Falling Stardust

"Did you hear? King Fitzroy's court mage's only son transferred to the Academy today."

"You mean the legendary Flame Emperor Saxon Von Creig? He's my hero."

"Too bad his son is a good-for-nothing."

"Yeah. His father is the greatest combat mage in our continent's recent history. while Xasha's magic talent is trash. He has no talent for combat magic."

"The apple sure does fall far from the tree."

"But he is an S rank. That means he has three unique talents while his father is only an A rank with 2."

"Two pieces of gold are always better than three pieces of copper."

"None of his skills are combat-based. Eye of truth? What's the use of something like that?"

"Hahaha."

A group of friends sat under a tree having lunch in the Social Garden, discussing the latest gossip of the day.

In a spacious corridor nearby, a young man around 16 years old followed slowly behind a green-haired girl while trying to ignore the chatter.

The girl was enthusiastically introducing every square inch of the Academy to the new S class student Xasha Von Creig.

Xasha couldn't be less interested. Back in the capital, he saw architecture much more artistic, eye-catching, and luxurious than anything here.

He was fine learning from his parents; they knew more about magic than any of these so-called experts at this Academy.

"Go out into the world, he said. "Meet new people, he said. "This place is lame," Xasha was muttering under his breath.

"What was that?" Asked Verra.

"Nothing," he replied. "How much longer is this going to take, I'm tired."

Verra tried to hide her worry with a pleasant smile, knowing if he wasn't happy she won't get a tip, "well you have seen all the important parts of the Academy, completed your paperwork and your student ID will be ready in a few days. So, I guess I'll take you to where you will be staying for the next four years and we'll call it a day."

Xasha's ear perked up at this, "is there a dorm or something?"

Verra smiled, "well, there is a dorm but you don't have to stay there, as a member of the S class you get your own private property."

"And all this is provided by the Academy?" Asked Xasha suspiciously.

Verra covered her mouth, hiding her laughter, "Nothing is free. Libra does the talking here. But, as the grand court mage's only son, I'm sure you can afford it."

Xasha narrowed his brows, "you would think." "Cheap bastard," he said the last part to himself.

"How much Libra do you have with you now?" Verra asked.

"Around 2 million," Xasha said nonchalantly.

Gasp. "wow! That's the grand court mage's son for you. You have enough money to pay for classes and living expenses for 20 S class students for an entire year," Verra said, grinning. Her grin became wider as more plans come were concocted in her head.

"Oh, guess the old man wasn't so stingy after all," Xasha said, nodding his head. A smile blossomed on his face, but for a different reason.

"So, what can I get with the money I have, I need a decent enough place to fit my needs, with lots of space and lots of privacy."

"Privacy, huh? Well, one place comes to mind. I'll take you there so you can take a look for yourself," Verra said confidently.

"Lead the way," He replied with interest.

The two picked up the pace and headed east for about half an hour. Passing hundreds of students and buildings. While walking, Verra continued to introduce the Academy to Xasha. He would ask questions from time to time, and she would answer them patiently. Turns out Verra was from a small community in the Vinci province. Her parents were herbalists and were B ranks with talents related to herb cultivation.

She, however, was an S rank built for combat. All her talents were high-powered lightning attacks. Her family was pretty well off. They were herbalists that growing ingredients for a local Alchemy Guild in the Vinci province.

As affluent as they were, supporting a practitioner through the Academy was not something common herbalists can afford. As an S class student, the elite of the academy, Verra needs a lot of resources. So, she does various jobs and missions for the Academy to earn extra Libra, one of which is being a tour guide for new students. She also earns a commission by getting students to make purchases and upgrades from the Academy and a few guilds around campus.

The two came upon a stone path next to a beautifully shimmering lake that stretched past the horizon.

Verra pointed at the center of the lake, "look there, that's your new home."

Xasha looked over, squinting, only to see a tiny shadow peaking up from behind the horizon.

"Is that an island?" Asked Xasha.

"Yes!, that's the famous DenoVega island, the former home of the founder of the DenoVega province, Carlos DenoVaga," Verra informed with pride In her voice.

In response, Xasha Narrowed his brows and asked, "if this island is so famous why is it available mid-semester? In fact, it seems like that island has been abandoned for like 50 years."

"Over 100 years actually. You see, this island has thousands of ivory bamboo trees growing on it. As a result, the magic energy concentration on the island is the highest in the Academy that's available to students."

"Isn't that a good thing?"

Verra smiled. "the magic energy concentration is so high that most students can't handle it. The grade of energy chambers that would be needed to make the mana usable is too expensive. Moreover, with a million Libra price tag, most people choose to live in more developed areas."

The words 'high energy concentration' piqued Xasha's interest to no end. "1 million huh... well let's go take a look." Xasha stepped on the lake, gliding towards the island on its surface. 

"Yes!" Cha-ching!" Verra squealed under her breath while she pumped her fist in the air, then quickly followed Xasha by skipping happily on the lake's surface.

The island was a few kilometers from the coast, and after about 15 minutes of fast pace movement, they made it to the island. The first thing Xasha noticed was the size. The island was over a dozen square kilometers in diameter. Next was the rich air on the island. Verra was right about the magic energy concentration. It was about 3 times more concentrated here than it was on the rest of the campus he had seen so far.

Flying into the air to get a better view, he saw a decrepit mansion at the center of the island surrounded by overgrown grass, long vines, and tall trees. The entire island needed a lot of work to be livable, but with the energy concentration being so high here, Xasha thought it was worth the price.

He landed on the ground beside Verra. "I'll take it," he said confidently.

"That's great!" Verra screamed excitedly. Thinking about her 10% commission. She had just made all her living expenses for the year in one day, and she couldn't stop grinning from ear to ear.

"This place needs some work, though, and I'd like to tear down that mansion and put up a new one. I'd also like to add a few more facilities to make this place livable," Xasha said, all this while staring at the island with wild passion in his eyes.

"What do you have in mind?" Verra stared at him curiously. Hearing this, Xasha quickly sat on the floor, took out a feather pen, ink, and some paper, and started drawing.

After an hour, he handed a thick stack of papers to Verra. She started going through them one by one. He had drawn the entire island. On each paper was the blueprint of different facilities and their place on the island.

It was a U-shaped mansion with a giant fountain in the middle. To the left and right there were square courtyards with a martial arts training arena, research lab, enchantment workshop, Alchemist workshop, multiple high-quality energy chambers, greenhouses, and other such buildings. There were plans for roads connecting each building and going around the island.

There were also plans for a sewage and freshwater delivery system. The lake water would be purified in purification rune houses and fed into a 100-thousand-gallon water storage facility. All the facilities were state-of-the-art and well designed. He even jotted down all the high-quality materials, and the amount needed to complete the project.

After a long time, Verra managed to calculate everything, "Everything that you've requested including all the rare materials, high-quality equipment, and labor the price comes up to an estimated 45 million Libra... can you afford it?"

"Oh? only that much?" Xasha took out a black card. Handed it to Verra and said, "Can you arrange everything for me? Just show them this card and they will send the bill to my father. I'm sure it won't be a problem, there's a big tip in it for you if you do a good job." Xasha said while smiling.

Taking the card carefully in hand Verra bowed slightly, "I won't let you down."

"How long will all the construction take?"

"Around 6-8 weeks give or take, you can stay at my place until then."

"Sounds good. I'm pretty tired, anyway. Please, lead the way."