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Path to Prosperity - B2 Chapter 42
🕑 Added 2024-09-15 10:00:07 +0000 UTCThe brothers didn’t stay long in the Dragon Lair shop. They came early to talk to Percy and make sure that he was doing fine, but they had to leave for the morning training session.
Erik and Tarlek asked Percy to create Master Artifacts for them when he had the time and money to do so. Customized Elite Artifacts were already precious and hard to come by, but Master Artifacts were even harder to come by. Still, as future Imperials, the brothers were in need of better equipment. They received a monthly allowance from the crown, which would increase drastically once their status increased from Imperial prospects to full-fledged Imperials, but nobody could be certain how expensive Percy’s Master Artifacts would be.
Yet one thing was certain; Percy’s Artifacts would be cheaper and perfectly adjusted to Erik and Tarlek’s power. Though it was going to be a hassle to create Artifacts for Tarlek given his unique Ego. Percy had yet to figure out what to do to counter Tarlek’s Ego without weakening the Artifact or the Ego.
I don’t think their Tier has reached Master yet. The clash with the demons pushed my Tier up by several ranks, while the others didn’t improve. I should have roughly half a year if they’re pushing above and beyond to finish their Master Artifacts. That should be fine.
Percy nodded slowly, his eyes drifting to the stashes of Artifacts spread across the storage.
“Five Elite Artifacts and a batch of 37 Iron Artifacts,” He mumbled, “The Iron Artifacts are more valuable now, though. There are broadswords, sabers, spears, and several types of shields with different enchantments. The Elite Artifacts should earn 15 gold coins, just like the Artifacts. But with the production cost deducted, that is less than I wanted.”
Percy ruffled his hair while storing the goods in his spatial ring to return to the shop, where everything was placed orderly.
The Tiagro Sword netted more profit than the five Elite Artifacts together. But that’s no surprise. It was, by far, the best Artifact in the shop. [Mana Slash] is a great enchantment. What a shame that Bert’s silvron armaments didn’t reach the quality threshold to create another Artifact with [Mana Slash] or [Frostblade].
He cursed himself for being impatient and moved on. Once all items were placed, Louis and Sabrina came down from the second floor. Sabrina looked shaken, but her brother had already consoled her. She was trying to act strong, but the commotion must have triggered old memories.
“You can rest if you’re not feeling well today,” Percy offered, but the young Demi shook her head, “I can do it!”
Percy took her by the word with a nod and turned away to keep working.
“I will roam the streets to find some hidden treasures. Take care of the shop until I’m back.”
“Don’t worry, we will take care of the shop!” Louis announced proudly as Percy left.
***
Percy roamed through the capital's bustling streets, but his mind wasn’t where it was supposed to be.
What am I supposed to do about the Golden Koi? I cannot deal with them like I would deal with demons. Tearing them apart in the capital doesn’t sound like a smart plan. Is my warning good enough, or should I’ve made a better example out of the ruffians and the bribed guards?
A heavy sigh escaped his lips. He found some interesting vendors, including one where sweets and potions were sold. That reminded him of baker Leonhard as the stall owner reassured him that the sweets contained magical herbs and highly nutritious ingredients. Percy wasn’t poor anymore and didn’t spend too much money on sweets. He only purchased one bag of sweets instead of three.
The luminescent hue engulfing the viscous liquid of most potions from the same stall was too attractive to ignore. Percy purchased all potions, procuring a wide range of potions that could be further Ego-enhanced and sold for a fortune.
That wasn’t too bad!
Percy was rather satisfied with his negotiation skills, but his good mood was shattered the moment he arrived near the Golden Koi’s main establishment. It was the first time he had arrived before the Golden Koi, and it bothered him that the shop’s exterior was amazing.
First, the building had three floors, with a sign saying that there were two floors underground. Second, the exterior was covered in bright colors and rope enchanted with illumination enchantments to light up the shop and attract customers on the darkest nights. Last but not least, a massive statue of a golden koi was placed next to the entrance.
Either it was covered in gold, or the Golden Koi owner decided to waste even more money by pouring – only the devil knows how much – gold to make a statue of the Golden Koi’s mascot. Percy considered stealing it until his Ego considered it his property. He would devour it without leaving any evidence behind. It would be the perfect crime.
But he decided against it after a moment. Maybe it would work, but the chance of getting caught in the capital was too high.
Percy left with a sigh and turned back to return home after buying two decent weapons from a nearby stall. One of the weapons was a war axe, while the other was another Tiagro Sword. Their quality wasn’t marvelous, but it was good enough to enchant them properly.
At least my Ego is doing fine. I’m progressing fast enough, and my Tier will soon reach Elite-9. That and my fortune are nice. I should ignore my worries about my family background and the Golden Koi.
He clicked his tongue, thinking about the mystery of his family again, and returned home, where he enchanted the new addition of weapons with enchantments that cost around 100,000 Prosperity. Most of his remaining fortune was drained by upgrading the potions he’d purchased, but that was fine. Everything had been properly Ego-enhanced for customers to purchase.
It was only a matter of time before his investment would return with profit.
***
Against Percy’s expectations, the customer flow in the Dragon Lair didn’t deteriorate. On the contrary, more customers with bigger wallets found their way into his shop. Some were young and looked like the snobby heirs he’d encountered in the Wintermoon Estate, but they were weaker. Percy didn’t know much about the nobility in the capital and cared too little about the Kainesh Kingdom’s nobility to research them.
To sell his goods, it was enough to treat his customers with great care and kindness. He increased his pricing a little again, but not by much. Most younger Adventurers didn’t have many coins and would end up in dangerous situations in the Wilderness because they did not have the means for ample preparations. Percy hoped his Iron Artifacts could cover the lack of preparation to a certain degree.
It might not have been his responsibility to care for the Adventurers, but there was no need to increase his prices further. He was fine with the profit he earned, especially because his prices generated a loyal customer base of young men and women, whose power increased faster thanks to Percy’s Artifacts.
After visiting the Dragon Lair, their survivability and ways to earn more coins improved. Most were thankful enough to visit his shop again, where they paid more coins to purchase more and better equipment, which could only be purchased for twice the price elsewhere.
It had only been a few days after Bert’s last visit but most Iron Artifacts had already been sold. Even the Artifact made from Silvron had been sold. The War Axe was still in the shop, but many customers cast curious glances at the Artifact. It had been enchanted twice with both [Bleeding] and [Cleave].
The latter allowed the user to tear through his enemies with tremendous accumulated force, breaking powerful defenses like they were made out of paper, while the former prevented the target from regenerating his wounds easily. Healing from wounds with the [Bleeding] affliction would take more time and resources.
Still, the price was too much for most Adventurers. Not many Adventurers were tall and strong enough to wield the War Axe smoothly. Most would end up endangering their lives by using the large War Axe rather than terrorizing their enemies.
But that was fine. Percy was patient.
“Iron Artifacts are so much better than I expected,” One of the younger customers mumbled while his partner agreed, “The scrap from the Golden Koi is nothing compared to the Dragon Lair’s Iron Artifacts. There is no way Engraver Apprentices worked on these Iron Artifacts. The enchantments are perfectly adjusted.”
Another customer inspecting some potions perked up and asked the couple, “Did the Golden Koi retaliate against the Dragon Shop because of the Iron Artifacts? Are they afraid to lose out to the Dragon Lair?”
“Incident?” The couple asked.
“You didn’t hear…”
Percy didn’t stop the gossip in his shop. If anything, it was interesting to listen to.
His gossiping customers were the reason Percy found out that the Golden Koi had been given a hefty fine for disrupting other businesses and a Crimson Mark for hiring people to trash a rival shop. That was also how Percy discovered that the bridge guards escaped any punishment. At least none of the gossiping customers mentioned anything about bribed guards.
But a Crimson Mark was still better than nothing, even more so because the Golden Koi already had one Crimson Mark from an incident two years ago.
Crimson Marks were bad. Really bad.
All you needed was three Crimson Marks to lose everything you’ve worked for. The leases for all of your shops would be revoked, and the shop would be permanently closed. The owner and everyone responsible for the Crimson Marks would lose all their credentials in the capital and most major cities, and they would be blacklisted from establishing any business for a year, in most cases. However, the blacklist could also be extended to up to ten years, depending on the severity of actions that lead to the Crimson Mark.
The only worse option was an Obsidian Mark; one was enough to permanently put you out of business or have you investigated and ‘invited’ to the High Court.
Either way, Percy was rather satisfied with the result. Everything would be fine if the Golden Koi stopped bothering him. Even if they didn’t stop, all it took was one more Crimson Mark to take out the Golden Koi. That didn’t sound bad either.
Percy listened to the gossiping customers for a long time. He didn’t even notice when another familiar face entered the Dragon Lair.
He had been expecting Bert, but the young blacksmith wasn’t the familiar face in question.
Percy’s attention flickered to the door when the [Alarm] enchantment triggered. Someone with ill intentions had entered the room.
A groan escaped his lips.
“What are you doing here, Melissa?”
“I don’t want to be here, either,” Melissa asked in an annoyed tone.
“But it’s not like I can avoid this if you keep causing trouble in the capital!”
