Lucan stood with Raze before the largest mana crystal in the mine. When Lucan arrived with Raze, Ed and the other dwarves politely left the mine.
"Ha, ha, you always manage to surprise me." Raze said while looking over the crystal. "It is in perfect order but putting a price on such a unique item like this isn't easy. It is not as if others this size are sold, and we can see what the price was."
"You are right, it comes down to how badly you want it and how little I am willing to take. I will admit that finding a buyer for this crystal isn't easy. Just as hard as getting it out of here. But I am willing to wait for the right buyer. There is enough in this mine to further my city if I want to leave the big one here for now."
"Hmm. Even if I were to empty my vaults of gold, I don't know if it would be enough. Are you open to a trade?"
"If you can interest me." Lucan said.
Raze thought to himself for a few minutes before speaking. "A priceless item is just that, impossible to put a price on. Let's not bicker. I will have a castle built here for you. I will pay and supply craftsman, I will procure and provide the materials. I will give you a bit of spending money, let's say 500,000 gold, and I will let you take one treasure from my vaults."
"I understand that your offer is fair, but I want you to also deal with getting the mana crystal out of here. I want to be able to choose the architect and have them answer only to me. I also want you to pay for furnishing the castle when it is completed. And as my treasure I want a level 100 longbow for a rogue. One that is good at long range single target damage."
"I can agree to all that, but I won't let your architect or interior designer take advantage of me. They will be properly compensated; I will not stand for obscene demands."
"That is fair enough." Lucan said stretching out his hand.
Raze took it and shook it. "We have a deal. Your money is already on its way here, as for the bow, I will obtain one that meets your standards, and have it delivered. When you have found an architect, give me their name."
Lucan nodded. With a wave of Raze's hand the large mana crystal disappeared.
"The Queen of Shadows will give you a good price, but she won't be able to buy everything at once."
"If I have a castle, I can store things for myself. I will only sell some to her, I also need to sell a bit in Avalon to keep them happy."
Lucan and Raze took the Shadow Tunnel back to Shadowsweep, Lucan enhanced it along the way.
"Since I am in a good mood, I will share a bit of my discoveries." Raze said while they were walking through the tunnel. "If you also use ethereal mana to enhance a Shadow Tunnel that connects two separate planes of existence, it will shorten the distance by 10%. But it won't do anything for this tunnel, since both ends are in the Shadow Realm."
"Interesting, good to know. Here is something I have learned. There is an Ethereal Plane. Taking a single step into it makes a person into an illusion. They can be seen and heard but they can not interact with anything or be interacted with. Someone who takes a single step into the Ethereal Plane can pass through walls and objects with no resistance but doesn't fall through the ground."
"Fascinating." Raze said while the exited the tunnel.
Raze glanced around to make sure they were alone, then he waved his hand as a several large sacks appeared on the ground. Lucan checked; they were filled with gold. They were so heavy he couldn't even move one.
Lucan thanked the gods for video game logic and emptied every large sack into the small coin purse on his belt.
He needed to do something with this money, he felt uncomfortable carrying this much. When a player died, they dropped a random but small percent of their money. With half a million gold, even the smallest percent was too much.
Every city had a bank, Lucan never had enough money to make use of it before. He decided to take his money to a bank until his castle was built, even then it would be best not to keep it all in one place. Upgrading Shadowsweep from a village to a city would allow him to have a bank here. That would be useful.
Raze departed while Lucan was storing his gold. The first place Lucan went was to go see Alasan. The half elf was busy running around today. He was managing everyone who was helping the new villagers.
"Alasan, can I borrow you for a moment?" Lucan asked after he finished speaking to one of the freed slaves.
"What can I do for you Lord Quilldrake? We are stretched a bit thin right now, but I will do my best."
"Let's walk to your office." Lucan said, not answering his question.
"Did I do something wrong?" Alasan asked after coming to his office, Lucan had remained silent the entire time.
"No, not at all. The mining has been going well and I have gold for you to help the city. Unlock the chest and let me fill it."
"What?! Ah, yes, right away." Alasan said pulling out the chest beneath his desk and opening it.
Lucan dumped 25,000 gold pieces into it. Enough to fill it to the brim.
"Now that we can pay our guards. Make sure Renia stations some at this building until the castle is built."
Alasan nodded eagerly. "Yes, I will do that. Oh, wait, castle?"
"Yes, Raze has decided to build me castle. I am off to find an architect." Lucan said heading out the door.
Alasan knew Lucan would tell him more once things started. He could see the village he had spent most his life in was beginning to change. The half elf liked it. He hurried back to his post wanting the new citizens to settle in as quickly as possible.
Lucan entered the shadow tunnel heading to Avalon. He took Raze's advice and added ethereal mana along side shadow as he enhanced the tunnel.
Lucan contacted SuperSleuth. 'I got the rest of your money, are you able to meet up somewhere.'
'Already? Yeah, sure. I am at the assassin's guild outside Avalon.'
'I am heading to Avalon now, I just left Shadowsweep. I am going to open a bank account, then I can meet up. I need your help with something else.'
'What do you need?'
'I am looking for an architect to build me a grand castle.'
'Okay, I will look into a couple things and meet you in Avalon. Let me know when you leave the bank and I will head over.'
Lucan felt assured knowing that SuperSleuth was on the case. He would find out who the best architects were and how to get in touch with them. Lucan had gotten used to enhancing the tunnels and was able to read a book while walking the straight and level path. He turned his attention to formation symbols as he walked.
After walking about an hour Lucan came across a player sitting in the tunnel. It was the salve that had disguised himself as an NPC. Lucan kept to his book and the player didn't call out to him. 2 hours later Lucan was stepping into Avalon.
His first stop was the Gold Exchange. He filled out the information and put up 100,000 gold for auction, selling it in increments of 100. The exchange traded at a daily fixed price set by the market, Lucan was forced to list his gold at a rate of 80 USD to 1 GP.
His next stop was the bank. It was easy enough to open an account at the NPC bank. The best part was that every bank was connected to every other bank. He could withdraw his money in any city. Lucan deposited 350,000 gold into his new account then contacted Super.
Super gave him directions to a building near Avalon's city center. It was a 6-story building downtown. Lucan walked into the unmarked building to find 2 level 150 NPC guards standing inside. Super came out of a door in the back and entered the waiting room.
"Lucan, this building is owned by my company, our company." He corrected himself while taking the money filled bag Lucan was offering. "Come inside and take a look."
Super led him into the back where about 40 players were taking telepathic calls. Request for specific information. They would send a request upstairs for information. The information would be sent to the player, and the player would pass it to the caller. The 40 players acted as operators, sending the request to the specific department where it could be answered the fastest.
"The players have all agreed to strict secrecy pacts. They can't reveal they work here or have access to information. In return we pay them a wage and let them use some information for personal gain. I have four shifts that works 1 day then take 3 off. A lot of players can earn enough to live off this job in the real world. Plus, they still have time to play the game."
Super started to lead him upstairs.
"Everyone in the building has sworn a pact of secrecy but the first floor are just day laborers, they aren't trusted with anything important. Serious request come to the second floor where my most trusted group stays in contact with my informant network. The 3rd, 4th, and 5th floor all house hard copies of information reports. No great secrets are held on these floors. All the powerful information is kept here." Super said pointing to his head.
Super led him to the sixth floor. It had a large conference table and desk pushed into the corner. This was Supers work area.