Chapter 2 - Merchant's Way

A Man looks toward a baby. "You shall be known as Charles."

As Charles grew up, he learned about his family business.

Merchants.

They were known for their greed and wealth.

Mike turns 18.

"Boy your old enough, now go." Charles's father looks at the boy.

"Yes Dad"

As he runs out of the house, he could be seen carrying a sack.

This sack had money inside, About 23 Gold.

He was going to follow through his Father's footsteps.

He makes it at the Grand Capital of Larvarth.

Larvarth was known for its culture.

And Culture could be used to make some insane Cash.

He would use the people to his advantage that he learnt from his father.

His first step would be, The location.

He would need a store to get started.

And to do that, he also needed connections.

He needed the right people, for the right job.

It took 5 weeks at his arrival at Larvarth and 20 Gold.

He finally found the perfect place, close to the main path, also next to the entrance. This would help him get customers, as he would make his store *Stand Out.

He Used his last three gold for merchandise, he brought from another merchant for goods.

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3 Days Later, Business started off slow.

But he made 5 Gold, this was enough for a normal family to live 4 months eating meat 3 times every day.

But this was simply the beginning for Charles Adventure, He had yet to explore this fascinating world, he currently only needed pocket money.

This world has a single currency.

Copper, Silver and Gold. There was Jewellery that people traded but that was different.

Each piece had a purity that decided its value. Another thing that could change its value was the colour.

For example, A Yellow Purity 30% would cost about 760 Gold, But if it was a Red Purity 30% the cost would be somewhere between 1000 gold to 2000 gold.

If a merchant found a Mine, they would without a doubt make thousands.

But most mines had 10-20% Purity inside them. The royalty would seize any about 50% purity, this was simply cruel, but such hasn't been found in ages.

But the Legendary 100% Purity, could be called a myth. There was stories about it glowing in the darky nights. Its shininess could make any soul blind.

Each cave had a purity. And I was only talking about a single stone, What if such a thing throughout the whole cave.

It would be simply cruel if the Royal family stole such a precious thing, They would silence just to keep its secret hidden.

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9 Months go past.

Charles was the talk of the city, He invented many things.

He was even given property as gifts to which he declined.

Selling them would take time, and he didn't have much of it.

He was ultimately preparing to leave, a merchant shouldn't stay in a single location long.

And his goal here was already finished a few months ago.

He had made enough money to live luxuries his whole life, ten times over.

He had gotten a 10X, it was bet but he pulled it off. Plus he knew nearly every single person in this city.

They all called him a friend, and to use that. He gave them a Fake discount which worked.

for instance, The Object he brought cost 1 copper, he would say this thing costs 2 silver and 3 copper. But for you 70 copper.

Many knew this tactic, but most didn't utilise it well enough. And as such they didn't make much profit, Plus the customer could potentially try to bring the price down.

As such the technique wasn't frequently used, but nonetheless he made a profit.

Even if he needed to use people, he was simply a Merchant.

As i leave the city, most of my True friends went to the exit and said their goodbyes.

Along with the Guards.

It seems that my reputation has grown too great, to the point everyone would try to make ties with Charles.

But he didn't want such things, he quickly left. This time he didn't rush to another City to continue his wealth grow.

Rather he wanted to check something important.

Dungeon Exploring, this itself was extremely dangerous. But the profits are bound to be juicy. Dungeons didn't always mean one needs to fight in them, rather there was two types known to the public.

One) Corpse Dungeons, you can sell corpses that you kill within these. And they usually sell decently well.

But the second one is more rare, also there was a even more rare thing within side, Cave Purity crystals. Its the same thing ive spoken about before.

These caves could be found outside the dungeons, but that becomes more rare and the purity would be very low. At most 5-8% not alot but the colour could make things different so they were still sought after.

Since its not within a hidden dungeon, most would've already been found. But there will always be things people haven't found. Also doesn't mean that they could randomly be created.

And Charles was going to try and look for these Dungeons.

2) Resource Dungeons, These Dungeons don't hold Creatures. You may find some outside or some that walked into them, but they don't respawn inside.

This was a gold mine, the probability of finding this was 1-1000 the odds can be seen. But there is still that chance. And a Merchant should take such chances.

Charles looked around the Larvarth for 1 week before giving up, it would be understandable if he found nothing valuable. After all this place is still standing after hundred years or so.

It may seem a extremely long time, but when there is so much to improve. It would take eons just to perfect them.

Them speaking about, reputation of the city, the income, and other important things. Charles needed to learn many things as knowledge was just too valuable to merchants.

At a very early age, his parents taught him maths. Well to be exact they needed to teach him to read and write.

.

4 Months of Searching, Nothing was found.

6 Months of Searching, 1 Empty Cave.

34 Months of Searching, 23 Empty Caves, 1 Elemental Cave.

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An elemental cave, it was made by heaven and earth. It was said that this cave can strengthen the body in some parts. It was not detailed how or what did the strengthening.

The only reason he could tell it was a elemental cave was because, the winds inside was not something a normal Resource cave would have.

When one things of the powerhouses of this world, they would leave and forget this cave existed. Or use it promote yourself to a higher title.

Charles thought of the ways he could use the cave to his advantage.

He was Extremely far away, The City was located in Grasslands. But the elemental cave was in the mountains. Moving large amounts was simply impossible or extremely hard.

He also couldn't leave it. Or he couldn't.

He had used a lot of his wealth to travel safely.

He took his time to study the mountain range. They had thousands of hills and mountains.

Charles made it his life to profit from this cave.

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2 Years go past, Charles is currently inside a city.

I walk outside, I look at the exit. It took 200 gold to plan. He needed tools.

He decided to settle down here, to make his actions not suspicious.

He brought Loads of staff (Sla*es) to 'manage his house'.

Charles had gotten familiar with everyone, because he needed to.

Everyone had a different character, it would be vital to ignore many people that would ruin this.

It turned dark.

He tooks his employees outside the city.

Obviously when moving with a large group some would speculate.

The guards reported him leaving, along with the number. When everything was reported they went back to work.

No one cared after they look at the large number of people leave.

Some rumours spread.

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Charles follows the path he remembers. He walks inside the cave.

He could hear gasps, and people getting shocked when he turned around.

"No one must know of this, Do you understand" Charles got nervous.

They all Nod quickly.

.

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2 Years go past, This plan of his was quietly done. It took forever to get it started. If anyone knew of this he would be chased by every force. They would try to kill him for knowledge.

He knew he couldn't simply sell them, it was impossible. Even the black-market couldn't be used.

Next step, Make his own market. He needed EVERYONE to know he had a SINGLE elemental stone. If someone steals it then its no longer in his hands. He could even potentially sell it without any problems.

Next come the after math, some would speculate and wonder if i found such a cave. They would probably follow me.

He needed to find a fake seller, he needed to find a person willing to give his own life for him. Most would never do such.

But there is sometimes that a case would appear, the offer i could give would mean that the 'persons family' would enjoy life. This was not difficult and could be fix with money.

Next came, after the after math. Now everyone things this mysterious buyer is me. What would they do after they know i would continue to get such treasure. He would need something to protect himself.

He could buy a warrior or something like that, but that would mean completely trusting in someone's strength. And as a merchant he needed a good eye. But that didn't mean he would use his life to gamble like that, He needed an Item.

A unique items can be found, but it takes luck.

He took most of this too heart.

And everything went his way.

He sold 2 pieces, The public that found out went crazy. I even got an invitation from a Royal Family.

It would be disrespectful to decline, but that was also a benefit. He was staying in a special location.

This city is different from the rest, this place doesn't hold nobility rather they are the same as normal civilians here with extra money. This place was known for its aggressors. Not submitting to a force.

Most who lived here were special people, or people who didn't wish to be apart of a kingdom.

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7 Pieces of elemental were sold, my image in the public grew.

I knew that things will continue to heat up, he even speculated that when he sold the 8th last piece.

He would go to war or something of the sort, Maybe i would need to run my whole life.

There was no way Charles could use the elemental stones, he had no talent.

And there was no thing that could improve talent. He simply got lucky.

He found tens of already explored caves, most were Corpse Dungeons and he couldn't get close.

He couldn't decide. In one hand he was already rich, on the other hand he was a merchant.

Would he give up his title to live normally, or would be continue his family legacy.

He didn't know how to decide so he continue to hold this stone.

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Charles has turned 76 Years old, He never sold the stone.

He never left the city either, no much has changed. When he stopped selling treasure to the public.

His image died and most forgot about him.

Plus he was too old to travel, He didn't have the good life he wanted.

Mostly because he was scared, as most would be.

Until his last breath, he held onto the elemental stone.

He never stopped questioning if he should keep or sell it.

And died with doubt

[Rebirth Complete.

Us Apart Granted.]