Chapter 57: Expo

It had taken almost two hours to figure out how to get back, no thanks to Hades being unhelpful. He hadn't stopped hindering Zatanna from opening a portal to him directly, leaving him to figure it out on his own.

The answer was much easier than he thought, causing him to feel slightly embarrassed at his shortsightedness. He was a champion of Hades and by extension, the underworld.

How could a champion of the underworld not have access to his patrons domain. The title of champion came with the ability to exit and enter the underworld as he pleased.

After finally realizing it after different attempts, he had appeared in his living room behind a frantic Zatanna.

He was honestly disappointed that he didn't get a skill for it but that also meant that he didn't need to grind it seeing as how it was a one purpose ability.

It had taken him another hour to calm the flustered girl down enough to explain the situation.

He couldn't blame here for her worry though. He had literally disappeared in front of her while they were talking.

As much as he wanted to curse Hades for essentially kidnapping him, he couldn't argue with what came out of it. He wanted to test out soul magic but he wasn't interested in playing with his own soul so it was put on hold for the moment.

Upon his return, he had quickly moved on to other matters such as putting together more scrolls to stock up the shelf for when the company would finally launch.

He had a lot of fliers made and spread. He also had someone spread the word about it to the people of the city. The yakuza are surprisingly good at spreading information.

It made him think about how easy it would be to spread rumors about people if he ever really wanted to.

He also cheated a bit.

In each flier that was distributed, there was an invisible rune on its surface that had only one purpose; to incite the interest of anyone who looks at it.

Not too much to be abnormal but not too little to be insignificant. All is fair when it comes to business.

If you're not cheating you're not trying hard enough.

Even with all these steps take and preparations made, he didn't expect what had happened next.

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'I'm not complaining but how did things evolve to this?' Sora thought as he stared at the congregation seated in front of him.

A week ago, an invite was sent to Blume Corporation to attend the annual tech expo hosted in the city.

Apparently, one of the organizers of the event had come in contact with the flier and took it up for research.

Sora already had a company website made for added information about the scroll and its functions. That was enough to necessitate his participation in the expo.

There was only one problem.

They didn't expect the founder of the unopened company to be a kid. Apparently their research hadn't been thorough enough.

He had to ignore the weird stares he received as he sat on stage alongside others who waited to present their inventions.

Apparently it was against the rules for him to be allowed to exhibit since he was below 16. A short and private demonstration along with a minor touch of magic was able to convince them otherwise.

They set the rules so it was within their power to bend them a bit, though the dirty glances he got from one of the fellow presenters seemed a bit exaggerated.

He simply did what he normally did when insignificant people express their stupidity, he ignored it.

"…hat was a wonderful presentation! Let's give him a round of applause." The host said as the woman who just presented walked back to her seat, the audience applauding her.

He didn't really bother to pay attention to what she presented but judging by the reaction from the crowd, it was decent.

"Next up we have Makoto Sora with his own presentation! Don't let his age fool you. He's going to shock you all out of your seats." The host said, hyping the crowd for Sora's presentation.

He had been the one to privately review Sora's scroll invention and he had personally requested to be the one to call him to the stage.

Sora walked to the podium with a calm look on his face as the crowd mildly cheered. He would be lying if he said he wasn't a bit nervous.

Ever since his encounter with the lord of the underworld, he had invested some time in one of his under leveled but quite useful skill.

Art of the Mind. While it was no gamer's mind, it was sufficient in protecting his mind and also important, helping in keeping his calm.

The skill was currently at level 81, providing him an almost abnormal level of composure and calmness.

The part of him that felt nervous was too small to matter in his overall mindset. With a calm and collected face, he stood in front of the podium.

"I'm sure some of you are wondering what a little kid like me has to present. Some of you even want me to hurry up and leave the stage for the others to come up to present their work. I'll do us all a favor and keep this brief." He started bringing his scroll to his palm, causing the crowd to murmur at his weird introduction.

"You already know who I am but allow me to introduce myself properly. I am Makoto Sora and I am the founder of Blume Corporation." He said, placing the scroll face up on the podium as a holographic screen was projected into the air.

The crowd shook and murmured in awe and shock at the advance piece of technology. The presenters so far had projected their document works with their laptops and projectors but Sora knew what he wanted to achieve.

"I call this the scroll. It possesses the capabilities of a normal phone and so much more." He said as the holographic screen showed a mode of the scroll clearly for everyone to see.

"It is more advanced in the sense that it offers easier use and access to daily mobile activiti…" He spent the next five minutes lightly discussing the other features of the scroll such as the holographic feature which he currently displayed.

Unlike the others who spent their energy trying to draw eyes to their presentations, he let the scroll show itself for what it was.

Why would he need to turn it into a hunt when he could let them come to him.

"It is also collapsible for ease of storage." He said, finishing his explanation.

'[Mass Suggestion]!' He thought spreading his magic lightly.

"Starting next week, Blume Corporation will have its grand opening where our store will be open for you to purchase a scroll for yourself. You can go to our site for more information." Sora said, picking up the scroll as it stopped projecting.

He walked off the stage back to his seat with the same calm face he had kept all throughout his presentation.

'That should get them rushing in.' Sora thought as he took his seat in between his astonished fellow presenters as the crowd cheered loudly.

Zatanna was among the crowd, seated and cheering as much as the others were. Two other girls around her age sat beside her as they also cheered.

A question had occurred to him at one point, what did Zatanna do when he was out?

Surely she didn't spend all her time studying the grimoire. He had gotten his answer when he actually remembered to ask her.

She apparently made friends with some girls she met when she went shopping for clothes and ingredients a while back.

Though she could change her clothes with magic, what girl didn't like to go shopping.

Though there was no reason for her to come since he was the only one needed for the presentation, she still showed up and she wasn't alone.

He used analyze from the fairly short distance he was, making sure they were nobody he recognized before turning away from them.

He trusted Zatanna to pick her friends wisely and be able to handle herself with others but he wouldn't put it past Batman or someone else to pull something underhanded.

The rest of the expo was a bit underwhelming compared to Sora's outstanding invention but they couldn't just stop the expo at that.

The show must go on.

He ignored the dirty looks he got from those who had yet to present with a calm smile as the congregation separated for a quick break.

He had been asked many questions on his way off the stage, ranging from he expensive the scrolls were to what inspired it.

Answering some select questions, he made his way to an open area where the participants of the expo walked around leisurely, discussing and having fun.

He walked towards one of the nearby stands that had someone showing off some kind of drone. Beside the stand, a blonde woman stood in a dark blue jacket with a black top inside and black pants and boots of the same color.

"If I didn't know better I'd say you have too much time on your hands." Sora said as he approached the woman.

"What did you think of the presentation, Dinah?" He asked, stopping in front of her.