Elena awoke with a start, her cheek pressed against the rough surface of a half-unrolled scroll.
The morning sun peeked through the shutters of her small room at Lantern Rest Inn, casting golden slats across her cluttered desk. Scattered pages from the beginner alchemical guide lay open, with notes scribbled in her own handwriting: "Blue-spore moss reacts with copper. Use ceramic, NOT tin," and underneath it, in large bold letters: "BOOM = BAD."
She stretched, her joints popping like popcorn in oil, and checked her balance.
Pouch: 13 copper crowns.
The previous day's work had earned her 5 copper crowns from Liora for assisting with decoction prep and ingredient sorting. Mira, the innkeeper, had kindly reminded her last night that her two-day free stay was over.
If she wanted to keep her room, she'd need to pay the going rate: 7 copper crowns per night, including a basic dinner and breakfast.
Which meant…
"Math," Elena mumbled, running her fingers through her hair. "My mortal enemy."
---
After paying Mira and scarfing down a thick slice of barley bread with herb cheese, Elena hurried across Glasmint's square toward the alchemy shop.
The town was already awake—market stalls were opening, the baker's chimney puffed warm-smelling smoke, and a group of children chased a floating lantern shaped like a cat. A blacksmith's apprentice hauled iron bars in a cart, wiping his forehead with a sooty cloth.
At the alchemist's shop, she found Liora in the backroom already mixing a thick lavender-colored paste in a wide ceramic basin.
"You're late," Liora said, not looking up.
"It's only—" Elena checked the time with her system. "Okay. Yes. I'm late. I blame the cheese."
"Excuses. Come help me stabilize this extract before it gels."
---
Their work that morning was focused on stamina salves, a basic but high-demand item for fieldworkers and low-tier adventurers. Elena learned that a single tin of stamina salve could be sold to the guild for 8 copper crowns, though the base materials cost around 3 copper crowns total—including boiling resin, twine-root mash, and thickener derived from slugmoss.
"I don't get to keep that whole profit, do I?" Elena asked while stirring a vat over low flame.
Liora raised a brow. "Of course not. I'm paying you a wage, not giving you a shop. Your current work earns 5 copper per day, or 3 if you ruin another batch."
Elena groaned. "That only leaves me 6 copper after paying for my room. I need clothes. Soap. Toothpaste!"
"Toothpaste?" Liora frowned. "You mean chew-paste? Try the herbalist across the square. They sell peppermint grit sticks. One copper a bundle."
Elena sighed. She had expected fantasy worlds to hand her gold coins just for showing up.
Still, it was something. And it was progress.
---
Around midday, after delivering two freshly sealed salves to the town's courier office, Elena stopped by a small open booth labeled "Public Board – Job Postings & Events."
She scanned the parchment listings tacked to the board with wax:
Help Wanted: Weed Sprayer
Remove creeping rot-vine from west field. Pay: 4 copper crowns.
Courier Needed
Deliver letter to Bangle Hill. Pay: 6 copper. Distance: 2 miles.
Beginner Spell Scroll Reading Class – Starts this Week
Learn to recognize glyphs! Open to all ranks. Free with guild tag.
Her eyes lingered on that last one.
"Spell scrolls?" she whispered. "Wait... Are there mages?"
As if summoned by the word, a tall man in a green cloak passed by carrying a glowing staff tipped with a rotating crystal. His adventurer tag was silver-tier.
Elena's system chimed softly in her head.
Skill Detected: Elemental Conduit (Tier II)
Category: Magic – Active
Prerequisites: Mana Sense, Glyph Literacy
Elena's jaw dropped. "There are mages!"
---
That afternoon, back at the shop, Elena asked carefully, "Liora… are you a mage?"
Liora didn't flinch. She added a drop of worm-oil into a tincture and said, "No. I'm a scholar with a certification in alchemical engineering. I can create effects, not cast them."
"So who can cast spells?"
Liora wiped her hands. "Anyone with enough mana and access to proper instruction. But most towns like Glasmint don't have a full mage's college. If you want to become a caster, you'd need to travel."
"Travel costs money," Elena said.
"Welcome to reality," Liora said dryly.
Elena hesitated, then asked, "What are the other common professions? I mean, besides alchemists or adventurers."
Liora looked mildly surprised, then walked over to a tall shelf and pulled out a rolled-up scroll.
"Here," she said. "A local guild registry list. It's outdated but mostly accurate. Read it tonight."
Elena unrolled the scroll with wonder. Neatly listed in categories were jobs like:
Crafting Professions
Blacksmith (Metalcraft)
Tailor
Leatherworker
Enchanter (needs permit)
Service Professions
Innkeeper
Herbalist
Courier
Educator
Combat Professions
Adventurer (Ranks F–S)
Monster Scavenger
Rune Knight (requires Academy)
Mage (College license required)
Support & Utility
Alchemist
Scribe
Archivist
Beast Tamer
Each profession had its own licensing system and earning potential. Some, like beast tamers and scribes, were invitation-only. Others required apprenticeships.
Elena's head spun.
"Is there a central money system?" she asked.
"Yes," Liora replied. "Astraea uses three primary denominations: copper, silver, and gold crowns. Ten copper make one silver, ten silver make one gold. Most people here earn and spend in copper. A loaf of bread is two copper. A week's rent at a mid-range inn is about forty copper—or four silver."
Elena did the math. If she kept earning 5 copper a day and lived carefully, she could save up a silver every two weeks. Maybe.
Unless she leveled up, took riskier jobs, or found better work.
---
That night, Elena sat at her desk, copying down the job registry into her own notes. She circled "Enchanter" and "Mage" multiple times, and then underlined "Scribe" and "Archivist."
"I want to learn all of it," she muttered. "Even if it takes years."
Her system chimed again:
Personal Goal Set: Become Proficient in Astraean Knowledge Systems
Sub-Objective: Learn Magic, History, and Professions
Bonus Objective: Establish Professional Network
Reward: Passive Buff – "Keen Learner" (+3% faster skill progression)
Elena grinned.
For the first time, she wasn't just surviving.
She was planning.
---
[End of Chapter 8]