Last Words chapter 74 (Patreon)

Riley was in awe as we stepped out of the tunnel and into my house. “Holy shit,” he said in disbelief. “This is amazing. You have a house in a fantasy world that comes with a secret tunnel?”

“Well, you didn’t see the whole tunnel,” I admitted. “We came in about halfway. The other half leads to a creepy haunted underground city, but it’s currently being explored by people who really don’t like us, so we’re steering clear for the moment. Still, the tunnel itself hasn’t been discovered, so we’re safe enough for now.”

He snorted, exploring the house slowly, checking over all the furnishings and decor. “It’s kind of barebones. Couldn’t you afford a real bed at least?”

“Easily,” I admitted. “But I don’t have the room for it in here. A king sized bed is bigger than you’d think.”

He rolled his eyes. “Of COURSE you’d be holding out for a bigger bed. Lazy bastard. Anyway, we’re here now, so it should be safer to go into detail. Tell me more about these…qigong you were talking about.”

“I knew you wanted to hear about that,” I grinned. “It IS pretty cool. There are a bunch of types of qigong, but a lot of them are kind of obscure. Luckily, I was able to dig up information on a few of them that seemed useful. Basically, the ones that I think you’ll have the most luck with are these.” Reaching for my power, I purchased three books, dropping them on the table for him to look at.

I pointed to them in sequence. “First is this one. This is the Diamond Qigong. Basically, it uses internal energy to forge the body into diamond. Hardens the muscles and skin. Increased durability. This one is the Five Animal Frolics. It’s a series of animal forms that allow you to strengthen individual organs. One of the benefits is increased digestion speed, which should work VERY well with the mana fruits.”

He picked up the last book. “And this one?” he asked skeptically. “What the hell is small universe circulation?”

“Energy control,” I said bluntly. “Also called Microcosmic Orbit. Basically it’s a method for gathering and refining energy and controlling the flow. That one I’m sort of guessing with. But if it works how I expect it to, the circulation should help you start naturally gathering mana from the air without even needing fruits. Even if it doesn’t, perfect control definitely won’t hurt.”

That seemed to intrigue him. “That’s kind of cool,” he admitted grudgingly. “But can I even use these? I don’t have mana.”

“These aren’t magic,” I said bluntly. “They qigong. You don’t need mana, I don’t think. You need something more…physical.” I shared what I remembered from Bran’s explanation of the mushrooms. “If my theory is right, you’ll develop these qigong as regular skills under your word, like my fae bargain skill. But they SHOULD help you improve your mana body faster. Like the Bear form of the Animal Frolics strengthens digestion, and the Diamond Qigong increases durability.”

I was honestly a little jealous. I’d underestimated Riley’s word early on, but now that I knew what it could do, I realized what a terrifying weapon it was for him, especially here. I’d assumed this was the perfect world for my power when I first got here, but now I realized I’d been wrong. It was perfect for his.

He seemed to be feeling the same thing, because I could see a gleam of excitement in his eye. “This is…holy shit, man,” he breathed. “This is a lot. I’ve been squeaking by so far, my word hasn’t been worth much. But this changes everything.”

“Just goes to show,” I said with a grin. “There’s no bad words. Just bad speakers. Like you. You would be an example of a bad speaker. You suck.”

Rolling his eyes, he pointed at my now much more refined physique. “Big man talking shit when you have magic muscles. Why don’t we see how tough you are when I’m beginner rank like you.” I coughed and averted my eyes, and he just laughed. “Anyway, can you use these? Learn this…bear form?”

“I don’t think so,” I said slowly. “I think the magic adjacent stuff is word exclusive. Like I tried learning to scry from Connie and I got nothing. We’ve all got our advantages. You have fancy exercise and I can summon a minigun.”

“Sure, keep bragging,” he laughed. “But seriously…thanks. This is big and the fact that you brought it to me means a lot.”

It was my turn to roll my eyes. “You’re family. Way more than my actual brother. If you get stronger I get stronger. Simple as that. Besides, don’t be too grateful, you’re going to be working your ass off while I sit behind a counter in a possibly air conditioned shop.”

I was joking, mostly. I COULD buy a window unit and run it off a generator, but I was pretty sure they had magic alternatives here. Potions or artifacts or something that used ice mana. No, my plans for what to sell here were a lot more complicated, though not TOO complicated. He must have read that on my face because he just snorted. “Sure, and what are you REALLY going to do?”

“That’s a good question,” I admitted. “I’ve been driving myself nuts doing research. I’ve been thinking about selling like…machines. But mechanical stuff only. Antiques that were made with factories and would be pretty cheap and functional but also almost impossible to copy with their current technology. Or at least hard enough to copy to make mass production unfeasible and let me corner the market.”

He nodded. “Stuff like mechanical hand mixers, toasters, that kind of thing?”

I nodded eagerly. “Exactly. Early mechanical vacuum cleaners, ovens, stuff that’s useful but not complicated or ridiculous enough to draw attention. I want them to be ABLE to recreate it, I just want it to be hard enough that there’s no point trying to undercut it.”

“What about consumables?” he asked with interest. “There’s plenty of stuff we take for granted that would be nearly impossible to recreate. Do you know how complicated it is to make chocolate? You can buy a bar of that shit for like two dollars, and even if they managed to figure out what it was made of, and then FIND it here, the process to recreate it would be nightmarish.”

I blinked at that. “I…shit, that’s a good point. Not just chocolate either. Ice cream, soda, a bunch of types of candy. They could recreate them I’m sure, but I can buy them at super low prices that would render any sort of R and D they had to do pointlessly expensive.”

“So lean into that,” he said excitedly. “Do an old fashioned drugstore and soda shop type place. Sell some lighters, hand mirrors, safety razors, old fashioned healthcare stuff. Then maybe have a specialty section with some more artistic stuff. Mechanical hand wound pocket watches, high end clocks.”

“I can do a household section too,” I added, thinking about it. “Antique mechanical sewing machines, mechanical vacuum cleaner, mechanical scale. Maybe some thermometers, mechanical calculators. I’ll need to actually go FIND some of this stuff, but I bet Alistair can help. He seems like the type of guy who hangs out around people who collect antiques. I can hit like three different markets. Candy and drinks for the townies, household stuff for low level mages and the artsy stuff for nobles. Not to mention people buying to resell, which they will DEFINITELY do.”

He nodded slowly. “But you need to do the prep work. The antique stuff you need to find, sure, but beyond that you need to find the right sodas, the right candy, the right ice cream. Hell, the right chocolate. Prepackaged chocolate sucks, you want to get some from a real chocolate shop.”

“I know,” I sighed. “But it’s so much more expensive that way. Real chocolate from a chocolatier costs like five times more.”

But honestly…I could probably justify it. Considering one Delyran was equivalent to fifty bucks, even if I charged a single Delyran per bar I’d be making money hand over fist. Of course, it probably wouldn’t be QUITE that big a markup, there were smaller denominations of coin and I’d almost definitely be using them here, but still, with no baseline for chocolate, I could charge a premium and justify the extra expense. 

Beyond that though…I just WANTED to sell good chocolate. Like profit or not, I wanted good quality stuff on my shelves. Not just the chocolate, I’d had a lot of types of craft soda, and I was sure I could find some excellent brands to stock. Same with ice cream.

Keeping them cold was doable too, I could just buy an old fashioned ice box. Or a cooler, I guessed. I bet I could have Esther put some of my soda up in the bar under consignment too.

But none of that was going to happen today. I needed to head back to Earth and do some research and shopping. Since we’d JUST gotten here, I decided to wait until tomorrow. “Alright then, I guess we’re resting,” I said with a sigh. “Tomorrow will be soon enough for a shopping trip. How about you though. Since you’re here, you got anything you’re dying to check out? Could take a walk around town.”

He chuckled, slumping down onto the bed. “Nah, I’m good,” he groaned. “I hate plane rides. You’re so tense the whole time and the energy has nowhere to go. Like I KNOW nothing will happen, but if it does I’m kind of just screwed.”

“I hate when people get attitudes about how you dress on the plane,” I grimaced. “If I’m sitting in a tin can for six hours I’m gonna do it in comfortable pants. None of this ‘we used to wear SUITS to fly’ bullshit. Yeah, we also used to think the earth was flat. Historically, people did a lot of shit that wasn’t a good idea.”

Grinning, he shook his head in disbelief. “How are you even more of a cynic than I am?”

“I’m just saying,” I said defensively. “People are so weirdly entitled about shit that isn’t their business. I dress how I want. I’ll wear sweatpants on a plane, or on a boat, or on a bus.”

“If you start rhyming, I’m going to throw a brick at you,” he said mildly. 

I flipped him off. “Well fine, ass, I was just being helpful. So what DO you want to do? Just take a nap? Enjoy waking up with your back in thirty six pieces. That bed sucks. I should buy an air matress.”

“You should buy a BED,” he said in exasperation. “You know twin beds exist, right?”

“I don’t know that,” I said stubbornly. “I’ve heard people say it, but I think it’s just a disgusting lie they made up to sell tiny sheets.”

He burst out laughing. “You’re exhausting,” he said fondly. “Anyway, I wasn’t going to say I should sleep. I was GOING to ask you to show me your fae bargain skill. I want to meet an actual faerie.” I opened my mouth to respond but he cut me off. “I KNOW they’re not technically fairies and I won’t call them that. I do listen when you talk.”

“I don’t believe you,” I said dryly. “But I’m not against the idea. I could summon a brownie to say hello. I just need to buy some cream and a saucer. Not to mention the mana cost. You sure this is what you want to do with your first day in a fantasy world?”

“Meet a magical creature?” he asked with a laugh. “Hell yes I am. Call up that fae. I want to hear all about fairyland.” Sighing, I turned to go grab one of the saucers I still had available. I could probably reuse those at least. Then I’d just need to buy the cream and spend the mana. It was going to be a long day.