Over the next month, when changing the violent nature of Tigog Acrix proved unfeasible, Ewan switched to increasing his control, albeit with only Ryvia for now. When and if this material ever became his Varos, his medium of control would change. Nevertheless, the practice right now would still help him in the long run.
So, he added the training to his routine, giving it a chunk of his day, and spent the rest of his time on his Astylinds and brewing potions. Soon they all shattered the barrier and broke through to Level-9. The villa rumbled with their hubbub as they all cheered and hollered, even Frost melded into their celebration and howled a few.
Ewan also tried contacting Nana and left messages but there was no reply, she hadn’t connected to the hub for a while now. Her continuous absence kindled a thread of anxiety in him but since he could do nothing, he avoided worrying about it, at least he tried to.
Nana was strong, she could handle herself in a tough situation, he eased his mind with those words, however fragile they were against the reality. As long as she breathed to see another day though, no amount of harm would matter. Even if she lost all her Astylinds, he would find a way to let her advance.
He toughened his mind by planning for the worst-case scenario and avoided any negative thoughts, for he couldn’t afford any distractions right now. His collection of potions had reached a number good enough to break into the market, he reckoned. Any more and it would turn into hoarding without any profits, and the older potions would expire.
And so, armed with his marketing strategy that he chose after going through a small hill of books, he announced a ‘Buy One Get One Free’ for Anima Potions of Level-7 to 9 in the trade list and swung open the door of his shop, dusting and sweeping the façade, adjusting his title board. He was ready, his automated worker was ready, his huge batch of potions was ready. This was sink or swim for him. Either he would soar with the profits, or he would plunge to the rock bottom and lose it all. Since he burned all his Novas for this, sold whatever he could for the ingredients, he would have to resort to hunting if he failed.
…
…
…
Time passed and soon, as if to put Ewan out of his misery, a head-sized spirit blob hovered towards his door, hesitating at the doorstep, glancing at the name of the shop.
“Welcome to Brewed Awakening.” Ewan received the blob himself and invited him in. “Our shop is currently having a limited time sale; you buy one, you get one absolutely free with no extra charge. What level and element would you like to have, sir?”
“Do you have a lot of leftover stock?” The customer asked. “It won't be some expired stuff, right?”
“Definitely not, sir,” Ewan said. “This offer is for our re-opening celebration. It’ll only be valid for a small period.”
The spirit blob floated in his shop, gandering at the shelves. “Give me one for water-element, Level-8,” he said.
“Of course, that would be eighty Novas,” Ewan said and let the worker complete the transaction before handing the spirit blob two glass vials filled with cerulean liquid sloshing within their faceted walls.
“The price is same as other shops. How do you earn a profit with this?” the spirit blob asked.
“Profit isn’t our goal for the period of the offer, sir. But please rest assured, we run our shop honestly. We definitely won't cheat you with subpar quality,” Ewan said, his spirit blob radiating a glare of righteousness. He would’ve pumped his chest and raised his chin high if he could. “You try those two potions, and if you’re dissatisfied, you may never cross our doorstep again.”
A case of content theft: this narrative is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.
“We’ll see,” the spirit blob said.
“Here, this is your proof of purchase,” Ewan said and gave the blob a small certificate with his shop’s mark and his Pa’s insignia on it. He also coated it with a faint layer of Mystic-Anima in a unique pattern that could become his own fallback proof within a short period of time.
The spirit blob hovered away, and with that, Ewan’s first business was over with success.
…..
Business boomed in the next few days for Brewed-Awakening. The worker completed one transaction after another while the batch of prepared potions shrank. The once silent shop flamed up with indistinct clamors and hubbub. Many spirit blobs floated in his shop, waiting for their chance, while some lined up outside, waiting to get in—grumbling as they did. The only thing that limited the sale at this point was the overwhelmed automated worker.
The good quality of the potions, Ewan’s cordial welcomes, and the enticing offer, all led the buyers to spread his shop’s name in the hub. Soon the name ‘Brewed-Awakening’ and its offer of ‘Buy One Get One Free’ took the potion market by surprise and gobbled a chunk from others’ plates. The share for the high-level potions for Step-0 saw a steep change with more than half going over to Brewed-Awakening. The traffic on the hub shifted a little.
This was a volatile change sparked by the offer, however. If he showed weakness here and backed off, he would soon lose all of it and his business would go down. And so, he made his first move—remove the bottleneck that hindered the flow of customers.
He used the Novas that came in and bought ten different automated workers. Some attended to the customers at the counter, some welcomed them in. Some took care of the inventory at the back, while some entertained the ones hanging inside the shop. They needed to be comfortable within those walls and stay for a long time to brew a chance of transaction. Even if someone came to window shop, he could buy a potion or two if he remained in the shop for long and watched the shiny vials exchanging hands.
Business soared once again as the limitation went away. Soon Ewan had to transfer another huge batch of potions to continue the sale. While the workers took the stage, he backed off and worked on a strategy to keep as many shares of the market as possible. With the way his business rose, he could receive trouble any day now. So, his first plan was to water down the extent of damage as much as possible. One cheap and tested way to shoot any business down was to target its authenticity. Before anyone else could do it, Ewan did it himself, but in a much more controlled manner.
A couple of days later, a small group of spirit blobs hovered outside the shop, hollering, and yelling curses at Ewan for selling expired products.
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Status: Healthy
Step-0 [8th Awakening]
Name: Ewan Ayres
Species: Human
Vitality: 1.9
Spirit: 16.9
Anima: [Fire – 16.9 | Ice – 16.9 | Blood – 16.9]
Astylinds: 4 [Potential: 0]
Rolling Cat [Toast]: Step-0 [8th Awakening]
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Fire Monkey [Orange]: Step-0 [Level-9] [Grade-B]
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Imp [Frost]: Step-0 [Level-9] [Grade-B]
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Blood Lotus [Iris]: Step-0 [Level-9] [Grade-C]
Equipment: Common Clothes; Yurn [Neck Gaiter].
Storage: Journal; Elementalist—The Path of Anima [Subtype-Book]; Spellbook; Bloodlust [Spell]; Transmute [Spell]; Anima-Crystals; Obsidian Dagger; Hub-Connector; Ingredients.
Novas: 3640
Crelith: 4323