After leaving the classroom, Ibnor decides to stroll around the academy, or in his view, the city. After travelling randomly, he found himself in front of a trade centre. Curiously, he went inside. The building itself is a three story building. The first floor seems to be a reception area with a round counter in the middle of the building. Four staff are sitting behind the counter, fiddling with their SD, looking bored. One of the staff saw him and immediately stood up and greeted him in a friendly manner.
"Welcome to Universal Trading Centre or in short, UTC," said the staff. He is a tall, skinny man with a bald head but neat appearance and a face that seems to be pleasant to look at. "I am Habeeb. How can I help you today?"
Ibnor didn't reply to him straight away. He is still looking around for a bit before asking. "Why does this place seem so empty?"
"This student, pardon me if I'm wrong, but are you one of the first year?" Habeeb observed him for a while before replying. Ibnor only nods his head.
"Oh, no wonder. The answer to your question, would you like to have a tour in this building? We offer a short tour, free of charge, to every first time visitor to this place."
Ibnor agreed and Habeeb immediately walked beside him and started the introductions.
"This centre is owned by Universal Group which is also one of the members in the Union Alliance. Here, we act as a middle man from independent supplier to the customer. The ground floor that we are on is called Lobby and the counter you saw earlier served as both drop off and pick up points. As to why the building seems so empty, there are two reasons."
"The first reason is, more than half transactions are done through online transactions. Customers can link their SD to our database and simply observe the items and place an order. However, doing so will incur a service and delivery fee of 6% of the total price. The second reason is, now it is still at the beginning of the year. Students are currently in the settling down period and only a few days of settling down will they have the leisure to walk around and come to browse the items personally. Now, let us move to the first floor." Habeeb then brought Ibnor to the stairs heading to the first floor.
The first floor is like an exhibition room. All of the items for sale are neatly divided into different sections according to their category. What's more interesting is, all the items are floating in a case made of some sort of energy. The details of the item which include the price and a bit of the background are displayed clearly.
"This is the heart of UTC. Customers can browse the items in their leisure and once they made up their mind, they can simply tag the item's code and complete their purchase downstairs. We have almost everything here, from weapons and armor, to materials and ingredients."
"What about the second floor?" asked Ibnor.
"The second floor is reserved for our VIPs," Habeeb replied smiling.
"What are the benefits of being one of your VIPs?" asked Ibnor again.
"Our VIP can enjoy a discounted price up to 40%. We also offer the service of matching customers with a supplier, should they have a particular request of an item," Habeeb answered.
"You mean like a customized item?"
"Yes, exactly."
"How does one become your VIP?"
"There are three ways. The first is opting for premium membership, second, buying or selling items worth 10,000 AP or more in a single transaction or third, contributing to the Universal Group."
"Premium membership?"
"To put in another words, join the Universal Group and be one of its members," said Habeeb smiling. "The tour ends here. I apologize if I took too much of your time."
"It's okay, it wasn't that long anyway," said Ibnor.
"Now that you are here, is there something that catches your eyes?" Habeeb turned into his business mode, striking while the iron was still hot.
"Actually, I'm wondering if you have any LabKit for sale?"
"Oh, an Alchemist. Sure, we have the latest LabKit. Although slightly more expensive than the regular Labkit, it comes with the portable feature, where the core section can be detached and brought to the field. It doesn't lack in any way compared to the field LabKit."
"Interesting. How much for those?"
"Regular Labkit will cost you around 2500 AP and the portable field Labkit will cost you around 1500 AP. The latest Labkit will cost you 4100 AP. Which one do you want?"
"Get me the latest one, with the detachable core," said Ibnor.
Habeeb raised one of his brows. He didn't expect the first year student to have so many APs. Earlier, he was just maintaining his courtesy as it was a must in customer service but he didn't really expect the young man in front of him to really buy it.
"Sure, sure. Let us proceed downstairs to complete the transactions. Since you are a first time visitor, I can waive the delivery fee for you," said Habeeb.
He is in a good mood today as the commission that he will get for the latest LabKit is slightly higher than the regular LabKit. In his mind, it doesn't matter if he loses a bit of money doing so but the young man in front of him is a potentially huge customer. Little does he know that his decision today will be his turning point to a greater success.
Apart from the LabKit, Ibnor also bought dozens of vials and Mint Plant. Finishing the transaction, he went back to his dorm. Not long after, the LabKit was delivered and assembled in his dorm. Setting up the LabKit, he proceeded to refine the Mint Plant into Concentrated Mint Extract.
Without needing to attend the basic class, he still remembers the recipe for the Beginner Red Potion. He is creating a Beginner Red Potion as preparation for his plan. As he was busy making the Beginner Red Potion, the day passed by and soon night came. Finishing his last batch, he realizes that Edison hasn't come back yet.
"Maybe he is still working," he thought to himself. Tossing the thoughts to the back of his mind, he went showering before meditating on his bed.
The next morning, he once again went to the UTC, this time carrying a few batches of Beginner Red Potion with him.
"Ah, welcome. I'm happy to see you again soon Mr. Customer. I hope everything is well?" said Habeeb.
"Yes, everything is good. The LabKit works even better than I thought," Ibnor replied.
"How can I help you today?"
"I wanted to sell these," said Ibnor as he put a box containing dozens of Beginner Red Potions on the counter.
The Red Beginner Potions are kept inside a small vial the size of a thumb. Habeeb has a look of doubt since the regular Beginner Red Potion is usually kept inside a bigger vial or even a bottle.
"This.."
"I know that you have doubts, but I'm sure you have a way to test my potions, right?" asked Ibnor.
"Yeah, sure, please hold on a minute. I'm going to take three random vials for a sample, and those will be compensated accordingly," said Habeeb. He then proceeded to test the efficacy of the potions. To his surprise, the efficacy is the same as the regular Beginner Red Potion, despite being smaller in size.
"This means that the concentration in these vials are thicker," he thought to himself. After finishing the sample testing, he went back to Ibnor and finished the transaction.
"Can I have your name, Mr. Customer?"
"You can just call me Ibnor."
"Well, Mr. Ibnor, they have exactly the same efficacy as the regular Beginner Red Potions. So the selling price would also be the same, is that alright with you?" asked Habeeb.
"Sure, no problem," Ibnor replied.
"Off the record, may I know why tho? Why did you decide to increase the concentrations and pack them into smaller sizes? No matter how you increase the concentration, basically it is just a Beginner Red Potion, so why go to all the trouble?" Habeeb is curious.
"It is exactly as you said," Ibnor answered smiling. "No matter what, they are basically just a Beginner Red Potion. What is a Beginner Red Potion? It can be crudely said as a pain killer or ointment for minor wounds. So I'll ask you this, If you have limited storage space, would you pick the small package or the big one, given they would give the same result?"
A glint flashes through Habeeb's eyes. All sorts of marketing techniques went by his mind.
"Alright then, since you agree to sell these potions, the price will be as the regular Beginner Potions, which is 50 AP each. All together, you are selling 50 potions, totaling 2500 AP. After deducting the transaction fee 10%, the total is 2250 AP. Is this to your satisfaction?" asked Habeeb.
"Sure."
"The payment will be linked directly to your SD. You shall receive the notification in a few moments," said Habeeb.
After concluding the business transactions and bidding Ibnor goodbye, he carefully brought the box of Beginner Red Potions away. Walking through the back hall, he arrived in front of an office door and knocked.
"Come in," a voice can be heard from inside.
He opened the door and stepped inside the office. There was a lady sitting behind a desk. She could be considered as beautiful but her stern and cold facial expression shadowed them. It was the instructor of the class that Ibnor walked out on just a day before.
"Instructor Sheila, please take a look at these," said Habeeb while handing over the box of Beginner Red Potion that Ibnor just sold.
Instructor Sheila took a vial and after looking at it, she turned to Habeeb.
"Why are you wasting my time with a Beginner Red Potion?" she asked.
"Even though small, they have the same efficacy as the regular Beginner Red Potions," said Habeeb.
"So? Just another one of those idiots who want to be creative but actually wasting their time refining the concentrations more than necessary".
"Regular Beginner Red Potion required two days to be prepared," said Habeeb smiling.
"Stop wasting my time and get straight to the point," said Instructor Sheila, annoyed.
"This was made overnight," said Habeeb, still smiling.
"So what if it was made.. " Instructor Sheila was so annoyed that she began to lose her patience, when it really hit her. "What? Overnight you said? How is this possible?"
"Yes, on top of that, it was purposely being packed in a small package for ease of storage, said the one who sells these."
"What actually happened?" asked Instructor Sheila. Habeeb began to tell her everything about his encounter with Ibnor. After a while, Habeeb left the office since his objective had been achieved. Instructor Sheila was left in the office, muttering to herself.
"Ibnor? It can't be.. Maybe just a person with the same name.." she thought.