80. It’s Not Work if You Love What You Do

After trudging across the desert, the team sights the walled spirit coin farm. On the approach, Humphrey, Gabrielle, and Mose explain coin crystallisation, low-magic requirements, and the Magic Society’s political leverage. Jason questions economic ramifications and centralised control. They discuss Greenstone’s exports and how the Geller and Mercer families run most farms under regulation.

As Mose fixates on Jason being from another world, Jason deflects with humor. The group reviews why farms keep adventurers at a distance to avoid ambient magic fluctuations that could ruin batches. Humphrey notes that nearby monster spawns or volatile weather can still force losses.

At the gate, Phoebe returns with Ernest Geller and three heavy wagons carrying sand skimmers. While the skimmers are unloaded, Jason and Humphrey debate inherited authority and the line between benevolence and oppression, contrasting Geller practices with Mercer prospects under Thadwick. Humphrey insists on decency; Jason warns how real power sets the line.

Ernest takes charge, assigning skimmers for the outgoing shipment. Jason marvels at the vehicles and is denied buying one for lack of a matching essence ability. Stash, Humphrey’s familiar, returns from aerial scouting. The drivers power the skimmers with spirit coins, and the team speeds out over the sands, goggles on against the drying wind.

While riding, Jason and Humphrey trade banter. Jason then spots a larger skimmer with at least eight aboard veering toward them. Humphrey identifies raiders targeting the shipment. Jason, exhilarated, celebrates the imminent clash as sand pirates close in, setting the stage for a desert engagement.