Calytrix is a young witch that just turned 20. As it is customary for all witches of her age, she must leave her home village and explore the world. She journeys to find her own place within it and a purpose, but magic is declining and only a few wi...
The contract sign on my hand didn't disappear although everything was supposed to be solved and Akios left my world. I cast various spells to erase it, but I got electrified every time I tried to. My hair would become a mess and the tingling sensation of electricity wasn't very pleasant. The fire spirit tough my situation was funny, but when I shot it an angry glare it stayed away from me at the times I focused on the contract. I guess the spirit thought it was all over and Akios won't ever come back.
It bothered me that the contract was still in effect because I wasn't sure why. Akios mentioned once he had another goal, but that he'll probably be able to chive it without any help from me once he saves my world. He must be working on his goal that didn't have any connection to me. Akios probably thought he'll borrow some of my magic in some emergency case so he left the contract in effect.
I even tried washing it off from my hands violently, but of course, it didn't have any effect. If soap and water could wash away problems we'd spend almost all of the time bathing.
"For these potions, I can offer you a small collection of these fine rings," the trader brought me back from daydreaming.
She took her sweet time evaluating each one of my potions. I offered simple potions for healing small wounds, for curing headache and stomachache. Potions like that were easy to make and they'd always attract people. They should be easily sell-able, yet this person in front of me was lowering the price the best she could.
"I don't need rings. As I said, in the beginning, I want coins," I said.
If she gave me rings I'd have to resell them and I'm not a merchant. I'm a witch. Those kinds of things shouldn't be my line of business. She probably couldn't sell the rings so she wanted to push them onto me.
The old lady in front of me let out a sigh and showed me a tortured expression on her face.
"I'd really like to buy your potions because they'd surely attract costumers, but you know how the economy's been these last few past months. You're a really tough negotiator. I can only offer you some more rings, but if I give you too much I won't be able to eat," she explained. "You know when I was young..."
The gray-haired woman surely had a lot of merchant experience, but I really needed coins. Who knows when and for how much I'd be able to sell the rings. I didn't want to take a risk. My money purse was almost completely empty so I needed to fill it as soon as possible. It wasn't my line of business and I just wanted to make a simple transaction for coins.
"And that's how I ended up here," she finished her story.
I didn't listen to her story at all because I was thinking about things, but I wanted to be polite so I stayed near her merchant table and pretended to listen.
"No deal then," I said.
"Suit yourself, but you could have made a bigger profit by taking the rings," she said.
We exchanged a handshake even though we didn't make a deal. It was probably a custom around here. I saw that the merchants did handshakes with almost everybody, but they also sold a lot. Despite what the woman told me about the economy, from my perspective it seemed that they were doing fine.
My stomach growled and I decided it was time for me to buy something for lunch and resume selling of my potions later.
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