Chapter 48: Day Three of Training 4
The session continued in this way.
Heat.
Light.
Strengthening.
Stabilizing.
Cost reduction.
Small locking circuit.
Audible alert rune.
With each new exercise, Adam progressed with a speed that made Elaria increasingly silent.
When he failed, the mistake was almost never catastrophic.
It was rarely a rune that didn’t work.
It was a rune that could work better.
An angle to correct.
A mana loss to reduce.
A transition to smooth.
A boundary to clean up.
Elaria finally put down her notebook.
"You don’t fail like an apprentice."
Adam looked up.
"Is that a good thing?"
"Yes. But it’s also very unsettling."
"Why?"
"Because your mistakes look like incomplete optimizations, not malfunctions."
Adam remained silent.
Then he smiled slightly.
"That’s a very programmer-like flaw."
Elaria crossed her arms.
"Tonight, you’ll explain the algorithm, the conditions, the limits, the logical errors, and this memory leak idea."
"To everyone?"
"Yes."
"Even to Selene?"
"Especially to Selene. She’ll probably use a fighting analogy."
Adam imagined Selene transforming a magic loop into a chain of attacks.
"Unfortunately, it might work."
Elaria nodded.
"Good ideas change shape depending on the person using them."
Adam studied the last enchanted plate.
The phrase stuck in his mind.
Good ideas change shape.
In his old world, he had known this.
A simple idea became software.
Then a tool.
Then a habit.
Then an industry.
Here, an idea could become a rune.
An artifact.
A weapon.
A defense.
A revolution.
The session finally came to an end.
Elaria gathered the enchanted plates and placed them in a special box.
"I’m going to keep these. I’ll use them to compare your progress."
Adam looked at the plates.
"You’re going to keep my first attempts?"
"Yes."
"Why?"
"Because they don’t look like first attempts."
He didn’t know what to say.
Elaria then approached him and touched one of the bracelets.
"For tomorrow, I’ll adjust the charge distribution." I can also add a temporary mitigation mode if your body reaches a dangerous limit."
Adam looked at her gratefully.
"Finally, a sensible person."
"Don’t get too excited. The mitigation mode will mainly serve to extend the training without causing unnecessary injury."
Adam closed his eyes.
"I should have waited for the rest of the sentence."
"Yes."
She smiled gently.
Adam stood up with difficulty.
The bracelets still felt incredibly heavy.
But his body was already starting to adapt to them better.
He put away his notes, then headed for the workshop exit.
"Thank you for the lesson."
Elaria walked him to the door.
"You’ve made excellent progress."
Adam smiled.
"Is that a genuine compliment?"
"Yes."
"Without a threat?"
Elaria thought for a moment.
"For now."
"I’ll take it."
He placed his hand on the doorknob.
Then he turned to her one last time.
"See you later, Elaria."
She nodded gently.
"See you later, Adam. And don’t forget: tonight, you’re explaining the algorithm."
Adam sighed.
"I knew you wouldn’t forget."
"I hardly ever forget anything."
"That’s both reassuring and terrifying."
Elaria smiled.
Then Adam left the workshop.
As he stepped out of the Artisans’ Guild, he felt the weight of the bracelets, the fatigue of training, and the tension of accumulated concentration.
But beneath it all, there was something else.
A familiar excitement.
The enchantment spoke to him.
Not just like magic.
But like a language.
A system.
An architecture of rules that his mind could understand, manipulate, and perhaps one day transcend.
Adam looked up at the bustling street.
His next destination already awaited him.
The Merchants’ Guild.
Shiora.
Contracts.
Debts.
Advertising.
The Valorian Games.
And probably a new way to turn a simple idea into a continent-wide problem.
Adam took a deep breath.
"Very well..."
He adjusted the bracelets slightly on his wrists.
"Let’s see how much an idea is worth when Shiora decides to sell it."
Then he headed towards the Merchants’ Guild.
Here’s the continuation with Shiora and a session focused on stocks, limited companies, the stock market, project protection, and how to transform an invention into an economic force.
Adam headed towards the Merchants’ Guild.
The street was bustling, as always.
Caravans were coming and going from the main commercial avenue, employees were carrying crates, scribes were running with files under their arms, and merchants were already discussing prices, routes, and deadlines.
Adam was walking more slowly than before.
The Progressive Charge Bracelets made each of his steps heavier.
He could feel his legs working even on perfectly stable ground.
Part of him wanted to complain.
Another part knew that Selene would have smiled if she had heard him.
So he simply took a deep breath.
"Even walking to the next lesson has become a workout..."
When he arrived at the Merchants’ Guild, the guards recognized him immediately.
This time, no one stopped him.
One of them bowed slightly.
"Lady Shiora is waiting for you in her office."
Adam nodded.
"Thank you."
He crossed the main hall.
Unlike the Adventurers’ Guild, the bustle here wasn’t noisy in the same way.
It wasn’t the energy of weapons, missions, and adventurers returning covered in dust.
It was the energy of money.
Contracts.
Rising prices.
Changing paths.
Information sold before it was even confirmed.
Adam climbed the stairs and arrived at Shiora’s office.
The door was open.
Inside, the oni sat behind her desk, surrounded by a mountain of paperwork.
She was writing rapidly on several sheets of paper at once, sometimes giving instructions to an assistant, correcting a line on a contract, then moving a gold coin on a business card.
When she saw Adam, her smile immediately appeared.
"Ah, there you are."
Adam entered.
"I survived Selene and Elaria. More or less."
Shiora noticed the bracelets.
Her smile widened.
"I see Selene has started decorating you."
Adam looked down at her wrists.
"Decorating is a very generous word."
"They’re elegant."
"They’re heavy."
"In business, too, heavy things often have value."
Adam remained silent.
"Even that, you manage to turn into a salesman’s phrase."
"Natural talent."
He sat down opposite her.
"So, what are you working on?"
Shiora put down her pen, then slid several documents in front of him.
"The Games of Valoria. Sales strategy, production control, distribution, pricing per version, limitations on noble copies, contracts with taverns, protection against imitations, and above all..."
His smile deepened.
"Measures against people who want a piece of the pie without having helped to make it."
Adam scanned the pages.
There were already columns of costs, profit estimates, lists of suppliers, names of taverns, noble families likely to buy the first luxury versions, and even a section titled: Risks of Political or Commercial Recovery.
He looked up at her.
"You haven’t wasted any time."
"Wasted time is wasted capital."
"Very Shiora-esque."
She smiled.
"Thank you."
Then she leaned slightly forward.
"But I want your opinion. In your old world, what did you do when a project became too large to be managed by a single person or a single house?"
Adam thought for a few seconds.
"It depended on the project. But often, a company was created."
Shiora narrowed her eyes.
"A company?"
"A business entity separate from the people who created it." She can own property, sign contracts, pay employees, sell products, receive money, and distribute profits."
Shiora listened attentively.
Adam continued:
"Let’s imagine the Valoria Games become too big for you to handle alone. You have to produce, sell, transport, protect the models, manage the taverns, negotiate with the nobles, pay the artisans, and monitor the copies. Instead of doing everything directly through the Merchants’ Guild, you can create a dedicated company."
Shiora tapped the table slowly with her finger.
"A company whose sole purpose would be to develop and sell the games."
"Exactly."
"And who would own it?"
Adam smiled slightly.
"That’s where it gets interesting. In my old world, there was a concept called shares."
Shiora sat up straight.
"Explain."
Adam took a blank sheet of paper and drew a circle.
"Imagine a company as a cake. Instead of one person owning the whole cake, we cut it into slices. Each slice represents a portion of ownership. These slices are called shares."
He divided the circle into several sections.
"If you own 40% of the shares, you own 40% of the company. If Isadora owns 20%, the duchy owns 20%. If Elaria or her guild owns 15%, she has an official share of the project."
Shiora stared at the drawing.
Her eyes were already shining.
"So we can share ownership without directly dividing each item produced."
"Yes. And this creates several advantages. First, those who own shares have an incentive to protect the project, because if the company succeeds, the value of their shares increases."
Shiora murmured:
"Aligning interests..."
"Exactly." Then, if the company makes a profit, it can distribute some of it to the shareholders. That’s called dividends."
Shiora raised her hand.
"Wait. So someone can invest money, receive a share of ownership, and then receive a portion of the profits without directly managing the business?"
"Yes."
A silence fell.
Then Shiora’s smile became almost dangerous.
"It’s beautiful."
Adam chuckled.
"I knew you’d like it."
"Go on."
Adam drew a second diagram.
"There’s also a difference between the primary and secondary markets."
Shiora immediately picked up her pen.
"Primary market. Secondary market."
Adam pointed to the first drawing.
"The primary market is when the company sells new shares to raise money." For example, the Valoria Games Company issues one hundred shares. Investors buy them. The money goes into the company and is used to finance production."
He then drew several arrows between people.
"The secondary market is when shareholders sell their shares to each other. The company doesn’t necessarily receive money directly, but the value of the shares changes according to people’s confidence in the project."
Shiora put down her pen.
"So if everyone thinks the Valoria Games will succeed, the shares become more expensive."
"Yes."
"And if someone tries to tarnish the project’s reputation, the value can fall."
"Exactly."
His smile faded slightly.
"The Empire could attack confidence to drive down the value."
Adam nodded.
"Yes. That’s why we need rules."
Shiora leaned closer.
"Which ones?"
Adam raised a finger.
"First, an official share register. Who owns what. How much. Since when. With what rights. Without a register, false claims will appear immediately."
Shiora took notes.
"Second, not all shares have to grant the same power. We can create economic shares and controlling shares."
"The difference?"
"An economic share entitles the holder to a portion of the profits. A controlling share grants the right to vote on major decisions. For example, a nobleman can invest money and receive profits, but without the power to decide whether to sell the plans to the Empire."
Shiora froze.
Then she smiled slowly.
"Ah. Now that’s becoming very useful."