Chapter 16

As I lay on the floor wandering how this came to be, still gasping for air although my lungs had long been full, I heard a bell.

"Hello? Is anyone there? I saw the sign said you're open… Oh my god are you okay?! What happened?" A young lady, probably 15 years old, ran towards me while checking to make sure I was okay.

"I'm fine… sorry to worry you, I just wanted to see what it was like from the floor," I came up with the worst excuse in my lifetime. "What can I do for you?" I quickly changed the subject as I stood up awkwardly.

"…" the young girl looked flabbergasted, as she was unable to comprehend my logic.

"We offer pet training and have various monster parts for sale. Unfortunately, we haven't finished making our potions yet. But, please feel free to come back and buy them when you have the chance," I quickly advertised our store.

"Oh… I just came to look around… Are these the prices?!" She quickly asked upon looking at the shelves with monster parts.

"Yes, while it may seem expensive, everything is of great value and can help drastically when used properly," I had to convince her to buy, I wanted to finish the quest.

"I'm sorry I don't have enough money on me, I'll be on my way," She quickly ran out of the store.

'Damn, is their a way to change the prices? I don't want everyone to be scared to buy before we even get any customers. After all, who can tell the value of what we offer without buying it first?" I quickly questioned Jericho.

{The store is owned and managed by both Host Alaric and Host Phoebe, you may price everything at the value of your choice. But, I will warn the Host, the store is meant for the public, not the rich aristocrats, don't charge so high the public can't enjoy your store as well}

'I'll take it to heart' I quickly decided in my mind. After all, I'd prefer just selling to the people who needed it, versus those terrible aristocrats who made the society so overcome with social class and strength, that if you weren't rich, you had no chance of raising your strength.

I decided to wait for the next customer, to fully make use of my sales skills which had been used to convince people not kill me in the past when I was caught stealing. After all, what better thing to sell, than the value of your life. I sat at the sales counter with a smile on my face, ready to greet the next customer. Quickly, an hour passed with not a single customer. My face, had eventually grown tired of the smile and had reverted to my normal RBF (Resting Bitch Face).

RING

Finally, a customer had arrived. A younger man, around the age of 23 walked in, he had a black bowl cut, a thick unibrow, and a mole above his lip on the left side of his face. He was by all accounts, ugly. "Hello, may I ask what it is you're looking for, I'm sure I could help you,"

"Umm… ya, I'm looking for something that could help strengthen my Ghoul" He looked down dejectedly. Undead were a strong choice for beast tames, but they were also considered very ugly. This in turn, resulted in very little people contracting them.

"A Ghoul, if memory serves, should be an undead rotting type creature. Am I correct?"

"Yes"

"We happen to have a lot of undead items, from Draugr eyes, their heart, or we also have zombie components," I looked at him in curiosity, "What are you interested in?"

"Well, I need something to increase my ghouls speed and strength. What would you recommend?"

Upon thinking about it I answered "We currently have a Wood Ape brain, which can be used to increase your ghoul's intelligence and speed by a value of 1. While it's not as effective due to your ghoul not having the wood attribute, a Draugr Heart may be better. It'll increase your ghoul's strength by 4, health by 20, and stamina by 2; due to its undead attribute,"

"Hmmm… How much is the Draugr Heart?"

"It's 10 gold" While I could lower the price, it really is a great deal… any lower and I'd really be taking a loss.

"What's wrong with it?" He asked suspiciously.

"Nothing… in fact I can guarantee results. It's such a low price, as I'm just starting out and want to encourage customers to shop here," I came up with an explanation for the price hoping to get this sale.

"Okay, I'll take it. Remember if you are lying and this ends up being a false good, I'll report you and your store will be shut down while you'll be forced to pay a huge fine," He fished out ten gold coins as he warned me.

"Of coarse, please come back soon," I walked him to the exit and waved goodbye. While right now, I was putting in a lot of effort to sell my goods, I believed with time people would be begging to buy from me.

I sat and waited for the next customer until around 5:30 when two people walked in. It was two girls, both could be rated around a 6 from 1-10 in beauty. They walked to the counter and asked if we had pet training. I couldn't help but smile brightly.

"Of coarse we have pet training, may I ask what kind of pet you'd like to train?"

"I have a Fire Fox, and my friend here has a Water Turtle, how much would it cost to train them both?"

{Currently Host Store only has beginner training for Novice creatures below level 10. It costs 50 gold to train one beast and the price cannot be changed}

Upon hearing this I couldn't help thinking how I was likely to lose these customers, "It's 50 gold each,"

"Okay 50 gold… Wait gold? Only the best shops charge this much. Why is it so much? Is this a scam?" She looked upset at having wasted her time.

"I understand 50 gold is a lot but, if you're willing to trust me and try the service I guarantee you'll be satisfied," I really didn't want to let go of this 100 gold which could instantly transfer to 10 energy.

"And why should we trust you?"

"It's up to you if you want to trust me, but you'll be missing out if you don't,"

"Let's just do it, it's only 50 gold. Plus if he's lying we'll get our money back and shut down his store," the second girl jumped in.

They both left their pets with me which I took towards the back of the store, "When should we expect the training to be complete?" The first girl asked.

"They'll both be ready tomorrow, you can come by then to pick them up,"

"What? Tomorrow?! So you are a scammer! I'll report you immediately!" She began grabbing her phone from her pocket.

"Wait! I'm not a scammer! Please come by tomorrow and you'll see. If you're still not satisfied come tomorrow you can report me then. After all, it's not like I can just abandon my store,"

"He does make a valid point. Let's just trust it for now. But, if you are a scammer, come tomorrow you will regret it," She directed the last bit towards me as they left the store

{Quest Assigned: Alaric: The integrity of the store has been questioned. Train the two customers pets and raise their level to 8 while learning at least one new skill each; Time Limit: 24 hr}

{Reward for completing quest: Apprentice Body Cultivation method}