Leaving the Barony

Today was Will's thirteenth birthday. On Terra, thirteen was considered an adult. The average life expectancy in Fermion was 55. Commoners who reached the age of 50 were considered elders. Only those with magic could live longer lives. As magic users advanced, their lifespan also increased.

He worked last three years for my father and achieved his goal. His goal was to earn enough money to join the Merchant Guild. During that time, Will developed strong relationships with the merchants who came weekly to the barony.

Especially, the merchant Karl. Karl drove his uncovered wagon to the barony's town center. Will waited for Karl because merchants could only negotiate with him. Will always like Karl, because he always came on time. Will admired his punctuality.

Over the last three years, Karl and Will discussed the Merchant Guild. From those discussions, Will learned, the main Merchant Guild was located in the capital Yorkshire. But, the closest Merchant Guild was located in Guidon.

Guidon was the Fermion's second-largest city. Yorkshire was a three-day journey north from Guidon. While Guidon was built on a plain, Yorkshire was split into by a river. Yorkshire and Guidon, both had academies.

The Knight and Mage Academies were located in Guidon. The Royal Academy was located in Yorkshire. The Royal Academy was a place of study for non-magic young adults. The Royal Academy instructed noblemen in math, science, philosophy, music, and art.

The Knight Academy educated cadets on how to use body-enhancing magic to fight. Every student in the Knight Academy was a cadet and trained for military combat. After graduation, the students were required to spend two years in the military.

The Mage Academy taught students the principles of magic. Lessons on conjuring, transfiguration, alchemy, enchanting with ancient runes, and other classes were taught. Since mages were so rare, the students had more flexibility after graduating.

The more Karl spoke, the more excited Will became to explore the kingdom. What Will enjoyed most, was listening to Karl talk about the Merchant Guild tradesmen and shop owners. However, the best news Will received was when Karl agreed to write Will a letter of recommendation. Now, Will had the money and the recommendation letter to join the Merchant Guild.

"Mother, Father, now that I'm an adult, I plan to leave home and join the Merchant's Guild," Will said.

Immediately, Will's mother began to cry.

"We understand, a man has to walk his own road," James vont Ballard said.

"Now? I thought we had more time together, " Helen vont Ballard cried.

"Son, you have an affinity with earth magic, why don't you join the Mage Academy. That would lead to a better life for you in the future. Didn't Karl tell you most merchants are small-time and work a trade route? There are very few wealthy merchants, and they have a monopoly on trade routes and goods." James said passive-aggressively.

"Yes father, Karl explained to me how the Merchant's Guild operates," Will wasn't happy about a few men running a cabal.

In his past life, he had dealt with a few businessmen who tried to monopolize an entire sector of the economy. Needless to say, he was able to break those bastards, and he'd plan to do the same in this new life.

"Please son listen to your father, being a merchant is not an easy life. You'll have no guaranteed source of income," Jame's pleaded.

As Will looked at his crying mother, the thought of disappointing her made him sad. Even though, he was confident in my abilities, had 50+ years as a businessman and industry leader; the sight of his crying mother made him double guess his choice. Yet, what surprised Will, were the emotions his body felt at upset his mother to this degree.

"Please son, listen to us, we know you want to be a merchant, let's compromise. You are a son of a noble house and you can use magic; you can become a merchant after graduating from the academies. That way, at least you have something to fall back on," James cajole.

"Will, all we want as parents is for you to have a good life," Helen said.

No matter the world, parents always try to guide their children on the right path. Since reincarnating, Will never saw his parents passionate about anything.

While some children may grow up pretending to be knights or mages, that was not Will. Whether it was Earth or Terra, Will only wanted to be one thing since birth, a wealthy businessman. But, if being a mage or knight would stop his parents from worrying, so be it, he would do it.

"Fine, I'll join the Knight Academy," Will said, to his parent's glee.

Still, Will swore he find a way to graduate early and start his life as a merchant, as soon as possible.

After hearing Will's agreement, James and Helen visibly relaxed and hugged Will. Although Will compromised, in his heart couldn't disappoint who raised him in this world. Will owed these people after taking care of him a happy existence in this world.

Terra's 12-month calendar was similar to Earth's. However, the days and months had different names. If this was Earth, Will would have been born in the month of May. The Academies started class in September and ended in June. In three months, Will would leave for Guidon.

During those three months, James vont Ballard tried to convince Will to join the Mage Academy instead of the Knight Academy. What James did not know, was that Will had no plans to live on the same campus as his sister. At the same time, Will consoled his father to feel happy that Rebecca was a mage.

At the start of early fall, Will waved goodbye to his parents and boarded Karl's wagon. Before Will left, James pulled him aside and handed him the fees to enroll in the Mage Academy. It was the exact amount needed to join the Mage Academy. Inwardly, Will admired his father's passive-aggressiveness to the very end.

Before Will left the barony, he read books about the Knight and Mage Academies. To join, an academy you were required to pass a 3-part test.

The first test required potential students to channel mana into a crystal ball. This test measured a potential student's mana pool. While knights did not have as much mana as mages, they did use body strengthening magic to fight. Knights channel mana into muscles and swords.

Once Will's sword instructor found out he had enough mana, Will was taught the principles of body strengthening magic and how to enhance his sword with magic. Learning those techniques promoted him to apprentice swordsman

Those exercises also helped me increase my Terramancer rank by 3 points. Will was happy with the slow and steady approach; he had no desire to become a fighter. He planned to learn these techniques for self-defense in case he got attacked by bandits.

In Terra, the Novice Ranks are from levels 1-10. The Apprentice Rank is from levels 10 to 25. The Journeyman Rank is from levels 25 to 50. The Master Rank is from levels 50 to 75. And, the Grandmaster Rank is from levels 75 to 100. Each level requires more experience and it's harder to rank up.

On Terra, most mages and knights will rank up to Journeyman, but less than 10% become masters and less than 1% become grandmasters. Hard work alone was not enough to make it into the master rank.

As Karl and Will left the barony, a light flashed in his eyes. When Will looked at his stats, he noticed his rank changed. Outside of barony, Will was just a noble's son and held no aristocratic title. Hopefully, in the future, Will could at least become a baronet. Baronets were the lowest-ranked nobles. In Fermion, knights were only a part of the military order, not the chivalric order.

Name: William vont Ballardd

Race: Human

Rank: 0

Class:

Attributes:

Constitution—21

Strength—25

Dexterity—19

Intellect—32

Charisma—12

Ranks Skills: Management (23), Diplomacy (23), Accounting (43)

Class Skills: None

Abilities: Apprentice Swordsmanship (1,25) Novice Terramancer (3,10)

In the last three years, his constitution, strength, dexterity, and intellect had all risen. Only, his charisma stat stayed the same. Will's ranked skills gained one level every year, he worked as Head Accountant. Now his management, diplomacy, and accounting all ranked up three points. Will felt confident, that he had really, worked hard these thirteen years.

The road to Guidon was peaceful. Will read in peacefully, between talking to Karl in spurts. After Will found out he could cast magic, he spent a lot of time reading magic theory, magic history books.

His parents were only too happy to provide them, especially his father, desperately hoping for another wizard in the family. Since mages are rare, it is very uncommon for siblings to attend the Mage's Academy.

Having two children with an affinity for magic, also brought James prestige and honor. Although, this attention also brought with it a few grumbles as well from their neighbors. Nobles in Fermion were ostentatious and enjoyed rubbing their riches, jewelry, fine clothes, and success in each other's noses.

After a week, on the road, Will made it to Guidon. Will enjoyed seeing other baronies, and counties. The western fringe was composed of several vassal baronies, under the Marquis vont Hanover.

Karl introduced Will to several tradesmen. Will enjoyed his roadside taverns' conversations with the merchants. Besides troubadours, merchants carried the news. The merchants told stories about their travels and encounters. Some stories were happy, other's sad. Entertaining stories of great wealth, and horror stories of bandits and beasts.

Most of the merchants were second, third, or fourth sons of nobles. They all said traveling on the road was hard honest work and made for a good livelihood.

All agreed, it was difficult to work but rewarding. However, what mattered most for a tradesman was the route. Will also learned tradesmen and shop owners lived in two very different worlds. Shop owners stood on top of the business hierarchy.

Shop owners settled in one place. On average they made three to five times as much as traders. The richest merchant was Baron vont Hernandes. The Baron vont Hernandes owed general stores in every major city in the Kingdom of Fermion. Tradesmen purchased goods for shop owners to sell.

However, what confused Will was the lack of international trade. Very few trade routes operated between other humanoid territories.

Moreover, the Fermion didn't trade with Beastmen, Elven, or Dwarf kingdoms. There were whole untapped markets in the world.

Even worse there was animosity between humans and other humanoid species. In Fermion, beastmen were kidnapped and enslaved. Elves and Dwarfs have isolated themselves away from the world of men. This was a world of endless wars. The Elves and Dwarfs decided to live peacefully amongst themselves.

Adventures might be killed if they accidentally stumbled into the tribal lands of the beastmen, elven forest, and dwarf mountain kingdoms. This was a land of sword and sorcery, where the mighty made the rules. The powerful ruled the weak, and the weak were voiceless.

In Guidon, Will found an inn near the Knight Academy. It was two silvers for a room and three silvers for a room and dinner. Will paid three silvers and sat down to enjoy my roast pheasant and ale.

After dinner, Will collapsed on the bed and fell asleep. He knew tomorrow, he had to get up early for the Knight Academy exam.