An Owl's Rise

"It is clear that you are the one manning this stall, but are you also the one who has made these potions? Or perhaps you have some supplier?"

Caught off guard by the sudden questions, Evelyn thought about what they had asked before simply answering them with the truth. Though quickly she figured there was no reason not to.

"Yes, I am the one who made these potions and pills. I know they are not much, but I did put a lot of effort into them, and I believe that their quality is fairly good." Evelyn said, trying to make herself and her products sound better to hopefully get a sale.

"So, you really are the one who made these! That is impeccable! You must be quite talented to have made so many high-quality potions when only a fiend beast. Would you wish to join the group I am a part of? You would certainly be a valued member, and I am sure it would be worth your while to have some backing."

'What!?'

Standing there stunned Evelyn had not expected a sudden recruitment, especially when she thought she was about to snag her first customer.

Never had she been expecting such a thing and she wondered why this owl was making such a big deal about her items.

From what she had heard from Katrina, she figured that potions of a similar quality were still common enough on the first floor of the alchemy hall.

"Well, what do you think? Do you want to join the group I am with? We are led by a half dozen peak awakened rank owls who are all quite powerful an influential, so I can assure you that with your talents in alchemy that you will receive plenty of resources from them to advance your craft." The owl said as she kept trying to push Evelyn to join up with her group.

But even if Evelyn wanted to, which she certainly did not. She already had Melisandre, and there was no better mentor for her to have. Not to mention from the way this owl was talking, she figured that it was likely that they just wanted her chained to a caldron to make alchemical items for their group.

"Sorry but I am already affiliated with my master, and they told me not to join any sort of groups until I was stronger. But if you wish to have some of my connections, you are free to buy some." Evelyn said as she craned her neck to point at her fully stocked shelves."

Luckily the other owl accepted Evelyn's refusal amicably and said that she would purchase a few items.

"If possible, I would like one of each of the lower quality potions and pills?"

Nodding her head Evelyn quickly gathered up what was asked for and placed them on the counter, before holding up her left leg.

The other owl quickly followed suit and lifted up the leg her identification cuff was on and transferred the necessary credits for payment to Evelyn.

"Thank you for your business. Feel free to come back any time if you needed anymore." Evelyn said as the other owl packed the bottles away in her bag.

'Wahoo! I just got my first sale!' Evelyn thought while resisting the urge to jump up and down.

After hours of waiting without getting any real interest, she had finally gotten a customer and they had bought four items from her for quite the sum of credits.

Feeling elated, Evelyn bobbed her head back and forth a bit. And now that her demeanor was far less stiff, more owls took the time to examine her goods instead of going by after glancing at Evelyn.

At first no one actually came up to purchase anything still just trying to get a feel for the now shop.

But around an hour and a half after making her first sale, a group of two dozen owls came up to Evelyn's shop and began looking around with interest.

One of them though Evelyn recognized as the owl that had previously bought from her, and that made it clear that the other owls were part of her group.

Not long after they arrived the leader of their group extended a thread of magical energy to Evelyn which she accepted.

"It seems that what Mimi said was true. You really do have the basic brews at the best quality that can be only rarely found on this floor in great quantities."

Hearing this Evelyn thought she was going to get another recruitment, but instead the owl leading this group asked her something else.

"Is there a limit on how many one owl can buy at a time?"

Shocked again, Evelyn had never thought about this as she had never expected to suddenly get so many potential customers at once.

For a moment she thought about saying that there was no limit, but she had the sinking feeling that would not actually be good for business.

"The limit is a max of three of any type of item per owl." Evelyn eventually said, thinking that was a good number.

"Very well I shall by three of everything then." The owl said as he held out his cuff to make the transfer.

Hearing this Evelyn's eyes bulged as this would be a sale that was worth over four thousand credits.

And only now realizing this did Evelyn understand just how valuable all of the items she had made really were.

"Let me just go grab your items." Evelyn said in a fluster.

Almost in a frenzy she began taking bottles off the shelves until she had twenty-four of them laid out for the lead owl's purchase.

Quickly they made the transaction of credits and items, and Evelyn watched the number on her cuff go up and beyond what she had even after completing eight missions for the Roost.

And what happened next astounded her, as all the owls in the group lined up and purchased as many of her items as they could reasonably afford.

"Thanks. We will probably be back tomorrow to buy more if you still have any." The leader owls said as he took his group away.

'What the hell just happened?' Evelyn thought, too astonished to be giddy like after her first sale.

Quickly she began organizing the information in her mind and soon came to the conclusion that even after diluting her brews, she was still defying the common sense of alchemy for most.

'When Katrina said that potions at these levels were acceptable, she meant that they were around the very best that appeared on this floor. And from what that owl said to me. only rarely do potions as good as my best ones show up for sale, but I have whole shelves full of them.'

Now understanding that even after trying to not stand out, Evelyn undoubtedly was selling potions and pills that were in high demand and low supply.

Soon enough her stall's reputation for having quality products for cheaper than market value made its way around, and dozens of owls at the low tier of the awakened beast rank came to buy her products.

For Evelyn it was like a sudden flood, and she almost certainly would have had a panic attack if she was not too busy to even have a moment to think.

Her stall had practically caused a frenzy of business, as owls clamored to buy from her before she inevitably ran out of stock.

Even when she resupplied her shelves with the extras in her storage amulets, they were quickly bought up by the owls that wanted her quality products.

Within just an hour after word got out about her stall Evelyn was completely out of stock and had to turn down a bunch of angry owls that were hoping to get their hands on her items.

It got so bad that the guards stationed within the hall had to intervene and get the crowd that had spread like wildfire to disperse.

'What the hell just happened?' Evelyn thought now that she was not being swarmed.

She had never excepted her stock to be bought up in a single day, but it had been, and she certainly could have sold far more if she had more to sell.

Then to add to her crazy day, she looked down at the new number of credits she had not even tried to keep track of since her first big sale and saw the six-digit number that it now displayed.

'Over six-hundred thousand!'

This was a confounding number for Evelyn to see as it was a hundred times what her previous high that she had already thought was a lot.

She could not even imagine what she could buy with this many credits, or what she might need them for.

But it was not long before more owls came up to her stall and interrupted her thoughts on what had just happened.

Of course, none of these owls were customers as the hall was already closing down for the day. No these were her competitors who had noticed her day one explosion.

"You must be one lucky fiend beast to have someone supplying you with so many quality potions and stealing our business." One of the owls said with a particularly nasty tone.

Seeing the group of mostly angry vendors from the first floor of the alchemy hall Evelyn realized something important.

'Katrina's plan worked. I did not gain the ire from those on the floor above. I got it from all the owls on the same floor as me.'