After concluding his business with Brews and Charms, Maximus decided to call it a day and take a break to reassess his plans.
With the intention of finding a manor to rent and settle in, he strolled towards a nearby establishment that matched the grandeur of Brews and Charms.
The establishment bore the impressive name of Opulent Haven, evident from the virtual sign displayed at its storefront.
Maximus was certain they offered rental services, so he stepped inside, hoping to rent a temporary manor.
“Hello, sir. Welcome to our store,” greeted a steward lady with grace.
“I’m here to inquire about renting a manor. Do you have any available?” Maximus interjected his weariness of the day apparent, not so much physically but mentally.
“We have a wide variety for you to choose from. What is your budget, sir?” the steward inquired.
“Please provide me with a list of the most luxurious manors in the city,” Maximus waved his hand dismissively.
“Right away, sir,” the steward replied, leading him to a comfortable lounge room.
After a brief wait, the steward returned with a list in hand.
Maximus perused the catalog, finding that most of the manors were reasonably priced—at least for him at the moment.
For instance, a manor suitable for a nascent mage was priced at a mere 1,000 low-grade magic crystals per year.
The manors were categorized based on varying needs, aligned with one’s magical strength.
The higher the tier of the manor, the greater the concentration of mana required for meditation.
Of course, there were also more affordable options, such as apartment-like houses where only a couple of low-magic crystals were needed.
After careful consideration, Maximus he finally settled on a manor suitable for a Tier 5 Mystic Mage.
However, it seemed that they are only a few options.
Thinking about it, Lothmire City is quite remote when you compare it to the vast expanse of the Arcane Continent.
So there are only a few manors for guests with higher strength.
“I want to rent this for a year,” Maximus declared confidently.
Although his initial plan had been to rent for only a few days or a month. But they were limited to cheaper options.
And why should he settle for anything less?
With three million to his name, he could afford to indulge himself a bit.
The steward lady responded with a beautiful smile.
“That would be a hundred thousand low-grade magic crystals,” she said, her satisfaction likely fueled by the substantial commission she would earn from renting out such an extravagant manor for a whole year.
Maximus was taken aback by the price, but he didn’t flinch.
After all, a hundred thousand was merely pocket change for a millionaire like himself.
Furthermore, when he considered the conversion rate to mid-grade magic crystals—the primary meditation resource for mages ranging from Tier 4 to Tier 6—the sum of a million low-grade crystals amounted to a mere 1,000 mid-grade crystals.
The steward lady produced a clone of the store token, awaiting Maximus’ payment.
It was no surprise as such big establishments typically required bank transactions.
Maximus retrieved his token and input a hundred thousand low-grade magic crystals before tapping it against the store token clone.
Both tokens vibrated, signaling the successful completion of the payment.
…
“Do you need a guide to the manor, sir?” the steward playfully suggested, hoping to seduce him.
“No need,” Maximus quickly declined.
He discreetly scanned her with his system, noting her fit value was only 83.
Besides, he was no longer eager to seek out concubines.
Initially, he had pursued such relationships out of necessity, as he required immediate strength and resources.
However, he had since amassed a significant amount of wealth, which can also translated into power.
He had consciously stopped actively searching for concubines.
He left such matters to fate, as he found the burdens of being a husband and a father tiresome.
If he wanted he can just provide his family with the essentials of food and clothing and be done with it.
However, he longed for love, and having to marry a woman just to become stronger will only make him indifferent in the long run.
Thus, he altered his habit of seeking out women and marrying them without any genuine emotional connection.
This was precisely why he hadn’t immediately married Isabella, choosing instead to cultivate his feelings first.
As for the potential point loss due to having fewer children, he considered it a negligible concern.
After all, as a nascent mage, he possessed a lifespan of a thousand years, affording him ample time to accumulate potential points throughout his children’s lives.
Furthermore, the system can still function when his children married and had their own children.
Their wives, if they met the system requirements, generated gold, while their children contributed potential points.
And this was without any deduction, even if they were second and third-generation descendants.
As for the necessary protection to achieve all of that, he can just buy it in the system
…
Exiting Opulent Haven, Maximus retrieved his token and examined its new features, which had been activated upon purchasing the house.
[Edward Williams:
Personal Information
Bank Account
Properties
Options]
The token now recorded all his online transactions and even generated a dedicated tab for them.
While convenient, it also instilled a sense of unease, knowing that someone could have access to all his information.
However, as the guard at the gate had mentioned earlier, the continent’s higher authorities had sworn an oath not to misuse this data.
Reflecting on the matter, Maximus realized that it was not much different from his previous world, where the government possessed all your information, and even the public could learn bits and pieces through a simple search.
Not dwelling further on these thoughts, Maximus set off toward his newly rented manor.
…𝞸𝓥xt.𝒪𝑚
After flying for a while, he spotted a grand estate resembling a wizard tower, but with an added touch of elegance.
He attempted to fly directly toward it but was halted by a protective barrier.
He couldn’t help but appreciate the presence of such security measures.
Maximus retrieved his token from his storage ring, which blocked its signal from being intercepted, and gained access to the manor.
A soft hiss escaped his lips as he felt the unimaginable magnitude and purity of mana that pervaded the surroundings.
And this was not even the meditation room.
Compared to the room he had on the ship, which was only suitable for a nascent mage, the mana within this manor existed on an entirely different level.
The manor also boasted a large tract of land that could be cultivated for farming.
Given the concentration of mana, ordinary plants would likely grow into fully-fledged magical plants within minutes.
…
Feeling exhausted from the day’s activities, Maximus decided to unwind in the manor’s hot spring.
Stripping off his clothes, he immersed himself in the hot water made with pure low-grade mana droplets.
He let out a deep sigh, his thoughts wandering.
Coming to the central continent had been an eye-opening experience.
The world was filled with enchantment and advancement he hadn’t anticipated.
It felt like a magical rendition of an interstellar world.
He couldn’t help but reflect on his past life’s misconception, where novels depicted mage settings as backward and barbaric.
Contrary to those notions, this realm was highly advanced and civilized.
Moreover, he realized that the basic knowledge of the Ethereum Realm he had bought from the system only covered information that was widely known among the people.
The more secretive and detailed knowledge was noticeably absent.
Why can’t the system sell any more advance information about this world despite being almost omnipotent?
It made him wonder if the system’s virtual mall was connected to other worlds, similar to the multiverse mall cheats he had read about in his previous life.
But why were there no sellers? The mall merely listed items available for purchase.
Additionally, he pondered how the basic knowledge of the Ethereum Realm had come to be present in the system.
Shaking off these thoughts, Maximus refocused his attention on more pressing matters at hand.
…
Before arriving in the Central Continent, Maximus planned to resell products from the system mall using multiple identities using the tier 5 Mask of Grimmore until he upgraded it to tier 9.
However, upon learning about the requirement of a token to enter the Central Continent, he realized that executing his plan would almost be impossible.
Upgrading the mask to tier 9 required 18 million top-grade magic crystals.
Where would he get that amount of money without enough vest to distribute the trading channel?
Can he even keep the money?
The maximum level of strength he could effectively disguise himself as was a Tier 5 Mystic Mage.
This was because places outside of certain regions like the Beast Continent, Divine Continent, and Arcane Continent were unlikely to produce mages higher than Tier 5.
As for disguising himself as someone from the Beast Continent, it posed a problem.
While beasts from the Beast Continent could transform into humans, they possessed a distinctively aggressive mana.
Unfortunately, the Tier 5 Mask of Grimmore could only imitate the pure mana of mages and couldn’t even replicate the aura of a knight.
As for disguising himself as someone from the Divine Continent, one might assume that since they possessed pure mana, it would be possible.
However, just like the first problem, only the tier 9 Mask of Grimmore which is a law artifact can imitate the faith needed to be disguised as from a divine continent.
Faith is a special energy like mana that god needed.
Most of the aborigines of the Divine Continent cannot go out in it.
Only envoys especially brainwashed by got have the right to leave the Divine Continent to do business with other continents.