Arcane Innovator

I stood in the abandoned warehouse somewhere in the craftsman's district. The light from the few flickering torches cast long shadows across its rough, dilapidated walls. The scent of stale ale and damp wood permeated the air as I cautiously observed the small group of men before me.

The presence of an unfamiliar figure right beside Dominic made me even more guarded than I already was. 'Who is he?' I silently wondered while looking at the unassuming man. Still, I decided to let it be for now and focus on the others.

Although they all seemed slightly more cautious toward me, they didn't seem too bothered by my new status as an Aspirant, nor did they show me any respect for it, and I was fine with that... It actually made things a lot easier and more straightforward.

Dominic looked directly at me and said with a vicious-looking smile, "So you weren't a simple errand boy after all..."

I looked at him back and replied with a mysterious smile. "Well, of course not... How else could I become friends with an alchemist?"

Dominic was sizing me up for a while before finally bursting into laughter. "Hahaha! That's true. You got me good back then; I'll give you that..."

I couldn't help but smirk inwardly. 'It didn't even cross their minds that I was the one who made those potions in the first place...' I thought amusingly.

He then leaned forward, his smile disappearing from his face. "From now on, there won't be any more games... If you cross me in the future, there will be some very unpleasant consequences for you..."

My eyes narrowed as I listened to him while weighing my options. It was indeed a dangerous game that I was playing, one that could lead me to either riches beyond my wildest dreams or plunge me straight into a pit of treachery and deceit.

But before I had a chance to respond, he slipped back into his previous jovial mood as if nothing happened at all. "You wanted to talk with me?" He then spread out his arms theatrically. "So here I am!"

I could hear my heart pounding as I tried to steady my breathing. "Ehm," I cleared my throat and quickly gathered my thoughts.

I then looked at him with a courteous smile. "As you must already know, since you agreed to the meeting, my friend and I have created a new product..."

Dominic smirked as he took a small vial out of his pocket. Half of its contents were already gone, and the rest showed signs of severe degradation.

"You mean this, right?" He pointed at the vial before adding, "I had it appraised, you know... and it seems your friend's skills have somewhat numbed as this appears to be of a much lower quality, not to mention the weird taste..."

"As I have already mentioned to Sam, it's not about the quality but the fact that we now can make many of them," I replied smugly.

This prompted another round of laughter out of Dominic. "Hahaha! What's the point of having loads of them if the nobles won't buy..."

"That's why we lower their price and offer them to the commoners. They wouldn't care that the potions are a bit less efficient if they can save their lives..." I pointed out the main advantage of my plan.

Dominic widened his eyes. "When they made you into a mage, did they also drop you on your head? Why, by the gods, would we lower the price? This has been the biggest smash we ever had, and you want us to lower the price?"

I sighed as I realized this would be much more difficult than I initially anticipated. Dominic, as it seemed, had no education in basic economics. All he saw was the gold pile right before him, but he refused to see the even bigger pile of gold down the line if we implemented the economy of scale...

I threw a look at the merchant standing in the corner, who simply observed our exchange with a subtle smile playing on his lips, not saying anything.

I tried to make Dominic see the light a few more times, but I quickly realized that all my attempts were futile.

'I guess this puts a quick and unfortunate end to my original plan of working with Dominic to help me with the distribution and slowly transform my operations into a legitimate business…'

I couldn't help but furrow my brows as such an abrupt conclusion posed an important question - what to do now?

I won't abandon my plans as I have already invested too many resources, not to mention I didn't like relying solely on the black market or the people running it as it posed too much risk.

Thus, in the end, I simply decided to put him before a done deal as I was unwilling to compromise on this.

"You see… This is not negotiable. Now that my friend has become a true Alchemist, he wants to open his own Alchemist's workshop, so this matter is something that he is not willing to compromise on..."

Dominic instantly became alert, and he squinted his eyes at me. "That was not part of our deal..."

I looked straight into his eyes. "Well, it is now..."

"You think too much of yourself, boy..." He spat as he brandished a long hunting knife, pointing it at me.

"Are you sure you want to test me?" I said evenly as I flared my essence, making the air in the room crackle with static electricity.

This prompted the guards to instantly brandish their weapons, warily observing me, ready to strike at the slightest provocation.

'So what to do? Should I just kill him and be done with it?' I contemplated as I clenched my fists, mentally preparing for anything. But I was hesitant to make the first move as this could have unforeseeable circumstances, especially since a third party is present...

But before the situation could escalate further, the merchant, who was until now simply observing things, finally spoke.

He lazily raised his hand, trying to defuse the tense situation. "Gentlemen, let's not be hasty. I'm sure we can come to some mutually beneficial agreement..."

He attempted to appear amiable, but my gaze saw beyond the facade he was putting up. His shrewd gaze reminded me of a hawk eyeing its prey...

'This one is really dangerous,' I quickly realized. Dominic was also dangerous, but in a more straightforward way, so I knew what to expect. This merchant, however, always concealed his true thoughts behind a thick veil of politeness, leaving me in the dark about his real intentions.

But I couldn't deny that his words were quite effective. Dominic quickly sheathed his knife and signaled to the guards to do the same. It almost looked like he was Dominic's boss. However, it was not noticeable from the amicable way they were talking with each other.

'Never mind, that's not important right now...' All I wanted was to get this over with, as having to be constantly alert and ready for anything was very draining on my mind.

The merchant then turned his head toward me with a bright smile. "So please tell us what you have in mind?"

I exhaled with almost visible relief. 'Finally, we are getting somewhere...'

Since I resolved not to kill them all right now, which I gather would be a terrible decision as their organization must number dozens of people who would most likely want to exact revenge on me and my family - thus,I decided to put up an act and try to appease them.

I returned his smile, saying, "With the scale we're planning, it'll be impossible to hide who created the potions. So, we need to find a way to distribute them without the Alchemist Guild sniffing around..."

The merchant leaned closer, his voice a soft, honeyed whisper that dripped with both charm and threat. "Hmm, that is a very tall order, I must say... The Alchemist Guild is mighty and has eyes and ears all over the city..."

'Here we go,' I thought with a weary smile. I then looked him straight in the eyes and gave my offer.

"We can give the same amount of potions we were providing till now free of charge as a sign of appreciation for our ongoing partnership and the same amount on top of that for protecting our business from any meddling by the Alchemist Guild..."

The merchant threw a glance at Dominic, who was seething with anger beside us. "What do you say, my friend? Would that be acceptable?"

"Hmph!" Dominic scoffed as he regarded me with a calculating gaze. "Alright, I can agree to that... But try pulling such crap on me ever again, and you will wish you were never born..."

"Very well, we have a deal..." I said, my voice steady despite the uncertainty gnawing at my gut.

As we shook hands to seal the arrangement, I couldn't help but wonder if I had just made the proverbial deal with the devil.

We then parted ways. I hurried out of the building, wanting to be out of there as soon as possible. In front of the warehouse, I was once again forced to put the jute bag over my head and follow the pair of thugs into the dark, silent city.

It was almost dawn when I finally arrived home, but I was too distressed by the previous events to think about sleep right now. I was feeling both excited and nervous about the days to come. I managed to dodge a bullet back there as, at one point, it looked like things would turn south, but luckily, everything worked out fine.

I was happy with leaving things as they are for the time being. It was better dealing with the devil, you know, aka Dominic, than having someone else take his place, someone who might be even harder to deal with...