Close Combat Mage

Chapter 12 – Working Energetically for Prosperity

That evening, long after Suo Jia’s mother had fallen asleep, Suo Jia looked at his mother’s relaxed face and felt a surge of pride in his soul from his achievements. His mother had raised him for so many years and now….now he could finally begin to repay his mother.

In the darkness, he clenched his fist tightly. Since he had already decided to go through with his plan, he would have to work diligently to make it a reality. Money for food and clothing was not a problem. Even eating meat daily was no longer a problem. All of this was possible just by setting up his booth every Sunday. Even if their expenses were to increase by a sizable amount, Suo Jia would still be able to provide it.

In Suo Jia’s hometown, a single-story house costed 10 gold. However, that was only in a small town with a mere population of 10,000 people; houses were very cheap. Now that he was living in Holy City, how could the houses here even compare to those from such a small and remote city?

Although he did not know the exact prices, Suo Jia knew for a fact that a house where he was costed about 100 gold for each level. If he wanted to buy a house similar to their previous one, it would cost at least 10,000 gold. (E: I’m told he actually wants 12 stories.)

Quietly counting on his fingers, Suo Jia calculated diligently. If he were to earn 200 gold per week, that would mean a total of 10,400 gold in a year. However, he also wouldn’t be able to spend any of the money he earned during that year. Now, factoring in the cost of the furniture and decorum, and adding in his current daily living expenses, he could ideally achieve his dream in two years.

“This won’t do!” Seeing the narrow and dark room, the battered bed, as well as the badly damaged everyday products they used, Suo Jia soon rejected this plan. He could endure for two years, but his mother’s condition was still bad. In such a dark, damp, and freezing cold room with leaks all over, his mother’s condition would not improve.

Based on today’s calculations, he had to practice the Moisture Technique diligently, continue to moisturize customers every Sunday, and increase the rate at which he earned money. This was the only effective method. Suo Jia had also thought about raising his standard fee, but in his opinion, one gold was already not a small amount. Since he only raised his hands a bit, requesting more money would hurt his conscience.

Perhaps it could be said that he did not dare ask for more money. Since this was already his household’s main financial support, it definitely could not suffer from any potential accidents or backlash. Earning a bit less at the moment would definitely be preferable to not earning any at all.

Suo Jia’s plan was perfect. As long as he trained himself diligently, then if he could moisturize at least 500 people every Sunday, his profits would be extremely high. In half a year, he could buy a big house. However in the meanwhile, he would have to work hard. In other words, he would have to improve his own magical capabilities.

Now that he had made his decision, Suo Jia felt satisfied. He covered himself with his blankets and gradually entering into a dream state. After properly resting for a night, he would start to put all his energy into practicing. In order to achieve “perfection through practice”, he had to use the Moisture Technique 500 times a day. Even though this seemed over the top, it was still humanly possible.

However, using the Moisture Technique required a target. Without a target, the Moisture Technique would not work. Before, Suo Jia’s targets were his mother or his customers, however now that he was casually practicing, he needed a living creature to practice on that would constantly be at his side.

Fortunately, this wasn’t a matter that was too hard to resolve. In this world, many people love to raise a couple of magical pets. What are magical pets? In actuality, they are domesticated magical beasts. They are taken from during their incubation period and grow up with human owners. In time, they will become loyal magical pets.

Of course, not all magical beasts can be domesticated to become magic pets. Some magical beasts, no matter how you treat them, will never give you their loyalty. However, most magical beasts are able to become magical pets.

In the past, Suo Jia had never thought about raising a magical pet. Although there were many different types of magical pets, there was never one that was convenient enough for him to breed in his poverty. The average pet was usually sold for 100 gold pieces, so Suo Jia had always thought buying a pet for that much was a waste of money.

However, the circumstances were different now. Mother was no longer taking money away from Suo Jia. Not only that, but the family household was no longer in dire straits, and his mother had handed over the family’s economic situation over to him.

Before, their household still had around 1300 gold. A portion of this money was from selling their house, and the other portion was part of the money his father had left for them. Suo Jia’s mother had prepared to use this money to cover their current living expenses. As for the money that Suo Jia earned, his mother let him organize it himself. Even though Suo Jia was still young, according to his mother’s words, he was already a grown man, and it was about time that he learned how to take care of the family’s finances. These types of things had to be taught from a young age.

After careful analysis, Suo Jia decided that in order to earn more money, he would rush to the pet shop after school and choose a magical pet as his practice partner.

The magical pet store was enormous, on each and every shelf inside laid a vast variety of magical pet eggs. Under each individual egg was a single white tile which showed the price on it.

Ignoring the magical pet eggs, Suo Jia directly walked up to the counter, and asked the beautiful girl there: “Big Sister, I want to buy a magical pet. Can you help me choose one?”

“Eh?” Seeing Suo Jia who wasn’t even tall enough to peer over the counter, the girl bent downwards. Her eyes creased upwards as she smiled brightly at Suo Jia and said in a friendly tone, “Little brother, what magical pet do you want to buy today? Why don’t you tell your older sister what you want so I can help you find the cutest one.”

“Well…” Suo Jia slightly muttered to himself in thought before laughing, “I want the smallest but cheapest and easiest to raise and well-behaved magical pet. Big sister, I’m counting on you to help me!”

Hearing Suo Jia’s string of “-est”’s, the girl could not help but show a shocked expression. Generally speaking, young children who went to the magical pet shop would also request a ton of “-est”’s, but their “-est”’s were normally largest, prettiest, smartest, coolest, noblest, and strongest. She had worked at the shop for so many years, yet this was the first time she had ever heard a young child make such a request.

The girl laughed, “Little brother, do you mean to tell me that you don’t care for the magical pet’s type, power, or even appearance…do you understand how important these aspects are for choosing a pet?”

“Yup,” Suo Jia nodded his head in confirmation. “That’s right, as long as it’s a magical pet, I am happy. In the end, it doesn’t matter how awesome it is, how pretty it is, or even what type of magical pet it is! None of these are important to me.”

Laughing slightly, the girl pointed towards a large entrance that had a display counter: “If that’s the case, then you should go choose an egg and test your luck. With only 100 gold, you can randomly pick a magical beast egg. You have the chances to select beasts ranging from the lowest level Slime to the strongest Fiery Blazing Dragon!”

“Ya!” Hearing what the girl had said, Suo Jia let out an excited yell as he walked towards the direction given to him. Originally…he was planning to buy the cheapest magical pet they had to offer, but now, hearing that there was this type of opportunity, there was no way he could pass up on this deal.

However, there were still some things that Suo Jia did not understand. Confused, he looked at the girl and asked: “Since even the cheapest magical beast egg is 100 gold, why would you include expensive eggs as well?”

Laughing slightly, the girl looked at Suo Jia and patiently explained: “It works this way: magical beast eggs are all incubated for the same amount of time. All the eggs there have already been incubated for a while; if they are not sold quickly enough, once they hatch, our losses will be too large.”

Not only that, with this type of method, it would promote the sales of magical pet eggs and increase profits. People who weren’t originally planning on buying magical pets would naturally be curious enough to try out their luck and buy one.

Of course, with that said, the girl was still hiding some facts. There were genuinely high leveled magical beast eggs on the counter, but they were very limited in quantity. In fact, with this method, it would be unlikely that they would not be able to reimburse their losses. On the contrary, they would actually earn a lot of profit and avoid a huge amount of loss. Since it promoted sales by a large margin, many magical beast stores offered this type of lottery.

Even though high level magical beast eggs had pretty high values, 99% of the eggs displayed in the shop were low level magical beast eggs. Even though they all sold for 100 gold, the shop acquired them for less than 10 gold, meaning the profits were huge. As outsiders could imagine, the shop’s profits could only be more, never less; what’s more is that the rate at which they earn money is even more extreme.

Hearing the girl’s explanation, Suo Jia still did not completely understand. But since such a thing existed and he completely didn’t care about the species of his magical pet, what did he have to lose?

After paying 100 gold pieces, Suo Jia walked up to the side of the gigantic display counter. Looking on top of the smooth counter top where tens of thousands of magical beast eggs were densely packed together into a single pile, Suo Jia’s heart began to race; exactly what type of magical beast egg would he choose?