Phoenix Phire

Nix stretched sleepily, the warm sheets not wanting to release him. Slowly he rolled out of bed and dressed in the low light of dawn. He'd always been an early riser. He headed back to his own room and got to work. He was planning on doing a bit of exploring and more hunting. Sila had mentioned the capitol city of Jenzi in Escavar. According to her, he could make a lot of money as a Tailor. After much prodding, she gave him enough information to form a plan.

Starting your own shop in Jenzi required millions of credits. If you aimed a bit lower than your own boutique, you could rent a cart and sell it from the market square. He took a seat on his bed and got to work. First, he made three sets of work clothes for Hyai. Soft fabric that let the body breathe. He had to guess what sort of patterns she would like. He finished it off by making a half dozen sets of underwear. She had been generous with him, so he didn't stop there. Some cold-weather coats, socks, gloves, and hats were also added to the list. He put them all in a box and walked downstairs.

No one was up yet, So Nix sat the box in the kitchen and left a note on it. He found the town portal and brought up the menu options. Since he was below level 20, there was no cost. He chose Jenzi on the continent of Escavar. The menu said there was a four hour time difference, so it would be 1000 hrs there.

Jenzi was a coastal town right off the Sea of Hope. A pleasant ocean breeze cooled his face when he stepped off the platform in the market square. There were several market kiosks off to one side, so Nix keyed the menu on one. The day cart passes were listed as sold out.

"I didn't realize the time difference." Nix felt like cussing until he saw the young girl. She had curly brown hair and bright blue eyes.

The little girl walked up to him, her arms crossed in front of her. "I bet you are looking for a day shop, right?"

Nix nodded. "How did you know that?"

The little girl gave him a serious look. "I'm a tailor, so I can pick out other tailors easy."

Nix glanced around, not sure if she was serious. "I see. What do you want?"

"You can put your items on consignment in my shop. I'll keep thirty percent."

Nix pretended to consider it. "Thirty percent is robbery. Why don't you just steal all my money?"

"I'm a reputable person! I'm Shana from Shana's Boutique."

"Nice to meet you, Shana, I'm Nix."

"Good name." Shana started walking away; she turned she realized he wasn't following. "You coming?"

"You aren't luring me away to get mugged and robbed, are you?"

Shana shook her head, "You obviously don't have anything worth taking."

Nix followed her, smiling at the back of her head while she sped away.

There several shops that sold, armors, weapons, and clothes, but there were only two tailors on Main Street. One was a beaten-down old shop on the corner lot. The other was a two-story building next to a restaurant. The two-story building and the restaurant both had fancy signs with the same name on them, so Nix assumed that one person owned them both.

The young girl made a face at the La'Mon Boutique sign and walked passed it to the corner lot.

The door creaked when it was opened. An elderly lady and a young woman were sitting behind the counter. Walking in, he noticed that most of the shelves and hangers were empty. The shop had definitely seen better days.

"I'm back!" Shana announced her arrival and joined the two women at the counter.

The younger woman narrowed her eyes at the girl. Nix had the feeling that Shana would have been in trouble had he not been there.

"Greetings Sir, Welcome to Shana's Boutique." The older woman stood up and walked around the counter to greet him. She wore a pretty white dress with blue floral patterns on it.

"Thank you." Nix glanced around the empty shop. "I'm Nix. Are you out of business or something?"

"Of course, we aren't out of business. Just waiting for new stock." Shana had her hands on her hips. "Show them what you got, Nix!"

"Um..." Nix looked at the two women and then at the young girl. He struggled to keep a serious look on his face.

"I'm very sorry, sir. My daughter can be a bit much at times." Without a doubt, the woman was Shana's mother. She had the same curly brown hair and bright blue eyes. "I'm Lela, the sales clerk here. This is my mother, Maye."

"It's fine mom." Shana patted the counter. "Show em the goods, Nix!"

"That's enough, Shana. Go in the back room and wait for me." Lela turned back toward Nix. "I'm so sorry, sir."

Nix couldn't bear the look of dejection on the little girl's face as she started walking away with her head down. "Wait, please, Shana, and I agreed for consignment at thirty percent." He pulled a box out of his inventory and sat them on the counter. "I made these. I hope you will honor our agreement."

The older woman looked from Nix to the box on the counter. "You are actually a tailor?"

Shana's face lit up, she quickly jumped up on a chair behind the counter and stared at the box like it was a birthday cake. "I told you he was Gram. Open the box!"

The older woman glanced at her daughter, who seemed to be frozen in shock. "Let's take a look then." She opened the box and looked inside. Her old hands picked up the first piece of lingerie. "Oh my... these are quite nice." There were also a few sets of undergarments in the box, which she also took out and placed on the counter.

If Nix felt kindness for anyone, it was the elderly and the very young. He watched while she went through his work. "What do you think, Maye?"

"I can price general lingerie at 10k, sets of underwear at 10-15k, depending on the color." Maye's blue eyes studied him. "Custom items would sell higher, but that would require you to be here."

Nix nodded in agreement, that was basically what Sila had told him. "I just need space to work for a few hours, and we'll be good."

"Shana, show Mr. Nix to the back shop." Lela pulled a sign stand from behind the counter and wrote the words "Women's Undergarments for sale!" She dragged it outside and set it in front of her shop.

Nix started out using cotton fabric and made several dozen pairs of underwear in blue, white, and red. He laughed at himself, "I'm making ladies underwear. Lisa would have found that hilarious."

*********

Lela poked her head in the back shop two hours later. Nix was still working. "Can you bring some of the product out? There's a line that goes around the corner."

Nix looked up when she spoke. "One hundred sets of cotton underwear, assorted colors. Fifty sets of silk underwear, all red. Thirty pieces of lingerie, also red."

"So many?" Lela watched as box after box was placed on the floor.

"Yep. I'll come back tomorrow morning around 0800."

"Mr. Nix. Don't you want to wait for your money?"

"Just Nix is fine." He walked toward the back exit. "I'll pick it up tomorrow when I drop off more product."

It was nearly 1300 by the time Nix returned to the Market Square, he bought a box lunch for 15 credits from one of the vendors and ate it while he walked toward the front gate.

Outside the gate, there were dozens of groups looking to add one or two more members. Nix had asked Sila a lot of questions while they lay in bed. She told him always to find a group with a healer.

In the end, he found a 20 level archer that wanted to hunt turtles. She insisted that no healer was needed because of their lack of speed.

[You've been invited to a group by Ronnie. Do you accept?]

"Yes."

Ronnie was a dark woman with jet black hair and chocolate brown eyes. She was dressed in brown leather armor and wore her long hair in a ponytail.

"Nix, right? Follow me to the cove, and we'll get started." Ronnie trotted westward from the city, towards the sound of crashing waves.

When they arrived, Nix discovered dozens of 20 level black sea turtles. There were no other hunters around. "Hey, how come no one else is hunting these?"

Ronnie looked at the ground, a flicker of guilt on her face. "They have really high HP and Armor."

Nix felt like he had been conned. "Isn't that a problem?"

Ronnie nodded. "Normally, yes, but I have a new bow that increases my armor-piercing shots. I think it will speed things along."

"Let's try a few." Nix moved to one side, not bothering to take his rifle out.

Ronnie drew her bow back and let it fly towards the nearest turtle. The turtle turned and slowly made its way toward them. Ronnie was shooting arrow after arrow. "Come on, Nix!"

Nix extended his hand and sent a Fire strand at it. Immediately it stopped and started taking fire damage.

"Holy shit! You're a CC class?" Ronnie kept shooting, her damage increasing steadily.

It died much easier than either of them would have thought.

Ronnie looted the turtle. She had mentioned that she was doing this for the shells. "Your CC is fire-based? Turtles are water-creatures, so that makes them weak against fire attacks."

Nix noticed his skinning option was highlighted on his hud.

[Do you wish to skin a Black Sea Turtle?]

"Yes."

[A Black Sea Turtle pelt has been added to your inventory.]

Ronnie looked surprised. "Turtles can be skinned?"

Nix shrugged. "Guess so, let's keep going."

They worked hard throughout the afternoon. Nix had leveled up four times while Ronnie leveled up twice.

"That CC of yours is badass." They had cleaned out the entire cove by themselves.

Nix checked his hud. "Let's call it a day."

"Okay."

[Ronnie has requested to add you to her friend's list. Do you accept?]

"Yes."

"Want to try more turtles tomorrow? I know where some higher-level ones are. No one ever tries them."

Nix nodded at her. "Okay, 1000 hrs at the front gate."

Ronnie flashed her white teeth at him. "Cya, then!"

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