A New World, an immersive game experience

Returning to Solvi's the next day, Eldrian watched and recorded her adding just a few lines to the voidstone. The inscription was so basic, yet, it took her half the day. 

When she was done, she was drenched in sweat and beyond tired. 

"That is it for today." She mumbled as she headed for her room to sleep. 

Smiling wryly, Eldrian understood why she was so tired. While what she had inscribed was simple, the amount of mana she had constantly pumped into the inscribing pen was insane. She had run out of mana more than once during the process. 

Which had led to her needing to make use of mana crystals to continue her work. Something Eldrian was shocked was possible. Refilling one's own mana store with a mana crystal he hadn't thought would be possible for normal people (static magic users) but she had proved that it was. 

However, it was truly expensive, and she had used her own crystals to do so. 

In total, Eldrian suspected that inscribing the voidstone had required around a 100k mana, given all the crystals she had gone through. That had been nearly a thousand gold's worth of mana crystals. 

'She really is doing her best.'  Eldrian thought as he left the shop and decided to go to the realtor to finally hire a maid. 

"My good elf, what brings you here? Are you not happy with the house?"

"No, it is perfectly fine. I just finally came to realize that I actually will need a maid." Eldrian replied, the man's smile growing as he heard this. 

"That is great, you certainly came to the right place. What type of maid are you looking for?" He asked, rubbing his hands in the all too cliche greedy manner. 

"Nothing special, someone who excels in cooking would be nice." Eldrian replied, his reply catching the man off guard. 

"Cooking?"

"Yes, cooking. Mostly dinners." Eldrian replied, confusing the man even more. 

"Then-no-wha-" Stumbling over his words, the man struggled to regain his composure. "What I meant to ask was what race would you like? I have some really cute virgins-"

"What the hell are you getting act?!" Eldrian stopped him right there, "I just want someone to clean and cook, nothing more! Got it?"

The realtor shrank back in fear, his instincts telling him to not push it anymore. Reluctantly, he nodded and called for the maids to be brought up. They were all young girls, mostly with comely appearances. Not ugly, but neither were they beauties. Five in total.

Eldrian quickly realized that they were all truly poor and malnourished. This couldn't entirely be blamed on the realtor though, he was just one of the many places where they were trying to get money for a meal. 

It was clear however that he was not hosting a charity. Their clothes were the only thing that he seemed to have provided them, and for a clear reason. If they appeared in rags no one would hire them. 

Most of the city was in good condition and most citizens lived well, however, there would always be slums and the poor. The invasion was just going to exacerbate this. 

Eldrian felt his heart sting when he realized that all of them were between 14 and 16, and it seemed like they had all gone to great lengths to survive. 

"They are all great cooks and extremely diligent. You can pick whichever you fancy." The realtor said, having already explained their prices to Eldrian. 

They weren't slaves, so he wasn't buying them. However, the payment would first go through the realtor and only then a portion would land in their hands. For the cost of 2 silver, they would likely only get 50 coppers. 

"I'll take them all."

Eyes bulging in shock, the realtor asked if he was sure. 

"Yes, it is only 10 silver each month." Eldrian nodded, handing the money to the realtor and part of him wishing to take everyone he could. However, he realized that doing so was not wise nor was it feasibly. 

"Of course, great doing business as always." Extremely happy at the quick money, the realtor tried to ask if Eldrian didn't want a virgin, which Eldrian promptly refused. 

Though, a small part of him did want to save those girls too. But, hiring them from such an offer just did not feel right. He might be able to save one or two, but how many were there?

...

"Is this your home?" The eldest of the girls asked, she was a beastkin named Maia. 

"Yes, make yourselves at home. It is just me and my little brother staying here." Eldrian said, not wishing to explain that Ceph was actually a mythical alicorn. He doubted the girls would even understand if he tried. 

"Just you two?" Tara, the youngest echoes in envy. 

"Well, you five are also going to stay here now," Eldrian replied with a smile and showed them around the three-story home. There was more than enough rooms for everyone. A thing which also shocked the girls as they were used to sleeping together. 

"I won't force you to sleep apart, I can understand if that is stressful."

Hearing this, the girls all visibly relaxed.

"Right, Maia, you seem to be the natural leader. So I hope you can take the position of head maid. For today you can just get settled, please be ready at sunrise tomorrow though for your tasks."

Maia nodded in all seriousness, not wishing to mess this up for them. However, when Ceph returned home, none of them had been able to hide their surprise. 

He was smaller than them all and his hair was so unique, yet, they didn't doubt that he was Eldrian's brother. They were both elves after all. 

The girls had all been apprehensive with how friendly Ceph was being, they dared not play with him for fear of angering Eldrian. 

Seeing their struggle, Eldrian had told them to do as they wished before turning in for the night. 

The next day, he shocked Maia sending her falling as he appeared in the living room all of a sudden. 

"Ah, sorry, I guess I never explained what being a Chosen means," Eldrian said while helping her up. 

"No, I should have been more careful." Maia blushed and stared at the ground, wishing that Eldrian would just ignore what had happened. She had accidentally broken one of the teacups in her fall. 

"It is quite alright, right, I am shocked you are already up. Did you sleep?"

Maia nodded while trying to shift to block the view of the broken cup. Eldrian smiled seeing her actions. 

"Just ignore it, it was an accident. Right, I need you to go shopping. We have nothing in the house, so if you are to make food you will have to buy some supplies. Here," Handing her five silvers, Eldrian asked if it would be enough. 

"Ye-yes, more than enough," Maia replied weakly, her body shaking as this was the most money she had ever held. 

Of course, Eldrian was aware that the sum might shock her. He had purposefully only given her a little, but even that seemed to be a large sum.. It made sense though, a single silver could keep an entire family fed for a month if properly handled.