The Days Without Aegwynn

When Aegwynn was around,

Orendo's schedule and movements were very fixed.

Every morning after getting up, he would first go to Mentor Solarian's place to read, conduct experiments, or study spell papers. Then he would deepen his relationship with his incomparably beautiful elven mentor-aunt.

In the afternoon, he would return to his apprentice quarters to receive instruction from another mentor.

Aegwynn taught him how to dissect magical creatures and guided him in studying magical principles. Sometimes, she would take him to the Karazhan Library or discuss the principles of spells with him—it was precisely because of Aegwynn's guidance that he had been able to create so many things in such a short time, within a single year!

Though sometimes, Orendo felt as if the Guardian had raised him up, as though she were treating him like a child husband...

Could he refuse?

He simply couldn't refuse, okay?!

The Aegwynn raising him was beautiful, powerful, assertive, and hot-tempered. How could Orendo possibly refuse!

After getting along with Aegwynn for so long, Orendo had vaguely come to understand what she might be doing—he might have become a replacement for the little puppy, replacing Nielas Aran as the father of Aegwynn's future child...

That did not seem impossible to understand.

As a half-elf, he had looks superior to Nielas Aran's, looks that both humans and elves could appreciate. With the Eye of Truth, his "talent" utterly crushed that little puppy's. Because of the Time Dragon's interference, he had greatly piqued Aegwynn's curiosity early on. And because he had met Aegwynn earlier, he possessed an incomparable first-mover advantage.

Judging by how she would not allow him to engage in "reproductive acts" with other females, Orendo realized with frustration that he really had become Aegwynn's child husband.

Though her explanation for this was, "You haven't come of age yet. Indulging in reproductive acts too early will weaken your drive to explore the path of a mage!"

In any case, listening to her was never wrong. If he did not... she only needed to glare at him once—the kind of glare that would make even Sargeras tremble—and Orendo would surrender.

So now that Aegwynn had temporarily left, Orendo, who had always been thoroughly oppressed, finally felt somewhat relieved.

Mm... being the man behind a strong woman, or rather, being a boy raised by a strong woman, was not easy.

The next morning, Orendo slowly woke up and stared blankly at the familiar ceiling for a moment.

On the first day without Aegwynn, he kind of missed her.

Shaking his head, the mage got out of bed, washed up, and left his residence.

He had already finished all nearly sixty thousand books in the Dalaran Grand Library. With the Eye of Truth sorting and organizing them, they had basically all become his knowledge.

Other than reading at Karazhan and the Silvermoon City Royal Library, there were no books left among humans or elves that he had not read.

So today, Orendo first went to Mentor Solarian's place to observe the progress of yesterday's Arcane Wyrm Embryo Transplantation experiment, then had lunch with Solarian.

After the meal, he had another "heart-to-heart talk" with his aunt, deepening their relationship once more.

In the afternoon, he returned to the "love nest" he shared with Aegwynn, or went to browse through books at the Karazhan Library.

At night, when he returned to rest, Chromie and Romi'ko appeared on schedule and began beating each other up on schedule.

A wonderful day ended amid their brawl.

On the second day after Aegwynn left,

when Orendo opened his eyes, he felt that he missed her a little.

He got up and washed as usual, then went to Mentor Solarian's as usual to observe the Arcane Wyrm embryo—the embryo had undergone new changes today. Its eggshell had successfully formed without any rejection, beginning to harden and smooth out as it officially began developing.

After that, he stayed with his elven aunt and studied the differences between elven and human body structures.

In the afternoon, he returned to his residence. This time, Orendo did not go to Karazhan to read. Instead, he entered the third-floor workshop and made a few little gadgets.

Among them was an Infinite Vigor Signet, the very one Master Antonidas had taken to a Tirisfal Council meeting for many top mages to admire!

Within this tiny ring were forty-one ultra-miniature magic arrays of different types and functions. Twenty-one were Dalaran achievements, eleven were collections from Karazhan, and the remaining nine were Orendo's own inventions.

He inscribed these magic arrays onto a ring forged from gold and mithril, turning it into a small magical device.

Wearing it could enhance the wearer's stamina. But that was not why it could easily sell for the high price of ten thousand Dalaran gold coins, since mages and nobles had plenty of ways to enhance their physical strength.

The reason it sold for so much was that after wearing it, a man could freely control when he fired...

Mm... in private, Lord Severosa called it the "Viagra Ring."

So now you knew why it could sell for such a high price among male grand nobles, right?

Ten thousand Dalaran gold coins could be exchanged for roughly 11,000 to 12,000 Lordaeron New Gold Coins, or around 15,000 Alterac gold coins. That was equivalent to the annual output of nearly a thousand human farmers.

Not counting Orendo's mental labor, or the ultra-precise operation required to make it with the Eye of Truth, whose margin of error was as low as 0.00001 microseconds, its cost was only a little over one hundred Dalaran gold coins, for a profit margin as high as 10,000%!

The Severosa Fine Goods magic shop, which had been open for half a year, had already earned Orendo at least two hundred thousand Dalaran gold coins in those six months.

The Severosa Domain's total annual income was only around five thousand Lordaeron New Gold Coins, which converted to only about 4,700 Dalaran gold coins.

The money he had earned through his own craftsmanship in half a year was already equivalent to the Severosa Domain's accumulated wealth of more than forty years!

So truly skilled mages never lacked money. If they knew enchanting or alchemy, earning money was even easier. Even if they did not know those crafts, working for a grand noble or king still brought substantial income and respectable status.

Like Orendo, the Severosa Fine Goods magic shop he had Jobby open mainly sold enchanted creations and scrolls made by him and some Dalaran mages. Its speed at earning pocket money was hardly inferior to that of a ducal domain.

Moreover, Orendo, who came from Earth, had a sharper business mind. He did not bother with enchanted equipment, combat scrolls, and such things that were beloved by Azeroth's mages and professionals but cost more and were more complicated to make.

Most of the targets for his magical inventions and creations were grand nobles who had plenty of money and no need to fight.

For example, the Viagra Ring, as well as several whitening and beauty products that were highly popular among upper-class human noblewomen.

Some mages who fancied themselves lofty looked down on this behavior, believing it to be an insult to magic and the art of enchanting. But Orendo did not care at all. As long as there was pocket money to be made, he did not find it embarrassing in the slightest!

From that afternoon onward, he spent the entire day in the workshop, working for pocket money.

Over the following days, his life remained very regular—reading, studying, conducting arcane experiments, deepening his relationship with his beautiful mentor, producing little money-making gadgets in the workshop, watching the Time Dragons fight at night, and then sleeping.

It was not until the eighth day after Aegwynn's departure, when an invitation arrived, that Orendo's academy life gained a few ripples.