Chapter 20: Rune-Tech Business
CH20 Rune-Tech Business
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The world of Pangea was home to countless races and creatures. From humans to the myriad intelligent and semi-intelligent species... the ones known as Professionals—those who rose to become Mages, Warriors, or other empowered beings—comprised only a small fraction of the total population.
Among humans, particularly within the vast Virellian Empire, Professionals were highly coveted. Nobles, military corps, and powerful organisations competed fiercely to recruit these rare individuals, forming elite forces around them.
However, the truth remained—there would never be enough Professionals to meet the needs of empire or ambition.
As a result, ordinary citizens—non-professionals—were also recruited into standing armies. They occupied the lower rungs, providing bulk and numbers. They were the footsoldiers, the garrison guards, the ever-replaceable frontline cannon fodder.
On rare occasions, these non-professionals attained sudden breakthroughs—moments of life-or-death epiphany that allowed them to awaken Professionals, be it a Mage or Warrior. But such miracles were exceedingly rare.
The bulk of any force would always remain non-professionals.
This undeniable fact was one of the key reasons why powerful noble families often sought planar coordinates—gateways to other worlds—to plunder resources and, more crucially, to seek out those with talent to become Professionals to fill their ranks.
Even in the renowned DragonHold Enclave, the Mage Tower's scholars and combat mages made up only a tiny percentage of the total population.
The true mass of the enclave's citizenry consisted of non-professional family members of mages, skilled artisans, and common folk who had migrated into the Enclave's lands seeking protection. It was through this growing tide of ordinary people that the DragonHold Enclave expanded to become the influential territory it was today.