Free The Orb of Wrath (The Merchant's Destiny Book 1) by Nic Weissman

important to understand in detail what the limits of the use of the amulet were. In any case this was going to be, probably, the most useful object he had, considering his profession. He felt happy.
    Mithir rode beside him with a look of satisfaction. His "brother" was one of the least selfish people he had met, and was especially generous with him. He thought it was important and fair to get something of similar value to the magician. Mithir used to be interested in anything that would allow him to increase his knowledge, skill or mastery over magic. These objects were hard to get, or extremely expensive if you tried to buy them. But Erion would find a way to get something suitable for Mithir.
    They rode tirelessly throughout the day. They stopped just for a few minutes, a couple of times, so the horses could drink water in a stream, and eat some bread with raisins very quickly. They reached Talmyra shortly after nightfall. It was almost seven o'clock.
    “Maybe I still have time to get to the bank to make arrangements before they close,” Erion thought aloud.
    “Good idea. Hurry. See you later,” Mithir said with gestures.
    The magician left for The Green Dragon , his usual inn in that place. Erion quickened his pace, heading for the Lake Bank; the only bank in the city. They had some investments there for about three years, and maintained a close relationship with one of the deputy directors, named Zastur. As usual, in the bank they were convinced that Erion was a generous and kind-hearted merchant, who liked to devote part of his profits to help for the education and health of children in need. In addition, the young man was a good customer and, as he appeared only once every few weeks, didn't demand a lot of work. Erion always deposited and never withdrew money; in other words, the perfect client.
    Erion reached the gate of the bank at ten to seven. He tied the horse, took one of the saddlebags and went into the building after greeting the sheriff of the door. He went straight to Zastur's desk. He was alone, without customers, and was starting to collect his papers.
    “Welcome. I didn't know you were in the city,” Zastur greeted, standing up to greet him warmly and with genuine joy.
    The two men exchanged a brief routine conversation, where they told each other how they had been.
    “What can I do for a beloved customer?” Zastur asked.
    Erion pulled out a bag with money and began to explain what he wanted to do.
    “I'm here to make a deposit. As usual, use a third of the money to make a donation to the Hospice of the city,” Erion asked.
    In this place they gave meals to those who needed them, but most of the work was to take care of a hundred children living there as permanent residents. A cleric of the Order of Light visited the hospice during weekday mornings and provided basic education to the children.
    “Deposit the remaining money in my investment account, please,” he added.
    Mallash was the false identity he used to make all the deposits during their travels. That account carried out various investments in certain businesses, according to preset criteria that Erion had established.
    “I want to make a small change in the investment criteria,” he added.
    Erion asked to reduce the investments in saline by half, and increase investment in textile manufacturing, with the amount of the difference. Erion was always watching the developments in all sectors. His travels and his intelligence gave him a view of the evolution that things could have; although he could be wrong, he was usually right. Zastur was used to always make adjustments, as Erion took advantage of every visit to make any requests.
    Finally, the young man pulled out another bag with valuables from his saddlebag. After getting loot, he always carefully inspected the goods obtained and classified them into two groups. In the first, always scarce, he placed the goods that were untraceable or impossible to identify; for example, a gold bar, a