53 A Familiar Name (1/2)
In his new guise, Greyson's facial structure did not change much, however, without his most eye-catching features, he was practically invisible. Brown hair and brown eyes were too common that he would never catch anyone's eyes unless they were looking closely. Sighing, Greyson felt relieved of an annoying burden. Slowly making his way through the city, he finally realized how amazing the city was in person and not so far away. The streets were clean and orderly without anyone causing chaos or shouting out. Even the marketplace was calm. Looking towards the man next to him, Greyson lightly tapped him on the shoulder. The man turned around a little disgruntled to be stopped suddenly, but his features softened seeing how young the boy was.
”Sir, I've just arrived here and I can't help but be curious. Why are none of the merchants advertising or bargaining? All the cities I have been to have all been loud and busy in the marketplace normally.” Greyson quickly asked.
Hearing his question, the man let out a good-natured laugh.
”Well, it's no wonder that you are so shocked. I was, too, the first time I came to the city. I'm from a fish town, so the bargaining in the market is no joke. You don't know, however, these shop owners and even the cart owners have to pay an enormous rent fee to be able to set up shop on this street. Unless they were confident in what they were selling, they would never bother buying a shop here because they would just end up drowning in debt. Their confidence means that the others would look down on anyone who would start shouting advertisements to attract customers. It's a sort of unspoken rule that they take pride in. With how much rent they are paying, they have to set the appropriate prices for their items as well. You either buy it at the set price or do not buy it at all. The men here hate hagglers, but at the same time you know that the prices you are buying it at is very fair. If they were trying to rip everyone off they would never sell anything.” Despite his rather poor looking attire, the burly man was very knowledgeable of the system in the city.
Greyson was shocked by the unexpected answer. Who knew such a system could work? The competition must be extremely fierce, though. How many shops along this enormous and long street could think of a novel idea? It stretched all the way from the front gate to the royal castle's gates at the back of the city. This means there has to be some repeat. If they can't advertise, they would have to continually think of ideas to make people come back to their store instead of their rival's store.
”Aren't there repeat stores? Wouldn't they get into fights all the time and a bunch of stores close down?”
”Fighting in the capital is strictly forbidden unless you are in the arena and have signed some sort of battle contract. If they got into fights about being run out of business, the city would make sure that they could never step foot in the capital again.”
Forbidden? Well that makes his life much easier. No city attacks this time. Pulling out a silver coin, Greyson thanked the man for his information before asking if there were any other important custom he should know.
”Well, this is not really a rule per se, but it is just as important. There are ten top noble families in Aurora City and they are the real head honchos of the kingdom. Although it would probably take two families to measure up to the power of the royal family, there is obviously only one royal family while there are ten noble families. The top three most powerful of the families are almost on par with the royal families just by themselves. If you ever see carriages or someone on a horse in the city then it means they are descended from the families. Everyone else is required to walk on foot. I suggest buying a book that introduces all the family crests to you just so can recognize them whenever not just in those circumstances. The other nobles families are not easy to offend either, however, offending them will not usually get you killed. The ten families have the power to make the royal guard look the other way if they just decided one day to off you. That is my biggest advice for you. This is a small area full of powerful beings, it's best to just travel with your head down until you can find yourself some background to back yourself up.”
Greyson's eyes lit up as he nodded seriously. He was right to have spent a little for the information, otherwise he might have accidentally run into trouble without even knowing how. Saying goodbye to man, Greyson went to the closest book store and picked up the information on the family crests. Maybe because it was a common thing for new people to want to buy, the price was slightly exaggerated. Knowing he could not do anything about it since he thought it was important, Greyson grit his teeth and spent the money. Once he was back in the inn, he quickly went up to his room and started studying the book.
Spending a good couple of hours memorizing the information, Greyson finally reached the last pages of the book which held the information for the top ten. Filled with curiosity, he looked through the first one. The family crest was a flaming bear and the family name was Arcadian. The family leader was a magister level stage five magician and the heir to the family was Ignis Arcadian. He was 15 years old and an advanced level stage 3 magician and his element was fire. As could be assumed from their crest, the Arcadian descendants all usually awakened the fire element and were shunned if they did not. Apparently he attended Idris Academy just like the rest of the noble children. Greyson was impressed by his level. Although it was ”only” two stages of a difference while Ignis was 7 years older, once one reached the advanced level increasing in each stage became significantly slower. The youngest magister was still 18 years old when he reached the level and he was a legend. Most talented young people reached the magister level before 25 or their chances of advancing further than the magister level would halve.
Moving his eyes towards the next family, the family crest was black rose and the surname Seirina. The family head was surprisingly a woman and so was the heir. This family was inherited by the woman of the family instead of the men. Their element was earth and they specialized in raising magic herbs and alchemy. However, the book noted that the woman were notorious for their love for poison. Slightly disturbed by the words, Greyson continued reading about the heir. Her name was Ezra Seirina and she was the same age and same level as Ignis. He found that unsurprising because they families were supposedly equal so if one heir was better than the other that would cause lots of issues.
The next family crest was just a tall snowy mountain that was a good match for the Snow Country landscape. This family's surname was Chionodis. Aidan Chionodis was the heir. He was younger than the first two at 12 years old but also a stage weaker. A water magician who specialized in ice magic. People are afraid of this young boy, though, as he is known for having a matching ice cold personality. Greyson just shrugged and passed through the descriptions, what does it matter to him if the guy has a bad personality?
After that was the Drakon family with a golden dragon family crest. Their family element was light, however, they were not healers. Instead they used the offensive side of light and were all extreme fighters. Whoever the author was seemed to have experienced their extreme side as he cautioned the readers to run away should they ever meet someone from this family. They were obsessed with picking fights with everyone and ”self-improvement.” The only positive side was that they all were known for their straightforward personalities and good attitudes towards losing. The heir was Tristian Drakon 14 years old and advanced level stage three magician.
Next was the Absinthe Family with a red dagger family crest. Suiting that they would be placed right after the Drakon family as the two have a long history of bad blood. Their element was dark and they specialized in assassination. They ran a guild that took missions for the family that made them a lot of money. Almost reflecting their elements, the Drakon family and Absinthe family were complete opposites in teaching and personality. Their heirs were twins, Caedis and Bella Absinthe. The twins were 13 years old and advanced level stage two magicians. Rumor says that they are inseparable and can take down magicians at higher stages than them when they work in coordination, even their partner beasts were the same.
The sixth was the Ventus family. Their element was wind and the crest was one pair of green wings. Most people could not quite understand this family and their was not a lot of information on them either. People claim that this family is very laid-back and peaceful. They tend to be the easiest to get along with. The heir was Quinn Ventus, 12 years old and believed to be advanced level stage two. Their was no confirmation due to the fact that Quinn barely ever fights and reveals his power.
Seventh was special. They were not actually a ”family” by blood relation. It was a merchant group which made its way up in power and declared themselves a family. Their crest was merchant carriage that was normally seen on trade routes. The ”family” name was Argentum but they had no particular element associated with the family. The heir was Luca Argentum but there was some weird gossip about the boy. Greyson saw the introduction and just skipped over it. He wasn't interested in the rumors.