The Asshai's Bloodmage

 The front of the Bank exuded wealth, not only is it one of the best architectures in the city, but it also contains gold throughout almost the entire structure. I guess no matter how rich the future Iron Bank of Braavos was, they can never surpass all the blood gold that Valyria has. And when I say bloody gold, I mean the poor slaves digging 24 hours a day in the depths of the 14 flames, dying not only from exhaustion, but also devoured by bloodworms or burned alive for digging in the wrong place. According to what I remember, there are even reports of slaves' feet always being raw due to the high temperature under their feet. It can be said that the disaster about to happen is karma brought about by the greed of the 40 ruling families.

 As soon as we enter the Bank, a beautiful and well-dressed receptionist welcomes us, she asks what the reason for the visit is and as soon as we say the word "loan" she gives us a sheet to fill out. On the sheet they ask for our names, social classes, assets owned by us or our family and of course, the amount of the loan and its reason.

We decided to order high hoping to receive at least half. Omar asks for 500 gold coins and I ask for 200, of course the only reason for this is because I fill in saying that I already own half of the sailboat Caçador de Ventos and I currently have around 40 coins in my possession. I don't have it yet, but I will have it tomorrow thanks to Magnus the loan shark. The girl comes back 5 minutes later and takes the sheets, she asks us to wait 20 minutes while an employee checks our possessions at the city hall building on the same street. When she takes a look at the file and sees Omar's name, her once polite behavior now almost becomes sycophantic, she asks if we want something to eat or drink. Omar, maintaining his wasteful style as the son of a Lord, orders a glass of wine and some light snacks and I order a cold juice, this type of cold and common drink is consumed daily along with cold beer due to the climate of the lands of always summer in Valyria. When we are drinking our drinks and eating the snacks, which are boiled eggs similar to quail eggs, and fried puff pastry, I take the opportunity to read the details of the storage bag by clicking on the (+) that appeared in my system.

[Shadow Storage Bag]

{Details} +

[A pouch made by Umbromancers of Asshai, created from the organs and skin of a creature born in the Land of Shadows.]

The bag contains a small compacted shadow space and was carved with 3 spells:

-Gloomy Compression+

-Blood Binding +

-Blood Tracking +

[The craftsman cannot be identified]

 This confirms my thoughts that stealing this type of bag would not work, according to the description of the spells in (+), Blood Bond means that only the owner of the bag can use it, as long as he lives of course. And tracking allows the owner to always know where the bag went, not an exact location, but a kind of general direction. As for the first spell, it seems to be something capable of stabilizing what I assume is already existing space. If I'm not wrong, the pouch is made from the stomach of some creature capable of eating more than its size appears. This makes me scared and excited at the same time! I find confirmation that magical spells really exist and even traces of a creature never before seen by readers of the world of Ice and Fire!

 Another detail that excited me is that the two blood spells are from the Blood Mage profession. I don't understand what difference the word office has in the context of a Blood Mage, but I hope to learn that when I move to Asshai. One last important detail is my system's ability to break this connection... This leaves me with more options to complete this mission.

 The man from city hall returns and we are taken to a new room, this time separately. I find an old, bearded man wearing an extremely luxurious suit, he stands up momentarily to greet me before sitting down again, his violet eyes flick over my sheet of documents before turning to me and he says:

"Mister Rafael, good afternoon, I am one of the managers of this branch, you can call me Anton, I must inform you that the sailboat you mentioned is not in your name or that of your partner, the sale and documents have not yet been transferred?"

I nod in affirmation and he continues:

"Alright, I'll ask for confirmation again tomorrow, but we can proceed with your loan application. The house in your father's name has been appraised at 7 gold coins, and the shop also in your name has been appraised at 14 gold coins. If we include your 50% stake in Windchaser, that adds up to another 40 gold coins. That's barely enough to cover a loan of 60-80 gold coins. I'm afraid we'll have to disappoint you this time. If your partner becomes your guarantor, we can extend it to 90 gold coins, but seeing as he's also taking out even larger loans, even that would be a bit difficult for us…"

He remains silent and does not go into details, at this point he is waiting to see if I am confident not only in making money, but also in paying off my debts. So I take a deep breath and begin:

—In addition to the listed possessions, I have a little over 30 gold coins with me, and another 30 in goods that will be sent and sold to Asshai. This will bring me a profit three times the value of the cargo we are going to take, I plan to then use all this profit to bring items from Asshai itself and resell them again, doubling or even tripling my earnings, all in a period of 1 and a half years making this trip. By the time we return from Asshai, our second ship should be built if your loan is granted to us, allowing us to make the trip again, this time with twice the cargo. But of course, trips like this are dangerous and nothing is guaranteed, the risks are also high. That is why I have my plan B, which includes creating 2 other segments, one in the mercenary and another in a water transport company. Don't think that transporting water is that simple, we have a new method that will allow us to remove salt from the water and thereby earn great profits by creating the headquarters of this company very close to the city of shadows, but for these two plans I need the full loan. I am confident in my new salt removal technique, and with that, I would even put my life as collateral for this loan. 

I finish speaking and wait for his answer, I could see his eyes widen when I use my life as collateral. The desalination technique must not be something so strange for the Valyrians who are so advanced in various technologies and metallurgy, but they must have considered the costs too high even with the use of their advanced magic/metallurgy. Of course, I don't plan on doing this on a large scale, but just enough to survive and earn a little money when we get to Asshai where water is a problem, the mercenary company is just a shell scheme to make more money from the bank, what about using my own life? Who will be alive to collect it?

"Hmm... you would create the mercenary company to protect your own trade fleet, it makes sense. Some companies use this method to save costs and over time, the fame of these companies increases bringing in their own extra income. I will accept your request using my authority, you must pay the 200 coins in 1 year and a half with an interest of 150 coins. If you do not pay after 3 months of the deadline, we will confiscate everything in your name to pay off the initial debt and if it is not enough, you and your father will also be enslaved. If you agree, we can proceed and sign the documents." 

As expected from an official representing a government of slave owners. They make a father pay for the sins of his son even without his opinion. I agree and quickly start signing the papers.

"Your bank account has been created. We do not allow withdrawals of such high amounts after 5:00 p.m. You can go to the cashier and withdraw a maximum of 50 coins today and come back tomorrow to withdraw the rest." I thank the old man and return to the VIP room where Omar is already waiting for me. I ask if he got the full amount and he says yes. In response, I confirm that mine went well too. We go to the cashier to withdraw our withdrawal limits, which we will need to start supplying the ship, hiring the crew and buying everything we need most urgently. Suddenly, I see some employees running around and whispering about 2 big VIPs.

I look at the entrance of the Bank and see a man who looks like a copy of Omar, only older and more robust. He wears armor with a symbol on the chest of an extremely detailed and vivid seahorse. He is followed by some servants and knights. Not far from him, at the other entrance, I see a woman dressed all in red with a veil over her face, showing only her violet eyes and silver-white hair curled in a very beautiful hairstyle that would remind me of a bride ready for her wedding. Even seeing only her eyes, you can see that the middle-aged woman is extremely beautiful, even by Valyrian beauty standards. Her body and curves are a bombshell, impossible not to look at, even through the barely revealing red clothes. Her gestures and laughter, as she approaches the man dressed in the seahorse armor, are like a succubus exuding her charms. All the male employees, and even some of the female ones, can't take their eyes off her.

I snap out of my trance when the old man in armor waves in the direction of our cashier and Omar waves his hand, bowing slightly in return. The woman looks in our direction before also waving to Omar who is left speechless by the sudden wave of such a hot figure. Before I can move towards the exit, pulling Omar still in a trance, I see the woman's eyes look at me until I leave the bank exit. Her seductive eyes forming a visual smile watch me all the way to the exit, but what I feel when being admired by such beauty is not happiness, but rather a chill down my spine that only goes away when we leave the Bank.

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