Chapter 370
Matt whistled as he and Liz watched chaotic space swirl past them, letting his hand idly run through her hair as she leaned into him on the couch as they watched chaotic space pass by with their spiritual senses.
They were both in excellent moods, the ducal meeting having gone exceptionally well, contrary to their expectations. Both of them had expected some kind of incident or challenge to their authority, considering they were weaker than the typical Tier of duke, just as Aiden had suffered when he earned his duchy.
Instead, they were treated as any other new peer. They didn’t have the depth of their duchies to pull from when it came to making trades, but there were still a few deals that they had accepted. Most were for production facilities to be set up amongst their new lands, but ultimately, those kinds of exchanges were minor things in comparison to the dukes and duchesses who used the meeting to set up deals for truly rare resources. Matt and Liz could only hope to get their hands on prizes of that ilk in the future when they had trade goods of equal value.
Ultimately with only half of their duchy having arrived, they couldn't barter too much. But they did know what rare resources most of their planets would have, which let them complete some minor transactions which they were happy to take a small loss on just to establish the trade route.
Once the ships started moving between systems, they would inevitably seek to fill or empty their holds, and that was what they really cared about. Once the foundation was laid, everything else would be that much easier.
One notable item Matt intended to get his hands on was the Gilard family's unique marble. The Tier 40 stone was widely desired for usage in thrones or other symbols of office, thanks to its rarity and unique presence. Few nobles actually had thrones made out of the marble, as the Gilards were notoriously picky about who they sold it to. But Ascenders historically had good luck getting their hands on it, and Matt wanted to surprise Liz with it as a present for when their flying castle was created.
When infused with a person's mana, it created stunning visual displays based on their mana type and sub-aspects. The most famous example being the throne of a long since ascended duke who had Air mana with unique sub-aspects. The resulting throne looked like it was made of gravel constantly tumbling around in a hurricane, yet somehow keeping the overall shape of a throne. While he was curious how his own sub-aspects would flavor the neutral mana manifestation, he especially looked forward to how Liz's Ichor would show itself.
And so was Duke Gilard, based on how quickly he agreed to sell some. He had been hemming and hawing to no end about selling some, probably in the hopes of getting a better price, until Matt mentioned his own curiosity.
He had been tempted to buy a little more, as the marble was said to be incredibly stable for enchantments, but it was just too expensive for the current budget of his guild. Definitely too expensive, and in too low supply in general, to be useful in any final product. It was still a shame, it might have helped isolate some variables and further their research into improving the 50-50 odds for de-aspecting, the current big focus of his guild.