NOVEL WEB Chapter-56 Brewed-Awakening
Ewan and Nana relaxed in the only bedroom of the house, flickering candles lighting up the place—they found it in the hall cabinet. The much-needed breather eased Ewan’s tensed nerves as he sat by the door, leaning against the wall. Frost sat beside him, eyes closed, Ice-Anima surging around him, while Orange already snored on Ewan’s shoulder. These two fought alongside him in every battle, they were his vanguards, so they needed rest even more than him. But Frost insisted on training instead, his diligence sometimes forced Ewan to reconsider how he spent his time.
“Will you sell them both?” Nana asked, sprawling on the bed after finishing her bath.
“Hmm. I don’t have any soul essence left anyway,” he said. “What about you? You can still contract more, right?”
“I can, but don’t know…I don’t really like scorpions,” she said, twirling strands of her wet hair around her finger.
“You should get another one, your bird won't be enough.” He closed his eyes and adjusted his posture to move away from her, the floral sweet smell distracted him. “The two scorpions should be enough to buy a good one.”
“I’ll put them up for sale then,” she said and took out her hub-connector. Ewan too planned to sell his loot, but he wanted to record the cores’ details first for <Transmute>. So, he took out a new diary from his claw-ring and penned down the observations after using <Lens> on the Astylind Cores.
……
His shop in the hub remained bare as always. Without any shelves to put the items on display, he could only place them behind the counter and add his shop to the trade market. ‘Brewed-Awakening’, he named his shop in fancy fonts with two vials of potions crossed before it; ‘Potions on Order—Coming Soon’ went below as the subtitle. Selling the hunted Astylind Cores was a decent business, but the potion market had a bigger profit margin. Since he already delved into Potioneering, it was better to make it his forte. And when his success rate went up, he could sit back and rake it in.
For now, he listed the two Twin-Tailed Scorpions and the Astylind Cores for sale based on their market price and went to look for an automated worker. His Novas balance could only afford the cheapest one—simple transactions, no price flexibility. It would lose him some business, but beggars couldn’t be choosers.
He navigated to and from the marked seller. And after spending around a hundred Novas, an ocean-blue orb floated behind his counter, programmed to follow through on transactions if Ewan wasn’t in the hub.
The shop was almost set up and ready to start business. He only needed to get out of the hot mess named Obria and find a stable environment to make potions. Until then, the hunted Astylinds would sustain him.
…….
Half-burned candles lit the room, struggling against the whistling wind that crept through the crevices of the windows.
“You’re done? Did you sell them?” Nana asked with a pallid face when Ewan disconnected from the hub.
“Not yet. Did you?”
She shook her head.
Ewan expanded his Ryvia, covering the room, and trained his control. Frost was training, he couldn’t sit still either. “Do you have a shop?” he asked, compressing air in random places, and making invisible platforms. He also diverted his attention to the candles and sheltered them from the wind. The line of black ants in the corner didn’t escape his Ryvia either. The division did strain him, but it was good practice.
“I do, it’s on the market list too.”
“Name?”
“Hopes & Wishes.”
“Mine’s ‘Brewed Awakening’.”
She giggled. “Why the pun name? Will it attract more?”
“I hope it does, that’s why I chose it. Anyway, we can contact in the hub if we need to,” he said, maintaining Ryvia at its max.
“Should I change mine too then….,” she murmured. “Phones are still not working? Have you checked?”
“Doesn’t matter, they won’t work outside the walls anyway.”
The Ice-Anima billowed around Frost, the sudden torrent rippled Ewan’s Ryvia and attracted his attention. Nana too looked at the little imp. The Astylinds’ souls Frost absorbed tonight brought him to his peak, and the continuous grinding finally shredded the layer. He advanced to Level-4, and the feedback to Ewan’s soul swelled up. He was ever so close to his next awakening. Two more days…
“Did he break through? What level is he now?” Nana asked.
“Four,” Ewan smiled and said, patting Frost’s head and rubbing his baby horns.
She nodded with a blank expression. “Is it fast…I don’t know if I should be surprised…”
Ewan chuckled. “I don’t either, I never compared. But it doesn’t matter, we’re not in a race here.”
“My Luna’s only at the second level….,” she said.
“Did you give her any potion?”
“One Anima Potion, I’m saving to buy more now.”
“You don’t make it yourself?” Ewan asked.
“I’m planning on becoming an Artificer, like dad.”
“Give me a discount when I ask you to make me something.”
“You want to be a Potioneer?” she asked.
“Yeah, I like it, especially when I succeed.”
“Don’t you just like succeeding then?”
“Yeah, maybe.” Ewan chuckled and she laughed too.
Frost stopped training and opened his eyes, tugging on Ewan’s t-shirt and crying at him.
“Go rest now,” he said and sent Frost inside the ice rune. Orange already made Ewan’s shoulder his bed, mumbling in sleep, so he let him be and left him to his dreams.
“What will you do after getting out of here?” Nana asked, turning to her side, facing Ewan. Strands of her damp chestnut hair slid from her shoulder to neck, the clumped ends brushing away the droplets of water on her skin.
“Don’t know, travel to places, hunt, join expeditions perhaps, haven’t decided on anything yet. What about you?”
“I…want to kill someone first…,” she said.
“Revenge?” Ewan asked.
“Is it bad?”
“No, if it helps you with closure, it doesn’t matter how others look at it.”
