Later that evening-

In a decent saloon-

Two men sat at the counter among many rough-looking miners and workers, drinking, chatting, and gambling. It was dimly lit with magical lanterns, and several saloon girls in sleeveless, colorful dresses walked to and fro, soliciting customers, pushing drinks, and occasionally taking a customer upstairs for communication. 

"This is like a wild west frotier." Asher couldn't help but think, swirling his straight whiskey in his cup.

At this time, Price spoke to him.

"So you rented that large and furnished house in town, the one usually rented out to wealthy travelers, and even bought that unused parcel of land near the west side?" Price asked, astonished, while holding a whiskey.

"Yep. Sonia and Nidawei are arranging our belongings now." Asher nodded.

"Shouldn't you be helping them, then? Instead of drinking with me?" Price raised an eyebrow and asked.

"I'm a man of my word, and I also want a bit of information," Asher replied.

"Well, you are paying for the drinks, so ask away," Price asked while sipping his whiskey.

"Do you have a library in town?" Asher asked.

"We have a commercial library. By paying a pound annually, you can borrow one book at a time there." Price said.

"What about magic? Do they have it?" Asher asked.

"There should be some beginner stuff there, but it isn't a magic guild. If you want to study magic in a small mining town like ours, your best bet is either hiring a tutor or studying Holy Magic at the Church of Steam." Price replied.

"And what about acquiring titles? Does anyone here have a list of requirements for purchase?" Asher asked.

"You can view it for a price at the adventurer's guild." Price replied.

Asher continued asking several more questions, and then they chatted about other things. During this time, Asher learned all the information that Chester could provide.

For starters, the strongest in town was merely a lvl 70 on Normal Difficulty since the surrounding monsters were too weak, and the Coal Production dungeon only had 6 floors and monsters of up to lvl 30. Those with higher difficulty levels usually stayed in larger dungeon cities unless they had unique circumstances, like Kate, who was apparently a reject in her family.

While they were talking, two of the saloon girls tried hitting on Asher, even offering a discount for a conversation upstairs, but Asher rejected them. He had some standards.

Incidentally, due to the nature of this town, the vast majority of the laborer class were male, making up about 85%. It was to the point that even a man like Price was a bachelor.

However, the same didn't apply to the upper class. Affluent men, such as the Mayor, had a wife and children, and there were wealthy women like Kate, but they were a minority.

But that didn't concern Asher, who had the two most beautiful women in town.

And so, he headed to his rented house, which had a lovely lawn, a large entrance and parlor, a kitchen and scullery, four large bedrooms and two small ones, a bathroom, a servants' hall, and several offices. All for just 100 pounds.

It might seem like a steal to rent this for just £ 100 annually, especially since it was furnished, but renting it was not even a third of the annual expenses. However, they didn't plan on purchasing slaves. After all, house chores were also skills to grind!

Additionally, they also purchased land worth 1,000, which left them with only 200.

Naturally, Asher exchanged Gold for cash... and a lot of it.

.

.

.

Earlier in the day-

"The rent is 100, and the land purchase is 1,000. That would be 1,100 Pounds... but are you sure you want to spend so much? Do you have enough money? We also purchase valuables." Kate offered.

"Now that you mention it, I do have some items to sell," Asher said after some thought.

"Oh? Do tell." Kate smiled and asked.

"How much would this fetch?" Asher asked, taking out a 5kg gold bar from his spatial storage and placing it on the table.

Kate's eyes widened as she adjusted her monocle.

"My, my... a 5kg gold bar, and 99.9% pure? The official rate is 136.33 per kg... However, this is a small town, and I need to transport it to a city to liquidate it. Considering the risks and costs I take, I would usually buy it for 80% of its worth, but because it is you, I will take it for 85%. So I will buy it for 580 pounds." Kate offered with a smile.

"How many of these can you buy?" Asher asked to confirm.

"Wait, you have more?!" Kate smiled even more. "If it is this quality, I can currently handle 9 more."

Minutes later, Asher sold 10 gold bars and was 5,800 pounds wealthier.

Of course, this money was not physical. Instead, they had a so-called magic bank. Asher, Sonia, and Nidawei registered in it, and in their joint account, they had the money transferred over.

With that, the trio was officially among the wealthiest in town. They also used part of that money to buy some luxury goods at the Whitelily store. And after bringing the things back to the house, Asher left the two women there while he went drinking with Price.

.

.

.

Back to the present-

Asher entered the house and soon found Sonia and Nidawei playing dice in the parlor, with coins on the table.

But what was noteworthy was that the two women were half-naked, exposing their flawless skin. Luckily, they were conscious enough to close the windows.

"What are you two doing?" Asher weirdly asked.

"Ah, Boss! Nidawei and I are just trying to get a Gambling skill to raise the Luck stat. After a few attempts, we got it to work!" Sonia smiled and explained.

"Yes, but why are you naked?" Asher curiously asked.

"We made a wager, where the winner gets first dibs on you tonight while the loser needs to masturbate before us." Nidawei mischievously grinned.

"Oh? Can I join?" Asher smiled and asked.

Sonia and Nidawei looked at one another and smiled.

"If Boss wins, we double-team him?" Sonia asked.

"You read my mind." Nidawei returned a smile.

"I love you two." Asher broadly grinned.

That night, the bed creaked, and loud moans sounded as the trio relieved the sexual stress accumulated for three months. During the process, Asher gained several titles and related skills.

 

(For those interested...)

 

With such an ample harvest, the trio decided to do this every day.

Incidentally, Gambler and Dice Roller both raised luck, while Multitasker raised Comprehension. Stripper focused on Appearance(Useless), while Lady Killer focused on Charisma(Useful). Everything else raised Strength, Vigor, Endurance, and Agility. As for the Achievement Title, Double Banger, it was for having a threesome, and it raised Vigor and Charisma by 2.

Anyway, it was a nice little bonus for all three of them.

.

.

.

The following day-

The trio went to the local Adventurer's Guild and bought a Title Guide for 1 pound. And afterwards, they visited the local library, paid 3 pounds, and searched for the Magic section.

This library had over 1,000 books, but the number of those on magic was merely a handful. One was about the basic theory of magic, one spoke of Aether, one was about meditation, and the rest were basic books of the most common types of non-religious magic.

Within about an hour, the trio finished reading and memorizing several weeks of reading material. Some of the material would be difficult for most to understand, but the trio's well of knowledge was so terrifying that these thick books merely looked like a pre-schooler's math textbook.

Naturally, they gained several knowledge titles, and together they fused into a stronger title.

 

 

Putting back the last book on the shelf, the trio headed back to their house and sat cross-legged in the back garden.

The most fundamental step of using magic was, naturally, to sense it. Generally, there were three common ways to do it.

The first was to use a Skill Scroll to immediately study a spell, ingraining the knowledge in the mind. Through that experience, they could use the spell without the knowledge, and through constant use, they could naturally sense magic. Naturally, since the trio couldn't use a Skill Scroll, this path was blocked.

The second was to have a powerful master infuse his magic into you, letting you feel the flow of magic. But the requirement for such a master was high, at least lvl 100 Magic Manipulation. None in this town had this level of skill. And frankly, Asher and the two women looked down on this method.

And that left the third, most orthodox method for geniuses or those with a poorer background, which was to sense it through meditation.

Meditation in itself was a general skill for all professions, and its function was to restore Health, Stamina, and Magic faster, and it also improved Comprehension. However, it also had another function, which heightened the senses toward Aether, the foundation of Magic in this world.

The trio was unaware of this skill, so they hadn't learned it until now. They somewhat regretted not knowing it, or their training speed would have been many times faster. But starting three months later was better than never.

Either due to their immense Comprehension, or that they were incredibly used to it, the trio quickly entered a meditative state, and after 10 minutes-

 

 

At first glance, it wasn't anything special. However, the trio could feel their energy marginally recovering faster, and they felt more connected to the world.

From that moment, things began to snowball. Every few minutes, their Meditation level would increase, and they felt closer to the world. And after about half an hour, when it reached lvl 10, they could initially sense the so-called Aether. It took most apprentices a month to reach this point, and it was also where most apprentices attempted to manipulate Aether.

However, the trio didn't stop. They continued meditating for 6 hours, and although the speed of improvement slowly dropped, they still reached lvl 100.

 

 

The trio opened their eyes at early afternoon.

"Did you also reach lvl 100?" Asher asked.

"Yes. This skill is too easy, Boss." Sonia smiled.

"We did this for years. It is almost second nature to us." Nidawei also smiled.

"If only we had known about this skill sooner, we could have reached the mid-thousands by now." Asher lamented.

The trio shared a look and sighed in regret.

"Well, no point in crying over spilled milk. I think we can now start trying to manipulate magic." Sonia said.

"But first, lunch. I'm hungry." Asher rubbed his stomach.

"Let's cook something. I want to earn the Cook Title." Nidawei said.

"I'll help!" Sonia smiled.

"I'll help as well," Asher added.

And so, they happily cooked lunch as a family of three, gained the Title and Skill, and returned to meditating. Very quickly, they felt the Aether around them, the magic within it, and attempted to manipulate it.

Moments later-

 

 

"There we go." Asher smiled.