The genuine customers who had nowhere to go stampeded towards his shop. The potion market for Step-0 potions had shut down, his was the only place that sold potions today. And Ewan took full advantage of it. The lack of discounts that became the usual for days drove away many customers, but most still bought his potions. These were consumables and his price was the norm after all. In the absence of any competition, it was already the best value for their Novas.
Those who understood the market—they lamented the end of the discount war. Those who didn’t—they waited for the other shops to counterattack with a better offer. Ewan ignored all this chatter and focused on the next bit of his plan.
First scenario—the sharks would keep offering discounts and maintain the status quo. The possibility for this was the lowest as it just gave Ewan the chance to repeat his strategy. They would suffer losses while he would monopolize the market.
Second scenario—they would copy him and buy out his stocks before setting up their shops. Since he was the first to end his discounts, it wouldn’t affect him at all if they did this. Business was business. Whether they bought his potions or anyone else did, as long as he earned Novas, it didn’t matter to him. And if they stopped once he lost his customer base, he could restart the discount war and this whole thing would go back to square one. Thus, the possibility of this happening was also low.
Third scenario—they would kill their discounts too and the chaotic market would settle down at the normal price. This was a white flag for Ewan. It meant they stopped fighting him and that he successfully broke into the potion market. He would retain a part of the customer base and the market share and would run his business in harmony with the other owners—he would become another shark, albeit an infant shark. And unless someone had a personal grudge with him, this had the highest probability.
There was a fourth scenario too that branched off the first scenario though. Once they predicted his plan of buying their stocks if they offered discounts, they could sell expired products and earn profit from the waste. But the possibility he assigned to this was nigh zero. These sharks didn’t reach the heights by being dumb. They wouldn’t risk their reputation on an off chance he would continue doing what he did. Those expired potions would ruin them if it reached even one genuine customer.
Yet, he overestimated their critical thinking and underestimated their desire for Novas. The next morning, as his ship sailed on the open ocean, a few shops sold potions at a heavy discount again. The act refreshed Ewan’s view on these sharks and showed him the error in his evaluation—not everyone who made it big in this market was sharp as a tack. They would rather earn some quick Novas and destroy their reputation than call for a compromise.
At least they were the minority, the majority chose the third scenario and struck a balance with Ewan—they accepted him in their pack. He already proved himself to be a worthy adversary, so there was no need to destroy each other when there was enough cake for everyone. And to respond in kind, he showed them a friendly gesture.
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Once the confirmation of the expired potions was in, he hired even more rogue Starons and blew up the issue. By the evening, the genuine customers who bought their potions also returned with their complaints. The mayhem piled up, and in a few hours, these shops closed their doors and removed their names from the trade market list—they were down and would remain so at least for some time.
The market share they owned was now for the taking. Ewan yielded these to the other sharks as his peace offering and pulled out from fishing for the free customers. It wrote off whatever damage he did during all this and wiped clean any hard feelings left. And as he wished, the end of the day hammered his position in the potion market.
……
Back on the ship.
Ewan lazed around on his bed, giving his weary soul some much needed rest. The conclusion in the hub eased his mind and relaxed his nerves. He didn’t have to prepare for those sharks’ moves anymore, he didn’t have to plan his retaliation—it all ended and in his favor. The smooth success of his plan brought a sense of exhilaration with it. He smiled and buried his face in the salty bed sheet, groaning in comfort as he stretched.
Nana was right, he indeed relished the sweet taste of success. Some number of unforeseen changes were interesting and kept his life spicy, but he loved it when each of his moves connected together to paint a beautiful picture of victory. It was worth all his pain, his struggles, and his loss.
“Congrats, Ewan.” He fist-bumped himself and applauded his win since no one else knew about it and drifted off to sleep on a happy note. The ship was still a day away from the destination—where they were exporting the boxes. Though the sailors and the captain were enough for the transaction, he also had to be there. If not for security, then for show. After all, he already rode the Ensil wagon.
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Status: Injured
Step-0 [9th Awakening]
Name: Ewan Ayres
Species: Human
Vitality: 2.0
Spirit: 18.6
Anima: [Fire – 18.6 | Ice – 18.6 | Blood – 18.6]
Astylinds: 4 [Potential: 0]
Rolling Cat [Toast]: Step-0 [9th 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-A]
Equipment: Common Clothes; Yurn [Neck Gaiter].
Storage: Journal; Elementalist—The Path of Anima [Subtype-Book]; Spellbook; Bloodlust [Spell]; Transmute [Spell]; Anima-Crystals [Novas Coins]; Obsidian Dagger; Hub-Connector; Ingredients.
Novas: 36,847
Crelith: 4,049