Intricately decorated shelves littered the place, creating numerous aisles to shop around. Of course, the items here weren’t that expensive. Hence, security was minimal. The staff only existed to point the customers to the location of their desired item.
On the ground floor were simple utensils. The first to the fifth floor had clothes. The sixth floor contained food items ranging from rice to spices. The items from the seventh to twelfth floor were related to cultivation, from weapons to elixirs.
Inala arrived at the eleventh floor that sold medicines and Elixirs. The floor space made it vast. With rows upon rows of precious goods available on the shelves, it painted a sharp display of Establishment Lord Maharell’s wealth and influence.
The majority of them were medicines though. From the variety that treated illness, diseases, and sickness to those that aided in building up one’s constitution, gave clarity of mind, increased training efficiency, etc.
There was a small section at the very end that sold Elixirs. Majority of them were Low-Grade Elixirs that upon consumption granted 100 Prana. Encased in decorated glass containers were Mid-Grade Elixirs that granted 400 Prana upon consumption. There were only a dozen of them.
Inala couldn’t see the sight of any High-Grade Elixirs. Due to their value, they wouldn’t be sold in a shop. Rather, they would be auctioned to high-paying customers.
Even though Elixirs raised one’s Prana, they couldn’t be consumed in succession. That would straight up destabilise the Spirit Container. Therefore, long intervals were required before another could be consumed.
Elixirs worked on building up the Spirit Container and then filling up the required Prana. Therefore, the cultivator needed to spend a lot of time acclimating to the change.
But using a higher grade of Elixir granted greater strength. Even though the acclimation process was even longer, during that entire time, they were vastly stronger than if they consumed a Low-Grade Elixir.
Inala currently had a bit more than 120 Prana. If he were to consume a High-Grade Elixir, he’d straight up reach 920 Prana. Even though he’ll have to acclimate for years, in all that duration, he was strong, possessing 920 Prana, in contrast to 220 Prana if he were to consume a Low-Grade Elixir.
The rich ones simply consumed a High-Grade Elixir and spent the rest of the acclimation duration building their bodies. It was more efficient this way.
The moment he set foot on the floor, three nail-sized entities slipped out of his sleeves and crawled toward the closest rack. Following that, they climbed the racks and made their way to the ceiling, remaining inconspicuous as they trailed between the edges of the rack and the ceiling.
They remained within his Spirit Weapon range, allowing Inala to observe everything they witnessed.
Two staff members laid their eyes on him upon his entry, watching his every move. They weren’t concerned as long as he roamed in the medicine section. But the moment he began to walk towards the Elixir section, they became alert.
Those who dared to purchase an Elixir were among the wealthy and powerful. So, they had to provide the best service to please the customers. Another job of the staff was to ensure none stole the Elixirs.
Even among the wealthy, such people existed, intending to get more than what they paid for. The staff were responsible for preventing such things.
‘One, two, three…a total of twelve staff. Eight are in uniform and four are mixed among the customers.’ Through the eyes of the three Empyrean Zinger Scouts, Inala got a bird’s eye view of the Elixir section.
Following that, he observed the actions of everyone. Every customer was accompanied by a staff that told them the properties of every Elixir on display. The staff also watched the actions of the customers to ensure they didn’t sneak in an Elixir or two during their purchase.
There was security at the exit of the establishment that scanned through the purchased goods. They had marked the goods similar to the Bone Slips used by Virala. Therefore, they had the means to detect thievery.
But it was best to prevent things from getting to that point. If someone wealthy and powerful was caught stealing, they’d develop bad blood with the establishment. It was best for a business to avoid such things.
“Sir, may I know what you’re looking for?” One of the staff paying attention to Inala stepped forward the moment he entered the Elixir section.
“I need four Low-Grade Elixirs,” Inala stated his request. 𝑶𝚟𝓵xt.𝗰𝒐𝑚
“This way, please.” The staff bowed and guided him to a shelf, “We have a variety on display here, from Low-Grade Elixirs that grant 20 Prana to 100 Prana.”
Depending on the materials used, the effects and side effects of the Elixirs varied. The staff began to explain them.
In the meantime, an Empyrean Zinger Scout crawled on the ceiling and stalked a lone staff. Right as the staff approached a region that avoided the eyes of others, the Empyrean Zinger Scout dropped from the ceiling and glided in its miniature form, increasing its weight to the limit.
It then slammed into his jaw, knocking him unconscious. The Empyrean Zinger Scout held his clothes and behaved like a parachute to prevent him from falling hard. It gently laid him on the floor and proceeded to drag his body towards a staff exit.
Inala was controlling their bodies to give them cues on when to move and what action to take. Two Empyrean Zinger Scouts kept watch over the Elixir section while the third scout took out the staffs one after another.
While the staff was explaining about elixirs to Inala, the scout slammed into his jaw and knocked him out. His body was hidden behind the counter and later dragged into the staff exit.
“Excuse me, can you come here for a second?” Inala approached a staff that was talking to another customer.
‘Why isn’t someone there to guide him? Are they slacking?’ The staff thought but didn’t voice it aloud. He then apologised to the customer he was serving and asked for a moment.
He approached Inala and asked, “Can I help you, sir?”
“Yeah, the person explaining the Elixir variety to me left suddenly. He was extremely rude.” Inala acted annoyed, “It seems this establishment has grown too big for its own good, considering this is the service you provide to your valuable customers.”
“I apologise for the behaviour of our staff, sir. Please be assured that I’ll take up the case with my superior and see to it that he is punished.” The staff bowed in a hurry and then pointed at a nearby shelf, “We’ll offer you a discount on one of our products. I hope this at least makes up a little for our mistake.”
“You better offer something like that.” Inala snorted grumpily and approached a shelf. He casually looked through, making the staff follow him. And once they were out of sight from the others, an Empyrean Zinger Scout slammed into his jaw and knocked him unconscious.
While the poor staff was dragged into the staff exit, Inala approached another staff, repeating the same.
A few minutes later, there were grumbling customers throughout the Elixir section, wondering where the heck all the staff members disappeared.
Many were vocal about it, shouting in anger, causing the staff from the medicine section to scurry towards them in an effort to apologise. That created a lot of chaos and focused the attention of everyone on the raging customers.
In the meantime, Inala casually pocketed all twelve Mid-Grade Elixirs and a bunch of Low-Grade Elixirs.
