Mage Tower, Vereesa

Vereesa and Shane's final event of the festival celebration was watching Silvermoon City's fireworks by the sea. "I have to go back, or it'll be hard for me to get out again later," she said apologetically. Even a girl accustomed to running away from home had a day when she was placed under curfew. Vereesa had grown up too, and Shane bid her farewell.

When he woke in the morning, he heard noises in the yard. Were the kobold slaves running around again? Shane got up and looked through the window, only to see Vereesa arranging three targets in the yard. She checked the distance between them, then clapped her hands in satisfaction.

"I know Shane's habits. When you practice, I'll shoot arrows. I won't disturb you," Vereesa explained as she ate breakfast with him. "I thought I'd catch up to Shane after finishing my training, but I didn't expect Shane to grow stronger so quickly. So I have to work even harder too." It would have been much more convincing if there had not been bread crumbs stuck to the corner of her mouth.

After breakfast, Vereesa demonstrated hitting three targets at once for Shane, except she kept missing. "This is part of the next stage of training. I'm previewing it right now. Previewing it."

Shane thought of a popular saying from his previous life: because it was important, it had to be said twice. Vereesa said she had only gotten several days off after completing a stage of training. If Shane laughed at her, she would not come anymore.

"I won't laugh at you," Shane promised aloud, though his stomach was laughing.

For the next while, he read books related to Magic Craft: Creating Magic Items in the yard, occasionally hearing the thud-thud of arrows striking their targets.

Dawnblade had always acted efficiently. Once the family made its decision, it took only one day to send an envoy. The messenger lingered outside Shane's cottage, apparently intimidated by the Windrunner shooting arrows inside, and watched from more than ten meters away. He only approached after Shane waved him over.

"Master Oakes said that a decision concerning you will be issued within a few days. He asks that you not leave the vicinity of Silvermoon City." Leaving behind only a document case, the messenger hurried away.

Inside was a share transfer agreement. Thirty percent of the Dawnblade's shares in the harbor now belonged to Shane personally. Together with the previous five percent, his ownership exceeded one-third.

"Oh, that's even more than mine." Vereesa leaned over to look with him. "A long time ago, our parents gave the three sisters a ship. It's the Three Sisters in the harbor. Each of us owns one-third."

Shane had seen the Three Sisters. Its hull was sleek, with three masts, and both its sails and hull were decorated with magical patterns. It was a sight to behold at Sun Sail Harbor.

After saying that, Vereesa seemed to think of something. Her face reddened slightly, then she immediately pretended nothing had happened and resumed practicing her archery.

Unable to guess why, Shane sat back down and continued reading. His hands kept turning pages while the contents settled into his mind. Some time ago, he had found Vereesa's hair ornament in his home. He intended to master the craft, turn it into a magical item, and then return it to her. He was prioritizing the enchantment books in Creating Magic Items. He had plenty of relevant materials on hand and believed he would soon see results.

Vereesa kept a very regular schedule. In the mornings, she was already practicing in the yard when Shane woke up. At night, she left around two hours after dinner. The days he spent with Vereesa were easy and pleasant. He had nearly finished learning the enchanting portion, so while Vereesa was away, he enchanted her hair ornament.

Agility, focus, clarity, endurance. Considering that Vereesa was still training, he chose an endurance enchantment. He increased his mana output as the magic dust was absorbed, and the hair ornament glimmered with a faint magical radiance. It was of "blue" quality. He would find an opportunity to give it to Vereesa.

At that moment, his mentor summoned Shane, saying he had good news for him. When Shane arrived beneath the tower, he found himself being scrutinized by envious gazes. Some low-ranking apprentices stepped aside and saluted as he passed.

"Lord Shane, congratulations." The apprentices who had asked him to share his experience a few days earlier were much more respectful now. Shane saw the restrained expressions they wore when facing an important figure. "We admire your achievements. Any elf who slanders you is our enemy."

It seemed there really was excellent news. When he met his mentor in the tower, the old man was also in high spirits. The room had been tidied up, because his mentor only ever thought to do that when he was in a good mood.

"The Windrunners helped quite a bit." His mentor began by mentioning his "archenemy." Due to the incompatibility between their family traditions, Dawnblade and Windrunner often argued in the council, but this time was an exception. "That little girl from their family, Alleria, wrote about your achievements in her routine report. Seven spellcasters, over a hundred warriors, and countless civilians. She strongly affirmed your contributions. Hmm... she's a very proud elf. She wouldn't do anything that would disgrace her family, such as concealing facts in a report. But she spared no words in praising a Dawnblade. She must be trying to drive you out of Silvermoon City."

Shane thought of how much effort Alleria had put into separating him from Vereesa.

"But that was exactly what I wanted. Ever since the Troll Wars, there have been fewer and fewer elves capable of fighting. Afterward, I mentioned the troll blood sacrifice tradition of resurrection. The council attached great importance to it and believed long-term surveillance was necessary. They decided to build a mage tower at Windrunner Outpost and send a mage to garrison it, so that in the worst-case scenario, they could hold out until reinforcements arrived. I took the opportunity to put forward your name, and the vote passed smoothly."

The resources required to construct a mage tower were far from insignificant. No wonder his mentor was so pleased. With the help of their "archenemy," the Windrunners, Dawnblade had strengthened its faction.

Shane bowed to thank his mentor. With his mentor's help, he had skipped the stage of capital accumulation, greatly accelerating his plans. His original plan had been to increase his knowledge and accumulate strength while serving in the Ghostlands. Once his spellcasting level was high enough, he would return to Silvermoon City, find a way to earn money or seek a patron, and build a mage tower of his own.

"The resources belong to Silvermoon City. In return, you must make the contributions expected of you—the contributions of an arcane spellcaster."

"I understand, Mentor."

"This is the design blueprint for the mage tower. Take it back and see what needs changing. Bring me your revisions in three days. You don't need to return the blueprints. They belong to you now."

The blueprints were thick, more than a hundred pages in all. His mentor was imparting knowledge to him, and Shane was deeply grateful. In elven society, owning one's own mage tower represented a rise in status. Mages were a privileged class, and mages who owned mage towers were the ruling class among that privileged class. Shane would have his own puppet workshop, his own spell laboratory, his own magical item crafting room, and his own library. In the future, he would even have apprentices of his own.

After bidding farewell to his mentor, Shane returned to the cottage. Vereesa was still practicing. When she saw him return, she put away her bow and arrows to greet him.

"Did something good happen?"

"The council has decided to build a mage tower at Windrunner Outpost, with me as its garrison."

"That's wonderful! Congratulations, Shane." Vereesa grabbed Shane's hand, hopping with delight as she laughed. "But you'll be leaving Quel'Thalas again soon." As she spoke, her expression became somewhat lonely.

"Vereesa." Shane gently stroked the girl's cheek with the back of his hand.

"Hehe, I'll be going back to training soon too. By then, I'll be so exhausted that I won't have time to miss you." Vereesa quickly smiled again.

That evening, Shane deliberately prepared several lavish dishes. Vereesa ate heartily until she leaned back in her chair, unwilling to move. When they stepped out to head home, she slowed her pace and walked beside Shane. The sea breeze was slightly cool, and the moon rose and fell with the waves. Once they passed the bend in the path, they would each return home alone.

Vereesa stopped at the corner and looked up at Shane with an expression of seriousness he had never seen before. Moonlight gleamed in her eyes.

"Shane, when we meet again, I'll have caught up with you."

Shane took out the hair ornament. With one hand, he stroked the girl's head, and with the other, he placed it in her hair. "Vereesa, I'll always stand by your side."