It was past nightfall in the Capital. There were not too many people in the streets. It was cold and it was raining. For some reason, what had been a sunny day in the afternoon had progressively worsened, the temperature rapidly diminishing and clouds appearing in the sky.
Of course, the chunni laughter of Zanthia and Henry had nothing to do with it. Seriously, nothing at all. Even if the system said something different. Zanthia chose to ignore that particular notification.
On the streets the few remaining people ran to find shelter from the chilling raindrops that fell in copious amounts. From the eyes of a pidgeon flying in the sky it seemed as if they were a set of ants trying to escape from the sudden hunger of an anteater.
But none of that was a problem for Zanthia. She was under the solid roof of the store´s kitchen, dry and very satisfied, smoking a cigarette while looking out the window to distract herself.
The transaction with Henry Percy had been completed successfully. She had sold him no less than 10 Nightmares of Penance at a very good price, even with a discount.
The client had been looking very happy, although his smile had a sinister nuance, but that was usual when you thought of younger sisters. Zanthia understood him completely. And before that there had been the sale of the wax golem to Silvia, the neighbor, who had also left very happy.
Now that the store was closed and would not open its doors until the next morning, the young witch had the necessary tranquility to enjoy the fruit of her efforts. Zanthia called the system log to see the prompts history.
[SYSTEM: Sale completed. Decrease in stock: -10 x Nightmares Wanderings class Penance. Level 10. Box Increase: 1000 magic crystals. Valuation of the sale: B ++. The evaluation of this deal received a bonus to the score for generating high customer satisfaction and also an additional bonus related to rule 4. Reputation of the store +3. Reputation of the owner +3. ]
Two bonuses together applied to the valuation of the deal! Zanthia was delighted. The bonus of rule 4 was pretty normal considering the conditions of the sale since that particular rule said that: "Discounts and special bonuses are applicable to the sale of products or services that are used against a) mortal enemies and b) younger sisters". It was one of Zanthia's favorite rules.
However, what really surprised the witch was the bonus for the high satisfaction of the deal with Henry. That was totally unexpected, after all, the merchant prince of the Percy family had originally come with the intention of buying Little Sun and he had faced Zanthia in an epic battle of haggling only to finally be defeated.
The owner had taken for granted that the results of the evaluation of the client's satisfaction would had been drastically decreased by that. But it seemed that the chance to strike back at his sister and make her pay for everything she had done was satisfying enough to Henry.
Perhaps he desired revenge even more than the possible purchase of Little Sun? Or maybe the system had ruled out the noble's original buying intentions when he apologized for his behavior? Who knows?
[SYSTEM: Congratulations! The client satisfaction is 100%. It has exceeded the established parameters. The additional mission has been completed successfully.]
Zanthia had wondered how to fulfill that additional mission for a long time. Now, she had inadvertently fulfilled it. The witch's eyes gleamed and she smiled widely. The rewards of the system were a great motivation for her.
[SYSTEM: Congratulations! Your hard work has earned you a special reward. Would you like to claim the reward now?]
Of course, she was definitely going to claim it right now! When she received the notice for the first time, Zanthia had to contain her cravings and wait until the day was over to see what she had won.
As many of the system's rewards were unknown or left to chance, it was best to wait until the customers had left and the store was closed to claim them. After all, some of the rewards were improvements to the architecture of the shop or even the appearance of somewhat domesticated horrors to add to the stock of products.
Long ago, the anxiety and curiosity of a beginner Zanthia had made her make the mistake of not waiting for a suitable moment. Because of that wrong choice, a client with vertigo had consequently suffered a heart attack.
The demise occurred after the man witness the strange process in which the walls of the store suddenly began to move away at full speed and how the floor on which he was standing had risen vertiginously. From that shameful moment onwards, the young witch always chose to wait to be alone, or at least she was sure that all clients had exited the shop, before claiming anything.
Even so, there was one time when Zanthia unexpectedly met a hidden condition on a mission and the system gave her an automatic and immediate reward.
Which turned out to be a terrifyingly dangerous Horror from Outer Space.
It was something that looked like a failed mix between an octopus full of tentacles and a vehicle of another dimension called a motor bike with emergency lights.
The thing was not pretty at all.
And the worse part was that this particular horror was above level 250, the so called heavyweight division for magical beings, so it was almost impossible to handle.
Fortunately, that time Zanthia had the help of her magical familiars but she still had to summon a lot of guardians from the store, including the Ardsheall, to subdue the horror and take the creature inside the cage assigned by the system. And this was a monster that was supposedly already domesticated.
The whole issue gave her a headache just of thinking about it. What would have happened had she faced that thing without her faithful helpers? The things those tentacular entitys liked to do with humanoid beings before eating them...
It was too horrible to imagine it.
Luckily, the store was empty at that time or all customers would had lost their sanity instantly, maybe their souls too. But now, with the store closed, Zanthia decided that this was a good time to claim her reward.
She had a good feeling about this. She communicated her will to the system through thought and some kind of golden roulette full of lights appeared right in front of her.
The cats did not react at this at all. The system screens were only visible to the user involved. Zanthia's familiars could not see the warnings and prompts coming from the witch´s system, nor were the witch able to see those that belonged to the cats.
"I knew it! Another random skill, "said the witch, a cold sweat running down her forehead.
The wheel began to turn with increasing speed while a red needle marked the option that indicated among the more than 200 possible results. Even a witch had no way to influence what was happening. Zanthia waited anxiously to see what skill she would get this time.
[SYSTEM: New skill obtained. Curse of Pinocchio.]
The wheel exhibited the new skill with a very cool light and sound show. Even the voice of a presenter who narrated the description of the new skill acquired was heard.
[Curse of Pinocchio Level 1: The owner can curse a fortunate or unfortunate client. The nose of the cursed client will grow two inches each time the affected person says a lie. Duration of the Effect: 1 day. The owner can interrupt the curse first if she wishes. Number of uses: 1 per day.]
Zanthia smiled. A skill like this could be very useful to carry out missions. It was particularly so in the case of unfortunate clients, when obtaining correct information was of crucial importance in order to resolve the situation satisfactorily. Although Zanthia had not yet attended any client of this type, the rumors that had reached her said it was quite problematic.
So, having a skill like this gave her more options and made her feel more secure about the whole thing. The young lady jumped in great joy and prepared to show off her new ability to her family.
But before she could do it, the wheel started spinning again at full speed. Zanthia opened her eyes wide, very surprised by what was happening. Two skills in a row! The system has never been so generous before! The wheel spun for a long time before stopping.
[SYSTEM: New skill obtained. Transfer Mirror]
[Transfer Mirror Level 1: The owner can select a fortunate or unfortunate client. The client and the owner will exchange forms, acquiring the appearance and basic skills that depend on them. Duration of the effect: 2 hours. The owner can interrupt the transfer earlier if desired. Number of uses: 1 per day.]
The witch sighed. This new skill could be extremely valuable but it could also be a headache. In her personal experience, impersonating others generally never ends well.
However, it was still a poweful ability. Maybe she could use it in her favor on certain occasions. At least, it seemed that, according to the description of the system, she could cancel the effect at will. Zanthia decided to check the status of the main mission in the system registry before closing it.
[SYSTEM: Mission in progress: Serves 20 clients to earn a reward. There are 13 customers left. Additional mission: A client must be completely satisfied to earn a special reward. The additional mission has been completed successfully. Reward claimed: Two random skills.]
Only 13 customers before the next reward. Now that they had solved the problem of the poisoned candies, she was sure that she would have new customers every day.
Henry had promised to spread the word about his shop among the nobility and there was no doubt that Silvia would talk to all the neighborhood gossips during the week if she had not already done so. The speed of that woman's tongue clearly exceeded the limits of the human being.
"Tell us, human, what rewards did you get? Do not you dare tell me that none, I saw you jump before, so you're sure you got something interesting, "said the black cat.
"Yes, Zanthia! Tell us what you got! "chorused Luna and Sombra, curious.
The witch pleased the felines, describing to them her new abilities. Because the store was closed she had to wait until morning to use those on the customers. But she implied that perhaps could try a skill on them.
After hearing the witch's explanation for the curse of Pinnochio, the cats paled. They were specially fearful of this skill. The reason was that the cats usually tricked Zanthia numerous times every day with their white lies. because of that something as powerful as the Pinocchio curse could have had some tragic results if she used it on them.
The cats were already imagining themselves staggering with a nose bigger than all the rest of their own body. The witch enjoyed the humorous situation but in the end told the felines the truth. They sighed with relief after hearing from Zanthia that the skilld only worked on clients.
After the witch finished talking it was the turn of the cats to brag about their rewards. Yes, even they had acquired new skills.
When Zanthia asked them to go in search of clients, the system had quickly assigned them a mission of their own. Both Little Sun and Shadow had finished it successfully and in turn, had obtained their own rewards.
"No wonder you were so obediently to find clients for me. After all, the system had assigned you a mission. And here it was the silly me, believing that you had done it just to help me. These cats ... are really scoundrels," Zanthia growled as she realized the reality.
Shadow was the only cat that put a embarrased look. The other one was too thick faced to feel shame at all.
Little Sun, he had also obtained a new skill. From today onwards, the black cat was able to magically enlarge his size and musculature until it acquired the equivalent height and the size of a swamp troll. It really was a combat skill that suited the aggressive and dominant nature of Little Sun.
As for Shadow, the gray pussycat had obtained free points which she had used to improve her agility and her skill to submerge in the shadows.
Sadly, Moon had not received any skill as she had not participated in any of today's events.
Instead, she had spent most of the day in the storehouse and library, where she searched and read ancient and mysterious books, as usual. Also, she occasionally translated some especially esoteric passage that had been written in an extinct language or incorporated comments on the margin about the different possibilities and combinations offered by a specific spell.
Of all the cats, she was the most disciplined when it came to studying magic and practicing her own skills every day. Little Sun and Shadow had also tried to do it for a while but the result had not been good.
Shadow was not good at advanced magic except for the particular elements of darkness, shadow, gloom and void, that is, those with which she specifically had an affinity since birth. The grey cat did not understand the most esoteric books and their complex magic, so she soon got bored and left in a short time to do more interesting things, like stealing fish.
On the other hand, Little Sun was the opposite case. He was probably the most intelligent of all the familiars and he understood almost all the subjects very easily.
However, intelligence was not the same as wisdom, and possessing such innate talent had accustomed him to quick results. Because of that he lacked consistency in his efforts. The black cat preferred to doze in the sun instead of wasting time boringly studying with books.
If they questioned him for his behavior, the black cat used to say that he was able to access a special dimension thanks to his enormous magical talent.
The so-called Dreamworld was supposedly a place full of wild power where it was possible to cultivate his talent for magic in a special environment. But everyone suspected that it was just an excuse to sleep under the rays of the sun without anyone bothering him.
And there it were the three of them, together with Zanthia in the kitchen, celebrating. Everyone was happy about having reversed the difficult situation that the store had gone through.
In truth, this first month of operation since they had moved the shop of horrors to this solitary alley, which was in one of the most remote neighborhoods of the Capital of the Scarlet Empire, had been excedeenly difficult..
Even so, the young woman felt in her heart that moving the store here, despite the opposition of her family, had been the right decision. Zanthia considered it a step towards a future of full autonomy, a step up the ladder to success.
Today was the definitive evidence. Her effort had bore fruit. And Zanthia believed that someday
she would be the owner of the most successful store of horrors and perhaps even the best witch in this world.
Yes, the witch was very happy. It had been an excellent day. In fact it had been the day with the most sales since she was the owner. There was more than enough reason to close early and celebrate with her beloved cats.
The aforementioned felines were now arranging the food and the drinks to start the banquet. Cats enjoyed milk equally, but each one also had their culinary preferences and particular taste for drinking.
Little Sun was the fan of whiskey and red meat. He did not despise cakes or candies but he strongly preferred ice cream for dessert. And he was the only one of the three cats who liked to accompany Zanthia when she smoked although the black cat preferred cigars to cigarettes.
Luna was driven crazy by the Sacred Winged Tuna, but except for this vice, she generally liked poultry meat more than fish. When drinking she favored fine liquors, especially egg and strawberry flavored, and the more expensive the better. Also the white cat loved sweets, all kinds of sweets, well, except those prepared by Zanthia.
Shadow had the simplest and most stable tastes: rice wine and fish fried with olive oil. In fact, the grey cat, which after having initially brought the woman with the two children had gone back out to find more customers, had actually returned near the closing time of the store without bringing any new customers. Apparently, she had distracted herself in a nearby restaurant, where, to the owner's desperation, the grey pussycat had stumbled over the local fried fish.
As for Zanthia, she had her own particular tastes. As expected of a Shop Owner, her favorite meal was an otherworldly dish. It was a thing called fast food, or sometimes junk food, which was available in the store inventory.
The young woman had no idea why it was called that way or where it was that the system brought it from. But it did not mattered to her as long it was available. Whether it was french fries with cheddar cheese, burger medallions or the tart cherry-flavored carbonated drink, all of the food was amazingly delicious.
The description of the items warned of harmful effects when eating too much but the witch had never felt them, except for some accumulation of gases in her belly from time to time.
Maybe she was naturally immune or maybe the pendant neutralized its effects. Yes, surely it was the latter. In any case, it did not matter too much to her.
The witch decided to take one last look at the system´s prompt before joining the felines at the table. Her personal data flickered before his eyes.
[SYSTEM: Support Logic for Horror Shops - Rating: Divine - Sys Version: version 7.0a]
[Manufacturer: hidden data - Serial number: 28- GID -803 - HS- 065 ]
[User: Zanthia Fateweaver - Store Name: Witch Zanthia's Little Shop of Horrors]
[Reputation of the User: minus 10 - Reputation of the Store: minus 7]
[User Level: 101 Type of User: Owner of the Store]
[Type of Being: Human / Unknown – Category: Legendary - Class: Witch]
[Titles won: Heiress of the Fateweaver Family - Odious Big Sister - Owner of the Horror Shop Number 1981 and currently named Zanthia's Little Shop of Horrors (Active) - Witch of Horrors and Nightmares - Cat Lover - Black Heart Owner - Poisoner of Customers ]
[Statistics: only the most recently used statistics data are displayed. It is possible to see the complete list if the user so wishes.]
[Health 250. Mana 550. Attack 450 (300). Defense 750 (300). Speed 900 (400).]
Appearance 30. Charisma 20. Intelligence 20. Will 50. Power 100. Constitution 70.]
[Clear 50. Chat 50. Daydream 45. Bargain 30. Appraise 25. Convince 21. Intimidate 18. Cook 6.]
[Special abilities: only the most recently used skills data are displayed. It is possible to see the complete list if the user so wishes.]
[Unfathomable Eyes Level 40: The witch can see in the currents of destinies and reveal the truths hidden in hearts. The examined creature may feel nothing or may feel a beneficial or harmful effect at the witch's choice. The effect must be appropriate to the situation and the relative comparison between the level of the witch and the level of the creature examined. Warning: this innate ability of the witch Zanthia is a consequence of being a member of the Fateweaver family and cannot be evaluated correctly by the system.]
[Scissors of Destiny Level 40: The witch seeks the weak point of the thread that unites the soul of the person with the currents of destinies and materializes a scissors capable of cutting it. The effect of the cut can be beneficial, neutral or harmful at the witch's choice. The effect must be appropriate to the situation and the relative comparison between the level of the witch and the level of the creature examined. Warning: this innate ability of the witch Zanthia is a consequence of being a member of the Fateweaver family and cannot be evaluated correctly by the system.]
[Horror Control Level 50: The Owner can use her charisma to influence the horrors and keep them under her control. This ability is a fusion of the witch skill "Conjuration of Horrors" and the ability of an Owner "Capture of Horrors".]
[Shop Guardians Level 16: The Owner can access the Inventory of the Store to use the products and services necessary for the defense in a risky situation.]
[Shop Servants Level 17: The Owner can access the Inventory of the Store to use the products and services necessary for the daily maintenance of the store.]
[Dimensional Gate Level 5: The Owner can use this ability to move to an active location on the system map. Number of uses: 1 per day.]
[Curse of Pinocchio Level 1: The Owner can curse a fortunate or unfortunate client. The nose of the cursed client will grow two inches each time the affected person says a lie. Duration of the Effect: 1 day. The Owner can interrupt the curse first if she wishes. Number of uses: 1 per day.]
[Transfer Mirror Level 1: The Owner can select a fortunate or unfortunate client. The client and the Owner will exchange forms, acquiring the appearance and basic skills that depend on them. Duration of the effect: 2 hours. The owner can interrupt the transfer earlier if desired. Number of uses: 1 per day.]
Zanthia pondered long and hard on the data that the system showed her.
Both new and old skills were very powerful. They could be useful in the daily activities of the store and also gave her a way out of the most complicated situations. Especially Unfathomable Eyes and Scissors of Fate, the skills she had used to threaten Fiona Percy's guards, which could be considered her trump cards.
As for her own statistics, they were far superior to any human of the same level and were well considered even among witches. The gift of his mother, the PEGASUS boots modified her speed until it was almost unattainable by any other beings but she had to practice more often all of it's different uses so that the humiliating situations of the recent past would not be repeated.
In general, Zanthia was quite satisfied with her abilities for now, although she wanted to obtain free improvement points to increase her most lower stats, especially the cooking skill. Maybe that's the way cats would stop making fun of her.
But the problem was that she did not have too many occasions to practice in the store because they directly took everything necessary from the inventory.
How would she improve her cooking that way?
In fact at this precise moment her familiars were arranging everything on the table. They had flatly refused to let her cook, even if she promised not to make any candy. It was totally unfair.
"Zanthia dinner is served!" cried the cats, who had begun drinking alcohol a while ago and already had red cheeks, while they laid the food on the table.
"I'm coming," said Zanthia, with a broad smile.
It was time to end the day in the best way. Enjoying the food and drink with Little Sun, Shadow and Moon, the best friends a witch could wish for.
At this moment, while a rich hamburger was served by Shadow on the table with onion, bell pepper and bacon, the witch could not help feeling happiness. The delicious taste and the fragrant aroma of the food made her feel very good. The funny conversation of the cats, full of jokes and jokes, made her laugh.
Shortly afterwards, while drinking a glass of egg liqueur to help digest the food, Zanthia reflected that the only thing missing for that night to be perfect was the presence of a human being with whom to share her happiness and perhaps, a little intimacy that night .
For some reason the image of a tall, blond man, with a delicate air, a chunni way of laughing, and good heart was drawn in his mind. Maybe, just maybe,she could explore the possibility in the future.
"Mother, I wish you could understand the happiness I have right now! I feel fulfilled. It is a feeling that I could never feel suffocated in my home. I hope someday you understand me!" thought Zanthia excitedly.
Until late at night, a human and three felines ate, drank, talked about the most dissimilar things and laughed at the most crazy jokes. Sure enough, the day had ended in the best way.