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As closing time approached, Caelan watched the customers lingering in the shop, their reluctance to leave palpable. He began to wonder if he should extend the business hours of the main store.
However, that would require hiring more staff. Speaking of which... his shop's location wasn't exactly remote, so why were there so few applicants?
"Boss, people usually look for jobs in designated places," Jaren explained when Caelan asked. "These spots were planned during the First Emperor's era, and everyone is conditioned to go there. I only came here because I heard from some students that your shop just opened, so I tried my luck. There's an official recruitment board at the East Gate of the market. You just need to post a notice there. With the benefits you're offering, people will flock to you."
Ah. So it was his own fault.
Thinking about it, it made sense. His shop was on the second basement level of the warehouse district. The only people who came down here were gamers or bulk buyers; random job seekers wouldn't stumble upon it.
Caelan headed to the East Gate of the market and found the official recruitment office. After paying a fee of fifty silver marks, he submitted his listing.
Recruitment: Two Waiters, One Cleaner. Working Hours: Ten hours/day, one meal included, no accommodation. Monthly Salary: Waiters: 180 Silver Marks. Cleaner: 2 Gold Crowns. Address: Merchant Way, Trade Market Warehouse District, North Area, opposite the Golden Fang General Store staircase, Basement Level 2.
"Hmm, this should be enough. Fifty silver marks only keeps it on the board for three days, but that should be plenty of time."
The clerk took the slip and glanced at the numbers. His eyebrows shot up. "Generous! A cleaner's monthly salary is two gold crowns?"
"We have a lot of traffic, and the job covers two separate locations. A higher salary is justified," Caelan said nonchalantly.
In his mind, one gold crown was roughly equivalent to 1,000 RMB, with purchasing power similar to Earth around the year 2010. Offering a cleaner 2,000 RMB a month for hard labor wasn't excessive.
The clerk said nothing more. He handed Caelan a small, round runestone and explained the procedure: once enough people had been recruited, Caelan was to crush the stone. The staff would receive the signal and take down the advertisement.
With that done, Caelan headed straight back to Autumn Way, grabbed a bite to eat, and returned to his residence.
The agreement with the merchants required him to deliver the stock in installments over two months, so he had to get busy.
As soon as he sat down, he pulled out a blank runestone tablet and began to engrave.
Hmm. The process is getting smoother and smoother.
He suddenly thought of the extraterrestrial meteorite fragments. He set down the tablet and pulled out the stones.
The green-glowing stone from yesterday was completely dark now. The other four colors remained unchanged.
It seemed his mind palace had a preference for green.
Wait. Isn't the mind palace located in the brain? A brain liking green... isn't that a bad omen?
Well, in this world, a 'green hat' doesn't have any specific cultural connotation, so I guess I'm safe.
Since he was staying in for the night, Caelan retrieved a few more green-glowing meteorites from the jar and kept them on his person while he worked.
He engraved until midnight. Finally yawning, he checked the stones. The green glow had dimmed slightly in all of them. It seemed the absorption rate had a limit; he couldn't drain them instantly. The red, yellow, blue, and white stones remained unaffected.
Looks like I really can't absorb those other colors.
Caelan shook his head and went to wash up.
He didn't plan to sleep with the rocks in his pockets. They were uncomfortable, and waking up with a bruise from a meteorite poking his ribs wasn't on his agenda.
There was always tomorrow.
While Caelan slept, far to the west of the continent in the Phoenix Empire, the night was still young.
This was the residence of the Empire's most famous female Archmage, Caroline Flameburst.
As was widely known, Caroline maintained two separate estates: one exclusively for her male companions, and one for her female companions.
The Phoenix Empire was two time zones behind the Moonwatch Empire. At this moment, the Archmage was in her female lovers' residence. Dressed in light, comfortable robes, she sat at a table, intensely focused on a game called Chronicle of the Fierce Tortoise Warriors.
She had chosen the fifth character, Michelangelo.
On screen, Michelangelo extended his left hand, shooting a fireball forward. A synthesized voice called out the move: "Flameburst!"
"Who made this? It is simply blaspheming Master!" an eighteen-year-old girl in red robes exclaimed indignantly from beside her.
"It was made by a top student with Illusion talent from the Moonwatch Empire," Caroline replied without looking back.
She was currently fighting the Stage 2 boss. Grand Chuck was already flashing red, signaling critical health. Caroline skillfully controlled Michelangelo, dodging a massive pillar attack before dashing in for a slash.
Hearing her beloved Master's reply, the girl seemed surprised. "Illusion? Aren't Illusionists extinct? How can anyone still follow the path of that school?"
"Illusionists aren't extinct," another girl in yellow chimed in. "The Britney Opera Troupe in the Lion Kingdom has a part-time Illusionist responsible for creating stage effects."
"The troupe that performed here last year? With the strange flames and smoke?" The girl in red recalled.
"Yes. Illusion magic causes no damage, so it's perfect for atmosphere."
"But those effects were so fake."
"That level is already difficult to achieve. He had to rely on other talents just to accumulate the mana for it."
At this point, Caroline defeated Grand Chuck. Seeing her two favorite students arguing, she smiled slightly and paused the game.
She turned around, wrapped an arm around each girl, and pulled them into her embrace. She kissed each of them on the cheek.
"What is there to argue about? Illusionists have long been harmless. They pose no threat to anyone."
The girl in yellow blushed immediately and lowered her head into silence. The girl in red, however, leaned into the affection, pressing her face against Caroline's chest. She looked up and asked, "But this Illusionist named a tortoise warrior's skill after Master. Isn't that disrespectful?"
"It's fine. It helps spread my name," Caroline said, unbothered. She had built her reputation on her own power; she had no family honor to defend.
"Hmph. Master doesn't need him to spread her name. The title 'God of Magic' is already famous worldwide," the girl in red said with adoration.
"Hehe. One of your senior brothers brought other games made by this Illusionist. I tried them all yesterday—they are quite interesting. You should play them too, so you don't complain about being bored after cultivation."
"I never feel bored when I'm with Master."
What Caelan didn't expect was that his games had already spread to the distant west—directly into the hands of the notorious, pleasure-seeking Archmage of the Phoenix Empire.
The title "God of Magic" was reserved for those who mastered Forbidden Spells. These spells were the magical equivalent of nuclear weapons. While their range wasn't quite as vast as a nuke, their destructive power was terrifying. The superficial peace between the Six Great Empires was maintained largely by the deterrent of these "Gods of Magic"—and partly by the shared need to defend against extra-planar invasions.
The reason Caelan named the fifth tortoise warrior's skill "Flameburst" had nothing to do with Caroline. It was simply because the Mage class in Legend of Mir had a skill called "Flameburst."
Of course, Caroline didn't care about Caelan's reasoning. Having lived for nearly four hundred years and explored all four continents, she rarely found anything novel.
But yesterday, a former student—and an ex-boyfriend she had grown bored of—returned from a business trip to the Moonwatch Empire. He brought back several runestone tablets, claiming they were a new form of entertainment called "Illusion Games" that were sweeping Crimson Port. He insisted that his esteemed Master had never seen anything like them.
Initially, Caroline hadn't believed him. But after trying them out, she had to admit: in her hundreds of years of life, this was truly unheard of.