[Name: Blue Sea Tavern

Description: The famous Blue Sea Tavern, which existed for a brief period over three thousand years ago and made its mark on history by serving as a resting place for the most legendary adventurers of recent eras.

It contains two counters, thirty tables seating five customers each, fifty private rooms, and twenty shared rooms accommodating ten people each, a basic infirmary, as well as a mission board and an office for receiving, processing missions, and storing rewards.

Price: 1,000 gold coins.

Effect: With active magic arrays, increases adventurers’ recovery rate and satisfaction by forty percent.]

The price made Ethan’s heart twist on the spot. He clenched his jaw and let his finger slide across the interface until it pressed the buy button.

It would be worth it. That tavern was exactly what he needed to house Goldenveil’s adventurers, all packed under a single roof.

As for the money... well, all he could do was sigh.

Soon enough, Ron would return with a fresh fortune in tow. And with the stockpile of green fairy wine sitting in his cellar, the handsome young man already knew how that visit would end, the merchant stumbling out of his mansion penniless once again.

Finally, Ethan took a step back and watched the grand building take shape before him. Spanning more than three stories, it stood second in size only to his own mansion, a glorious structure of concrete and refined wood.

In just a few seconds, it settled fully into place, dominating the Goldenveil skyline and catching the eyes of residents passing through the nearby streets.

Ethan pushed open the door and stepped inside, his gaze sweeping across the spacious main hall with open curiosity, and soon enough, his lips curved into a broad smile.

Comfortable, bordering on luxurious without quite crossing the line. Of the fifty private rooms, ten were VIP suites, suited to adventurers above Rank A.

Before anything else, Ethan deposited a handful of magical beast cores into the establishment’s safe, and the enchanted arrays sprang to life instantly.

At first, only the mana density rose, since the arrays drew power from it alone. However, as the two energies were sisters, the aura soon followed, obeying a basic rule of this world.

Aura and mana always seek balance.

If the mana density of a location climbs high, the aura automatically shifts to thicken in kind.

[Congratulations, you have unlocked the feature: Quest Creation

Open the quest creation interface to set rewards and objectives]

At the sight of that notification, the smile on Ethan’s face widened even further.

His fingers moved nimbly, flicking open the quest creation interface.

Simple and intuitive, it offered fields for a name, description, special conditions, and, of course, a reward.

Without anything particular in mind at first, Ethan put together a basic quest to gather second-stage magic cores, fixing the reward at ten gold coins and leaving the deadline open-ended.

The instant he confirmed the creation, a soft glow wrapped around his body. Right in front of him, a small sheet of paper materialized out of thin air, every mission detail inscribed neatly across its surface.

With a satisfied smile, Ethan pinned it to the mission board and moved on, drafting dozens more in quick succession. By the time he finished, roughly ninety quests covered the board.

They ranged from simple herb gathering to the slaying of a third-stage beast, totaling over seven hundred gold coins in rewards if every last one was completed.

After depositing that hefty sum and watching his wealth shrink to a meager thousand coins, Ethan set off in search of staff to run the establishment, which was, after all, his private property.

He soon came across a middle-aged man who had once managed an adventurers’ guild before taking refuge in the Eternal Forest.

Without hesitation, Ethan recruited him on the spot to head the new Blue Sea Tavern, granting him the authority to hire another twenty employees, servers, maids, and cooks among them.

Next, he met with John, who had already stockpiled several dozen barrels of beer, and arranged to have the entire stock hauled over to the tavern’s storage room.

The supply should last at least one or two months, depending on the number of adventurers who arrived.

With everything set in motion, all that remained was finding a healer to take over the infirmary and tend to the adventurers directly.

Ethan briefly considered recruiting one of the two healers already serving in Goldenveil, but after mulling it over, he dismissed the idea.

They were responsible for the health of the entire population, and even the two of them often struggled to shoulder the workload.

Wandering on with a pensive expression, Ethan turned his attention toward the guards, who, as usual, were in the middle of their training.

Well, on this particular occasion, they stood off to the side, merely watching as Doran, already in the third stage, cut through the air with swift, powerful motions.

The style clearly belonged to imperial fencing, though to a far more advanced branch, one distinct from the three main forms that were centered on formation combat and had been designed for mass deployment among regular soldiers.

Every one of Doran’s strikes left a trail of flaming aura hanging in the air. His thrusts shoved the wind forward in sharp, hissing bursts, as if a second, invisible blade were forming just past the one gripped in the warrior’s hand.

This was the fourth form of Imperial fencing. A single cut could generate a surge of mana powerful enough to tear into a man’s organs without ever touching him.

The guards watched the demonstration with shining eyes, gazes that sparkled all the brighter the moment Ethan approached and drew his own weapon.

"My lord!" Doran bowed at once, drawing a smile from Ethan, who motioned for the warrior to rise.

"Let’s train a little. Show me everything you’ve got," Ethan said, twirling the sword in the air a few times to loosen his wrist.

Doran watched him hesitantly at first, but upon catching the resolute look on his master’s face, he wasted no time falling into stance.

He gripped the hilt firmly, the tip of his blade leveled straight at Ethan’s chest.

The instant Doran activated the fourth form of imperial fencing, Ethan unleashed the Lost Technique of the Crimson Blade.