The sound of the city woke up Seth and he nearly immediately jumped out of bed. Life was precious and today Seth wanted to make every second count. He washed his teeth, got dressed and ate breakfast and before the sun had even risen, Seth was ready to face the day.
His mission only had 2 months and so Seth's main priority was to get the knife and cash out his reward. Today he was going to be asking previous employees about their experience inside and gain a better knowledge of the layout of the building.
Seth wanted to repeat what happened when he stole from the design store and the holographic layout of the building to reappear. It helped in too many ways and was a power Seth wanted to grasp, but before that, he needed to know if it was a fluke, so he tried his best to think of his flat layout.
The kitchen, the corridors, the bedroom: all were imagined and placed inside Seth's imagination. Their dimensions were rough but eventually, a blue outline was drawn inside a dark abyss. Here Seth wandered and moved almost like a spirit, floating wherever he wanted to be.
It seemed his evolution had helped in this power but realistically Seth had no idea how he gained it. There was no skill, he still only had the two so what was this?
Seth was starting to doubt the education he was already suspicious of. It seemed there were other powers outside of just skills that he had to worry about.
For now, Seth would have to act like nothing was different. Historia likely didn’t hold many secrets and such a well-maintained one was likely held only by the very top so Seth wrote the Baron off as an impossibility and moved on factoring that in.
Seth's goal today was some simple shopping. He needed to resupply on potions, and he would also send in his mana beacon to see where the safe was. It was a simple day, and so Seth immediately got started.
His first order of business was to find an alchemist and a good one at that. Seth could go and see the producer of the potions sold in top-end stores, but they would likely sell their potions for a high markup. No, what Seth wanted was to find an up-and-comer and attempt to recruit them to his organization.
In Babylon, he wanted to create a proper organization, not some grassroots organization like in Darter but one that had a guild hall and all the bells and whistles that came with it.
An alchemist was one of those and so Seth would need a good one.
Scouting the bustling marketplace Seth did notice somehow even more people had managed to squeeze into a smaller area. He was at the lower-class market square called Seller’s Row and Seth was feeling the pressure of thousands of people pushing and shoving each other in the name of low prices.
For any Professional buyer, this was a haven but for poor Seth, this place was a hell pit. Strange skills made him wander into stalls of items he had no need of and because he let his mind drift he suddenly felt the need for a coloured rug.
Skills here were used freely and with haste as money wasn’t made by doing nothing, at least this was true for the poor.
Seth eventually managed to find a potion store and with people grazing his shoulders he managed to get an idea of a potential target.
The seller was a woman, of neither tall nor short stature. Her smile radiated confidence and she seemed proud of the creations that lay on her table. Seth looked at these next.
Potions were usually judged by how clear they were, as in how transparent the liquid was. Water would look the same as a perfect quality potion and although you would expect this to cause confusion; a simple look at the mana content would immediately smoke out any fakes.
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Sleeping potions were usually silver in colour, thanks to an ingredient called a Silver Claw. These were the weapons of a beast from a foreign dungeon, and it was laced in a sleeping agent so strong these beasts were rumoured to be able to fight evolutions over what they should be able to.
Biology just favoured them. Humans did not and so they were now farmed on mass in controlled dungeons for untold riches.
Anyway, Seth was looking at the transparency of the potions and they seemed alright. A little silver glimmer every now and then but for the most part they seemed good, so Seth decided to buy one.
“How much?” Seth was still going to barter, he wasn’t dumb.
“50.” She said, “and no lower.”
“35,” Seth looked her in the eyes and since it was morning he noticed her stall’s permit had 4 hours left and she still had many potions left to sell. He knew he could get a good deal out of this.
“50.”
“35”
They both looked at each other and it seemed the woman thought for a while. “Fine, 35 it is.”
“No, 34. That's my new offer?”
“What? Are you a scammer? We both know the claw alone costs 20 gold and with your price, I’m hardly making anything at all.”
Seth chucked a bit, “and we both know `hardly anything at all` is still in the golds. Alchemists are anything but poor, now 34.”
Faking acceptance the woman gave up, whether she still made money was a secret only she knew.
“Fine, fine, fine you win, take it. But you better come back, that quality at that price is a deal you would only find here at Purple Flag Alchemists.”
Seth handed over the money and gained not only a potion but also a membership card. Whoever was doing this company's sales was quite innovative; Seth hadn’t seen loyalty schemes yet and so wanted to know who would have thought of such a good idea.
Noticing his fascination with the card, the blond woman explained to him. “I thought of it, pretty well, right? You get discounts for coming again and I get a loyal customer. A win-win for both parties.”
Now Seth was interested in her. Such skill in marketing and yet she still was an alchemist was a sign of her immense talent for alchemy, so he asked for a name and about the business.
Purple Flag Alchemists was actually a rented name used by unknown alchemists who wanted to sell under a proven banner. Buyers liked it more as quality was better controlled and sellers liked the immediate reputation gain that came from selling under it.
Alchemy was a very interesting business that Seth had studied when he was younger and so he knew a few things about it but for now, none of that mattered. All he needed to do was recruit the young madam, so he pitched his offer.
“Exclusive sales rights to active members. Now I’m sure I could tell you the whole contract but a signing with a guild is risk-free and opens up the opportunity for mountains of profit, so I’ll only tell you this.
The organization is new, we have no other sellers, and all members will be wealthy enough to be potential customers of your cheaper potions. All I ask of you is that we get constant availability of these potions. So what do you say?”
The woman, named Zena looked Seth dead in the eyes. Her green Iris’ looked deep into Seth’s and before Seth was about to ask for an answer she said, “Sure, I’m down. But I need a proper contract, or my parents won’t let this kind of thing slide. Names, Zena by the way. Figures if we are in business a name is always good.”
The woman was out of work mode, and it seemed she was a nice person. Hopefully, Seth didn’t need to tell her what his organisation would actually do.
Without wasting any time Seth returned to his home where he needed to pick up something for the next stage of his plan.
He could gain entry, and now he had the potion. Now he needed to find the safe so Seth grabbed a certain item from under his bed and returned outside. The mana beacon in necklace shape was looking up to be a good purchase and Seth now only needed it to gain entry into the Baron’s vault.
Last time it was a marriage contract, but this time Seth would need something new. This Baron was in tough times and needed money for his city, so Seth thought he could use that.
He made a letter informing the Baron that he was a wealthy Trader and that he would interested in giving the Baron some funds for some extra rights in his city. Be that a Tax-free pass, Seth included it all and he imagined this practice was likely pretty common.
To do this Seth was now in a post office and with a simple stamp he was ready to send it wherever he pleased. He wrote the address of the mansion and walked out with a smile on his face.
Being productive was oddly pleasing when the day was done, but death still loomed and so Seth continued on.
Dinner was usually eaten around this time and since Seth had spent a while walking today he was especially hungry, so he treated himself to some monster meat steak.
That and some alcohol made Seth a happy man as he made his way towards the tavern. Here he met with Rat and Mouse for a few drinks and Seth learned more about the political situation in Babylon. The Queen was apparently sick.