Sword God in a World of Magic

The outside world didn't look much different from the basin. It basically only had fewer trees.

There was still a lot of snow everywhere, and the majority of trees were conifers.

One difference of note was the general changes of elevation. The basin had only had mountains around it, and the inside of the basin had been rather even.

In contrast, the outside had far more mountainous terrain. Hills stretched across the landscape, and Alex could see some mountains.

Alex hadn't been to Alaska on Earth, but he assumed that Alaska would look a bit like that.

In the distance, Alex saw a small village.

The village was built on the side of a hill, and he could see around 100 houses made of stone.

Obviously, it was a rather small village.

"That's Coldew Village. You can ask for directions to Warrior's Paradise there," the guard said.

"How did you know that I want to go to Warrior's Paradise?" Alex asked.

"The Duke wrote in his letter that you wanted to join his academy. By the way," the guard said as he remembered something. "You might want to stay at Coldew Village for a while and earn some money."

"Money? Why?" Alex asked.

"The yearly exams for the academy have only recently finished. You either need to wait about eleven months or get some money for a special exam."

Alex didn't like what he had just heard.

This really was bad timing.

"Money, huh?" Alex said.

The guard laughed. "Yep, money is always a problem. It doesn't matter how powerful you become or what job you have. You always need money," the guard said.

do I need?"

coins," the

"That doesn't sound like a lot," Alex

silver coin. 100 silver coins are

math, and he took

gold coins were equivalent

average, had cost around 20 cents on earth. So, five

pay around 10,000

was a

it so expensive?"

reasons," the guard answered. "First, the academy also needs money. Second, if you want the academy to hold a test for only one person, you better not be a weakling. Strong warriors can earn a lot of money rather easily. For them, getting the funds shouldn't

more money, and the more money you have, the less it's worth in your eyes. A weak warrior that can't earn any money will think that this is far too much money, but a strong warrior can deal with the expense," the

Alex nodded.

was actually quite a

the fact that he had to get so

go about earning

its Ice Wood. Ice Wood comes from a tree called the Dripping Cold Tree. The Dripping Cold Tree absorbs a lot of Mana and converts it to Ice Mana, which is then stored in

should get some of that

sled and a ton of Ice Wood. Transport it to Warrior's Paradise and sell it to

to get my hand on a ton of Ice

make issues. Ask the mayor for any troublesome beasts and

in thought and nodded. "That

answered, but then, he extended his right index finger to show that he

are a lot of bandits around. It's okay to kill a

early death because you feel pity for someone that

took a deep

on Earth

already killed a human before, and he had certainly not enjoyed

he thought about killing a human, but he knew that it was a

on strength alone, and such a

Alex kill someone for