The next morning Ethan visited the central market near the mage guild hall The plaza bustled with merchants selling potions scrolls crystals and strange fruits that glowed faintly with their own light A crowd surrounded a young fire mage who demonstrated fireball spells by launching them at clay targets The blasts were impressive but Ethan studied not the flames but the mage himself His breathing rate His mana output His exhaustion curve He saw the business model behind every explosion

After the show ended Ethan approached the fire mage and asked how long he could keep casting at that intensity The mage said maybe twenty minutes before he needed a full hour of rest Ethan nodded then asked if he had ever delivered items with fireballs The mage laughed thinking it a joke Ethan clarified He was imagining a quick heat delivery service Melt frozen locks in winter light distant signal pyres cook food on demand The mage stared at him as if he had revealed a secret spell

Ethan introduced himself as someone interested in building a house for innovation He explained the concept of founders investors and accelerators without using too many strange words The fire mage listened trying to grasp each idea Ethan explained that powerful magic was not enough What mattered was turning magic into predictable repeatable scalable value The fire mage finally said his name was Toren and he would like to hear more

Ethan led Toren to the inn where they sat at a wooden table He laid out three pieces of parchment One showed a simple funnel of problem solution customer and value One showed a rough chart of mana supply versus spell fatigue One showed a potential model for fireball based services Toren stared in awe as if Ethan were performing a miracle Ethan explained that innovation was its own kind of magic a force that changed the rules of the world

A second person approached the table A summoner carrying a half asleep creature that looked like a tiny horned fox The summoner said he overheard the conversation He asked whether summoning could be used for delivery or transport Ethan almost smiled He explained that in his world companies used drones small flying machines to carry packages Summoning creatures might do similar work but with training and system design The summoner introduced himself as Lira She insisted she could train summon beasts with consistent routes

Within an hour Ethan had two potential founders sitting with him taking notes trying to understand unit cost burn rate customer segment and market size He realized he had started an accelerator without a building without a staff and without capital But the founders did not know that In their eyes he carried the aura of someone who understood the future

Later that day Ethan brought them to an abandoned warehouse near the river It was dusty dark and full of broken crates but it had space Ethan declared this place the seed of ArcSpark Accelerator Toren and Lira looked unsure but Ethan spoke with calm conviction telling them every great venture began in a garage or a forgotten corner of the world They believed him because he believed in the structure he was creating

Ethan spent the afternoon teaching them the basics of pitching He guided them through describing a problem clearly He made them define the value their magic created He asked them to calculate their mana consumption in predictable numbers which made Toren sweat more than his fireballs The summoner Lira listened quietly and took notes faster than Ethan expected She asked sharp questions about customer retention and route stability Ethan felt a thrill founders were forming

By sunset Ethan wrote a set of rules on the warehouse wall A ninety day cycle weekly demos shared learning open innovation honest progress metrics and seven percent equity in exchange for his guidance Toren asked what equity meant Ethan explained ownership as simply as he could which led to ten minutes of them arguing whether ownership could be stored in a crystal He told them no but he loved their questions

When night fell Ethan looked over the dark river shadows dancing on the water He felt the old feeling again the thrill of building something new of standing at the start of an impossible journey In Silicon Valley ideas died quickly but here even a small idea could shake an entire kingdom He whispered ArcSpark is alive

Tomorrow he would find more founders
Tomorrow the accelerator would grow
And soon this world would learn the meaning of innovation