Published at 16th of February 2024 2:21 pm

Chapter 42. The Guilds

This chapter is updated by JustRead.pl

Registering a company and its logo only cost ten gold coins. Then Nox and Annabelle visited the Banking Guild, where the in-house notary helped them draw up a contract. Nox left the building with a promissory note for two hundred gold and another hundred in coins. The first went to the university registrar along with the rest of the tuition fund. Nox spent the latter on materials and more equipment to streamline production, automate sections of it, and increase volume.

It took one week to reverse engineer the cosmetic products. He substituted some ingredients for cheaper and more common varieties. Next, Nox added his flair to the products. He made a morning face cream with essences used in Sprinter’s High. The modifications resulted in an additional freshening effect. The ointment also removed dark circles and pimples and gave the user’s skin a natural glow. He devised a night cream that tightened the skin, helped clear the impurities from the epidermis, and also helped achieve a better night of sleep.

Lillin served as the first tester of the products. Her mimic half helped her recover from ill effects sooner, and her keen connection to her biomass helped her quickly identify the stimuli. Nox pretended to use the livestock for his experiments, and Pudge played along.

Once Nox finalized the recipes, mass production of his many creations began. Cauldrons with temperature and viscosity-sensing enchantments helped reduce the manual involvement and stick to standardized recipes for consistent results. Since Lillin had a lighter course load, she had little trouble starting processes, moving brews between containers, or bottling them. They began stockpiling products so they’d have enough for orders, while Annabelle started spreading samples amongst the more affluent women on campus.

Creating the contraceptive proved more challenging than Nox had predicted. He had to work off memory to produce the concoction. He had to deal with obstacles like recalling correct ingredients, their proportions, necessary spellforms, and concentration.

Fortunately, as a mage with a young planet dedicated to life spells, Pudge had a keen knowledge of human anatomy. He helped identify hormones, enzymes, bodily processes, and a lot more Nox knew little about. They worked together on the product’s development. Unlike cosmetics, it was a far more delicate and complicated brew. It also had great potential to cause severe and long-term harm. It would take a couple of months if not longer, to create the final version.

Professor Das enjoyed testing and studying his brews. He didn’t provide any notes but had Nox go to the university’s patent office to ensure no one had registered similar recipes. Much to his pleasure, the material substitutions and Nox’s spellforms differed enough from recorded brews to count as new creations. While the patent office checked their records, Nox studied all the information independent artisans and business owners needed to know.

The office registered all recipes and spellforms into the continents’ patent database. Monthly ships from the United Artisan And Researcher’s Guild visited to copy and upgrade records. Any registered business or trader creating and selling the same products using his registered product would now owe Nox a twentieth of their profits.

Similarly, the Banking Guild would expect sales records from Nox every quarter. A fraction of gross profits from Feline Grace and Sniper’s Eye sales would go to the Trade Empire. If Nox failed to comply, he’d run afoul of the guilds, and they’d revoke his trading rights.

The United Artisans And Researchers Guild protected Nox’s recipes and spellforms. Even if someone stole notes or reverse-engineered them, they’d struggle to sell them without sufficient modifications legitimately. The volume of paperwork and bureaucracy was mind-numbing, and the guilds claimed a hundredth of registered organizations’ profits as their commission.

Suddenly, all the challenges Nox had faced thus far made sense. The Trade Empire bypassed the guilds’ rules for internal trade by not using gold. Instead, they used tokens of varying quantities, which had gold, silver, and copper value. Citizens could exchange them for the continents’ currency whenever needed. Meanwhile, the merchant houses managed external trade, and the empire owned all patents. After spending all of his life in a production house, Nox hadn’t learned much about mercantile laws outside the Golden Isles.

General stores only sold recovery products since the patents were public. They didn’t have to deal with the guilds or pay commissions to anyone for their sale. Meanwhile, alchemist stores and apothecaries had contracts with artisans and probably already completed the necessary bureaucracy. Dealing with patented or new products from an independent artisan—especially an unregistered individual—would only make life harder for them. Nox made plans to visit them again as a representative of Noxian Brews with a trade contract. They would only need to display and sell the products. All commissions and patent payments would come out of Nox’s pocket.

Bureaucracy annoyed Nox, and he didn’t always follow or understand its intricacies. If Noxian Brews ever took off, he hoped to hire an accountant for bookkeeping and to manage all the annoying elements. After all, the city’s laws now dictated that he owed them taxes, too, and Nox lacked the patience to calculate accurate amounts. They kept track of all money stored with the Banking Guild, and cheating the government was a challenging task unless he peddled in secret and hid all of his money on his person. It wasn’t an impossible task, thanks to Lillin, but Nox wanted to keep his dealings mostly legitimate. After all, Annabelle and Pudge were now tied to him, and he didn’t want to endanger his first human friends in eighteen years.

When not in class or brewing, Nox spent time in a campus training hall with his party. Students needed to book beforehand for permission to use them, and Annabelle had no qualms about greasing palms to get them a spot. Since Kris’s picked vanguard hadn’t yet approached them, the trio spent time working together or training individually. Nox often sat in a corner and let the women spar while he worked on his Shaping spellform.

Nox was close. He could feel it. Dean Woodson’s advice helped him figure out the flexible element of the micro end. Most spells either targeted a set volume or mass of the target material. Meanwhile, energy Shapers focused on molding fire, lightning, or whatever they conjured in a set area. If Nox tried the same, he would either see no results or destabilize the essence glass.

Instead, Nox’s script learned to read the uniform patterns in the crystal and read the size of the symmetrical faces. The size of each face helped the script decide how large of a section the sequence to use for micro shaping. Nox had to read ahead for Spell Weaving class to figure out mana control scripts. It was easy in theory, but the spell shapes were challenging in practice. He had to be careful to ensure the channels didn’t overlap and render the gates redundant.

Stolen content alert: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences.

Shaping arrows out of chunks of essence still consumed over ten mana, Creating essence glass out of the Slow cantrip, and then turning it into a useable projectile still consumed between twelve and twenty units. Both quantities were far too high for regular use. Nox needed mana storage and amplification scripts before the spell was good enough for regular use.

While Nox shaped, occasionally Annabelle would sit near him. She’d face the opposite direction and try to sketch the shapes he created. The exercise helped sharpen her divination spell. He grew more comfortable with her presence and found himself enjoying the sight of her smile.

“I’ll need another lot of samples and a few batches for sale by Seventhday,” she told him one evening after Lillin had left for the evening. The mimic-woman craved carnal pleasures and had gone seeking a bar, leaving Nox and Annabelle alone.

“Word is spreading then?” Nox asked, lying on the training room’s floor. He faced the ceiling, holding an orb of essence glass in his hands. He had used Louis’ fae fire for the exercise, and the sphere’s interior shimmered, shifting between different colors. The lights in its hearts flared whenever Nox channeled his spell. The orb turned into a cube, then a pyramid, followed by a rhombus, and then returned to the original shape.

“Like wildfire,” Annabelle answered. She sat by Nox’s head with a sketch pad in her lap. Instead of sketching, she listed women who wanted samples or had placed an order. Numbers sat next to the second category, and she tallied their deposits versus how much was still owed. “At this rate, every female nonscholarship student will use your product in a few semesters.”

“That sounds amazing,” Nox said, wishing he had the power to levitate his practice tool and change its shape while it floated. “I don’t know how to thank you, Annabelle.” His heart picked up its pace as he made a bold move. Nox scooted closer to the woman and placed his head in her lap. “You didn’t just give me the means to stay in the university, but the means to finance future semesters, too. Without your support, it would’ve taken me years to get Noxian Brews off the ground.”

Crimson blossomed on Annabelle’s cheeks and spread to her ears. Her fingers found their way into Nox's hair. His locks had grown long and messy since his last trim almost three months ago. “If I didn’t invest in your creations, someone else would eventually.” Her eyes drifted between Nox’s eyes and lips. “You’re talented, Nox, and willing to take risks.”

The pair stared at each for several seconds. She smiled, leaning toward him.

“This is probably a bad idea since we’re in a delving party and technically work together, but—”

Annabelle stiffened. She gently slid out from under Nox’s head and rose to her feet. “That’s right. We work together.” She moved away from Nox as he stood up. “You’re a good friend, Nox. You’re possibly the most real friend I’ve had in a long time. The Oakhearts have a rule against mixing business with pleasure, but even though its tempting, I'd prefer this not turn into anything more. We can’t let anything get in the way of our platonic or working relationship.” Annabelle hesitated, glancing at Nox’s lips again. “Is that alright?”

“Of course,” Nox replied, struggling not to break eye contact with her. “But are you sure? I thought I felt something between us, and if that’s the case, I’d love to explore whatever this is.”

“I—” Annabelle looked at the door. She gathered her things and stuffed them in her satchel. “I don’t know.”

“I like you, Annabelle, but if you want to leave our relationship as it is now, I’m fine with that, too.” Nox stood, rising to Annabelle’s eye level. He approached the noblewoman and took her hands in his. "It felt as if there's something in the air between us. Was I wrong?"

“I should go.” Annabelle turned away from Nox and briskly marched out of the training room. The door slammed shut behind her, and the sound echoed off the tall blank walls.

“That didn’t go as I expected.” Nox sighed. He gathered his notes and journals. They lay spread around him. He took his time, hoping to give Annabelle enough time to put some distance between herself and the training hall.

When Nox exited the room, he saw no traces of the woman. To some extent, he felt relieved. He believed it was better if their relationship didn’t grow into more. Awkward friendships recovered faster than failed romantic entanglements.

Nox was lost in thought when he heard pressed soft footsteps behind him. He peeked over his shoulder. There was a man behind him, and he had a club in his hands. In the dim evening lighting, Nox couldn’t see his face, and the clothes didn’t tell him much either. Then he heard another set of feet just behind the first man. The attacker wasn’t alone. Nox heard more footsteps ahead. It wasn’t the first time Nox got jumped. In the past, he had let the thugs sneak up on him and take the beatings. He was a different man now.

Galvanizing Touch destabilized the sphere of essence in Nox’s hands. It flared bright pink as he closed his eyes and threw it over his shoulder. The essence glass orb exploded with a roaring bang, and he saw the bright lights through his closed eyelids. When Nox opened his eyes, fluorescent pink flames surrounded him.

The individuals sneaking up on him screamed at beat at their burning clothes. It would take them a few seconds to get over their shock and realize it was just fae fire. Nox refused to give them the time to regain their senses and ran. He made it six feet before he ran into a hard stony surface. Even though it was humanoid, the figure didn’t budge. Nox pressed his fingers to a stony foot just as it started moving and cast Slow.

A sharp, stabbing pain blossomed from Nox’s left shoulder. Then a pungent odor filled his nostrils. Nox recognized the scent but failed to place it. The smell reminded him of cleaning concoctions in bathhouses. Before Nox could react, a piercing pain spread through his body, and it felt like his skeleton wanted to leap free of his body. Nox somehow powered through the pain and activated his pyramid defense. His concentration failed a moment later, and the spell fizzled out.

Something hard and rounded struck the back of Nox’s head before he could recover. His limbs refused to obey his instructions, and the world turned blurry. Darkness consumed his vision, and consciousness fled.

Share