brother's retry (the beginning after the end)

world's best artificer

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As we plowed our way through the crowds in City Square, I overheard various conversations about the Lances. These Six Lances were more than just a group of overpowered mages; they would soon become the very symbol of this continent. Composed of two lances for each race, they were impartial towards all humans, elves, and dwarves. I had to hand it to the three royal families for coming up with such a bold plan. With such a glorified incentive—or rather, goal—I wouldnt be surprised if this stirred up a new era of mages.

It was fairly obvious that the kings purposely put a bad light on this new continent so that this mysterious potential common enemy would become the reason for the three races to unite. Looking at it logically, there could be great advantages, such as trading raw material, knowledge on magic and artifacts, and different technology, but this could also potentially create a competition between the humans, elves and dwarves—each of them trying to get to the new continent first to claim the new resources. While this propaganda-esque manipulation didnt quite sit well with me, it beat the consequences of going with the latter choice.

My father stepped into the carriage, waiting for us at the edge of City Square, instructing the driver to first take him to the Helstea Auction House.

"I have a few things to take care of so Ill meet you guys back home later tonight. Dont cause too much trouble, kids." My father gently gripped Arts and my arm and patted Sylvie, who was on top of Arts head.

At the sight of my fathers carriage leaving our view, Vincent beckoned for a public carriage with a wave of his hand. Finally, an unpainted, wooden carriage pulled by two horses stopped for us with the driver tipping his hat as a silent introduction.

"Please take us to Gideons facility," Vincent prompted, directing the driver to our next destination. About thirty minutes into the drive, the scenery shifted from tall buildings into small houses with signboards reading "Artifacts" and "Elixirs" on many of them.

I stared out the carriage window, making a mental note of stores that I would want to visit later on, until Vincents voice stirred me out of my daze. "Were at the part of the city where all of the artificers gather. Youll see a lot of neat gadgets and other useful aids for mages if you guys want to check it out sometime."

This had sparked Elijahs interest, apparently, because he asked the driver to stop at the nearest artifact store. "Im going to look around for a bit and see if I can find anything worth buying," he informed before excitedly stepping out.

Slyv hopped out of the carriage after Elijah; smart move I wouldnt want a genius researcher like Gideon eyeing Jen either but luckily she can stay in my shadow.

"Do you have any money?!" I shouted out at him from inside the carriage as we leave him, realizing that normal twelve-year-old boys shouldnt have that much money.

"Unlike someone, Ive been saving the money we earned from the dungeon!" He patted his chest pocket and shot me a smug grin.

"Well, no need to kiss and tell," I shrugged, leaning back in the carriage seat.

About an hour later, after we passed through the densest part of the city, we arrived at a fairly large building. This building was a single story but was quite large in width, which was rare to see in a clustered city like Xyrus.

"Were here!" the driver announced as he opened the door for us.

Hopping out of the carriage after Vincent, we made our way to the unadorned front door. After a few firm knocks, an old man with a handlebar mustache and dressed as a butler appeared, not opening the door completely.