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Chapter 490 - A Test

"That\'s a lot of people," Eldrian said as he looked down at his courtyard that was filled with applicants.

"Yes, everyone here agreed to swear an oath of loyalty should they be accepted. In total, 1692 people have applied to be your retainers. 134 had applied for the servant positions." Darren replied.

"Given your manor size," Which was a three-story building similar to his previous house, but three times the size. With a big courtyard added onto it. "I would say at least thirty servants would be required to maintain the property. Of which, you should have at least twelve maids."

"I see, thank you, Darren."

"Yes, of course, but... How do you plan to go through all of them and decide on which ones you will accept?"

"Oh, that?" Eldrian smiled, jumped onto the fence of his balcony, and looked at everyone who turned their sights towards him.

"Many of you probably came because you heard of my achievements. Some might wish to share in the spotlight, or maybe you hope to help me in my future achievements. However, I\'m not really someone whose good at leading people. I like doing things on my own."

"I never expected so many people to come, and I can\'t pay even a tenth of you. Thus, now I need to figure out how I am going to decide who I will accept and who I have to refuse."

Eldrian paused and extended his hand, above which a ball of ice formed. This ball appeared and changed into many different forms, from a ball to a star to a feather to even a name in cursive.

Of course, some had trouble seeing what Eldrian did thanks to the sheer number of people here. "I don\'t know how to decide, so I decided to make a few simple tests. The first is, explain how I did this."

"You do not need to worry about being entirely correct. The answer won\'t be the determining factor, but rather how you approached the problem. Now, if you didn\'t see properly please move forward."

Repeating this around ten times, Eldrian finally climbed off of the balcony fence.

"Are you sure you want that to be your first test?" Vivian asked as Eldrian left the balcony.

"Yes, I don\'t want an army. I am just looking for a few talented people who I might be able to take in and teach. So, if they can\'t at least touch on how I did it, then I can\'t accept them."

Eldrian replied, for the servants his decision process was far easier. He asked them a simple question; why they wanted to work for him specifically. What he was looking for in their replies Eldrian wasn\'t even sure himself. He felt he would learn this once he read their answers.

...

"What\'s your second test going to be?" Jen asked, knowing Eldrian had been racking his brain to try and figure out how to decide on who to accept.

The two were currently walking in the park and playing some music as background noise. Partly aimed to make it harder to overhear them.

"I am not too sure. I was thinking of a spar against me, to see how they can adapt to magic used in strange and unique ways. But, if there are too many who pass the first test then..."

"Have you made even more progress in magic? I thought you were busy with all the \'noble admin\', as you called it."

"True, I didn\'t manage to do any big experiments, but I managed to increase my control of mana even more." Eldrian replied, "On that topic."

"No, I don\'t think you should," Jen replied immediately, knowing where his thoughts were going.

"I\'m not thinking of anything big. Just getting a feel."

"And if somehow it is discovered?"

"Then they would have already known."

"Or they were expecting, maybe just hoping."

"True," Eldrian nodded and pondered for a moment.

"What about the maids you first hired?"

"They are still at the first house."

"Have you thought of all the expenses hiring people are going to be?"

"I have, the servants in total will be around two gold a month. Retainers I heard expect around ten silver a month each, but it is highly dependant on their Tier. Tier 5 normally ask for fifty silver a month."

"Are you going to take in people stronger than you?" Jen asked.

"Tier 5 shouldn\'t really be stronger than me, though I haven\'t fought anyone since my training so that is just my guess. Also never fought anyone at Tier 5 in a simple spar... But, I am not too sure. I think it will be too expensive. Just the servants are already a massive expense."

Unlike most nobles, Eldrian didn\'t have a steady stream of income. The only way he knew to make money was through quests. Which most certainly was not a common way for nobles to earn their income from.

Making the amount of gold that was going to be required was certainly not going to be easy.

"You do know, you don\'t need to hire anyone."

Eldrian smiled, "True, however, I do need a few helpers for my plans going forward."

"And what are those?"

"Mostly management... Maybe I should make that the second test, some sort of accountant test?" Eldrian pondered, though he didn\'t know a thing about accounting himself.

...

"Sir, many have already delivered their answers. Are you going to go through them?"

"I will later today, thank you, Darren..." Pausing, Eldrian decided to ask, "Darren, might it be possible for you to make some sort of test to see how capable of managing an estate the applicants are."

"I can, but you need to explain what you are looking for. I assume it is more than just managing an estate, as a butler would be able to do so."

Nodding, Eldrian replied, "People who can lead," and left to go train.

Entering his personal study, a room large enough to host a party if one wanted. With plenty of empty bookshelves and more than one place to sit and read or converse.

Eldrian plopped down in the center of this room, closed his eyes, and took a deep breath. \'No turning back once I do this.\'

Nodding in reply to his own statement, Eldrian took another deep breath and then focused. Finding himself in the Magic Avyssos, but unlike all the times before, he had a body this time.

"This, this is very strange..." Eldrian mumbled as he brought his hand before his face.

"What is going on?" Eldrian asked as he turned around, finding himself surrounded by darkness. Of course, he was also standing on nothing. Floating in the darkness. Yet, somehow, if he wanted to walk, he could.

"Where are my auras?" Eldrian pondered, and when he did he could feel cold and heat burning inside of him. "Can I see what I look like?"

Upon asking this, Eldrian determined that this must be his first step. Pushing all his focus into leaving the body he seemed to be stuck in, time passed quickly. Finally, after an unknown amount of time, he managed to see himself.

However, he still wasn\'t outside of the body. It was more like he was having an out-of-body experience. Allowing him to view himself from other perspectives, but unable to move away from this half-elf body.

AN: Not going to release chapters tonight (19th Nov), as I will place my focus on the test I have tomorrow.