Chapter 7 — A Missed Message

I walked down the stairs to see the shop was empty. Kate was sitting back, reading a book in a rather large leather desk chair we’d positioned behind the cash register for just that purpose.

“So, how was this hiking trip?” she asked, knowing my love of nature, if not the real reason I went.

“It was great, but not very restful. How have things been here?”

“Pretty busy like I was saying. You probably wouldn’t know, but Earth’s Bounty was featured in a local blog by some influencer, we’ve had an extra hundred people in each of the past two days.”

“That many?” My eyebrows went up, and I smiled. Chu-Ching! I of course knew what a blog was, Kate kept me up to date on that kind of thing, and… I mean it was the twenty-first century.

She grinned too, knowing my thoughts, “It’s been almost nonstop. We did what we normally do in a week almost every day you were gone.”

I sighed, feeling relaxed the way only surplus cash to cover the mortgage on the building could make me feel. I loved this place and had no intention of letting it go. Ever. “Do you think it will keep up?”

“With how many copycat bloggers, social media types, and travelers have been coming in? I think it will.”

The store had done alright, up months covering low months, but it wasn’t a cash cow by any means. Not when it sometimes took months to sell what I had shipped in. My saving grace was that I didn’t need much money, neither did Fren, and Kate’s salary was more than covered by what was left.

“Think we should change anything?”

“Nope. I organized some of the shelves that were selling well and wrote you a list of a few things I took the initiative to order.”

“You are a lifesaver.”

“I have been thinking…” Kate said while brushing a bit of hair behind one of her ears, “If you decided to sell stuff online, you could probably sell more than what we sell in here every day.” She finished by idly winding a finger through a strand of her bright red hair, brighter than every red jasper stone I had in the shop.

“Really,” I asked, truly surprised. “People would buy crystals and rocks sight unseen?” With my affinity for earth, I knew crystals held a small amount of increased power wizards called mana. I could imbue them with more, if I wanted to waste the effort and energy, even being in my presence would do it to some lesser extent. That mana imbued in them might draw some people towards certain stones, but you had to hold a rock to know if you liked it or not. Even a wizard would have to hold one to see if its inherent mana would be synergistic to their own and it would be suitable for a summoning spell or magical craft.

“Trust me, Etsy is flush with shops half as good as yours.”

Thoughts began to race in my mind. But I couldn’t run a website and an online store­—Like literally. A computer would die in moments if I tried to use it. Even around customers in the store, I had to focus and maintain control of my power so that I didn’t inadvertently break their phones and electronics. Kate had learned to leave hers out in her car after the third one had died in the shop. I knew she’d attempt an online shop and run it if I asked, but that felt too much like I needed the help, and I felt like she was already overworked with just the two of us running the store. Then again, Fren had said she was ready for growth. Maybe he knew what she’d been thinking about before telling me, or he had overheard her practicing what to say?

“You know how I am with computers,” I said, rubbing my chin.

Kate nodded knowingly, I watched as her shoulders drooped and she looked down at her discarded book.

“But if you really think it has a shot, we should try it. What if we became business partners? You could set up the website and take, say, fifty percent of all the online sales net revenue plus your hourly wage while you’re working in the shop. We already have the business and more rocks than we can sell now.”

Her eyes lit up, pupils widening with the idea of being partners, “You would let me start it, and be a partner?”

“Hell yeah. I mean you know the shop as well as I do. You help with all the computer stuff because electronics hate me, and I’m not too fond of them either. Plus, the longer I have your help the better this place will be. You’re literally priceless.”

Kate’s eyes darted about the shop, her book listing down in one arm, completely forgotten. Then I saw her confidence fall like a popped balloon. “I don’t know Cal. What if I’m wrong? I’m in a few business classes, but what do I really know?”

This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.

“Kate,” I said calmly, “If it fails, it fails. I’ll be out some money, you’ll be out some time, but it sounds like it’s worth a shot—but only if you want, we can pretend this conversation never happened if you prefer, and if it fails I’m not going to hold it against you.”

“Are you sure? I’ve… I’ve dreamed of doing something like this but… do you really think I could?

“I’m sure you could. I have a good hunch for these kinds of things,” I saw a bush sway in the corner out of Kate’s view and knew Fren agreed with the decision. Honestly, I wouldn’t have considered it since I couldn’t run it and wouldn’t want to burden Kate. I owed Fren one. With my mind being so distracted I probably wouldn’t have agreed to this without his nudge, and the truth was, it was a good idea.

Kate took a deep breath, holding it for a second before her smile returned, “Deal! I’ll start today—I’ll warn you though, it’s going to have some costs to start.”

“Let’s close the shop a little early tonight and we can meet and talk about it.”

It was worth it all to see the excitement on her face. I felt a little bad. I’d probably created a ton of work for her because I literally couldn’t do it, and she’d been working the past two days while I took a vacation and was on the schedule for the next few because I was supposed to be gone. I’d have to make sure I covered some more shifts or closed the shop early to give her time off. I would supply the initial funding, the store, space, and the merchandise, but I was basically going to make money off whatever she did without me having to do much beyond what I already had. I hoped the percentage she got after expenses would make it worthwhile. She would have the lion's share of making it work. Regardless, if anyone could do it—I thought it would be Kate.

While she pulled out a notepad and jumped to work on ideas, her red hair bouncing as she jotted down a ‘To Do’ list. I moseyed around the shop. We had wooden shelves on the walls, much like planter boxes on ladder-like A-frame stands, the shelf sections were also angled downward a few degrees to show off the wares inside without obstruction. Each wooden space held hundreds of stones. Gleaming spheres, rough stones, tumbled rocks and shaped crystals. Rose quartz, blue gleaming apatite, black obsidian, and various shades of fluorite just to name a few. Fren loved the shop too, at night he would sometimes come out to see the wares much as I did.

Meditating and working on my earth magic mastery while holding rocks from around the world clarified the nuances of my power and connection to stone and earth. Magic wasn’t a separate thing from the world. It was part of it. Life, death, fire, water, air, earth, light and dark and dozens of other firmamental powers. All of it was part of a greater whole which made up our world.

“I’ll be back soon,” I called to Kate. “I’m heading to Rex’s.” She waved without looking up from her notepad. She liked lists and organization, and, between her organizational craft, Fren’s love of and ability to make plants grow anywhere, and my skill and insight into quality crystals… the shop was truly something special.

I exited the front, the walk to the dojo wasn’t that far and it wouldn’t be any warmer if I took my jeep.

The front steps were large and well-worn, but somehow in better condition than those behind in the back alley, even though they were used more. The floor level of the shop was raised from the main road three or four feet. It was one of the few buildings like that in the run of adjacent storefronts, each built at different times and only vaguely in similar styles. From the sidewalk looking into my shop, you could only see the bright lights on the high ceiling, fiddle leaf branches which extended high over everything, their massive green leaves making it look like a jungle, along with more vines and creepers Fren artfully grew up the brickwork inside. There were also a few larger crystal pieces set in the corners of the window, it was enough to be intriguing and pull people in.

Foot traffic was lower this early in the day, and this time of the year in general. I got a few weird looks since I was in shorts and a slim sweater, but I ignored them. I focused my will, disregarding the cold and practicing my skills as I walked.

I saw Rex through the street front windows of his dojo and gym in his customary stance, with his arms folded behind his back as he strutted back and forth like a rooster. Rex was a former marine who had been trained in at least two fighting styles as a child. He was of Asian descent and had grown up in Hawaii. Somehow his military career in the Marines and mixed martial arts background had led to of all places, Boise Idaho.

His gym was his own and more geared towards quick self-defense fighting and fitness rather than ancient martial arts, though he did train in those as well. He even brought in others to teach various other skills for a month or two at a time. I’d heard a few of the younger kids in his classes were competitive in Jujitsu and UFC-style fight clubs within the city.

I liked the place when I could attend, because of the variety of practical skills Rex taught. Since his dojo and gym were on the same street as my shop, he’d given me a discount. I’d hooked him up with a few earthen gifts as well, and whenever he needed a coffee, he went to my shop.

“Cal,” Rex said as I walked in the door. “It’s been a few weeks, I thought you might have given up after that last session?”

Our last session had been, to put it mildly, brutal. As a class, we’d done skirmish after skirmish, one-vs-two or one-on-one for nearly two hours straight in street defensive combat. I’d had bruises and barely been able to get out of bed the next morning.

“You can’t get rid of me that easily,” I said, giving him a firm handshake. Despite having literally absorbed a monster core of magic that had increased my body, his handshake was firm enough that it felt like a threat. It wasn’t that he squeezed hard, it was simply how unyieldingly fixed and controlled it was. Rex was bald, clean-shaven and basically a walking muscle. Not large and bulky but lean and fast.

“I’m glad you made it today, but you missed the message that our normal class is paused today as we have a class for new arrivals starting in 15 minutes. You’re welcome to join in and help me train the new recruits.”

I nodded in agreement. I’d done the same before and had once been a new ‘recruit’ myself. Most would have no skill, and it would be simple forms I could help instruct them on, but you never knew. I went to a corner where he had a few free weights, bench presses, and normal gym accouterments and got busy with a quick workout on a rowing machine, losing myself as I warmed up, until I heard Rex call out.

“Alright, gather up!”