Place to Start
As the evening sun dipped below the mountains, Nikos stood outside the town walls, where flickering torches on the buildings cast a golden glow from afar.
As he approached the town gate, the sound of clanging hammers and the murmur of villagers going about their evening routines drifted on the gentle breeze.
In front of the gate, two knights in their armor stood guard. One was a beastkin with the features of a crocodile-man, and the other resembled a cat-man.
When Nikos reached the gate, the guards immediately blocked his way with their spears.
"Halt!" shouted one of the guards.
The crocodile-man glanced at Nikos's modest appearance.
"Do you have an identity sign, human?" he asked with a condescending tone.
"I'm sorry, sir knight. I don't have one, as this is my first time in this town."
"No one can pass through this town without an identity sign," the crocodile-man grinned at Nikos. "You need to pay a fee if you want to enter."
Nikos nodded, but before he could offer the pouch, the knight had already snatched it from him.
The cat-man knight beside him chuckled at his friend's action.
"Could you please leave some spare coins, sir knight? I don't have much left."
The crocodile-man kicked Nikos into the town, "Go in now, and don't forget your identity sign next time." He tossed the pouch to the ground. "Here, be grateful I'm in a good mood today. Have a pleasant stay, human."
Nikos bent down and picked up the pouch, now feeling much lighter. "May I know the names of you two knights, sir?" he asked with a smile.
The crocodile-man knight found Nikos's behavior amusing. "I'm Rander, and this one is Clawrend. Don't forget it, human peasant." He smirked broadly.
"Rander and Clawrend, I see. I'll be sure to remember you both," Nikos nodded to them with a smile, then walked away from the gate, moving deeper into the town.
Inside, the town was even more alive and bustling with activity. The scent of baking bread and roasting meats filled the air. Throughout the streets, many diverse creatures of different races mingled. Elves, dwarves, beastkin, humans, lizard-folk.
But the majority were beastkin. Is this town part of a beastkin kingdom?
He continued wandering through the streets until he found an empty alleyway and ducked in, disappearing from view for a few minutes. When he emerged, he wore different clothes, this time he wear those of an adventurer.
He wear light silver armor on his body and leather clothes underneath, with a medium-quality sword at his hip, a magic inventory bag, and lastly, he made sure to refill his pouch with a couple more gold coins.
With this, it'll be easier to blend in, and people will think twice before trying to rob me.
After that, Nikos continued to move towards a bustling market. He visited a small stall, bought some items, and asked for directions to an inn, which the seller happily pointed it out to him.
As the seller showed him the way to the inn, on the street, a human and a cat-woman in ragged clothes, wearing collar on their neck, stumbled and fell on the street, scattering their belongings.
A big, fat man walking in front of them turned around, "You stupid!" he berated them, raising his whip.
But before the man could strike, a tall knight from behind grabbed his arm. "Sir, under the law of the Varixia Kingdom, slave owners must treat their slaves better."
The man looked annoyed and pulled his arm away in irritation.
From the side of the street, Nikos observed the whole situation in clear. Right, this world is still in medieval times, and unfortunately, slavery is still practiced here.
They don't realize how much the practice hinders the entire kingdom's economic growth. Trading short-term gains for long-term downfall. Nikos shook his head and walked away toward the inn.
Upon reaching the inn, the sign outside showed a beer symbol and a bed. The lively atmosphere inside could be heard even from outside, and the air was filled with a delicious aroma mixed with the scent of alcohol.
As Nikos entered the inn, several eyes turned towards him with various expressions: curiosity, attraction, even suspicion.
But Nikos ignored them and walked confidently towards the innkeeper. "How much for the best room?"
"Ah– it's 1 gold coin per night, sir," replied the innkeeper, shaking her head as if coming out of a trance.
Nikos reached into his pouch and placed seven gold coins on the table. "Here, I'll take it for a week," he said with a smile.
"Please follow me, sir," the innkeeper guided him to the second floor, while occasionally stealing glances at him.
"Here's your room, sir," she said with a bashful smile. "Here's the key. If you need anything, please don't hesitate to call me." she then slowly left the room.
"Thank you."
Nikos looked around, examining the room thoroughly. After securing the key, he stepped out, locked the door, and went back to the streets to survey the market.
Nikos spent hours exploring the night market.
And by midnight, he returned to his room.
He sat at the table next to the window, where the night scenery of the town was beautifully presented.
He lit an oil lamp on the table and pulled out some papers to list his next strategy.
From his survey, Nikos gathered a lot of information about the market. And despite being a small town, it had a large number of adventurers. But most importantly, he learned about the prices of many products.
Through his survey of the markets, sellers, and the people, Nikos identified four products that were in high demand: Medium & High Purity Potions, Rare Materials, Scrolls, and Luxury Items.
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Main | > Merchant System < | Class | Inventory
--- Dimensional Shop
--- Blueprint Shop
1. Management
> Shop: None
> Revenue: 0
v Market Trends:
- Oakheart (Small Town) – Medium & High Purity Potion, Rare Materials, Scrolls, Luxury Item.
2. Production & Crafting
> Extract Blueprint: 0/0
> Experiment: 0/0
> Craft Product: 0/50
3. Contacts
> Contacts Profile: None
> Alliances: None
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For starter, this small town is called Oakheart, part of the Beastkin Kingdom of Varixia, and their currency is using coins that includes copper, silver, and gold coins.
The value of the currency was: 10 copper coins equal 1 silver coin. 20 silver coins equal 1 gold coin.
Nikos examined the market trends in the system. "Rare materials and luxury items are just short-term trends. I could sell the goods now, but the trends will immediately plummeting. It's not sustainable. On the other hand, potions and scrolls are necessities for this town, especially given the large number of adventurers residing here."
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2. Production & Crafting
> Extract Blueprint: 0/0
> Experiment: 0/0
> Craft Product: 0/50
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Nikos turned his attention to 'Production & Crafting'. He then pulled out a bunch of items from the magic inventory bag that he had bought in the market: mana potions, health potions, and scrolls.
In this town's market, 1 gold coin can get me 1 scroll or 2 potions.
"Scrolls itself is harder to make; the ingredients are very rare, and the one who makes the scrolls must have specific skills they need to transfer into the scrolls, like 'Fireball', 'Teleportation', etc. And I don't have any of those skills for now, so let's put that aside."
Nikos held the low-level mana potion he had bought from the market. "I have the skill 'Intermediate Blueprint Acquisition'. Should I put this in the system to activate 'Extract Blueprint'?" He then placed the potion into the system.
After that, the system interface changed.
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2. Production & Crafting
v Extract Blueprint:
- Mana Potion (1/3)
> Experiment: 0/0
> Craft Product: 0/50
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"I see," Nikos placed two more low-level mana potions.
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!Notification
<Acquiring Mana Potion Recipe>
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"This is just a mana potion? There's no 'low purity' in the title. Does this mean the purity level depends on the alchemist's skill?"
Nikos opened the recipe and found the materials needed were some simple herbs and ingredients. Luckily, he had some from the previous caravans.
"I'm sure are a lucky person," he grinned.
With all the ingredients laid out, he decided to test the system again.
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2. Production & Crafting
> Extract Blueprint: 0/0
> Experiment: 0/0
v Craft Product: 10/50
- Mana Potion (10) — 1%
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"Might as well test this 'Instant Crafting' skill."
— Instant Crafting
In mere seconds the process is finished.
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!Finish
Mana Potion x7 – Medium Purity
Mana Potion x3 – High Purity
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"This truly is instant, but I didn't get any low-purity potions. I wonder…" Nikos opened the skill descriptions to check it out.
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Instant Crafting
Skill Type: Crafting
Description: With this extraordinary skill, you can craft any items instantly (weapon, armor, potion, scroll, etc) bypassing their usual time.
Effects:
Instant Creation: Craft items in the blink of an eye. bypassing the usual time.
Unlimited Crafting: Craft as many items as you want, without any fatigue penalties. Minimum 50 items on each skill activation.
Perfect Craftsmanship: All crafted items are of the highest quality match the crafting skill of the user, with no chance of failure or imperfections. It also has a chance to boost the quality of the product.
Requirements:
Level: 30
Crafting Skill: Adept – Intermediate
Mana: 70
Cooldown: 1 hour
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"This is a big advantage," Nikos smiling at the description, but the smile didn't last for long.
"However, the problem right now is the market structure for these products. Potions are monopolized by a single player in this market, which is the 'Alchemist Association'. This means the entry barrier to the market is high since they have a bigger influence, and they will not let my business survive for long." Nikos paused.
"But on the other hand, the profit is just too big. Potions are a basic needs for adventurers to survive, and those who monopolize the market can set the price as high as they want. Plus, this product is highly sustainable."
"Should I choose scrolls instead? Play it safe? It's going to take much longer to produce scrolls," Nikos thought for a moment about all the possible paths, weighing their advantages and disadvantages. He shook his head as a sudden smirk appeared on his face. "Tch, what a funny thought. I want a comfortable life in this world, but that doesn't mean a cowardly one."
"It shouldn't be hard to gain some market share in a couple of months. Worst case scenario, if the Alchemist Association decides to hunt me down, I could just run away to another city if necessary."
"But all of that won't happen," Nikos's eyes turned sharp. "With the merchant system in my hand and some of my rusty skills, I have a chance to win this competition."
Nikos leaned back and looked outside the window towards the street.
Besides, this city is quite safe for medieval times and it's definitely not a bad place to start. "Then I guess it's decided; my first business will start in this town."
Now, what I need are workers and some fighters, and we're good to go.