In a room of approximately 5 square meters, with symmetrical walls, furnished with overlapping mystical designs, at every interval some crystal could be seen, a single door, made of the thickest steel and equally glowing with those strange characters, a solitary figure moved constantly in varied and precise patterns. A closer looker would notice that his skin glowed slightly, a faint black color, which indicated that this individual was in the Consolidated Realm and by the tonality, in the middle of it.
Each Realm displayed a color when energy was utilized: Black, Gray, Silver, White, Dark Green, Emerald Green, Red, Purple, Gold, respectively in ascending order according to the ten known stages. Of course, if an expert wanted to, they could easily suppress this visual effect, requiring other martial artists to be at least half a Realm below or above to notice the cultivation level. Some secret abilities or treasures allowed for omission or detection, disregarding the previously described rules, but we are talking about exceptions and rarities.
The person, obviously, was Ian and he was completely focused on training. Eyes had long lost external perception, ears no longer captured any sound, he was in a complete immersion. This type of behavior was called Enlightenment Condition in the Dao Universe, where certain characteristics would be amplified, allowing a great advantage for the user. It was an involuntary or controlled phenomenon. The first option, the most common, would occur after extreme experiences, usually life and death situations or strokes of luck. The second option consisted of the ability to enter this special state at will, and this skill was called Artifice of the Soul. Unfortunately, our main character acquired this experience through the first case, with luck (cheat!).
Before long, a muffled noise issued from within Ian's body, causing him to tremble and fall to the ground on his buttocks. When awoke from the trance, half dizzy, the first thing he did was to massage his bottom and quickly absorb some crystals.
This time he stayed three days straight in that strange situation where his actions were done practically in "automatic" mode. From confused, terrified to happy, were the reactions he had. Confused at first for not knowing what had occurred. Terrified to realize that he had no control of it, imagine how many causalities could happen? Happy to see that he had successfully broken through the Muscle Strengthening and entered in the Bone Strengthening stage. Now Ian have finally reached the third level of Base Body.
"I still have three days left..." Originally Ian was going to train as much as possible until the first meeting at the embassies, but since finished in advance and completed the second stage of Base Body, he "unexpectedly" chose to rest during this period. In addition, needed to catch up on the happenings in the clan, as he had been disconnected from all his duties for almost a month.
Ian deactivated the gravitational matrice and went out the door, finding his bodyguard leaning nearby. Since the orchestrated kidnapping by the Black Elf Zero, he always kept a highly skilled hired warrior close by.
"Huaguer, come with me, we are going out to see Mrs. Haller. Do you happen to know where she is?" Huaguer was the Lycan mercenary from the Fantasy Kingdom he hired, it cost him 10,000 C annually and Ian still considered himself lucky. Specialists at these levels were usually part of some great power or even led them.
The history of this wolf man was rather sad and he didn't like to talk about. But, a little was leaked by the company that was agencying him, something about being exiled after a coup in his home country.
"I believe she's in the company warehouse."
Not all intelligent species of Sombreal lived under one government. In fact the Vampires and Gnomes, had a centralized monarchy, the Helis something like a feudal alliance, and around here the single national identities ended. Dark Elves had two separate nations, Lycanthropes three Monarchies, five Democratic States and ten Patriarchal Tribes. Glopers lived in small independent settlements in a regime of Utopian Communism. Finally, the Gargoyles are close to anarchism.
The Glopers, despite their decentralization and statelessness, had a certain organization through their Guilds of Crafts, similar to those of the Gnomes, but without the Factions and the commercial character. The Gargoyles were bound by religion. Every two months they would unite in Sanctuaries for their practices and exchange goods, ideas, information, etc. Otherwise, these two races could not even be considered in the collective because they did not have much central organization.
The interesting thing was that the Gargoyles and Glopers consisted of the most peaceful people in Sombreal, there was practically no theft or killing in their domain. The Gnomes, because of the commercial competition between their internal powers, added a certain amount of negative causality every year, insignificant when compared to the humans on Earth, but not insignificant. The two Dark Elf Kingdoms fought constantly in a struggle in the shadows, where important parts occasionally appeared with their throats cut. Helis eventually fought among themselves, but minor disputes, very proud, warlike, but very cautious, you only had to look at the absurd amount of fortresses. The worst of all, for sure, were the Lycanthropes. The warrior culture, indomitable and barbaric spirit, they took up arms for pleasure. Of course, it was still localized violence, nothing like the great wars Ian was used to seeing in the newspapers in his former life.
After a considerable time, they arrived at the training camp attached to the warehouse, where Loli "unusually" practiced her blows on "sand puppets" performed by security guards. If Ian considered her demanding with him, for the others who wouldn't die for a sneeze from this girl, hell would still be considered a good place.
"My little Loli, give these poor men a break now and come and exchange a few words with your husband." Ian spoke in a pitying tone, seeing the sorry state of those subordinates.
Upon hearing the nickname Ian gave her, added to the characteristic voice, Etri stopped beating the poor unfortunate in front and turned to face the caller.
"You should be training! At least for three more days." Etri spoke coldly while a noticeable demonic aura trembled around her.
"I miss the time when you were cute and taught me the Sombreal language..." Ian lamented in a debauched tone.
"Back then I thought you were just an invalid and felt sorry. But now, I consider you, otherwise wouldn't waste my time with you." Pouting, Etri turned away, dismissed the group she was supervising, and approached Ian.
"Now tell me, why are you here instead of in the training room?"
"I just broke through to the Bone Strengthening stage and decided to take a break from cultivation for the next few days. An overstretched elastic tends to snap." Etri was momentarily speechless, distracted. It hadn't been long since he didn't even have a clue about cultivation. Did Ian really make progress?
"Release your aura, I want to see." Loli said somewhat suspiciously.
"You're spending too much time with Shortyty, you don't even trust your husband anymore..." Seeing Loli's expression darken, Ian stopped joking. He knew the limits well and didn't want to test them. A light pressure was emitted from his body together with a half-transparent black light.
"You really did it! The gravitational array seems to be miraculous, but I believe there's more in the mix... Come on, tell me everything!" Etri had a innocent and happy smile on her face, the eyes shining with excitement and curiosity. Could Ian not be moved? In any case, he related everything that occurred and did in seclusion, especially in the last three days.
"You are very lucky! What occurred to you was the rare Condition of Enlightenment." An expression of understanding appeared on Ian, he knew a lot about the theory from his studies and conversations with Etri.
"If that's so, then it's only fair that you enjoy a little vacation. But I doubt that you came here to see me for love, you probably want to know about the affairs of the damned company." Etri complained, pouting. This time, Ian was left speechless.
"Oh, if that were the case, I could have gone after Shortyty or Master Gerto. I just combined business with pleasure!" Still unconvinced, Etri sighed. She couldn't complain too much about her husband; he was hard working, possessed a natural talent for cultivation, extremely intelligent and even a little attractive, even if exotic (he is taller than the Helis, has no horns and his face differs slightly).
Ian didn't have much free time so his complaints of attention were a bit unfair and she knew it. The real problem was that small but important deficiency in the lower parts...
"Etri, hello, anyone home?" Ian said, tapping Loli's head as he laughed. Etri blushed in embarrassment and promptly began narrating the events to quickly change the strange atmosphere she got herself into.
During these 30 days, the company sold many items to small powers and curious individuals at the boutique in the center, and also completed and delivered the order of the Gnel Royalty. The profit for the period amounted to 15,000 C, which was considered excellent considering the market they operated in. Ian hadn't even expected any significant sales before closing contracts with governments and large organizations. The previously considered useless store showed its worth.
Another piece of good news was that Gerto had managed to communicate with his father-in-law in the Wastelands; from time to time that old nomad moved away. Reasons? He didn't know.
In addition, F11 received a summons from the Red Faction. The reason had to do with the company's increasing purchases of inputs and capital goods, reaching the stage of a medium-sized company, and acquiring the right and duty to participate in quarterly general meetings. These councils decided the common guidelines for the participants, and were a great opportunity to do business and make new contacts.
The monthly profit was a small pleasant surprise, but not much more than that, since F11 and Ian were accustomed to transactions on the scale of hundreds of thousands of Purple Crystals. As for Gerto's teacher, there was good news, although expected and still somewhat uncertain since they didn't know for sure if the old man would help them or not. The Quarterly General Meeting of the Reds, however, was the unexpected good news, providing the perfect conjunction to start the stage of Economy of Scale for the company. A formal place that gathered all kinds of owners of allied companies was very propitious for the establishment of contracts and advantageous agreements...
The Economy of Scale that Ian longed for is an economic concept, where, by satisfying certain conditions given the characteristics of each market and product, it would be possible to reach a stage where fixed costs would be greatly diluted beyond a certain level of production, reducing average costs. However, care must be taken, because it is common knowledge that this, if badly managed, can end up in a trap, since there is a need for a good and constant demand. Combined with discounts for wholesale and loyalty purchases, with long-term agreements, the manufacturing expenses of F11 would greatly decrease, increasing marginal profit. Of course, Ian will need to influence the entire production chain and convince them to join this system.
While "listening" to Etri talking about something related to cultivation, Ian was immersed in his plans and speculative predictions. Until a middle-aged Gnome with an expression of urgency appeared running and bumped into him.
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F11 Financial Summary:
Debts: Total of 5,280,000 C to be paid starting in 1 year and 11 months (22,000 C monthly installment for 240 months); One-time payment of 25,000 C for 1 year.
Transactions Chapter:
Huaguer contract (-10,000 C)
Store Profit (+ 15,000 C)
Cash: 172 720 C.