Chapter 32: Choosing a Profession Part 1
The next morning, the trio woke up feeling like their bodies had just gone through a cleansing during their sleep. The reason for this was that, unlike Noverra, where the air is polluted, the air around Avalon is mixed with mana, which greatly benefits one's body. Whether one was awake or sleeping, the longer they stayed in Avalon, the greater it would benefit their bodies.
Moreover, if they start consuming produce from Avalon, their bodies would gradually be cleansed of all the impurities they had absorbed in Noverra.
Lawrence was the first one to wake up, and just like last night, he took the liberty of cooking for their group.
The meal still used the meat they've purchased from the Sylvaris Kingdom and supplemented with various other ingredients around their camp.
After their meal, Kael immediately went back to concocting the remaining batch of ingredients into knockoff Health Potions. This time, though, he no longer needed Jayem's help since he only needed to concoct one more batch.
As such, Jayem was able to help Lawrence further improve their camp.
Last night, they talked about what to improve around their camp, one of such was building a farm. Lawrence wasn't able to begin construction on the farm yesterday because he needed to prioritize their storage room and finish it on the same day. This time, the duo prioritizes the construction of the farm.
Using some DIY equipment from combining vines, wood, and stone, they were able to make temporary shovels and hoes.
Using the shovels, they dug out the ground for the water from the spring to wash through the land and develop better irrigation. Once they were done with that, they used the hoes to till the soil for better farming.
Afterwards, they chopped some wood to make a temporary fence around their farm.
It was close to noon when Lawrence and Jayem finished setting up their small farm. In the end, they managed to build a ten-square-meter plot and planted several common seeds from the plants nearby that Lawrence often used in his cooking. After all, they don't have any useful seeds yet, like wheat.
During the process, they realized that the more they improved their camp, the harder it would actually be to manage it. In other words, they need more people if they want to continue improving their camp.
Fortunately, Kael was already done with the last batch of knockoff Health Potion, so the duo shared their concern with Kael after the latter was finished storing all the filled glass bottles.
"I see," Kael understood. This was also part of his plan to recruit more people to join their group. But as far as he could remember, only Lawrence and Jayem could be found in Rustfall. So regrettably, with the rest of the members of the Cabal of Cards spread out around the other four continents of Noverra, it would be very difficult to find them, let alone recruit them.
"I have a suggestion, but you might be against it." Lawrence slightly hesitated, but expressed it anyway.
"Let's hear it out," Kael motioned his hand for Lawrence to continue.
"Honestly, we have two options to increase our number. One, to recruit members from Rustfall. As long as we pay them well, they won't hesitate to work for us. Lawrence pursed his lips to express his disapproval of this plan, but his helpless because it's one of their only options.
"And the second?"
"When Jayem and I were walking around the downtown area of the Sylvaris Kingdom yesterday, we stumbled upon a part of their black market." Lawrence looked at Jayem, as if wanting to let the latter continue.
Jayem understood this, so he started speaking. "To be more exact, it was a slave market."
Kael's ears instantly perked up, but he still chose to remain silent to let the duo continue speaking.
"We could purchase a few slaves to help us establish and grow our camp," Lawrence finished their proposition.
"Alright, then what do you two prefer?" Kael already has his own choice, but he wanted to hear the duo's choices first. In his opinion, Lawrence and Jayem would most likely choose the same, so his choice would only be pointless.
However, their response was contrary to his expectations.
"Honestly, we both picked different choices," Lawrence sighs in resignation. He already tried convincing Jayem to pick the second option, but the latter preferred the first, as he doesn't feel comfortable buying slaves even though slavery also exists in Noverra and is quite notorious in Rustfall.
"I just don't like it when people take advantage of other people's misfortune," Jayem expressed his dissatisfaction with Lawrence.
"It's not taking advantage of people's misfortune if we pay them for their labor and agree on a contract to set them free after a certain period of being in our service," Lawrence refuted Jayem's claim.
Kael didn't immediately respond as he thought deeply about the two options.
He initially wanted to pick the first option since he also doesn't feel comfortable purchasing slaves. To tell the truth, in his first life, even though he was a merchant, he detested slave merchants so much that he didn't even employ any slaves in his business.
However, after hearing Lawrence's claim, the latter also made a lot of sense. If they purchase slaves, then pay them for their labor and set them free in the future, that's no longer considered as taking advantage of their misfortune. It could even be counted as a blessing for the slaves.
"How about we just do both?" Kael decided after thinking for some time. In his opinion, it's hard to truly trust people from Rustfall since they're so used to living in an environment where trust and loyalty are rare. On the other hand, slaves are bound to their masters, so they can't betray them, let alone go against their masters will.
As of this point in time, they don't honestly require strong individuals, just people who won't betray them, because they could simply teach basic skills to the recruits.
"However, before we could purchase slaves, we would need to pick a profession first," Kael kindly reminded.
"Oh, right!"
This time, Lawrence and Jayem already knew about what Kael meant, as they had been reading the latter's Avalon Beginners Guide. So, there was no need to explain to them anymore.
Before leaving, they first transferred all of their knockoff Health Potions using sacks back to their house in Noverra to secure them and waited for an hour before they were finally able to return to Avalon.
Honestly, this was one of the main reasons why they had to recruit more people for their group, because now that they have a camp of their own, they couldn't just leave it anytime they wanted. Their camp might be far away from civilization, but that doesn't guarantee it would be safe from robbers or bandits.
It took another hour before they reached the Sylvaris Kingdom.
They greeted Elandor as they passed by the gate and continued on their way to complete their task.
Kael was already familiar with the entire Sylvaris Kingdom, so they didn't bother to ask for directions.
In Avalon, there exist only three professions: Warrior, Mage, and Merchant.
The Warrior profession refers to individuals who use mana to enhance their bodies, weapons, gear, and tools.
Warriors manipulate mana to boost their physical abilities, reinforce their equipment, and endure damage that would normally incapacitate an ordinary person. Unlike mages who use mana to cast magic spells, warriors internalize mana, using it to increase speed, strength, stamina, and resilience, making them formidable in close combat. Their training often focuses on discipline, technique, and efficient mana control to maintain peak performance on the battlefield.
The Mage profession refers to individuals who use mana to cast magic spells, which include offensive, defensive, and supportive magic.
Mages channel mana through incantations, runes, or catalysts like staffs and wands to shape the world around them, with only their imagination being their limit. Their versatility allows them to unleash destructive elemental attacks, create protective barriers, heal allies, or manipulate the environment to gain an advantage. Unlike warriors, mages typically rely on intelligence, focus, and strategic positioning, as their physical endurance is limited. Mastery in this profession requires deep knowledge of spell theory, elemental affinities, and precise control over mana flow.
Lastly, the Merchant profession refers to individuals who focus their attention on economic advancement and monetary benefits for personal gain.
Merchants have the free will to either follow the same path as the warrior profession or the mage profession. This might seem favorable at first, but the burden of choosing this profession is that they have a mandatory responsibility of offering ten percent of their total income to the Merchant Union every month. And to make matters even worse, there's a minimum fee, which means if their business is going badly, they'd have to pay more than ten percent of their total income just so that they could reach the monthly quota. Failing to pay the fee means their qualification as a merchant is revoked, and they are banned from pursuing this profession again. As a result, they're back to almost zero, and the majority of their progress is gone like smoke.
Furthermore, each of these professions has its own establishment where one could register.
To become a Warrior, they have to register at the Warrior's Lounge.
To become a Mage, they have to register at the Mage Tower.
Lastly, to become a Merchant, they have to register at the Merchant Union.