Once back in his room, Regis put the bronze ingots onto the edge of his small table before taking out his inkwell and quill from the chest along with some alchemical ink and a stack of empty parchments. He sat down beside the table and sorted out his tools and materials, spending the next two hours crafting spell scrolls. Once he was done with the hard and monotonous task, he packed away everything, leaving only the bronze ingots on the table.

‘Now comes the fun part.’ Regis thought as he created a dozen chestnut-sized clear quartz pieces along with three fist-sized clear ones and three that were cloudy to the point where they looked like a thick white smoke got trapped in the crystal. When the last piece got finished, he placed his palm on the table, blue arcana threads snaking along the wooden surface to form a familiar-looking runic circle. It was the runic circle he always used to turn the clear quartz into elemental stones.

He placed a single chestnut-sized clear quartz in the middle of the circle and began to cast ‘light wisp’ on it, changing the crystal into a light elemental stone. The spell weaver switched between meditation and spell casting until he had six light elemental stones and six hollow arcana stones to work with. When the last hollow arcana crystal got finished, the dark elf let out a relieved sigh.

Now I just have to assemble these things.’ He mused as he erased the runic circle, only to replace it with the transmutation circle used for crafting. The first thing he did was to place the three ingots into the circle and use its power to split those in a sixty to forty ratio. He then left a single larger bronze piece in the circle along with one of the large smoky quartz pieces, a light elemental stone and a hollow arcana stone.

A short meditation later he activated the transmutation circle while focusing his will into a single image. When the light of the circle faded, he reached out to pop the glowing bubble it left behind, taking hold of what seemed to be a bronze desk lamp. ‘It looks better than I imagined.’ Regis admitted as he examined the lamp.

“And now it needs an enchantment to make it work.” He said aloud before closing his eyes.

Line after line was drawn in his mental space as he recalled the enchantment he infused into Letty’s light elemental grow box. Here however he used its first iteration that made it simply release light through the elemental crystal in an even, yet weak way. It was just enough to make it brighten up its surroundings without blinding everyone.

As a finishing touch, the dark elf linked the original enchantment with another one meant to charge up the hollow arcana crystal and a ‘copyright’ rune which ended up turning the clear runic patterns into an almost tribal-styled shape. Opening his eyes, Regis found himself staring at the bronze lamp that now had two tribal symbols that resembled buttons.

As he put his fingers on the first one to channel his magic into it, nothing seemed to happen besides the tribal line art glowing up. ‘I guess this is the one responsible for charging the arcana stone.’ He thought as he let it syphon some energy from him before touching the other symbol. As soon as he sent a spark of arcana into the runes, the lamp lit up with a golden glow that was softened by the smoky crystal cover on the top. It filled the room with a pleasant light that became more apparent after the dark elf extinguished the large candle at the edge of his table. He cast charlatan’s wisdom on the lamp to see if it had anything noteworthy in its description.

{Enchanted Bronze Table Lamp}

{Item rarity: rare}

{Item quality: ordinary}

{Arcana charges: 4/50}

{An enchanted bronze table lamp that’s fuelled by magic and is obscured by a ‘rune covering’ enchantment. It expends one charge per minute.}

“That’s a pretty straightforward description.” The spell weaver admitted as he switched it off and on again to further test it.

After he fully charged up the lamp, the spell weaver spent a short time with meditation before deciding to try bringing his second idea to life. He placed a smaller bronze chunk along with a clear quartz piece, a light elemental stone and a hollow arcana stone into the transmutation circle. As the runes of the circle lit up to consume the materials, Regis focused on the image of an old-fashioned bronze lantern, except his version would have the light stone instead of the petrol-fuelled wick.

When the transmutation process ended and the glowing bubble popped, a sturdy-looking lantern fell into his hands. Its original glass cover was replaced by one made from clear quartz, protecting the light stone inside. His design had the hollow arcana stone firmly encased in the base of the lantern. The transmutation was soon followed by a round of enchanting that ended up with a similar set of tribal-looking line art marking the side of the lantern’s bronze rim. After charging the lantern a bit, he managed to make it light up. Charlatan’s wisdom further proved that his work was truly a success.

{Enchanted Bronze Lantern}

{Item rarity: rare}

{Item quality: ordinary}

{Arcana charges: 7/50}

{An enchanted bronze lantern that’s fuelled by magic and is obscured by a ‘rune covering’ enchantment. It expends one charge per minute.}

“You’re not the most diverse when it comes to descriptions, are you?” He muttered as he read the short record created by the spell.

Feeling his nerves settle down somewhat, the spell weaver decided to finish that night with a project he should have done a long time ago. He pulled out a couple of bronze coins and shaped them into the form of a simple hearing aid using the transmutation circle. Once done, Regis enchanted each of them with the runic diagram meant for long-range communication. Each piece was then enchanted to a ‘well-made’ grade so that they could reach one another from a five-kilometre distance. Charlatan’s wisdom revealed some reassuring information, making the dark elf let out a content sigh.

{Bronze far-caller}

{Item rarity: uncommon}

{Item quality: ordinary}

{Greater enchantments: 1}

{An enchanted trinket which allows the wearer to reach out to those wearing similar pieces which are linked to this one.}

‘Far-caller? Well, that’s a stupid name, but whatever.’ The spell weaver thought as packed away his crafting materials and brought his new lamp over to his bed. After taking off his armour and using the cleansing spell on himself, Regis lay down with the Golemancy book in hand, reading it in one go. It turned out to be an educational read which explained in great detail how golems were enchanted structures capable of following simple commands and tasks.

It detailed the need for a ‘soul-core’ for their creation along with the runic diagrams he would need to infuse into the body of the golem. Although he understood most of the runes and their functions, Regis had to admit that he wasn’t sure if he could do it before reaching the fiftieth level in his enchanting skill. In the end, he decided to leave the matter for when he had both the time and skill to try it.

He put aside the book and turned off the lamp before sprawling out on his bed, letting his sleepiness overtake him. The night passed quietly, but the dark elf was still tossing and turning while asleep as a faint uneasiness kept him from having a proper rest. Hours later a gentle knock on the door ended his restless sleep, a soft voice calling out to him.

“Regis,” Mary could be heard from the other side of the door. “Tristan asked me to wake you up a bit earlier than usual. He and Nina are waiting downstairs to talk to you.”

“Thanks for telling me!” The spell weaver responded as he got out of his bed, his joints popping due to the stretching motions he made.

A quick mending spell cleaned his armour while he changed into one of his few spare sets of clothes. Grabbing his bladestaff, the dark elf willed it to shift into its regular staff form before packing away his far-callers into his satchel, heading down to the common area of the inn.

“Good morning milord!” Nina and Tristan greeted him as soon as he arrived.

“Morning,” the spell weaver nodded while yawning. “So, what’s with the early meeting?”

“Oh,” the young steward looked at him awkwardly. “I thought it would be better to go over today’s plans once again.”

“We must also talk about the supplies and trade agreements sir,” Nina added. “From what I was told by Sir Quentin, you want me to broker an official trade alliance with East Fork, or at least make sure that the arcane shop you own could operate properly.”

“East Fork has a new mayoress and a lot of refugees arrived from Hunor, so the town should regain its stability soon enough. Hopefully, both the mayoress and the royal soldiers will be interested in my enchanting services and the scrolls I craft.”

“Magic always sells well,” Nina remarked. “The royal army is always short of enchanters, so there should be no issue with that. The only question is how they stand with funds currently.”

“Speaking of funds,” Tristan cleared his throat. “How are we standing with funds? The supplies Miss Nina wishes to procure won’t come cheap.”

“They are pretty much non-existent.” Regis answered honestly.

“That… you’re joking, right? He’s not joking.”

“Listen,” the dark elf let out a sigh that oozed of annoyance. “Up until a few days ago I was just another outlander mercenary trying to get by, so I was more concerned with surviving the day than becoming a rich man. If you ask about my funds, I have one gold and maybe two more gold’s worth in silver and bronze. As for Thornfell; it’s not exactly in a state where it could generate any revenue. This is why we need Nina, to get us a few quick contracts that could start earning some actual money.”

“I appreciate your confidence in me, milord,” she looked at the spell weaver somewhat worried. “Forgive my rudeness, but the mayoress of a town won’t just immediately start trade with an upstart. With the severe lack of funds, we won’t even be able to bring her a proper gift to show our sincerity.”

“A gift,” Regis thought aloud. “You do realize that you’re talking to an enchanter well on his way to the journeyman rank? I could craft her something useful and fancy as a gift.”

“Well… I mean,” Tristan hummed. “I think that would be the best option in our current situation.”

“A show of skill in the form of a gift could indeed prove your abilities as an enchanter.”

“Alright, so what would fit someone of such standings? A ring, a necklace, a weapon?”

“Any sort of jewellery is out, since we would first have to procure one of high enough standard to serve as a gift and giving a weapon can be misunderstood as a threat,” Tristan vetoed the ideas. “Could you craft something of everyday use? A fire-starter perhaps?”

“You want to impress a mayoress with a fire starter,” Nina almost choked as she heard the idea. “You might as well just tell her straight up that our lord is a charlatan.”

“What about enchanted equipment like a sceptre or a wand with a minor combat spell, or healing?” Regis asked as he remembered that he had yet to craft anything like that.”

“A wand of… healing?” both Nina and Tristan asked back with a baffled expressions. “Milord, are you saying that you could craft such a thing?”

“I don’t see why not,” the spell weaver nodded. “I do know how to make wands, it’s just that I never tried to craft one before. It shouldn’t take more than an hour, but let’s continue.”

“Of course,” Tristan stuttered for a moment. “Sir Grego and Lars should arrive in an hour or so to discuss the things I mentioned yesterday.”

“I know,” Regis sighed. “We need a barrack, a mason’s workshop and a whole lot of other stuff. Next.”

“Miss Irene will join you and Nina after that so that you could take her and young Bea and Joel to East Fork.”

“Okay, please make sure that she’ll receive some food supplies to bring along. It will take some time for the shop to start bringing in money and we don’t want them to lack food in the meantime.”

“That’s quite considerate of you,” Nina remarked. “And while we’re talking about food supplies; I was told that your companions can speed up the growth of different plants.”

“Indeed,” the dark elf confirmed. “That’s how we managed to produce our current supplies. Although most of them will have other things to do now, they all agreed to occasionally help out at the farms to shorten the time it would take for the next batch of crops to grow.”

“That is excellent news,” the trade representative smiled. “Food is one of the main issues after any war and one of the most expensive commodities. I would also like you to have a look at the list I wrote after talking to the villagers and checking the round.”

As she said that, the young woman handed over a parchment with two lengthy rows scribbled down. Regis accepted the scroll and began to read it, his eyes twitching slightly at some of the articles. The list included a wide variety of household items and materials, as well as some niche items and even a couple of things he would call luxurious.

“Are you sure we need ten rods of crimson wax and five rolls of silk? Isn’t that kind of stuff a bit of an overkill for now?”

“With all due respect, my lord,” Tristan cleared his throat. “You are a nobleman and thus must look the part. I have yet to see you in anything but your armour. Having proper clothes fitting your status is a must. As for the wax; it is a standard to use that to seal one’s letters.”

“I’m perfectly fine with a couple sets of linen spare clothes, maybe cotton. I’m not going to attend to balls anytime soon either way.”

“But a proper lord...”

“Places his people before himself,” Regis said with a tone that accepted no argument. “Make sure we have whatever is necessary for Thornfell, but leave the fluff out!”

“I... yes. As you wish.” Nina agreed as she took back the parchment, crossing out some of the items from the list.