42 Advertising (1/2)
Li and Iona spent most of the day uneventfully tending to the stall. As the sun began to set and the summery weather gave way to cool night breezes and pale starlight, he figured they had accomplished enough for their first day. He had finished three batches of [Restoration], using all the milk poppy flowers he had grown from the week before.
A few nearby farmers had come by to pickup the [Restoration], and Charles and his crew also took a few elixirs before they left, congratulating Li on the stall's opening and riding away right before sunset. Li had taken the time to also train Iona's personability through example.
The few elixirs of [Restoration] they sold was due to his efforts at the counter, calling out to the occasional limping townsman, making small talk with them, and then recommending his product with a fake but warm enough smile.
Many of them were at awe of Li and his foreignness, but thankfully, it seemed to help him. They believed the elixirs to be of exotic and ancient eastern make, and they were more than willing to pay for a means to cure their ills.
But at the end of the day, the stall hadn't sold as much as he would have hoped.
”Good work,” said Li to Iona as he used a wet rag to clean up the work table.
”Thank you, O guardian.” Iona also started to close down the stall, putting away their purification equipment after giving it all a thorough scrub in a bucket of cleansing water. ”Shall I assist you at the same time tomorrow?”
Li gave her a curt nod.
”Things shall bloom soon enough,” said Iona hopefully. ”It is as you said – we merely wait for word to spread.”
”Still doesn't feel great. I know it's silly, but I imagined a grand opening sort of deal.” Li shrugged as he began to put the elixirs on display under the counter, in their storage. ”But not everything has to start with a bang, I guess.”
Li froze and tilted his head. He could fear footsteps. Not unusual despite the hour, but there were far too many. Iona noticed and came to Li's side, peeking her head out the display window.
”Adventurers?” Her already pale face blanched even more, standing out as a sheet of white in the darkening night. ”They have come for me, yes, I am sure.”
Sure enough, there was a crowd walking up the main road. There must have been over two dozen people, all adventurers, armed with swords, shields, bows, staves, and garbed in leathers or armors. A few of them carried torches to light the way.
Li stuck his head out the window and narrowed his eyes. Because he was in his human form, he had to consciously activate his superhuman senses, and when he did, he blinked.
”Old man?” he wondered aloud.
Sure enough, Old Thane was there at the front of it all, a wide smile plastered on his faces as his wrinkled creased in laughter.
Li understood what was happening. ”Old Thane, you are a blessing.” He motioned to Iona. ”Quick, light the lanterns and get our products back on display. I'm going to go talk to them.”
Iona bowed and knelt down, opening the locks that sealed the elixirs shut in their storage and began to take them out of their cooling racks to place them back on display.
Li tore off his mask and gloves and tossed them on the work table. He left the stall and got on the main road, his arms wide open.
”Old man! What the hell is all of this!?”
They gave each other a brief but solid hug. Old Thane patted Li's back and motioned back to the crowd of adventurers behind him. ”Well, lad, I daresay I felt like I was sitting on my arse while you two did all the work, and I thought, 'how can this old man help?' So I went to the Gold Flagon, the adventurer's tavern, and spent the day to tell this lot all about you and your talents. And now look how they flock like sheep!”
The adventurers roared out excited responses.
”Old Bloodfist, we know your word's as true as your demon-killing hands. Course' we would come.”
”Oh my, look at him – an easterner! Mayhaps his wares be enchanted with eastern magic? I hear many of them are immortals, too.”
”Easterner or not, he's got Aine's recipes and, according to Old Thane, her skill, and that's all I need.”
Li panned his gaze across the crowd. It was truly a diverse group of men and women of many different classes, builds, and ages. But what bound them all together was how they stood. They stood tall. Proud. Their eyes were full of life, their mouths smiling with strength and an eagerness to challenge everyday with the entirety of their might – such was the will needed to survive as an adventurer.
One of the adventurers came up and knelt before Li. He had on a green tunic of silk that shone under the firelight.
Li couldn't quite figure it out, but he thought he knew this man. His tall height and built frame weren't out of the ordinary among the adventurers, but when he spied the silver pendant around the man's neck, he realized this was the shield-bearing silver ranked adventurer he had saved from the Myrmeke.
”I thank you, good sir, for saving my life. I regret I could not give you my deepest thanks at the time, but sadly, I was unconscious.” The man thumped his chest with his hand and gave Li a resolute look, his chiseled features and blonde locks practically shining in the torchlight. ”I, Launcelot of Lakely, swear to give all my patronage unto you.”
Li grabbed the man's arm and hoisted him up. ”No need to kneel on the dirt. The way you're introducing yourself, you're a noble, right? Then I might as well ask you for a few bags of money, but I've got a suspicion that in a few weeks, you'll have dumped plenty of coin at my place already.”
Li took a step back and addressed all the adventurers. ”You're all hear to check out what I'm selling, so come by and take a look. I haven't made much yet, but what I do have, I guarantee will keep you coming back for more.”
Li stepped back into the stall and manned the counter with Iona at his side. Old Thane watched from a distance; his arms crossed as he nodded at Li with fatherly pride. The adventurers crowded around the counter; their eyes wide as they looked at the rows of elixirs.
”Look at that color! It's so pure. No cloudiness. No sediment. Just…pure,” said a mage, her mouth open in awe.
”Bollocks about color, taste's all that matters,” said a bear-like brute of a man, his muscles practically bursting under his dark skin. He pawed one of the [Bloodboil] elixirs. In his huge hand, the elixir looked like a little toy. ”How much for this, good sir?”
”Fifty coppers or five silvers,” said Li as he tapped the counter.
The adventurer grunted as he rummaged through a sack at his waist. He took out a massive handful of coppers and let them sift through his hands until only five were left. With a solid thump, he placed them on the counter and took the elixir, uncorking it and immediately tilting his head to down it in one go.
He exhaled and shook his head rapidly, his eyes blinking. ”Gods! Now that's a kick! Nothing like the watered down scum from Black Vine! Feel strong enough to wrestle down an orc!”
With a roar, he slammed his foot on the ground, and the earth cracked a little under the force.
”Watch it,” said Li. ”You damage the road, and I'm the one that has to pay the fine.”
”Mighty apologies, good sir,” said the adventurer as he bowed his head, his moment of elixir addled excitement passing.
”Vahid, get some manners before you embarrass us further. [Force Pull]” A mage behind Vahid pointed a staff at him and lifted him in the air before tossing him behind the crowd. She came up to the counter all smiles and cheer, her hands cradling her staff behind her back. ”Say, could I get a sample?” She leaned forwards, making the low neckline of her dress very apparent.
Li waved her away. ”No samples, and no, you can't 'convince' me otherwise. Now, are you going to buy anything?”