Chapter 3

Chapter 3

Lucan’s father led him into the study where he saw a map spread over the table, surrounded by some scrolls. His father’s seat behind the table was made of wood and plush leather. Above his seat hung a shield with the colors of House Zesh, blue on the top left, white on the bottom right, and three weapons bundled up and fanned out in the middle, an axe, a mace, and a sword.

Before Lucan could walk towards the table, his father gestured towards a side chamber. Its door was thicker than the study’s and was generously banded with steel. Lucan had been in his father’s study before, but he’d never been shown into that chamber. He knew what it was, of course. Yet, his father hadn’t found it necessary before for him to enter what passed for a treasury in their keep, specially with how ‘irresponsible’ he was.

Lucan watched his father take out a bronze key, which might have been enchanted, and use it to unlock the door with multiple clicks. Then he went inside, and Lucan followed him eagerly. There was nothing more curiosity-inducing than the prohibited.

Lucan knew that they weren’t one of the entrenched noble houses in the kingdom. In fact, the main House Zesh was on the other side of the kingdom, holding the real lands, while this fiefdom was a small reward his father had received for his service and his father’s service before him. Yet it was still disappointing to find the chamber mostly bare, with a few bronze weapons hung on the walls, and two chests on the ground.

His father bent down and opened the larger of the two chests, gesturing for him to approach.

Lucan stepped up and looked into the open chest to see orderly stacks of coins standing beside each other, mostly gold and silver. Beside them were two large dark-gold coins stacked on top of each other, each one as wide as his palm. Goldsteel Royals. Those weren’t meant to be held in a pouch or on your person, but in a chest or to be stacked up in treasuries. Each one was worth fifty gold coins, and justly so. Lucan had always found them the currency most immediately useful, though he hadn’t gotten to use them. You couldn’t eat silver or copper. You could perhaps enchant gold for some of your purposes, but you couldn’t do much with it alone. On the other hand, you could melt goldsteel and forge weapons out of it if you ever needed to do so. Goldsteel coins carried their worth with them. Creating them from gold and steel was where the issue lay. You needed a truly skilled craftsman, a small amount of mythril dust, and, of course, quite a bit of gold.

His father spoke, gesturing at the chest. “This adds up to four hundred gold.”

Lucan looked at his father quizzically. “We still have all this even after the ritual?”

His father glanced at him, and Lucan could almost see some amusement on his face. “This is only part of it. Your grandfather left us a lot. We wouldn’t be here without him, may he rest in peace.”

“What about the fief’s income?” Lucan asked.

“This is more than we make in a year,” his father pointed at the coins. “We get perhaps five hundred gold in taxes every Spring, a lot of which comes in the form of goods or service. We spend what counts for three hundred of it on the estate’s maintenance, including wages and stockpiling foodstuffs.” Done talking, he took out another bronze key which he used to open the smaller chest.

Lucan gaped when he saw what was inside. There were four God’s Orbs. “All this from grandfather’s service?”

His father guffawed and shook his head. “No. Your grandfather was the younger of two brothers in the main line of the family. He didn’t get the land, so my grandfather made sure he was well off before he left to enter the service of the King. He received this.” He tapped the hilt of his goldsteel sword. “And a remarkable amount of coin and Orbs. Of course, he did earn some things himself. Perhaps the most prominent is this here.” His father pulled out one of the four Orbs, showing its three faces.

Lucan repeated his actions two more times.

You have gained 1 Vital Orb

You have gained 1 Vital Orb

Race: Human

Level: 1

Vital Orbs: 4

Mind and Body

Physique: Basic 0/1

Spirit: Basic 0/1

Skills (2) 0/100

(Passive) Swordsmanship lv19: Apprentice

Lucan eyed his possible progress paths. With four Vital Orbs, he could do a lot. Of course he had to begin with Physique. His father had hammered it into him. In the beginning, it was the most beneficial in relation to its cost. Wasting his orbs on leveling Active Skills early on would be a crime, not that he had any yet.

“Don’t do it here,” his father interrupted his thoughts. “It will be painful the first time. Wait until you’re seated.” He stood up from his crouch. “Come, let’s return to the study.”