Fate's Reversal: The Divines Return

….

Standing before the Ethereal Comet Shop, Kaiden and General Sonic entered. Inside the store was rather normal. The only oddity was the magnificence of the product display stands. They were made from finely polished wood. Overall, the shop gave a comfortable, medieval feel.

Now that he was here with intentions of opening the shop, there were certain processes they had to attend to before doing so. For starters, stocking the inventory. Tapping the owner's interface, Kaiden separated the store into sections much like a real store.

On the right quadrant of the store, Kaiden stocked Apothecary pills. However, he only stocked Rank I and II pills. Moreover, he placed the Rank II pills on a timer and a set purchase limit. One person could purchase no more than 2 pills. Furthermore, the stock of pills refilled every 3 hours back to maximum.

He didn't bother with setting limitations on Rank I pills as they were available at the Merchant Association stores. However, he set the price to 90% of the market price. Due to their secret weapon MysticalTags, who created an abundance of pills—Kaiden has no qualms losing a small bit of profit. Each sale already had a profit of margin. Greed wouldn't blind him in this instance.

Not to mention, Rank I pills was trivialities that wouldn't matter in the future. As such, Kaiden focused mostly on Rank II pills. These pills offered ~25% stat gain when compared to Rank I. Moreover, they could be used on top of Rank I pills without any conflict.

Moving along, Kaiden set up the left quadrant of the room with Alchemist products. Most of the potions an Alchemist created were necessities. Whether it was Mana potions, Health potions, or auxiliary buff potions. They all served a basic purpose—to sustain you.

These potions came in ranks; such as Basic, Intermediate, Advanced, Superior, Epic, Legendary, etc. However, at this moment only Intermediate potions existed in the different grades explained before. Nonetheless, they did their job. Using the same system as the pills, Kaiden set up this display counter.

Lastly, Kaiden placed armor of all types in the centermost and around the other stalls—equipment was THE hot commodity so it was shown the most attention. However, Kaiden only placed Uncommon to Silver Ranked equipment on display.

"Let's head upstairs," instructed Kaiden as he climbed the stairs located in the store. Moreover, in front of the stairs was a red restriction rail. Kaiden set up an entry fee which was 2 Gold. The fee was worthwhile as this floor would house the more luxurious and harder to acquire items. Items that his members could no longer use or didn't want.

However, any Platinum ranked equipment was kept within the Guild. It was a scarce commodity as such Kaiden wouldn't be contributing to the circulation. Moreover, Kaiden placed the better grade Intermediate Potions and Rank III pills on the counters as well.

As it was the grand opening of the store, Kaiden was presented the opening to use the Grand Opening banner across the store's exterior. Of course, free promotion? Kaiden didn't turn down the offer. The system would be taxing him anyway, he felt it was only right they offered him some pleasantries.

….

[Crescent Wake Town System Announcement-

The "Ethereal Comet Shop" has commenced it's Grand Opening. Come to coordinates 23567.65493 to witness the items on display.]

The system message rang throughout Crescent Wake Town as multiple players stopped what they were doing. A few were just complaining that the items offered by the Merchant Association stores were becoming inadequate. But that was the idea. They wouldn't be presenting all the items for the player for their convenience. It was an adventure game; they had to go out and claim what they needed for themselves.

In a short while, a decent-sized crowd made their way over to the Shop to see if it was really worth mentioning. Perhaps the system was just hyping it up because it was the first shop to open.

However, the initial customer dismissed those thoughts. When they saw the numerous items gracing the shelves of the store, the players' eyes shimmered with greed.

"Rank II pills! Wow, each use raises Strength by +15 permanently? Aww, but you can only use it twice. That sucks!!" commented a customer who instantly bought the pills he complained about.

Smirking, Kaiden exited the shop. However, he could already imagine the immensity of the initial profit he would gain. Forget opening shops...right now, guilds who could own their own residences were scarce. It should be their priority to first stabilize membership operations.

He was the only one in this town who possessed the means to man a shop. As a result, guilds around the town gritted their teeth. However, they more so gritted their teeth at the precautions Kaiden put in place. They were unable to hoard the items!

Not to mention, whatever someone purchased inside they would immediately use. Who would give up the boost received from Rank II pills and the survivability provided by Intermediate Grade potions!?

….

Inside the Red Star Mansion...

Slamming his hands on the table, the veins on WarCry's forehead protruded as he seethed with rage; his eyes gleaming with fervent madness.

"How has he opened a shop already?! Who the fuċk IS this guy?"

Sighing Pale Wind shook her head. She felt they were too focused on another guild instead of directing their attention to development.

"Calm down, perhaps it's best we focus on getting the guild to a better standing. Not even 1/10 of the members reside in the guild."

"Who do you think you are?! Don't you fuċkɨnġ tell me what to do! We have our damn orders. Unless you want to go to Colossal Asylum?!" snarled WarCry as he glared venomously as Pale Wind.

Exhaling, Pale Wind tried to calm her nerves as WarCry swore at her. However, her hands clutched the clipboard she held.

"No, but...we aren't exactly stable. And this guild seems to be operating rather efficiently. I don't think it's wise to immediately shift all focus to them."

Although Pale Wind tried to logically explain to WarCry, it wasn't getting through to him. It was as if she was speaking to a brick wall. Once he had his mind set on something there was no changing it. Only one track played inside his mind. No wonder he never beat his record.

"That insignificant shit?! It's gradeless! How dare you compare their guild to ours. Are you insane?! Is the ranking of an Overlord-grade, air to you? I thought you were supposed to be a smart one? I'm not seeing it!"

Twitching, Pale Wind glared at WarCry but didn't utter a word. In her head, he had already died 6 times over.

"It's only slightly stable because we have yet to make our move but watch, soon enough they shall tremble." madly cackled WarCry. He had received word of who was coming.

That demon was someone no guild present could handle and he would be offering "assistance" to hammer the nail which stuck out. Someone would be refusing a toast only to drink a forfeit.

Shaking her head, Pale Wind sighed as she mulled over her questionable decisions. She regretted her decision to follow orders and garrison in this guild for training. There were much better available options, yet here she was stuck in a guild with an insufferable idiot as a Guild Master.

"Haiz...sometimes when the controlling hand aims for a sharp target...it gets chopped off."

"They truly won't know what hit them. They'll learn how to be humble and not enter the territory of us guilds. How can they even think of joining our playing field. Blasphemous! Who do they think they are?"

…

Meanwhile, exiting the Ethereal Comet Shop, Kaiden halted his step as he turned around scrutinizing his surroundings. Looking around intently, he failed to discern what he was looking for. Frowning, he turned around as he walked into the distance.

For a moment, there was an evil intent pointed toward him, however, it was quickly masked at an uncanny speed; faster than he could respond to.

Appearing from the shadows of what seemed like a void, a tall yet slightly slim figure showed himself. It was Ethan Larsen, or better yet TerrorAssault! The Silver Void Demon.

"You have not offended me, nor is there any strife between us but...to protect my family. I am sorry for what I have to do."

Once again disappearing, he traveled toward the Red Star Mansion. Certain procedures would be taken and he would need to supervise them.