Audit

"Hmm, passable," said the mage.

Will breathed a sigh of release. Not having a large enough mana pool, severely limited his options in this world.

"You are attuned with earth. Strange to have a Ballard, attuned to earth magic," the old mage said.

"Wonderful," Will said ready to go back home and read.

"Yes, it is wonderful. You can enroll in the Mage Academy," the man said happily he found a talented student.

"Thank sir mage, but I plan on becoming a merchant," Will said walking off the step.

"Impossible, who would choose not to be a mage?" the man said in disbelief. "Boy, why would not pursue a life of power and claim?"

"Never said, I did not want a life of power and acclaim. I'm not interested in dueling and battling, I just want to read and make money," Will replied honestly, walking away from the stage.

"James, come here immediately," the mage said.

"Yes Lord vont Ming," James said disappointed in his son.

"Did you hear your son just now?" Lord Ming said.

"Yes, Lord vont Ming, I've tried to convince him but his mind is made up," James said nervously looking at one of the most powerful mages in Fermion.

"You have three years to convince him," the old mage said.

"Yes, your Lordship," James said, as the mage left through a curtain of space.

As the carriage rambled back to the manor, Will saw his father looked pleased, and my mother looked sad.

"Father, Why are you happy?" Will asked.

"I'm happy because you passed, and now you may enroll at the Mage Academy with Rebecca," he said joyfully.

"Yay! Now, Will and I can be roommates!" she exclaimed enthusiastically.

'Over my dead body, I can not allow this reality come to pass,' Will thought.

"Mother, why are you crying?" Will asked.

"How can I not be sad? My youngest has grown up too quickly and will so be leaving me alone," she cried cathartically.

Suddenly, a new flash lit up my screen.

Name: William vont Ballard

Race: Human

Rank: 2 (Baron's son)

Class:

Attributes:

Constitution—10

Strength—12

Dexterity—13

Intellect—23

Charisma—12

Ranks Skills: Management (20), Diplomacy (20), Accounting (40)

Class Skills: None

Abilities: Novice Swordsmanship (6, 10) Novice Terramancer (0,10)

"Terramancer, what's a terramancer?" Will said accidentally out loud.

"You are," said Marcus.

"A terramancer is an earth mage," James explained.

"Father is William really your son," Marcus taunted Will.

"Marcus, don't say such wretched things," Helen vont Ballard reprimanded.

"Yes, Will is my precious son, even though Jason, Marcus, and I are pyromancers, you and Rebecca are different elemental users," James said.

"Since you're a terramancer, you can control the earth element and manipulate it to your will," Jason said. Jason was only on summer break and had come to the barony to support Will.

"If you try hard at the Academy you may be halfway decent," Marcus added.

"Marcus, how come you didn't go to the academy?" Will asked.

"I want to be an adventurer! The Adventurer Guild has their own school, where I train," Marcus said.

"Does the Merchant Guild have an academy?" Will asked. If they did, Will wondered how similar it would be to business school.

"No, only guilds that train fighters have schools," James said.

"Yes, Will you can train at the Thieves Guild," Marcus laughed.

"Cut it out, Marcus. Stop teasing Will," Kathryn said.

"You all are no fun," Marcus complained.

'On Earth, magic was considered a party trick. Grand illusionists took to the stage for entertainment. Magic dealt with the sleight of hand or misdirection, but now the magic was real,' Will thought to himself.

Back on Earth, Will was an accountant, and economist, not a warrior or mage. He knew very little about magic. Now on Terra, he had to learn a new way of living.

Will vowed, at that moment, to have asses and plan his future. As the third son, he had three years to figure out his plans before he reach adulthood.

Thankfully, Will had a lot of opportunities available to him. He could follow in his father and Jason's footsteps and become a knight. Or he could follow behind Rebecca and become a mage. However, both those options took him away from what he loved, building a business and seeing it prosper.

As the family headed home, James was proud that Will received an offer to attend the Mage's Academy. There was no higher honor than being a mage. Mages were the top existence in Fermion.

For the next three years, every day, James would speak to Will about joining the Mage Academy. James would report how much he saved to pay Will's academy tuition. Yet, the more James spoke the more oppositional Will became to attending.

When Will showed disinterest, James would talk about his time at the Knight Academy. Even Jason would send Will letters of encouragement from school.

Will knew neither option was what he wanted. He was a businessman. The desire to wield swords or become powerful swordsmen or mages was not appealing. Worse yet, Will had bo to desire to fight enemies and monsters.

Will's passion was money and lots of it. The challenge to build another economic empire on a different planet excited Will. What business could claim that achievement?

Even with magical and magically enhanced bodies, money was the real power. While most people, saw being a merchant as a fallback option, it was Will's first choice.

What Will needed to know now, was how to become a merchant in Fermion. Then he had an epiphany, every two weeks a couple of merchants come to the barony to trade. That was Will's chance to investigate how to join the Merchant Guild. But first, he wondered if his father had any books in the library about merchants.

The next day, following another grueling sword lesson, Will went to the library to research what it would take to be a merchant. According to the book, to become a merchant, a person needed to register with Merchant Guild. To register a person needed to pay 200 gold coins and provide a letter of recommendation from a current guild member.

In Terra, 100 copper coins equaled 1 silver, and 100 silvers equaled a gold coin. The closest Will could figure, one copper was equivalent to one British pence. One silver was equivalent to one sterling, and 1 gold was the equivalent of a pound.

There were also grand gold coins which equal 100 gold coins. The money situation was easy enough to follow, but it would be difficult to receive that much money.

However, the Merchant Guild fees were exorbitant. Most commoners in the kingdom earned copper coins and were lucky to see a silver coin. A loaf of bread was 15 coppers.

Will needed to plan out how he was going to get that much money. He could ask my father and mother for money, but the barony was poor. If he was lucky, his father could give me between 10 to 15 gold coins.

Will could ask his father for the money he saved up for Will's yearly academy fees. However, Will didn't want to be the prodigal son. Will needed to save that money, to open his shop.

Will thought for a full week before, and an opportunity presented itself to Will.

At breakfast one morning, James sat down to eat upset, complaining about the barony's finances.

"I don't know what is going on with those damn crops. It's put a stranglehold on our finances. I can't figure out what is wrong!" James said distressed.

"James, don't worry you'll figure it out. Why don't you ask the town elder to visit to help you look over the accounts, dear?" Helen vont Ballard said compassionately.

"Father," Will raised his voice a little too excitedly. "I want to start helping out around the barony before I leave.

If can figure out what is wrong with the accounts do you think, you could pay me a wage? For a wage, if I help, would you be willing to pay me a small percentage of what you earn," Will asked hopefully.

James raised an eyebrow at his youngest son. Will had never asked to help out with the barony before.

Jame was curious, why his son would ask now. Regardless, James knew Will was a good child who loved money.

James had caught Will, unbeknownst to Will, staring at his account ledger. 'And now when he, mentioned his ledger, Will immediately asked to help, suspicious,' James thought.

"James, let the boy help! I think it's cute he wants to help his father," Helen replied.

Still, James agreed, because he could not resist Will's excited expression.

Will was very excited, after gaining his father's agreement.

"Now, that you agreed to help, where to propose to figure out what was is wrong?" James asked hesitantly.

Will explained, he read about accounting in the family's library, and easily grasped the knowledge. Will lied. Then as a demonstration of proficiency, Will explained what he knew about credits and debts.

Then Will explained the problems with his father's ledger. James kept a single ledger to document the barony's income and expenses. However, the biggest problem for Baron James vont Ballard was the missing grain.

Looking at the ledger, Will should his father how he messed up the expenses. Will quickly analyzed the ledger and was able to forensically deduce where the missing grain was stored.

In less than half a day, Will solved James' problem and explained to him the double-entry accounting system to prohibit future errors.

When James realized his accounts were mixed and jumbled, and how Will easily unscrambled the ledger, his heart soared. James finally understood, how talented his Will was with accounts and why he wanted to become a merchant.

However, James still believed, the life of trade was beneath Will's capability. Every father wants the best for his son, including James.

From that point forward, Will kept the barony's accounts.

For three years, Will kept the ledgers. He would frequently look over the accounts. Being in charge of the accounts, required Will to regularly traveled to different farms, negotiate with merchants, and investigate the storehouses and granaries.

On several occasions, Will would catch irregularities, which often were the result of mislabeling, misplaced goods, or theft. It was common for Will to notice the reports from the merchants, farmers, and farmhands did not align because barrels of wheat and barley were mislabeled.

Will also kept accurate accounts of the grains stored in storehouses and granaries for those three years. The townsfolk were overjoyed as they saw an increase in grain, as the system was handled with much more efficiency. Not only was there more grain, but barony also had a larger profit margin.

As the baron grew in profit, the longer-term needs of the townsfolk were met. Not only that but there was also a gradual build-up of supply. Will knew grains like wheat, barley, corn, and beans could last a long time if properly packaged and stored in a cool, dry place. After three years, Will saved a large enough portion of grains and beans to have a three-month supply.

James, the Town Elder, and some of the townsfolk were ecstatic about the three-month supply, but not everyone was happy with Will.

Since the previous accounting system was so bad, farmhands routinely stole from farmers, farmers misreported crop yields to pay fewer taxes, and merchants paid different prices for crops during the same harvest. Under Will's guidance, James jailed the farmhand, rose taxes on the farmers, and mandated the merchant could only negotiate a standard rate with Will.

With the increased taxes and profit, James agreed to pay Will two gold and fifty silvers a week. Moreover, James even learned the double-entry account system from Will.

To further praise Will, James promoted him to Head Accountant for the barony. James created the title because it sounded prestigious, but did not affect the work Will was already doing. For Will, the title was meaningless. All Will cared about was saving money to pay for his Merchant Guild registration.

Empowered by my father, for three years, Will managed the barony's finances, investments, and farmland. James handled the politics and legal judgment.

In those three years, Will's management, diplomacy, and accounting rank skills all increased. By Will's 13th birthday, he earned 210 gold, enough for the Merchant Guild registration.