Transcendence?

***Arcane Academy, Eastern Plaines***

Then I turn towards Kane and hug him. “Goodbye ~mother~! I hope you will do well. We may not see each other for a while.” Hehehe. I know he hates that.

“Let go! You are creeping me out idiot!” He pushes me away and waves his hand and me. “Be sure to send me a letter when you settle down. I hope to hear from you soon!”

I pat his shoulder without saying a word and turn towards the opposing side of the plaza. While I walk I start to skip a little. New life here I come! Even if I get assassinated, so be it! From now on I will work on doing what I want.

In front of me on the other side of the plaza is a circular portal. It's a teleportation device which connects important places throughout the whole world. The fee to use them is expensive. But it would also be costly to make a long journey by conventional means.

As I reach the Gate I flip a coin towards the magician who is controlling it. Those devices need constant guidance by a qualified person. Otherwise you could end up somewhere you don't want to be. “The Norfolk Capital! And fast! I have an appointment!”

That's not entirely true, but at least the magician starts to wave his hands at the gate with complicated gestures and some glyphs start to glow.

Even though technology is despised, some artefacts are tolerated because of their practicability. And if they can be only used by noble magicians it's all the better. Something like my amulet which works for everyone would get me into jail asap.

The Gate glows up and a snowy city comes into view on the other side. I nod towards the magician who is controlling the Gate and step through.

Cold! Brrr! I cast a protection spell against the cold by mumbling a few words. Something like that is children’s play.

The architecture of the Norfolk capital is very different from the Arcane Academy. The overall height of the locals is a little taller than in Mislow but I guess it's okay. The ethnical differences on this world are very subtle.

The greatest differences can be seen between people of different noble bloodlines. I don't want to call it inbreeding, but marriages between closely related families are seen very often. Anything to keep the heritage pure and attain the strongest magicians.

The houses here are big and made of wood. There are very frilly and complicated designs on the roofs. I guess it isn't much of a problem to build a city out of wood up here in the north. The threat of a big fire isn't that big. There is snow everywhere so water is close at hand.

I start to walk through the snow and towards a carriage. Well, it's more like a sledge with skids. It has no wheels. I guess that makes sense in a country with eternal snow. The gate is located on another open area inside the city. But there are always carriages waiting close to them. Only people with money use the Gates.

So it's logical for carriage drivers to wait close to them. After arriving at the carriage, I jump onto it and pat the shoulder of the sleeping driver. “The Jarl's Hall! Pronto!”

The sleepy driver nods and swings a whip at the big and sturdy horses. They are fat monsters with long hair. I doubt that they feel much of the whip through their fur.

Yet it seems like the driver is working really hard to keep them going. He is whipping the lazy animals during the entire trip because they stop as soon as he ceases to motivate them.

After twenty minutes we arrive at a big round building with multiple floors. The driver stops while panting and with sweat on his forehead. Actually the whole trip seems to have taken a greater toll on the driver than the animals.

“Not a fun job, is it? Wait here. I will need you later.” I smirk at him while I press a coin into his waiting hand which is actually enough for an entire day of working.

He nods without saying a word. It would be hard for him to speak properly anyway. Well, he has time to catch a breath until I come back.

I hop from the carriage and walk towards the building.

Then I take a closer look at the big building. It's the first one which is made of stone. Maybe other people besides the Jarl aren't allowed to build with stone? The decorations are nice and there are many fighting scenes with mythical beings on the walls.

As I arrive at the big gates, two guards are blocking my path. “The Jarl doesn't give audiences at this time.”

I arch my eyebrow. “So when does he give audiences?”

“When he wants to.” The guard snorts at me.

Hah... I see. So they probably have commands to let nobody enter who isn't known to them? I sigh. “Could you inform the Jarl of my presence and that I want to offer him something valuable?”

The other guard shakes his head. “We aren't allowed to leave our posts for minor disturbances.” He gives me a stupid grin. It's clear that they don't want me here.

Then my eyes fall onto a big golden bell at the wall besides the left guard. “What's that thing good for?”

The guards grin vanishes. “That's to be used when important people arrive to call an escort. Don't dare to....”

But I already tipped the bell with telekinesis and a loud *gong* is heard. So much for that.

One of the guards draws his sword. “What do you think you are doing!?”

“Calling the escort?” I ask them with an innocent expression.

The guard steps forward when the door opens and a guy in very expensive clothing takes a look outside. His eyes sweep over me for a second and then he snaps at the guards. “What's wrong? Who is that? Have you guys forgotten your orders?”

I take the lead before the guards can answer. “My name is Ascathon Asceron. I came here to see the Jarl. There is something I want to offer him. I circumvented your guards after they told me about that bell. There isn't much a commoner could do against a noble anyway.” I bow a little.

“So you are that Arenzien..... want to plead for protection here? You are still from Mislow. Why do you think that we want to trouble ourselves with you.” The expensive guy snorts.

“I see that this information travels faster than I had imagined.” My smile doesn't waver.

“It's only common sense to watch the graduation ceremony of the Academy in order to identify future allies and enemies.” The expensive guy opens the door and waves me in. “And if someone has a full score, you should at least hear him out.”

I step through and the door falls shut behind me. But not before the expensive guy threw a final remark at the guards. “And you two idiots! Don't brag about the bell! Otherwise every roaming magician will tap it to disturb the Jarl! I will cut your payment today!”

Then the expensive guy leads me inside towards a throne room with a fat monster on a big stone-throne. He is fed with snacks by several blonde beauties. Whoa! What a life! I wonder if he can roll down a mountain if someone manages to carry him up.

There are several guards to the walls and the expensive guy walks up to the Jarl and whispers something into his ear. Despite being someone who loses easily to his desires, the Jarl thinks a long time while looking at me before he starts to speak.

“So what does a noble from Mislow want from me?” He waves a hand and the blond beauties pack up and leave.

“I want to buy a principality from you.”

The ridiculous proposal silences the room for a few long seconds.

“BWAHAHAhahahAHAHAHAR. Who do you think you are! Why should I sell my property to a foreign noble!” The Jarl snaps.

“I am a very powerful magician who cut his ties with his past. And I want a place where I have my peace and can be alone. You happen to have many such places. So I came to you with the money to buy one of them.” I grab one of the magical pouches out of my coat and toss it towards the expensive guy.

Then I draw a map out of my folder with documents and unfold it to show it towards the Jarl. “I want this place. The mountain valley which is located close to the great Sea. And the whole area with the mountains around it. I want full reign there. In fact, I want to be left alone as much as possible. I would even pay taxes for that.”

The expensive guy tilts the pouch and a flood of platinum coins starts to pour out of the pocket dimension. They are the hardest currency that's available in this world. It doesn't stop until a sizeable pile of them is on the desk besides the Jarl.

“One thousand platinum coins in exchange for full rights over that area.” I wave the map at the expensive guy who comes towards me and grabs the map from my hands to give it to the Jarl.

The Jarl arches his eyebrow at the map. “Even if I could sell you the property of my people. What do you want with that place? There are less than a hundred thousand inhabitants in the whole area and just a few small run down villages. The whole area would need two lifetimes to pay that much money in taxes.”

“But it's huge and the only access to those valleys is by the river from the great Sea or a few mountain passes. Perfect for someone who wants to be alone. And less people to govern means less trouble! If you are still concerned about selling your country to an outsider, I will make a bet with you.” I produce another document from my folder.

The Jarl gives me an inquiring look.

“We will sign this buying contract. I get full rights and the area belongs to me. But in case of the death of my noble house, everything I own will go back into your possession. It's a really nice bet for you. Think about the hordes of assassins which will be after me soon enough. My old family will send them, the enemies of my family will send some of their own. And those who want to harm you will send their assassins too!” I take a long breath.

“Why should my enemies send assassins for you?” The Jarl looks a little perplexed now.

“Think about the situation! How will it look if you sell that area to me? Wouldn't it look like I am your ally? You would never sell that much land to someone you don't trust. Even if it's worthless. You can only win in this bet! And even if I manage to survive and establish a thriving household, there is more money than you could ever hope to get from that land within your lifetime.” I wave both of my hands at the pile of money.

The Jarl tries to change his position but fails miserably. “You are a devious one. You forget to mention that I would have to pretend that you are my ally too. I wouldn't be able to talk bad about the one whom I sold my country's land. Otherwise people would start to ask questions.”

“Of course I would always ~honour~ my new homeland and the Jarl! Someone should never bite his benefactor.” I bow deeply with a smile.

The fat Jarl looks at me for several seconds. “I know that you have something in mind with that land. Don't think of me as an idiot just because I am fat! I just can't hold back while eating. You probably thought about a way to use it to great benefit. And you throw me these peanuts in the hope to snatch something valuable from under my nose!” The Jarl waves his hand at the pile of coins and my face crumbles a little. But just a little.

“But you know what? As long as it's worthless to me I may as well sell it to someone who can use it to great benefit? Who knows. Maybe your future taxes will be more than what I collect now from that land.” A contract appears in the hands of the Jarl.

The expensive guy takes the contract and brings it to me. Then he points towards the door and two guards grab me from both sides to pull me outside.

“Thanks for the audience!” I call out while the guards drag me away.

After leaving the throne room I hear the Jarl's voice who is calling after me.

“Don't die too soon! I want to get an idea how to use that area at least!”

A minute later the guards have me at the front door again and I am thrown outside in a high arc. Fortunately the landing is soft because of the high snow. It still hurt my dignity though.

The two guardians at the Gate watch me with malicious-joy.

I ignore it and take my first look at the document which I got from the Jarl. It's a letter of attorney which makes me the owner of the area which I specified. In addition it's a certificate of nobility for Norfolk which gives me all rights and responsibilities over the specified area...... including paying taxes.

“~Strike!~”

By jumping up and screaming I surprise the guards at the gates. Then I kneel down and grab a little snow from the ground to form a snowball.

I swore to myself that I will do whatever I want in this life! And that's something that just came to my mind! Nobody points a sword at me!

*Patsch*

A skilful throw and the guard who drew the blade against me earlier is hit directly in the face. I turn and run while I hear the hard wheezing of heavy armoured men behind me.

The carriage driver who brought me earlier sees the armoured men behind me and starts to whip his horses. He has good instincts and knows when it's better to be somewhere else.

I get a grip on the carriage by a hairs breath and let myself being pulled with it. The heavy breathing guards behind me give up their pursuit and can just listen to my laughter while I disappear in the streets of the Norfolk Capital.

“MWAHAHAHAHAHA!”

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