A full week had passed since Elpis had started working full-time at the Potions and Apothecary, and something he had discovered was that it was incredibly boring.
During the days, he kept himself entertained by looking at the potions or reading books to learn to read and write properly. He remembered the 23 runic letters and 33 characters; unlike the alphabet used for regular languages, which went from A to Z, runes formed different words and meanings.
Depending on the type of rune and the context, the message could vary significantly.
Although it sounded complicated, it was really easy once you knew the basics, so it only took him about four days to learn to read and another two to learn to write at an acceptable level.
During the week, not even a single customer had passed through the apothecary.
Elpis was lounging at the wooden desk, staring at a simple herb with no real value other than being a weed.
Hearing the sound of footsteps, he looked at the stairs, where he saw Saphira, who looked somewhat tired.
"Where are you going, Mistress?" Elpis asked curiously.
"I'm going to the market; I need to get some ingredients," the woman replied curtly.
Another thing Elpis had noticed was that Saphira was not the most sociable person; she generally kept to herself in silence or inside her laboratory.
'I wonder if she's a morning person?' Elpis thought, watching Saphira. When creating his template, he hadn't added many details for every aspect, leaving it to the readers to fill in the blanks.
"I'm leaving you in charge of the shop, Elpis."
"You can count on me," he said, giving a thumbs-up.
Saphira left the shop, and Elpis returned to his monotonous boredom. He needed something, even if it was just a small, momentary distraction.
Getting to his feet, he began looking for a book he hadn't read before. After finding a book about plants, he took it and began reading. Silence prevailed for a while, until the door opened.
The sound of the bell made him lift his head.
He looked curiously at a young man, who had strips of cloth on his arm that was bleeding. The smell of blood was quite strong on him.
Elpis wrinkled his nose slightly before adopting a professional pose.
"Welcome to Potions and Apothecary, warrior. I'm Elpis; how can I help you?" he asked with a somewhat tense smile; it was the first time a customer had come in a week.
"I'm looking for a low-quality healing potion for minor wounds," said the warrior.
Elpis nodded, standing up and walking toward the shelf.
"If I may ask, what kind of beast could have caused your wound? To know the best choice to consider," Elpis asked, climbing onto a wooden crate.
The man, clearly a slave, was a little confused by the question but answered anyway.
"It was a black Wulgarm," he replied.
Elpis nodded upon hearing the name.
"I see. Then this is the best one for that type of wound," he said, showing a potion of dark green color.
"I told you a low-quality potion," said the warrior slave.
"I heard you, but do you know what kind of wounds black Wulgarm inflict?" Elpis asked seriously.
Before the warrior could speak, he quickly interrupted.
"That type of wound," he pointed to the man's arm, weakly covered with dirty cloths, "is very dangerous. At first, it's just a normal wound; however, that's the danger. They have a very hard-to-detect poison that spreads throughout the body, leaving you weakened, with dizziness, vomiting, and finally, an intense fever that can kill you," he explained, leaving the warrior tense.
"If I give you a potion just to close the wound, you'll have the symptoms and die a very painful death. Do you want that?"
The warrior fell silent; his previously stern expression was now a bit pale and fearful.
"No. I'll buy that potion," he said quickly.
"Good choice, sir. By the way, for the purchase of two similar potions, you'll receive a potion that slightly increases your resistance, totally free, only for today."
"I'll take the offer," said the warrior, preferring the comfort of not having to move around and go from apothecary to apothecary to buy a resistance potion.
Elpis placed the two flasks of dark green liquid and a third, smaller one of light blue.
"That will be a total of 45 crystals," said Elpis.
Elpis noticed that the warrior slave's face was surprised by the price, not because it was high but quite the opposite: it was cheap.
Unlike other apothecaries that sold medicines and potions at very high prices on the market, the three potions in other apothecaries would cost about 55 crystals. And he was offering them for 10 crystals less, when the materials to make the potion cost less than 10 crystals. So the profit was multiplied by three.
The warrior paid and left with the potions. Thanks to the treatment he gave the customer and the smile on his face, Elpis knew he had done a good job.
If more customers came and left satisfied, word would spread, and more fighters would come to buy from this place. When it gained enough fame, Elpis planned to attract a certain person to this shop.
---
It wasn't long before a second customer arrived, who had been recommended by the first warrior who had visited earlier.
Elpis had sold him a recovery potion and chatted a bit with the warrior, flattering him to make him feel better.
When he left, he said he would tell his comrades about this place so they would come to buy at Potions and Apothecary instead of going to others with inflated prices that put a hole in their finances.
By the time about four hours had passed, Elpis had attended to ten satisfied customers.
The sun, which had been high in the sky, began to hide behind the black mountains. The door opened, and Elpis looked up to see his mistress, who had an annoyed look on her face.
Her eyebrows were furrowed, and her eyes were more intense than usual; for a moment, Elpis hesitated whether to speak to her or not.
He watched as his mistress went up the stairs, leaving the sound of her feet stepping on the wood.
'Well, I guess I'll tell her when she calms down,' he thought, returning to his book about plants.
When night fell, Elpis attended to two other customers who had ordered 10 healing potions for their group of comrades. After selling the potions, he checked the remaining ones, noting that they would have to restock the next day.
Going up the stairs to the second floor, he headed to the room where his mistress was preparing potions. After a light knock, he opened the door.
The room was dark; here and there were tables full of bottled plants, monster parts, and materials of dubious origin.
Looking ahead, he saw Saphira, who was reading a magic book.
"Mistress, we need more potions," he finally said.
"More potions? Did you sell them all?"
"No. But a good part of them." Elpis approached the table, leaving a sheet with the list of potions and materials that had been sold during the day.
Saphira read the list, and her eyes widened.
"How?" she asked, surprised to see the number of potions that had been sold.
"I'm quite good at sales and promotions, and the fact that I'm an adorable child helps."
Elpis wasn't lying; his childish appearance made it easier to talk to older people, and his appearance was by no means unattractive. Although his body was thin, he was handsome.
"I see," said Saphira, finally looking at Elpis.
Elpis swore he saw a glint of something shining in her eyes.
"From now on, you'll be in charge of sales, and I'll be in charge of making potions."
"But Mistress, I'm just an assistant; you should be the one selling the potions, not me," said Elpis. Honestly, he didn't want more work; his current job was simply cleaning to keep the shop from getting dusty, and his mistress handled the sales. Although with her stern and intimidating face, she made everyone who approached run away in fear.
"Are you questioning your mistress?"
"No, of course not."
"Good, then it's settled. Let's close up and have dinner; I'm hungry."
Elpis nodded, leaving the room and heading downstairs. However, upon going down, he blinked upon seeing that there were new customers; he recognized several of them: the first was the one from this morning, then the other two from the afternoon, and finally, several more; it looked like a team.
"Do you have more of those resistance potions?" asked the warrior from the morning.
"I'm interested in the recovery potion," said another.
"Of course, certainly, but speak one at a time, and I'll attend to you." Elpis gave a somewhat bewildered smile before continuing to attend to the shop.
After finally saying goodbye to them, he put up the "Closed" sign. A glance at the shelf revealed that only a few potions remained. Without a doubt, his mistress would be busy making new potions for the next morning.