The World Dragon's Heir - Chapter 622: The Extra Prize

Chapter 622: The Extra Prize

Once the conversation wound down, Dominic returned to the Manor and settled in for a long day of paperwork and meetings with the Advisors.

One long day that quickly turned into two.

Before he knew it, Dominic was watching the sun go down out his window, and filling out registration rosters for the tournament, which was to start first thing in the morning.

They had a total of ninety-six contestants registered for the event, and he still had to find time to make a special prize for the winner. He had told them that he would come up with something to represent the first joust in Wistover, beyond the gold coin reward.

It wouldn’t take much, and he knew what he needed. Their signature was magitech, so he would make a device of some sort for the winner. Something that they could carry with them and remember as a keepsake.

These Knights spent most of their lives on the road, so something for the home wouldn’t be the best for them.

However, little things that would add comfort to their living situation would be a great way to be remembered. Just not with one of the common things that Wistover made because Dominic had heard that the lanterns were already a huge hit with the Knights.

They were hung all through the camp now, lighting up the walkways.

It increased safety, both when walking and when trying to detect thieves or saboteurs. And now that so many Knights had them, it also allowed the locals to stay a bit later into the evening before heading back into town.

The road from the city’s residential area to the Arena had regularly placed streetlights, not particularly close together, but enough that you could find your way home at any hour of the night.

They were also magitech, and any of the passing mages, or the city guard patrols, could top them off if they were getting a bit dim.

That was how Dominic found himself in the Manor’s Library at midnight, looking at a stack of blueprints for a magitech canteen. It was something that nearly every Knight would already have. But it was also something that you could never have too many of.

The amount of water that a canteen could produce was limited by the magitech circuitry on it, and most of them wouldn’t make more than a litre an hour.

So, if he made them one with the Wistover Duchy emblem on it, as well as a decorative plaque for the “Inaugural Jousting Tournament Champion” they could show it off casually in public.

It would remind them of Wistover, and serve as a not so subtle flex on whoever they were talking to.

Then, he realized that there was a better option.

“Dave, can you get me someone from the Sands Sect that knows magitech and nature magic? I want to have this canteen make wine.”

The troll rumbled with laughter. “No problem boss. They can do that.”

A few minutes later, a slender female troll knocked at the open door to the Library, and Dominic motioned for her to enter.

“Your Grace, my apologies for taking so long.” She began.

“It’s after midnight, I am shocked that anyone was awake to answer Dave’s question. You made excellent time.

Now, what I need is a Nature Spell. Create Wine. Do you have it?”

She nodded. “Indeed. I brought two spell gems of Create Wine. One for whatever you’re doing, and one for you, if you can use it.”

Dominic smiled as he accepted the gems, then placed one in his Sorcerer’s Spellbook.

For a moment, he wondered how much better the wine would get if he cast the spell at level fifteen instead of level one. But that test could wait for later.

The Troll looked at the blueprints that Dominic was writing out an edited circuit from.

“You know, I think that this is the first canteen that anyone will actually try to level up. Create Water makes good clean water at level one, and it doesn’t really change.

But Create Wine gets better with every level. Level one makes the sort of rough fruit wine you get at the desert caravans. The cheapest unseasoned vintage.

Only when you level it up a bit can it be considered decent wine.”

“Do you have the spell memorized?” Dominic asked.

She nodded. “I do. So, I can cast it at level five. That makes a pretty decent wine. Perhaps not as fine as what Noblemen drink, but good enough for trolls.”

Dominic laughed. “I’ve seen Dave drink by dunking his face directly into the river.”

“Good point. It’s not a high standard.”

Dominic activated the spell and poured himself a cup at level ten, a middle ground that should be good enough for most purposes, he hoped.

The wine was better than expected, flavourful and mildly sweet, with a richness to it that Dominic associated with the better vintages.

“I don’t suppose that you have one of these for ale or mead, do you?” He asked as he sipped the liquor.

The troll shook her head. “Sorry. I don’t like ale, and honey mead is uncommon in the part of Axbridge that we came from. No plants, so no bees.”

“That’s fine. Wine is perfect for the purpose.

Would you like to give me a hand making this canteen? It’s going to the winner of the jousting competition, like a trophy on top of the prize money.”

She looked at the design he had sketched and smiled, immediately seeing what Dominic was going for.

“Alright, I will help you with this. If you want to make the covers, I can assemble the magitech circuitry pretty quickly with that other spell gem. It’s an expensive gift to give out, but I suppose that it’s suitable, given how much the actual prizes for the top three positions are.

So many rich people in town, they’re buying up everything that we had in stock.” She finished with a sigh.

“It’s not that they’re super rich, it’s that they haven’t been anywhere that has what you sell, so they’re stocking up while they can get it. I’m sure that more than one will be looking at the Adventurer’s Guild board before they leave town, just to get travelling money.”