"Hey, how much for a bundle?" Dan asked the shopkeeper of the shop selling Tej herbs. He was an old man wearing a white shirt and black pants, sitting behind his wares on a chair and fanning himself with a piece of cardboard. The weather was hot and the old man's shirt was soaked in sweat.
"500 Zemos. " The old man glanced at Dan and said. The price was just as Dan expected but he needed to check for one more thing.
"Have they been checked thoroughly for strength herbs?" Dan asked. If these had been checked already before then the chances of Dan finding some strength herbs would be slimmer.
The shopkeeper shook his head and stood up," No, these are fresh from the wild brought by metahumans."
Dan glanced at the shopkeeper and shook his head. This man just spouted a load of bullshit. Did he think that Dan was some gullible kid? Metahumans didn't leave the city and explore the dangerous wild just to pick some herbs that sold for 500 zemos a bundle.
These were probably brought by those fake Metahumans who just picked herbs near the wall where there were no beasts.
But it didn't matter much to Dan. "Give me five of these for 400 Zemos a bundle. How about that?" Dan tried to haggle a bit. Maybe it might work.
"Ok." The shopkeeper nodded and put the five bundles of Tej herbs in a plastic bag.
Dan was surprised as he hadn't expected the shopkeeper to agree. He was ready to just take three bundles if the shopkeeper didn't agree. But now he could take five which increased the chances of him finding a decent amount of strength herbs.
Dan took out the 2000 Zemos from his pocket. 1500 came from the school form money which he had asked for more than he required, which was just five hundred Zemos and the other 500 was his savings of the last two weeks. And now that money was spent and Dan was now a pauper.
Dan grabbed the plastic bag and thanked the old man. He then left the market happily and walked back home because he had no money to hail a taxi. He was now a true pauper.
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It was around 4:30 PM when Dan arrived back home. Still around 1 and a half hours before his parents came back home. He had plenty of time to go through the herbs.
Dan climbed the stairs and walked inside his room. He put the plastic bag with herbs on his bed and changed his clothes swiftly. He was excited and couldn't wait to see how many strength herbs there were in this five bundle.
He hoped there were at least more than five but anything could happen.
Dan sat on the bed after finishing changing and opened the bag. He pulled out a bundle and scrutinized the herbs. They were small herbs with a stem and a couple of leaves.
"Lang, scan the herb in my hand and identify it," Dan ordered as he watched the herb.
"It is a Tej herb," Lang replied in an instant and Dan put the herb to the side. He pulled another one and asked again but it was the same result.
Dan went through every herb in the bag in an hour and stuffed all the Tej herbs back inside the plastic bag. He had no use for them.
Eight herbs were left in front of Dan which were Strength herbs according to Lang. "Eight herbs means that I got around one in little over a hundred. And around 6000 Zenos of profit. "
"Haha. " Dan let out a small laugh as he gazed at the herbs lying in front of him. He had just earned 6000 Zemos with a couple of hours of work. And it was all because of Lang. He would have probably kissed Lang if it had a body.
"I almost want to go and buy a couple of more bundles. " He wished but first he had to sell these and raise money to buy more herbs.
Dan got out of bed and checked the watch. It was 5:32 PM. His parents were about to arrive. Dan grabbed the plastic bag with the Tej herbs and put it in the kitchen. They would be useful in cooking.
He came back to his room and hid the strength herbs in the cabinet. He would sell them tomorrow and buy more of those bundles. He needed to collect at least 50,000 Zemos which meant that he was going to have to do this all over again at least a couple of more times to raise enough money.