Villainous - 62 Etherium

Faust was very glad he spent so much time reading parenting books before reuniting with Li Mei.

Children required privacy and boundaries of their own. As they got older, those boundaries needed to be more clearly defined. Respecting privacy fostered independence and trust between the child and their caretaker.

Li Mei was of an age where privacy was starting to be very important. If he rejected her peace offering now he’d ruin all attempts at forging trust in the future. A disciple that didn’t trust him was one that wouldn’t follow important orders – she might even risk going against the slave binding’s punishment in order to defy him.

How obnoxious that would be!

Faust nodded to himself as he drew up the terms of their contract under her skeptical supervision.

—–

[Contract]

Li Mei shall retain rights to and possession of any assets and ideas she produces or otherwise acquires, and shall not be required to relinquish said goods or ideas through force or other methods of coercion except by legal forfeiture underwritten by debt assumed by Li Mei herself.

Major infractions consist of knowingly attempting to obtain Li Mei’s possession(s) without her prior consent, coercing her consent, or using others in an attempt to circumvent the contract by borrowing other’s hands to obtain her possession(s) without consent. Consent must be explicit and accompanied by a non-magical written contract of trade, gift, or sale to be valid.

The terms of this contract shall be binding for an indefinite period, until such a time as both parties agree to contract termination, or one party expires.

Terms may only be adjusted upon agreement from both parties once every five years and will require another Signing each time.

Dissolving the contract requires a written agreement between both parties, and a payment of 5000c from both sides at time of Signing the dissolution. Agreement to dissolve the contract cannot be coerced or otherwise compelled.

Major infractions result in the offender paying a fine of 1000c to the offended. Backlash equivalent to a Rank 5 mid-quality spell will be inflicted on the offender. The offended will be notified of the infraction.

Should infractions occur when the offender is unable to pay the appropriate fine, an amount of life force will be taken in place of mana at a 4:1 ratio.

If the offended is unable to store an amount of mana equal to the fine paid by the offender, the mana will be crystallized into a Core for a flat fee of 200 mana, taken from the fine’s sum.

—–

Though she was expecting flowery legal language, Li Mei was surprised to find the wording of the terms were very much in her favor. It only took a moment of pondering for her to realize why – Faust thought she was a weak child, so what could she possess that he would want to take?

It wouldn’t be too late to discuss a contract adjustment once she was older and more capable, after all. But until then, Li Mei could protect her possessions from his greedy little claws!

Her lips curled into a satisfied smile as she signed the Contract with the purple mana pen. The terms couldn’t be changed for five years?

Five years to build up resources Faust couldn’t touch.

“Want to sign a contract regarding surveillance next?” Li Mei asked, handing the pen to Faust who quickly scribbled a line that didn’t resemble a name. Magic contracts locked onto aura signatures, not something as mutable as a name.

An odd sensation like an invisible thread tightening around her heart left the girl gasping for a second in confusion. Faust glanced at her from the corner of his eyes and smiled, the magic contract dissolving into light particles that drifted into both their bodies before disappearing.

“Because I’m strong, the contract is also powerful. My apologies, Miss Mei. I don’t think you could handle another contract of my caliber.” Seeing the child click her tongue in annoyance, Faust chuckled and pushed his spectacles up his nose. “Of course… I can promise neither I nor Faust have you under visual or audio surveillance. That sort of magic is obtrusive and uncomfortable, you’d definitely be able to sense it at your current level. Instead, we merely have an unobtrusive tracker on your good wrist.”

Li Mei shivered and glanced down. Faust tapped a finger against the back of her hand before she could snatch it away, and a thin band of purple light briefly appeared. It formed an odd scribble of lines from no language she could recognize, then sank into the soft material of her sleeve. Warmth flooded her arm for a brief second before it and the purple glow both vanished.”What the… When did you even…?”

“Hm? Oh, just now, of course.” Faust laughed and stood up, lifting Li Mei effortlessly onto Bao’s back. “We need to be able to find you if something happens. But don’t worry, it will only alert us to your location if your life is threatened. Should you have a situation under control, nothing will happen.”

‘Dirty…!’ Li Mei scowled, clenching her hand into a fist. She fell for the oldest trick in the book! ‘That’s what I get for letting my guard down because of a stupid contract…’

Her temper soothed when a quick Scan revealed Faust was telling the truth. The surveillance spell lingering around her wrist merely monitored her physical health, and would send out a warning with her location to the caster if her condition suddenly deteriorated.

“Now that this little errand is taken care of…” Faust smirked, shoving one hand into his coat pocket while pulling out a stopwatch with the other. “It is now… Five hours past noon. Your home address is 88 Little Shark Lane. Mister Otto will be joining me for a Baptism followed by training, provided he doesn’t explode during the experience. Miss Mei, Miss Hana, Bao… We hope to see you there soon. Please remember to behave properly in the meantime.”

Otto, who was still marveling at his shiny new red bank card, didn’t have time to look up upon hearing his own name before Faust grabbed his shoulder with a vice-like grip, and the two of them disappeared. Li Mei blinked and rubbed her eyes with the heel of her palm.

No flash of mana – that disappearing trick was just Faust showing off pure physical speed!

Li Mei clicked her tongue in annoyance. Faust probably intended to test her navigation and memory skills considering he took a circuitous route through the confusing city before arriving at the bank. But with her Interface map, would such a tactic really work?

Of course not!

Her house was already marked as a key location!

She could even have the map display the fastest known route to a target location – though she couldn’t route through unexplored areas for new shortcuts, it could only calculate using paths previously explored or otherwise unlocked, such as by viewing a detailed map.

Finding her way back home would never be a problem. Rather, she was looking forward to using this opportunity to gather information without Faust watching her every move! Li Mei leaned forward to gently pat Bao’s neck with a big smile on her face. “Gimme a minute. There’s something I want to do before we go.”

She examined the five pilfered bank cards in storage. Three red of varying shades, one bright orange, one dim yellow. Though she lacked the ability to tell how much mana was on each to the number, the total amount wasn’t going to be small.

Since she planned on buying supplies, and Faust already gave Otto and Hana some pocket money, Li Mei transferred most of the contents of the five cards to her own along with a small chunk of refined mana from her Core.

By the time she was done, the five cards were a mixed assortment of dim reds while her card was a pleasant mellow green. Not too bright, not too dim.

The five card’s siphoned contents only shifted her card up to a nice yellow. The mana threads she pulled from them were thin, flimsy little things mostly washed of color until they were just gray strands of weak light. Meanwhile, a single short thread of her own mana, just a bit longer than her index finger, made her bank card color shoot right to the middle ground for green.

‘Looks like mana quality matters to these cards! Interesting. I’ll have to test that further! Though, green feels a bit low for a scion to have as spending money,’ Li Mei sighed to herself. ‘I guess it will do for now.’

Then she froze, brows furrowed in thought. ‘Wait a second…’

1c was worth around 7¥, or 10¢, on Earth, and a green card would be in the 4001c to 8000c range. Green was only $400 to $800?! That was only 2825¥ – 5650¥! The max limit on a bank card was a measly 706242¥, $99999?!

Why did it convert so nicely to USD?

Wait, no, wrong question.

Why were the limits so low?!

Cough, speaking as someone from a wealthy family background on Earth, of course. Even if by the end, she wasn’t wealthy at all.

“The sort of things I Scanned that had value were…” Li Mei muttered to herself, staring almost angrily at the empty bank cards on her lap. “Data chips, monster parts, Cores, tailored clothes, first edition books, magitech tools, materials from the research lab, those rifles from Oriole, food foraged from the ancient magic forest that had magic proper… ties… too… Ah!”

She opened her Archive and double-checked the items she Scanned back in her new house. Considering her previous situation she wasn’t interested in their value at the time, and just Scanned them to get the Archive data.

Lamps, antique furniture, worn furniture, old clothes, worn curtains, and tattered copies of common books. A much wider variety of quality than what she had in the forest!

An ancient forest with powerful monsters, and hand-me-downs from a hidden high-tech organization and a useless master who (reluctant as she was to admit) made her life a lot easier with excellent quality supplies. Of course everything was valuable!

She fell into the mindset of an unaware rich kid again!

When she was done rapidly Scanning the articles Li Mei covered half of her face with one hand, barely managing to restrain the impulse to move her broken arm. ‘The items I Scanned before arriving in Brittalund were luxury goods. 1c isn’t 7¥. It’s much more than that! But to get a better idea, I’ll need to do some shopping… Well, I wanted to do that anyway.’

Sitting on a table in the room was an enchanted bronze bell. Li Mei, already developing a habit to Scan everything she didn’t recognize on sight, knew it was for calling an attendant and instructed Hana to ring it. Then she told the girl to hide her bank card somewhere no one would be able to take it.

As a result, she found herself holding Hana’s bank card in her hands.

Seeing Hana’s sparkling eyes of trust and worship, Li Mei groaned inwardly and dropped the card back into the girl’s hands. “Silly child. Keep hold of it! It’s your money, to spend as you wish. If you don’t want anything, just save it until you do.”

Hana seemed unconvinced. Faust gave her and Otto plenty of lessons about how money worked, and what it was for, but…

Everything she needed was provided by Li Mei and Otto – even Bao sometimes, who protected her during fights or brought her interesting flowers from time to time. And she hadn’t experienced enough of the world to want anything else!

What could she want, aside from good food and a safe place to sleep beside the people she trusted?

So she held out the card again, but Li Mei smiled and gently pushed it back. “It’s training. Keep the card safe, that’s your mission. Use it if you need it, but never lose it. Okay?”

Hana’s eyes sparkled, and she nodded eagerly with a serious expression. The red card vanished up her sleeve. Li Mei chuckled.

Mere moments later, the same attendant as before returned to the room. Even if she was surprised at seeing the one adult and older child missing, she didn’t show it on her face and simply gave a polite smile. “Honored guest, was there something I can assist you with?”

Li Mei held up the five dim red bank cards, then passed them to Hana with a slight nod in the attendant’s direction. ‘If I asked how much they’re worth, it would probably ruin my noble image, huh?’

The attendant verified their authenticity with a quick spell that surrounded the cards with yellow mana before accepting them from Hana. “My deepest gratitude for your contributions. An expression of our sincerity will be attributed directly to your account, honored guest.”

Her stiff language made Li Mei’s mouth twitch. Was ‘payment’ such a dirty word to the nobility of this world?! In that case, it really was a good thing she didn’t ask how much the reward was!

Li Mei nodded as a response, then nudged Bao forward with her heels. Hana followed a half-step behind the Fera, and the two left without any fanfare.

The attendant exhaled a sigh only when the small group was out of sight. Many years of working customer service honed her instincts to a fine edge, and she was certain the young girl on the Fera was no small-time noble making her first unsupervised trip to the bank.

That child already held an imposing air of confidence and superiority that seemed to emerge from her very bones, something only a child raised in the highest tiers of society could possess.

Calm and proud. A cool indifferent stare, graceful hand movements, perfect posture even astride a Fera with no saddle. She passed over bank cards worth thousands of Cores without a moment’s hesitation or sign of reluctance, as though they were worth nothing in her eyes. Her crest was unfamiliar to the attendant, but verified as genuine by the bank entrance array so there was no mistake.

Nodding to herself, the attendant left to go make a report to management and look up the origin of that twin moon crest. There was a new heavyweight in town!

…

“You’re too eye-catching, Bao.” Li Mei complained softly as they strolled down a wide curving avenue, attracting the gazes of countless people as they passed. Some were curious, impressed, excited, while others were cautious and… Even afraid.

Bao flicked back his big ears and puffed up his cheeks in a sulking expression. What was he supposed to do?! It wasn’t his fault he was so handsome!

Besides, half the people were looking at her, not him! Bao swished his tail and snorted.

Fera temperaments were no secret, so the walking crowd parted around them to avoid putting the creature on alert. Some folks even switched what side of the street they were on!

The people around were mostly wealthy folks and lower-tier nobility judging by their clothes and bearing. Only a few had carriages, most were on foot. Compared to them, Li Mei and Bao really were too flashy.

Li Mei sighed. If she wanted good information, she’d have to sneak out without Bao. Or have him follow secretly while she dressed in plain clothes?

Unsurprisingly, there were plenty of high-end shops on the wide tree-lined avenues nearest the bank. They were used to prestigious clientele – each shop building had a large empty lot next to them intended precisely for the parked carriages of nobility.

Having empty lots for parking in such a cramped city? The area near her home had large homes with cute yards, and was a very nice neighborhood in comparison to the majority of the city. Most of the roads Faust led them down were narrow streets crammed with tall narrow houses who didn’t have so much as a pig’s hair of space between the buildings.

Li Mei grumbled in her heart about fire hazards. But maybe a city featuring an academy which specialized in water and wind magic didn’t have to worry about fires as much?

What surprised her the most were the lack of food vendors. A few shops clearly sold cooked meals, but the smells wafting from their opened windows were…

Basic.

Not bad, but nothing special either. It couldn’t even get Bao to lift his head for a curious sniff! The food Otto cooked using just a few dried herbs smelled better than the fancy restaurants near the bank.

Li Mei observed the crowds and stores, Scanning everything within sight from goods displayed on shelves to the jewelry on passing strangers. ‘A wide variety of permanent shops selling specialty goods… That’s nice to see, I was worried there’d only be a bunch of unregulated marketplaces or something. Wealthy folks seem to like picking out their own purchases, but have servants carry them if they don’t have storage artifacts. There shouldn’t be a problem with shopping myself, then.’

The first shop that caught her eye was a large lapidary selling fine gemstones and precious metals for magic users. Li Mei instructed Bao to wait under a nearby tree and rest, while she and Hana went inside to have a look.

According to some of the books she skimmed back at the house, gemstones were incredibly important for magic. They efficiently stored mana, working excellently as batteries, storage units, or containers for complex enchantments.

Metals, meanwhile, were used as bases for arrays and enchantments as they made excellent conduits for long-term spells. Mana traveling through conduits could destroy lesser materials, which was fine for single-use enchantments, arrays, or talismans but weren’t ideal for many situations.

Gemstones and metals had their own unique magic-related properties, and quality was important as well. Having a wide variety would be necessary for future research and experimentation.

Plus Li Mei just liked shiny, expensive things. The idea of making her own magic jewelry was really exciting!

A salesman moved forward when Li Mei entered the shop, but she waved him away and turned instead toward examining the displays. The staff of a high-end lapidary wouldn’t make the mistake of not noticing her fine clothes or the crest on her coat, so the man stepped back and instead remained quietly nearby for when the noble child decided on a purchase.

Li Mei Scanned an assortment of loose gems in the nearest case and felt her mouth twitch.

Cheap!

Really cheap!

The Scan description said the gems were high quality, with few flaws that might affect their usage. The price in the tooltip was close to what was displayed on little brass placards inside the case as well. Size and quality of gems were ranked with ten and five stars respectively, both of which combined with the gem’s innate magic affinity to create its value.

But even a gem the size of her fist was only 100c? Most of them were 25c or less! They were sold individually or in small bags, with small descriptions of the various selections engraved on a steel plate next to the prices.

In the next case there were bars of shining metal on display, with the most expensive being a 30% mithril alloy for 250c per kilogram. Refined metal was priced and rated with five stars depending on its quality, while raw ores were simply priced by weight.

There were minerals she recognized, and ones she didn’t. Li Mei wandered slowly through the shop, comparing gem quality and metal purity for each case. It wasn’t until she was near the back of the store that something made her eyes sparkle with excitement.

A pile of metal identical in appearance to synthetic bismuth crystal, with a stairstep crystal structure and iridescent colors, sat on a velvet black cushion. Its geometric, almost fractal-like surface glimmered with rainbow hues, drawing mana around its sharp corners with more intensity than even the mithril alloy. It sat alone in an ornate display case, with a proudly displayed price of 1300c.

Earth’s bismuth was useful in many ways, such as a lead replacement or as a component of metal alloys, but synthetic bismuth crystals were almost entirely sold as a novelty item or for strange jewelry. But it was so shiny and geometric, Li Mei just loved its weird formation and shimmering colors!

Bismuth had a half-life of 20 billion billion years before decaying into thallium. 20 followed by 18 zeroes, a ridiculous number beyond the imagination of mortal minds!

Like water, bismuth was more dense as a liquid than a solid.

It had a melting point only slightly higher than poor, soft tin, and even had its uses in medicine!

Bismuth was such a weird metal, and its geometric crystals were weird too!

But the metal on display in the small case wasn’t Earth’s synthetic bismuth crystal, it only bore a superficial resemblance. Li Mei was still excited, not only because of its appearance bringing to mind beloved memories of reading geology textbooks, but because of its Scan description too.

—–

[Raw Etherium Ore]

A mineral that forms when pure mithril comes into contact with mana from the Astral Sea. Perfect material for magitech tools, weapons, or enchanted jewelry. It naturally attracts and refines atmospheric mana.

Possessing a naturally low melting point, raw etherium can even be liquefied using a basic kitchen stove. It is refined by infusing mana as the melted etherium cools.

The quality of infused mana determines etherium’s weight, durability, and flexibility. It also causes the melting point to increase exponentially. Poor mana quality leads to etherium being brittle, rigid, and heavy.

Your current mana quality would create ★★★☆☆ etherium. Increase your mana quality just a bit to refine ★★★★☆ etherium.

Rarity: SS

Quality: S

Value: 1000c per kg

Amount displayed: 1.3kg

—–

Li Mei had been listening to the crowd the entire time she browsed the store. There weren’t so many customers that it was crowded, but there were enough for her to get a general idea of the practices and terminology. She glanced over at the salesman shadowing her footsteps, giving a nod to signal he could approach.

“How may I be of service, young miss?” The salesman smiled, politely inclining his head.

“One bag each of size 2 quality 3 gems – aqua sapphire, divine quartz, star amethyst, mist ruby, and dragon opal, none of them with hue deviation greater than 3. One kilogram each of moon silver, ocean bronze, and deep mountain gold, four stars each. Half a kilogram of five star 30% mithril alloy, two kilograms of three star 10% mithril alloy, four kilograms of five star meteor steel. And this.” Li Mei listed her purchases with a slow drawl, gesturing toward the etherium ore with a casual wave. “I’ll be carrying them all out.”

“Of course, young miss.” As the salesman bowed and went to gather her goods, Li Mei put her hand in her pocket and used it as cover to pull the bank card out of storage, infusing it with a longer thread worth 200 mana.

Nobles didn’t haggle. They paid the price asked of them as a show of affluence. Li Mei sighed, an odd sense of nostalgia ringing in her heart. How she missed walking into a luxury store and waving that little black card around!

But that was burning someone else’s money, which made her oblivious of its real value. The small, cheap things she bought after working long hours herself were more precious and meaningful than all the designer clothes, custom accessories, and high-end electronics that little black card once paid for.

Though she would have traded all her precious new trinkets for that black card the first time her power was cut off…

Learning a poor person’s finance management was a journey in itself.

Another salesman approached to help with gathering her order. Together the two workers packaged everything in bright wrapping cloth while a third attendant, younger than the others, brought out a sale register.

When Li Mei pulled her bank card from her pocket, she had to hide her surprise at finding its surface a bright blue. She quickly paid for her goods, then turned to face another display while she waited.

Blue?

The 8001c – 15000c range?!

With just one long thread of mana!

Li Mei checked her status, which declared her mana was 750 out of the 1000 maximum. 50 for the shorter thread from earlier, 200 from the longer thread.

The small thread brought her card from a yellow roughly in the range of 3000c, to a green that was probably a little over 5000c.

Then the long thread brought it from 5000 to… Almost 15000?!

‘That is one ridiculous exchange rate,’ Li Mei swore in her heart, struggling to keep her expression placid. ‘One point of my mana is worth… 40 or 50 for anyone else? High mana quality is really overpowered!’

“Miss… Mei.”

Hana’s whisper cut through Li Mei’s wandering thoughts. The small girl’s scarlet eyes were half-narrowed, watching a group of people who clustered around one of the salesmen. Li Mei followed her gaze and frowned.

The salesman was holding her bismuth – ah, her raw etherium – in his gloved hands. He was shaking slightly, but his back was straight and he didn’t lower his head to the people around him.

Four men in shining armor flanked a young girl in delicate finery, her silky black hair woven in a complicated braid that nearly reached the floor. Jewelry chimed melodically as she moved, leaning close to examine the raw etherium in the salesman’s hands. Around the girl’s waist, a pale green sash held a noble crest displaying a rose with long thorns.

“This is a shop, is it not? For the buying and selling of goods? Why, then, are you refusing to hand over that paltry bit of metal?” The noble girl demanded, a scowl on her cute little face. Behind her, the armored men gripped their sheathed weapons and stared menacingly at the poor salesman. “I have been searching shops all day, and this is the only one that still has raw etherium for sale. If not for that, would my honored self ever grace such an unsophisticated establishment? Hand it over this instant!”

A show of force and pure intimidation didn’t break the law, especially from nobles toward commoner shop attendants. One of the armored men held out his hand, clearly waiting for the salesman to obey.

“I’m very sorry, young miss.” Despite their best attempts and his body’s own traitorous shivering, the salesman didn’t back down. “It has been sold, I cannot give it to you. My deepest apologies.”

“Then bring the patron here, and they will hand it over in your stead!” The noble girl huffed angrily, squaring her shoulders and raising her chin. “Do you not know what House I represent? Who in Brittalund would be reluctant to hand over that which I desire? A once-in-a-lifetime chance arrived on your doorstep to gain my favor, and you have instead earned my ire! What good can this shop be, having an attendant like you?”

Her tone sounded so righteous and authoritative, but if one paid attention to the words…

‘A spoiled brat…’ Li Mei thought to herself, trying not to laugh. The kid couldn’t have been more than eleven at most, and seeing her try to scold the grown salesman was pretty funny. Especially with that high, cute voice!

The armed men behind her were less funny, though. Especially when one of them partially unsheathed his sword with a soft click, his cold eyes looking at the salesman as though the man were already dead.

The other guests in the store either backed away to the opposite side of the room or left completely, while the other employees stood at some distance shooting concerned looks at the etherium-holding salesman. What was once a lively lapidary had become empty and almost silent… Except for the noble girl’s continued ranting.

“Hand over my etherium, and perhaps I will allow this shop to continue business… So long as you are thrown out with your fellow dogs!”

Li Mei Scanned the four men, the girl, and the salesman, before patting Hana gently on the head and taking a step toward the group.