Divine Beast Ascension

“Is that some sort of slogan?” Oliver chuckled quietly. “How often do you make such offers?”

“What?” Noticing that Oliver and Keldon were speaking secretly about what could be his own family, Leon tried to enter the conversation and turned his attention to them instead of the shelves.

“Just informing my new customer of what I offer,” Keldon chuckled. “Are you two going to be purchasing anything or is he just wasting time with my valuable merchandise?”

“We’ll get something...” grumbled Leon, searching for a cheap item that could actually be of use and worth purchasing.

Oliver took a moment to find and watch Pauller in the corner. The preteen gripped the large wooden sword with intent to kill, or at least his naive equivalent. He was more careful than Oliver had expected, making sure to stand at the center of the aisle and keep all nearby shelves at a distance out of reach of his swings.

Walking back to the counter, Oliver asked, “How much is the set?”

.....

“Two hundred gold. A bargain if you ask me,” remarked Keldon. “It only has an adept technique but the armor is perfect for novices and the customer receives a wooden longsword along with a real longsword. It’s the perfect bundle for any earth essence cultivator to get a headstart as a young child.

“By the way, Leon,” getting the young swordsman’s attention, Keldon added, “you should inform your grandfather that the price will go up.”

“HUH?! You’ve already–”

“I can only change my prices based on the supplier’s demands,” continued Keldon. “They’re raising the price due to the difficulty of requiring the herbs you’re after. Don’t blame me, blame the market.”

“Then why are the suppliers raising their price?” questioned Leon.

Shrugging, Keldon answered, “I’m not entirely sure but I’ve heard that they’re still able to retrieve the herbs, only with much more difficulty...”

“Which means they may be hiring some more security in order to procure the herbs without any losses,” deduced Oliver.

“Correct!” Glad to see Oliver thinking on his feet, Keldon added, “Which can only result in my prices going up as well. Sorry, even as an old family friend, I will no longer be able to charge under one hundred gold per batch...”

“... Then how much will it cost us?” Leon asked, taking a moment to calm himself.

“One hundred and twenty gold. But that price may rise if the suppliers face more difficulties...”

“Any idea on what sort of difficulties may arise?” Oliver asked, getting a grin from the merchant.

“Well... I can’t think of any off the top of my head...” Suddenly, a gold coin was flicked into the air. Leon was startled the most as Keldon clutched the coin and stored it immediately. “This is only rumors but the suppliers may be facing an outside threat when trying to harvest the herbs. Since it’s a rare medicinal ingredient from the Taltin Mountains, the threat could be anything; beasts, natural disasters...”

“Thieves?”

“Or that...” Keldon shrugged, winking to Oliver who threw up another gold coin. “Given the demand of the herb, it’s a viable target for thieves and bandits. And should one of the underground thieves guilds target the herb, claiming it will be quite difficult...”

“How come the thieves don’t simply take all the herbs from the mountain?” asked Oliver.

“That’s not as profitable. The herb needs a special receptacle to store it and a skilled herbalist to harvest properly. But those expenses are unnecessary if you just lie in wait to steal from those who do attempt to harvest the herb.

“All-in-all, the cost has gone up beyond my control and could continue to fluctuate in the near future. So, please, inform Hurman of the changes.”

“... Can’t you please–”

“Kid, I’m doing you a great favor but you fail to realize that. Remember the high prices those lesser-known stores offered you? I’m already making no gain from this while giving you a guaranteed product, unlike the others who could offer you a defective batch for three, four, or five times my price,” reasoned Keldon, glaring seriously at Leon.

“Right... Sorry...” Taking another deep breath, Leon blinked and recalled his price hunt long ago. Bowing, Leon calmed down. “Please forgive my outburst.”

“Consider yourself forgiven... Now purchase something or take the sword from your brother.”

“I’ll take one of those.” Oli slammed down five gold while pointing to the end of the counter.

“Oh... You have good tastes!” Keldon sauntered to the side and picked up a longsword mounted over the countertop. “It may not be anything special, but you can consider this beauty as a perfect weapon for any non-cultivator and early-novices alike. But why would you need this?”

Oliver picked up the sword, liking how balanced it felt in his hand. Satisfied, Oliver shouted, “Pauller, come here!”

At top speed, Pauller carefully put the wooden longsword to his side and raced to the back counter. “What is it, Oliver?! What– Whoa!”

“You like it?”

“YEAH!”

“Then consider it a gift for getting me a place to stay,” stated Oliver, causing Leon’s jaw to drop and Keldon’s lips to arc upward.

“REALLY?! THANK YOU, OLIVER!”

“But you’ll need to put away the wooden one first. Now you don’t have a reason to use any wares you haven’t paid for.”

“Okay!”

Pauller zipped back to the display and carefully returned the wooden sword to its proper place. The moment Pauller came back, Oliver tossed the sword to Pauller, curious how the little guy would catch such a heavy sword after countless hours of playing with a wooden mock-up.

The preteen successfully caught it but barely kept the blade from clanging into the wooden floor. It was much heavier than the wooden counterpart and Pauller found out the hard way. Yet Pauller gladly gripped the long hilt and stared at the longsword with more enthusiasm than his shouts could contain.