Nick looked at the clerk and responded:
"Why do you want to know."
The clerk did not hide his reasons.
"You see, we usually transport large and/or dangerous animals using a special magic formation. The cost of using that formation is around £40,000 and up depending on how far the delivery site is from the store. I would like to know how much you might be willing to sell that scroll for? If it could lessen the cost of transportation to our customers, that might boost our sales and increase our profits. Sir, you might not know but there is a large demand for animals to use as test subjects, targets for attacks and otherwise within the academy. Depending on how much it costs to make that scroll, my boss would definitely be willing to make a deal."
(The clerk is interested in this scroll? What's so special about it, Marsha's grandfather picked it up in some remote part of the world? Are you telling me that this store does not have the ability create a similar tool. Is this like how Japanese smart toilets are awesome but for some reason you can't find them commonly in the west?)
Nick silently looked at the clerk for a moment and then asked:
"What is a magic formation?"
The clerk was slightly stumped at Nick's question.
(Isn't he a Magician? Why doesn't he know?)
"Well sir, I'm not a Magician so I don't have the exact details but I know that a magic formation is an arrangement of laws carved out in an area that brings about a certain effect. That's all I know."
(I've never heard of magic formations before. Even a non-magician knows about them...so this must be the downside of not going to formal classes. It seems that my magic related common sense needs some work. Magic formations, I'll remember to look them up later.)
The clerk continued to press Nick:
"What do you say sir. Are you interested in selling your scrolls to us in bulk?"
Nick purposely wore an unsure expression and asked:
"Before I decide anything. Why is this so called magic formation so expensive to use?"
The clerk did not hesitate to answer.
"Oh, that's because apparently, at least three rank 3 Apprentice Magicians are needed to activate the magic formation and they need to be paid for each activation."
Nick nodded his head.
(That makes sense. Even an Apprentice Magician's services cost a lot. The clerk wants to know if I can produce these scrolls in bulk but that might be a little challenging for just me, after all, that would involve copying my scroll hundreds of times to meet this store's demands. Writing laws isn't exactly easy and there is a chance that I may make a mistake or overlook something in the process of copying a scroll. Hmmm...copying...copy.)
At that thought, Nick's eyes shone discretely with inspiration. His intuition based on his experience with rule magic and creating his spell, Big, was telling him that there might be an opportunity to create a spell that may aid him to mass produce the scrolls.
"Another question. If transporting those animals via a magic formation is so expensive, then why not use trucks and trailers to do it?"
The clerk looked as if he was ready and waiting to answer that question so he spoke quickly:
"The academy has a strict policy that does not allow businesses to transport live animals or magical beasts along campus roads. It would be disastrous if one of them escaped and mauled someone, assuming that for some reason the spell that keeps them in check was not working."
After remaining silent for a while, Nick finally answered:
"I'll need to speak with your boss before I can agree to anything."
The clerk nodded his head and replied:
"I'll lead the way."
Nick followed the clerk back through the hallway that they had walked through before. They arrived in the reception area again and Nick and the clerk made their way to the store's first floor, above the ground floor, by walking up the stairs. On the first floor, there were three offices each having a name on the door. The clerk brought Nick to the office door with the name, "Carla Jenner", on it. The clerk knocked the door and he and Nick waited for about a minute before someone opened the door. A woman that looked like she was in her forties emerged from the room looking displeased at the interruption. She looked at the clerk and then at Nick and then directly asked the clerk:
"What do you want Marshall. You know that I use this time to look over our books and now I have to stop to talk with you about what? Also, who is the man behind you?"
The clerk cleared his throat and made an introduction:
"Boss Carla, this man's name is Nick Capitol and he is a rank 1 Apprentice Magician of this academy..."
As soon as the clerk said, "rank 1 Apprentice Magician", Carla visibly lost interest in what the clerk, Marshall, was saying but Marshall beared with the disinterest and continued.
"...and he might possibly be able to sell us scrolls that could lesson our cost of transporting animals to customers' residences."
Carla's eyes brightened. Although she usually gave Marshall a hard time, she new that he was a sensible and competent clerk and would not waste her time with nonsense. Carla looked at Nick and asked:
"Is that true?"
Nick stepped forward and said in a slightly nervous tone:
"Yes, it's true. I've created scrolls that can store animals within them. When the user wants to release the animal, they just have to will it and the scroll will be destroyed, releasing the animal. Can I have a demonstration."
Nick felt bothered, he only had one more beast capture scroll and he did not want to just waste one.
(What if she saw its effect but did not want to buy it?)
Nick thought about it for a while and realized that he had no use for the scroll after he left this store anyway so he might as well use it to try and earn some money. Nick looked Carla in the eye and spoke:
"Sure, do you have an animal that I can test it on?"
Carla had an amused smile on her face as Nick asked that question; Marshall face-palmed himself. Nick scratched his head in embarrassment.
(Oh right, this is an animal shop. I guess that was a stupid question.)
Carla answered anyway:
"I have a salamander caged in my office. Come inside."
Carla led Marshall and Nick inside of her office. She showed Nick the salamander lying inside a cage on her desk and then sat in her office chair behind the desk to watch the show. Nick took his last beast capture scroll from his backpack and held it in front of the salamander's cage. Nick unfurled the scroll and willed its activation; the salamander disappeared from its cage and appeared on the scroll within a cage made of laws, looking like an inked drawing. Carla sat up in her chair and spoke:
"Okay, that's some decent space magic but can you really release the animal you captured, it still being alive."
Nick wasn't surprised that Carla recognized the nature of the magic that was used because he could sense the magic coming from her body. He couldn't tell what her rank as a Magician was but he could sense that she was way more powerful than him. Nick willed the scroll's activation once again and the scroll disintegrated and the salamander appeared on Carla's desk, slowly crawling about. Carla looked at the salamander for a moment and clapped.
CLAP CLAP CLAP CLAP
"That's a nice toy you've got there. I don't know anything about making magical scrolls or much about creating spells but you've obviously got something special there. Let's hear it. How much are you selling those items for?"
Nick answered quickly:
"I can sell them to you for £12,000 each but I'll only be able to deliver them to you six months from now."
Marshall eyes opened wide in surprise, saying:
"Six months from now, Mr. Capitol, surely you can give us a better time line than that? What's your issue that is resulting in such a long waiting time, manpower, materials, or other orders to fill?..."
Carla raise her hand, signalling Marshall to stop questioning Nick and so Marshall stopped talking mid-speech. Carla wasn't a spell maker and did not even personally know one but she could guess that it would take a lot of effort for a student to mass produce such scrolls and so expecting them within a short period of time was laughable; Marshall did not know because he was not even a Magician while she was a rank 4 Apprentice Magician. Nick looked on as Carla thought about his offer.
(Honestly, I don have much expectation for her to accept those terms but I don't have a choice. I have too many things to do and me successfully fulfilling orders long term is dependent on me creating the spell that I now have in mind.)
After five minutes Carla spoke with a determined look in her eye:
"Nick, is it? As long as you agree that you can deliver 20,000 of those magic scrolls to me within six months at £11,000 a pop, I'll give you a contract for the deal the day after tomorrow. This is a busy store, after all."
Nick was so surprised that his jaw dropped when Carla finished speaking. Carla quickly got up from her chair and tapped Nick's chin, motioning for him to close his widened mouth. Nick quickly collected himself and thought:
(20,000 scrolls multiplied by £11,000 is £220,000,000. She's just going to hand over that much money to me?)
Nick looked at Carla, confused and doubtful. Carla noticed Nick's doubtful expression and addressed him:
"Nick, you've probably only been a Magician for a short time so you don't know yet but £220,000,000 is only a drop in the bucket in terms of the cost of our cultivation. I was born into a Magician's family and I can safely say that it took a hundred times that amount to get me to my current rank 4 Apprentice Magician status. Money is only a tool, don't be so intimidated by the largeness of the amount. So what do you say, do we have a deal?"
Nick was sure that this was a good deal as long as he could deliver.
"Yes, we have a deal."
Carla smiled.
"I'll have a contract ready by the day after tomorrow. Just come by the store at anytime after 10 am and Marshall over there will bring you up here."
Nick nodded his head and spoke:
"I'll be here."
Carla, with a satisfied expression replied:
"Alright, you two can leave now, I have work that still needs to be completed."
Nick and Marshall walked out of Carla's office both feeling like they gained something. Marshall had the biggest grin between them because he new that if this deal went through, it might result in him being promoted. Marshall did not know much about magic scrolls or the cost of being a Magician but one thing for certain is that Carla would never have given such good terms if she did not value Nick and his magic scrolls. Marshall led Nick to the door and Nick left the store. It was now 7:30 pm but Nick was not ready to go back to his dorm yet. He placed his transport briefcases on the ground before using his smart phone to use the academy's app's map function. He searched and found the directions to the place he was looking for, the academy's "Magical Anatomy Office". This was the office on campus that dealt with all things magical that had some relationship to the human body. It was also where Nick would go to officially check on his magical affinities.
"This has been a long time coming, I can't believe that I waited this long to check on my affinities but then again, I've been so busy just learning what magic and laws even are so I guess I shouldn't be too hard on myself. Now that I'm trying to become a rank 2 Apprentice Magician and will be doing more magic related activities, I should take my own magical affinities seriously."
Nick put a serious expression on his face, picked up his transport briefcases and walked forward towards the magical anatomy office.
(Things will get better...)