Glacies Orientation (2)

"Business ah, I had forgotten for a moment. Someone's surprising revelation was responsible for that no doubt" complained Imran.

"Now that you are reminded, on with it" stated Cyrus.

Imran heard this and rubbed his temple before continuing,

"All right, the opening ceremony for Glacies is starting soon. The day that all of us have been awaiting as well as preparing for has come at last, so I wanted to reaffirm our plan of action. First, let me clue you in on some new information I was able to get my hands on."

Imran then produced a piece of paper with various scribbling written on it.

"This information will probably be made public in a day or two which is why I was even able to get my hands on it but nevertheless here it is" said Imran as he handed the paper to Cyrus.

"Fidem, the word for currency in ancient times, is as expected the form of 'coin' that only Glacies uses. Instead of a physical currency it is instead kept as a form of credit that the academy deals with internally. It can be traded in for a variety of boons, such as resources and private lessons. It can be traded between students via contract but the methods of earning it are unknown" read Cyrus aloud.

"As interesting as it is, I do not see anything to discuss" said Cyrus.

"While the method of earning it is not stated, the key point is that it can be traded between students. If we cooperate, I imagine that we will be earning some of this currency. No, I will make sure of it in fact. While I may not be the half a warrior as you and Minerva are, I have a talent for accruing wealth" said Imran as he pulled out three contracts from his storage.

Handing the two opposite him a contract each he continued,

"As familiar as I am with wealth, I know how easily it can create divides. To avoid this, I have drafted up a contract for each of us to sign in regards to how we split any earned funds on projects that we cooperate on. The standard rate will be equal between all of us: at 33% each with the leftover being distributed to a different person each time with no repeating cases. If only two cooperate then it will be obviously split even. Then the weighted shares for when one person outperforms will be 25,25,50 and 25,75 in a case of only two people cooperating. Of course, when going solo all rewards go to the person in question."

The two read through the contracts, with Cyrus looking closely to spot any type of trickery. Not seeing anything in particular he 'signed' the contract and pocketed it while saying,

"I have no complaints about the terms listed, I will turn it in to the academy when the time comes."

Meanwhile Minerva also 'signed' her contract and gave a small nod in agreement to what Cyrus said.

Seeing the behavior of the two Imran sighed while saying,

"As expected… all right I have no problem with that. I am sure that working together we three will soon be drowning in riches, although I still do not know what we can buy with it. Although I still remember when the professor overseeing my exam said you can buy anything with the currency, I have high hopes for such a statement."

Seeing that his company was not as enthused as he was at such prospects, Imran's sigh deepened.

"Ah whatever… other than that I suppose we should lay out our main goals for our stay in the Academy. Should we spot opportunities that the other may desire and wish to tell the person in question, it requires us to know what the other is aiming for." Imran took a peek at his stone cold companions, to see if they had any obvious adverse reaction to the suggestion.

Seeing that he was in the clear, he began once more with confidence.

"I will go first as its only fair since I suggested it. Putting it simply, my main goal is to amass connections that can help my family's business grow. The difference between a merchant group standing in the middle of the pack verses the front is the amount of mages they employ. While it is commonly understood that magic can be a powerful tool on the battlefield, what I care for most is the commercial applications of it. Mages can extend supply lines by keeping perishable goods fresh, they can speed up supply lines by allowing the horses to travel faster and with fewer breaks, they provide lighting that requires nothing but a neigh everlasting crystal, and they can craft the most exquisite products with an advanced sense. I could go on endlessly, but the bottom line is I need to bring as many people on board to my merchant guild as possible."

Having finished he looked towards Minerva, egging her on with his eyes.

Rolling her eyes at the gesture she said,

"I want what comes after graduating from Glacies: opportunity. I want to leave this region taking whatever work will come my way, the better I perform the more I will have to choose from. Simple."

Cyrus, having decided how much information to leak already, said

"What I desire is two-fold. The first is I require a space to conduct research for a personal spell I am working on along with the experimental subjects to conduct the research on. Secondly, as I am new to the Empire I wish to learn of its inner workings thus I require connections to people in the various stations of the state. From Commoners to Nobles, from Venators to the Judicars, I am interested in it all."

After Cyrus had finished, Imran clapped his hands together while saying

"Good! With that, everything that requires immediate attention has been settled. Now, let us not waste any more time and head to Glacies. We will still be technically early, but I imagine that there will be plenty of others who will arrive early either out of fear or excitement so we will not be out of place."

"Asking for our goals but not prying into the underlying motivation, it seems he is quite used to dealing with people like me. Perhaps there is some truth into me being similar with Minerva..." thought Cyrus while Imran began to stand up.

He then left some coin on the table to pay for the tea he had consumed, noticeably more than it was actually worth, and began to leave for Glacies without so much another word.

The two left at the table merely got up slowly, seemingly waiting for the other to take the lead. Both annoyed and not wanting to have the other shadow their back, they made a silent compromise to walk side by side instead. Following after Imran who was gleefully on his way, they made their way towards the Academy where their future would begin.