Currency in the Magus World

The journey to Leshe was entirely peaceful.

There was a multitude of reasons why the convoy encountered no trouble. The main reason was, no doubt, the family crest and guards present. The Alden family crest was a decently recognized one, as Raymond was one of the handfuls of Marquis in the Iron Wolf Kingdom.

That, plus the fact that the Alden family had a lengthy history and Raymond's victories in duels against other Magus, made the family gain recognition.

Most Magus in the kingdom, unless they had been uneducated and living their lives isolated in the wild, would have heard or seen the crest at least, which made attacks from other Magus unlikely.

As for normal or apprentice-level bandits who prowled around the roads, especially in the frontier region, they would have been deterred by the number of well-armored guards and Ed, who was incredibly intimidating to anyone, even if they couldn't tell he was a Magus.

As the convoy galloped towards the location of the banquet, the Alden family rested peacefully inside the main carriage.

Raz even slept despite the carriage moving at full speed on relatively even roads.

At first, he had been surprised to learn they were even moving, but his father told him that the carriage they sat in had been a present to him from Apollyon once he graduated from the academy.

The carriage itself had been built from premium materials that would have no problem fending off attacks from anyone below the Fledgling Magus level. In contrast, the metal wheels had been enchanted and etched with shock-absorbing magic that made the uneven road and bumps feel like nothing.

All William had to do was either supply the carriage with mana from himself personally, which was tiring and inefficient or use material as a mana source to sustain the magic.

Curious about what was powering the magic at the moment, Raz inquired, "Then what is exactly powering the carriage at the moment?"

William, who sat on the opposite side of the carriage facing Fay, who had softly fallen asleep while holding Raz in her lap, responded, "There are a lot of things in this world that contains mana that could be used to power a carriage like this, but I use the standard mana shard."

Pulling out a finger-sized crystal that pulsated and glowed blue, William let Raz get a closer look while explaining, "Just like the mana lake had water filled with mana, there exist crystals like these called mana shards that can be used for their mana-imbued properties as fuel like the one powering the carriage, or they can be used as currency.

"Most people in the Magus world have no use for normal currency like bronze, silver, gold, or platinum except as raw materials for experiments and the such. Only the really cheap and low-level exchanges involve such currency. The normal currency is these mana shards found in the earth in pockets like any rare metal.

"These mana shards are virtually impossible to buy with normal currency, but to Fledgling Magus like myself, they are necessary to make purchases and bargains with. Just like normal currency, there is a system in place.

"A mana stone is equivalent to a hundred mana shards, while a mana crystal is equivalent to a hundred mana stones. Then different colored shards, stones, and crystals contain more pure mana, but those are just legends here to us."

Hearing about the rarity and value of these stones, Raz couldn't help but ask, "If they are so rare, then why are we using one to power the magic instead of just bearing with the bumpy road?"

"Hahaha, if this were before you were born, I would also have used that logic, as I only had a few dozen mana shards in my entire fortune. Luckily after we discovered the mana lake and sold it to the Seven Star Academy, your father here got a nice commission which is why we are currently flush with Mana shards and stones," William laughed heartily, smiling at the current wealth he possessed which would no doubt be quite impressive compared to his fellow classmates that he competed with back during his times as an Apprentice.

William could picture the jealous and envious looks they would give him if they knew of his current wealth, as even his classmates that were from wealthy families and advanced to the Fledgling Magus stage would be paupers.

If a wealthy and powerful family meant that one was guaranteed to have mana shards, they were sorely mistaken. Even the support he got from the main branch of the Alden family and his father was only a few shards each month as they had to spend shards, which meant they could barely afford to spare a few for others of the clan.

This was why unless your family owned a mana shard mine, then they would be incredibly stingy with their shards. This meant that a person had to make their own contributions or findings to gain a decent amount of currency to trade and better their combat ability with artifacts, new magic, or materials to aid their advancements.

This was why there were an abundant amount of Barons within the kingdom, but not many would advance until quite a while, and by then, their potential to advance further had already diminished.

After roughly more than half a day, a knock on the door could be heard as Ed's familiar voice shouted, "We are approaching Leshe!"

Hearing the news, William unlocked a latch before sliding a part of the carriage wall to reveal a window on either side that let the setting sun gaze into the vehicle.

Fay, who had awoken, glanced outside as she held Raz up for him to get a proper look.

Adjusting his eyes to the natural sunlight with a few blinks, he gazed through the window to see numerous fields that reminded him of vineyards back on Earth.

Dozens of farmers could be seen toiling the fields as they plowed the earth and attended to their crops. Soon, the outline of the city that had been distant soon became more clear.

In front of them were rather tall walls with a few guards keeping watch, but what interested Raz was the number of people walking the streets.

As the day ended and people returned back to their families, the streets were packed with citizens and vendors who tried to sell their products to various people, which was quite different compared to Levir, which most likely had maybe a quarter of the population that Leshe had.

Raz saw one of the knights in the front gallop even faster with parchment in hand as he talked to one of the gatekeepers while pointing at the carriage and parchment before the gatekeeper shouted something.

A slight clinking could be heard from the carriage as the gate opened for the carriage to pass through smoothly. As the carriage passed through, the numerous citizens that stepped out of the way caught a glance at the crest, and some of them nodded in awe as they recognized the Alden crest, while some had no clue.