, do they outrank the kings and queens? Or are they equals?” he asked finally.

The dwarven lady tilted her head from side to side for a moment. “It’s a bit of a delicate balancing act. The kings and queens are imperial nobles in all but name; there’s literally no one who can pass judgement on them other than the emperor. That said, they’re not allowed to enforce their will on the imperials and must bring their grievances before the emperor as any other imperial noble would. That’s not to say that a king isn’t going to win out over an imperial baron. If their title were put into imperial terms, it’d basically be a step above a duke or duchess, given the amount of land and lesser nobles they rule over.”

“Mind if I ask how the rankings break down?” John inquired.

“Not at all. At the top you have the emperor, followed by the kings and queens, then in order dukes, counts, and barons. They rule over, respectively, the empire, kingdoms, dutchies, counties, and baronies. The empire is made up of four kingdoms, although five really if you count the inner empire as its own entity, the kingdoms are made up of multiple duchies, there at least a couple counties in each duchy, and each county has two or more baronies assigned to it,” Susan explained.

“If the new baron of Runic Rock is going to be an imperial noble, where does that place them? It seems like they’d need to be folded into an imperial county, right?” John asked.

Susanna nodded. “That’s correct, though I’m not sure which imperial county it’ll be assigned to. And that’s not to say that the King of the East won’t have any influence on how the barony is run. Given that it’s all the way out here on the frontier, the newly appointed baron or baroness is going to need the support.”

“Huh, so you’re hoping to become the new baroness?” John said.

Lady Oswald grimaced. “More my father’s hope than my own. Don’t get me wrong, I’d be happy to take up the position and I’d do my best to fulfil its duties and obligations, but I would have been just as happy spending my life handling a small estate.”

John gave her a quizzical look and she sighed. “I’m a fourth child of a small barony. The only way I was inheriting anything was if some catastrophic event killed off my elder siblings, and that’s unlikely. My father made sure that all of us had the knowledge we’d need if we were to inherit, but he also made sure we had no illusions about our chances. My Sister will become Baroness when my father steps down or, heavens forbid, dies, and both of my brothers have advantageous marriages that they’re actually quite happy in. I had expected much of the same for myself until this opportunity came along.”

“It sounds like you aren’t really happy to be here,” John commented.

“I’m… more unhappy at the situation. There are noble scions from all over the Eastern Kingdom arriving to compete in this trial, many of whom are the sons and daughters of nobles much higher placed than my father, and thus have access to better resources than I do. Even were I to somehow succeed, the resources I can bring to bear in managing the barony wouldn’t be worth mentioning.”

“So you feel like you’re outclassed and wouldn’t have the support required for the job?” he probed.

“Essentially,” Susanna agreed and then grimaced as she sipped from her now cold mug.

“What kind of resources would you feel that you need?” John asked.

“Money and materials are going to be the biggest issue. Currently this area exports almost nothing and has very few natural resources worth mentioning. It’s essentially little more than farm land. Some of that can be alleviated with the use of Create Earth to make stone, but the gods don’t give rewards for easily made things, as I’m sure you’ve noticed.”

John nodded at that before speaking again. “But it does have the Galaxy Tree, the Trials, and the Dungeon,” he pointed out.

“The Trials and the Galaxy Tree are a bit of a thorny issue. For a portal you usually pay an amount based on the distance crossed and the duration open, because all that mana has to come from somewhere, either attending mages or mana stones. Currently your tree isn’t acting as a portal, it’s acting only as a beacon, and you’re charging only for entry and exit. Given that the trials take place inside the shrine, you’re not actually charging anything extra for their use, not that you should mind you, but lots of nobles won’t feel the same way,” Susanna explained. “A better choice would have been to invest in land and the build things such as inns, warehouses, and other merchant adjacent things nearby.”

“Which is exactly what the Titans Guild is in the process of doing,” John noted.

The dwarven lady bobbed her head. “No offense, but putting the tree next to your farm wasn’t the best move. Although it’s left plenty of room to expand, it’s also not ideal placement for your farm, given that all the land around you is going to be snapped up. The owners of said land will probably want to elevate the area as well, in order to draw in a richer class of merchants and even some low nobility. They’re going to almost certainly put pressure on you to move somewhere else.”

John gave a weary sigh. “And what about you? If you become this area’s noble, what will you do?”

“In regards to your farm? Nothing. It’s your land to do with as you see fit, though I’d suggest finding a way to corral your chookers as you’ll be legally liable for any problems they cause.” Susanna replied, she then moved to lift her mug again only to realize that it was still cold.

“Easier said than done,” John muttered and Susanna’s mouth quirked in a small smile. “Well, thank you for enlightening me.”

“It was no trouble,” Lady Oswald said, “And thank you for the enchantments.”

“Do… do I need to wait to be excused? I’m not sure what the proper protocol for this is,” John admitted.

“Usually that’s the safest choice, most nobles won’t get mad at you for waiting to be explicitly told to leave. It’s also customary to give a bow upon departing as well as greeting. If there are multiple ranking nobles present you should, in theory, bow to the highest ranked and it will be assumed all others are included. If you can’t figure out who has the highest title, try not to bow to any one specific person and it will usually be accepted,” she instructed. “In this instance, you may both leave, and forego the bowing.”

With a grateful nod John stood, and then bowed anyway. “Thank you, this has been very helpful.”

“It was no trouble,” Susanna replied. “Have a good afternoon.”

“You as well,” John replied even as he headed for the door.