My carriage reached near the building complex.

It was the first construction in the park after the legacy reached Grade IV.

I built it right by the canal. Before the advancement, I didn't plan to build anything there, but the plans changed when Velvet Garden became the throne.

"It's quite beautiful," said Valentina as she looked at it. "It is," I replied.

It was not a requirement, but when Amellus showed me the blueprint. I couldn't help but fall in love with it.

The complex is built with elegant white marble and dark stone, with spacious courtyards with fountains and gardens.

Tall arched windows, carved columns, and engravings decorated the walls, blending beauty with the dangerous magic that infused them.

There are twelve four-story buildings, with a large seven-story building in the middle.

"Amellus had done a wonderful job. He even finished it within half a year," I said, impressed by what I was seeing. "He knew the importance of it," she replied.

It's going to be the third most important place after Velvet Garden and the college.

The carriage passed through an invisible boundary and entered the area of the complex.

Despite it being a very important building, there is no compound wall. That doesn't mean there is no security; there is, and it's tight.

It doesn't need a compound. In a year, it will have a natural boundary.

The carriage stopped, and we stepped out. Immediately, I smelled a faint, beautiful fragrance.

"I had not expected such small plants to release such a beautiful fragrance," said Valentina, looking at the small mist plants, which were covered in faint multicolored mist.

It is a place where the first planting of newly grown mist plants is carried out.

It had finished just yesterday.

All these plants are chosen specifically; they release a calming fragrance.

Not only that, but they will also reduce fatigue and stress.

That is not all, the water in the fountain came from the artifact. It will heal small injuries or afflictions one might have by drinking a few sips.

All these things are necessary because of the work people will do here.

"Master Silver," greeted Andrea; she is going to be responsible for it. It is an enormous responsibility; I am handing her the reins of the thing that will be the pillar of the Velvet Garden.

"Has everyone arrived?" I asked. "Yes," she replied. I nodded and walked toward the central building.

I looked around, and there was no one outside other than the guards.

There is heavy security for them. Many of which are hidden away from sight. This is going to be the economic and influence pillar of the dominion.

Soon we reached the central building, and I stepped inside into a grand hall.

It is filled with people, hundreds of them. Store owners and their artisans.

The complex is called Artisan Garden. The complex will be where they craft mist goods—the place, which is many times larger than the cramped places they used to work in the legacy.

There is a massive demand for mist goods, and it will continue to increase.

In half a year, we will open two stores; Velvet Garden will also reopen in a year.

This is the place where they will produce mist goods for each of them.

They will be of a quality surpassing what we have right now, because this place now has everything that will help them achieve that.

…

Irving Gagarin

"Lord Silver,"

We greeted and bowed in unison as Lord Silver stepped into the Grand Hall with Chief Valentina and Madam Andrea.

"Everyone," he replied, his eyes moving across the hall.

There are four hundred and twelve people here. All the store owners and their artisans are present; not a single person is absent.

"Today is a monumental day in the history of Velvet Garden and the dominion." He said and took a pause.

"The inauguration of Artisan's Garden, the place where you will work and collaborate without disturbance."

"There will be no restrictions on your creativity. I want you all to explore it, dig deeper into it to unearth gems that will make the world marvel."

We applauded; everyone wants that.

Madam Andrea has already told us that we will be much freer here and get a lot more essence to work with, but it's not without conditions.

Though there is a question on everyone's mind about how we will achieve it. Mist is only available in legacy.

Was.

The plants outside have mist around them as they did in legacy, which shouldn't have been possible. Unless they are using harvested emotion essence, but I heard it is wildly inefficient.

As the applause stopped, a delicate wooden box appeared in the hands of Madam Andrea.

She handed it to Lord Silver.

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"When the legacy advanced, I received a skill; the skill that will allow me to use the mist outside," he stated, and surprise appeared on the faces of many.

"It also lets others use mist outside the legacy," he added, and that surprise transformed into shock.

So, that's how the plants have mist.

The shock lasted only for a moment before a big smile appeared on the faces of all as we realised the massive implications.

Three months ago, we received an order to hire talented artisans. They also asked us what type of tools we would require for our craft.

We stated, and they brought it, like those dwarven furnaces from Valboldar.

All of them were brought here.

I thought they built this place to have tighter control over stores. They have changed many things, including binding us closer to Velvet Garden.

Now, the store owners couldn't even fire their employees without permission from Velvet Garden.

They have also assigned employees to grades, and we pay employees in that grade a defined amount. No normal store owner would accept such conditions, but everyone did.

This is Velvet Garden. If we couldn't accept it, we are more than welcome to leave.

Nobody wants to leave. They will not leave, even when conditions become tighter. This is a legacy; it provides the mist to artisans. No legacy in the world could do that.

People would kill for such an opportunity. We are the most fortunate to get it.

"These are rings that will let you use the mist in a compound," he stated and opened the box, revealing the red crystalline rings; not crystalline, but ruby.

"So, that's what those rings were for," said Eva softly, looking at those rings.

So, she is the one who forged them.

I am not surprised; she is a jeweller and a very talented one. She helped me tremendously; without her, it would have taken me years to make the improvement that I did.

I was scrutinizing the rings when each of them flew up from the box and moved toward us.

One stopped in front of me. I could see an emblem of Velvet Garden delicately carved into it, with my name and my store's name carved underneath it.

I looked for a moment before taking it into my hand and wearing it as Eva had done before me.

The moment I did, I felt the same connection with the mist that I do when I am in the legacy. Sensing that, a smile bloomed across my face.

I was admiring the ring and feeling it was giving me when two trainees walked toward us and began handing out the boxes bearing our store's emblem.

The man stopped beside me and handed me the delicate box.

"The box contains the mist access rings for the artisans working under you," Madam Andrea informed. I opened it and saw that it is filled with rings.

Unlike the ruby rings, which are given to store owners. These rings are made of emerald.

They too have emblems and names under them.

"I wish you all the best of luck and hope that you will work hard to produce pieces that the world will speak of for centuries," said Lord Silver, before walking away.

The moment he disappeared in front of us, the hall burst into noise.

"Dad," said my daughter; she didn't have to tell me what she wanted. I could tell it by her tone. So, I opened the box once more and handed her the ring.

"It really gives access to the mist!" she said as the multicolored mist bloomed out of the ring and she played with it.

"Master," said one of my apprentices, and I sighed. I wanted to do that after we went to our workshop and inspected it, but it is no longer possible.

Seeing that, I started calling names in the noise when they heard it, each stepped forward and began collecting their rings.

"Follow me," I said after I finished and led my apprentices toward the elevator, which would lead us to the underground. The place may be big on the outside, but just as big underground.

Only my blacksmith artisans followed; the carvers went with my daughter.

I was walking forward when a man appeared beside me. He, too, is leading his artisans toward the forge.

I sighed internally.

He was my most talented artisan, better at forging knives than I was.

It is why, three months ago. He separated and started his own store when Lord Silver offered.

A weapons store.

He is one of three artisans working in stores that have been given the amazing opportunity to start their own stores.

His store hasn't opened yet. It will be with the new Velvet Garden. Over the past three months, he recruited artisans and trained them in the mist.

Now, they are ready to forge the weapons.

I am surprised; it happened so late. I thought Lord Silver would start with weapons sooner, but he waited.

The mist goods are powerful; the enchantment done on them didn't wear off quickly. Given their value, few would craft them other than the forge legacies.

Now, Velvet is doing that, and I wonder what changes it's going to bring.

"It's quite hard to believe," said Halvern, looking at the ring. "It is," I replied with a smile.

I was sad when Legacy closed yesterday. I thought I would not be able to work with the mist for a year, but I was so very wrong.

I am happy, but I shouldn't be too quick to be.

Madam Andrea will convene an important meeting tomorrow. I don't know what it's about, but I could guess that it will be about the direction she wants us to move.

I heard a few things about the woman. First, she is tough, and second, she is capable.

She used to handle Lord Silver's business before he sold it and brought her back into the legacy.

A minute later, we stepped out of the elevator onto the bottommost floor and stepped toward the large bronze gate with visible enchantments.

The door cost a fortune. So, one could imagine what the thing inside must have cost.

There are guards at the door and more hidden; they opened the door, but didn't let us inside before checking our credentials and all our stuff.

"Clear," said the guard to me.

Learning the lesson from earlier, I activated Heat Resistance before stepping inside. Immediately, I felt the heat, powerful enough that a regular person wouldn't be able to bear it.

This is the heat after enchantments have done most of their work.

Every step would increase the heat until I reached the monstrously beautiful marvel.

"I still couldn't believe it; Lord Silver could get it. Even in merchant states, it's very hard for cities to get their hands on it," said Halvern, looking at the grand dwarven furnace with shining eyes.

A thing dwarves of Valboldar rarely sell.

In front of me is a towering structure that is as tall as three floors. It is a colossus of stone and metal, with a wide, circular basalt base locked together with heavy metal bands.

At its core lies a massive fire chamber large enough to melt an entire wagonload of ore or an ounce of yaltar iron, which is notoriously hard to melt.

The chamber feeds several small radial heating mouths, positioned around the furnace.

Each of these openings functions as a separate forge station. Allowing a total of forty-eight people to work on it at once.

Earlier, Madam Andrea had said she wants four shifts of forty people working on it as soon as possible. It costs a massive amount of money to run this furnace, and it couldn't be shut down.

If we go by four shifts, we will require nearly two hundred smiths.

In all stores, we do not have that, and not to mention, most smiths do not require such a furnace. A small modular one is more than enough for them.

It is why I am surprised that Lord Silver had even bought.

We could have done without it, but with it, we will work on every metal and gem. It made me very excited. So much so that I want to start immediately.

Instead, I turned to the people behind me.

Not all of them could work here; only nine of the smiths' world, but I brought the rest of the show it to them. Other smiths had done the same; I could see a few smiths from other stores had come here to see.

There are two blacksmith stores; two official blacksmith stores will be legacy, me and Halvern, but store owners like Ilmyr also have their own in-house blacksmiths.

To forge the frames for chandeliers and other things.

There are also blacksmith artists in the art collective and a few in other stores.

Even combining all, there wouldn't be over twenty capable blacksmiths working here in a whole day. Still, I know it wouldn't take long shifts to fill.

Everyone wants to work with Mist; I have to go through thousands of applications. They have not only come from the Empire and merchant states, but from all over Zenid and even other continents.

It is the allure of a legacy, and truthfully, we need them.

Aside from our own work for our stores, there is a huge order from the Mage Tower.

They want all smiths to work on it to finish it as soon as possible.

We have been taking their orders since the tower started building. The sheer amount of mist that had gone into those orders was insane.

Unlike the normal things we craft, those things require a certain amount and grade of mist in them.

Some things are so difficult that only Halvern and I craft them.

I pushed those thoughts away and focused on my smiths. "The furnace is a massive opportunity for us. A very few smiths get to work with such a furnace in their lives."

"So, you will use this opportunity to its fullest and craft things that will make even the god of smiths proud!" I said and walked toward my station.

Feeling excited like I had never felt before.