It wasn’t easy to reach this point. But, there were three primary reasons for Inala’s success.
The first reason was his field of business. It was in Theatre, a brand-new field that had cropped up. Since Inala possessed the sole ownership of this type of trade, nothing could be done about it. This trade didn’t conflict with the merchants that had shops on the main road.
Moreover, since there existed only one Theatre throughout the Ganrimb Kingdom, people from all over the region came to watch the plays, raising the tourism sector of Ellora City. All the major merchants directly profited from this.
And as they say, ‘A merchant would love you as long as you make him money.’
Through Inala, their profit margin had increased a lot. So, they couldn’t make any complaints. No matter his character, a merchant was honest in his desire for money.
This also directly resulted in the second reason.
After making Maharell sign the unfavourable contract, Inala didn’t stop at that. Since he had beaten Maharell with the stick, it was time to dangle the carrot before him.
As the Theater’s fame increased, so did the demand for theatre-related merchandise, as Inala had extensively promoted them by integrating them into his plays. Plushies, lockets, posters, etc. Inala signed a deal with Maharell.
Maharell Wares and Services would sell the merch. And by paying a lumpsum, Maharell purchased exclusive rights to sell all merch related to Inala’s first major theatre production, Tom and Jerry.
As a result, his customer traffic ballooned in response. The greater the play’s fame, the stronger the people’s desire to buy the related merch. Maharell was minting so much money that despite losing a couple decades’ worth of lifespan to Inala, he had forgotten about it altogether, having been smiling all day, every day.
Seeing Maharell’s success caused the other big merchants to go green with envy. Originally, they planned to group up and deal with Inala to curb his business. But now, upon seeing the business opportunity, they rushed to him, fighting amongst themselves to purchase exclusive merchandise rights for other plays.
That became Inala’s chip to control the big merchants, hence accumulating both funds and logistics to accumulate a lot of influence. He also had a thirty percent stake in the factory that made the merchandise.
Basically, he was minting money for free from it. Through his political actions, Inala secured both a source of money and brought the big merchants to his side. Moreover, he was so intrinsic to their massive profits that the big merchants did everything in their power to ensure no external force ever interfered with his plans.
The thirty percent stake might seem like a loss to him at first glance, since it was his intellectual property. But in the eyes of the big merchants, they had a seventy percent stake in the factories. Meaning, they would have to do everything to ensure the business remained profitable.
Hence, they protected their interests, which in turn resulted in Inala’s protection. Inala had a thirty percent stake in all merchandise factories, so the revenue he raked in every month was around a quarter million Parute Fruits.
In three years, he became one of the most noteworthy individuals at Ellora Trade City. Moreover, his actions caused the wealth of Ellora City itself to increase, raising the city’s standards as compared to other cities.
And the reason he didn’t fall prey to someone was the third reason—his mysterious strength. Inala had only fought a few times. But in all instances, he subdued opponents in the Life Stage almost instantly, terrifying the latter.
Losing their senses, Prana, Lifespan, etc. were all terrifying. Therefore, no one dared to touch him, including the truly strong ones, as by the time they learnt of his existence, Inala had already become an untouchable existence. The self-interests of too many big shots became intertwined with him.
“There’s two minutes left for the intermission.” Inala observed and spoke to a youth at the side, “Ruggu, alert the servants to remain ready. Right as the intermission starts, they are to serve refreshments to the guests. The rest of the staff should be ready to guide the guests to the washroom and recreation area.”
The cheapest ticket at the topmost floor cost 1000 Parute. There were six VIP suites reserved for the rich amongst the rich, with each VIP suite costing 40,000 Parute. Even he wondered if such a price was worth it. But every month, all six suites were filled, surprising him, ‘I guess in every place, there’s the filthy rich with more money than what they know to do with.’
“Yes, Master.” Ruggu bowed in response and went ahead to proceed with the plans. He addressed Inala as ‘Master,’ and was the grandson of Erwahllu’s younger sister. Ruggu was the first to join the Theatre and personally received Inala’s teachings.
Thanks to Inala’s guidance, he reached the 2-Life Stage. Of course, since his Human Avatar was forged using Kirenal, his strength wasn’t anything worth commenting about. But, he was rather talented in controlling puppets, currently the most experienced apart from Inala and Asaeya.
He was also the one controlling Ichigo’s puppet in the Soul Society Arc play. Soon, half the play was over and it was time for the intermission.
The audience got up and entered a ballroom beside them. It was an open balcony that surrounded the theatre, overlooking the city. The view was pleasant as measures had been taken by the big merchants to decorate the surroundings as much as possible to be aesthetically pleasing.
‘It’s time to meet them.’ Thinking as such, Inala inspected himself, staring at the bracelets on both his hands. The bracelet was an inconspicuous piece of wood embedded with miniature Prana Bombs encased by a layer of wood.
Faint engravings had been added to them to make them look presentable. There was a bracelet on his two hands and similarly designed anklets on his two legs. Strung around his neck like a choker was another similar item.
Their function was simple. It was to absorb any and all traces of Prana he exuded. After all, the moment he does so, any Free Human at the Life Stage would recognise him as a Mammoth Clansman.
Hence, these Prana Bombs would work in fully masking his presence. Inala had perfected them by creating a Skill that assisted their function through the Mystic Skill Creator. It was how he was able to perfectly hide his existence.
When he fought Maharell at the start, Asaeya snuffed out the senses of both Maharell and the head of his guard team that was at the Life Stage. Hence, they were unable to sense his presence as a Mammoth Clansman.
Even now, if he were to control a Spirit Weapon, it would be easy for them to detect his origin, despite the bracelets. They only worked on emissions from his body by absorbing it. To control a Spirit Weapon, he would have to emit Prana past them, which countered their function. 𝑜𝔳𝗅𝐞xt.𝓬𝑜𝗆
Asaeya and baby Gannala too were equipped with the same.
Despite the bracelets proving their perfect capability every single time, Inala still exercised caution. A single mistake and everything he created would come crashing down, ‘Especially since I’m close to finishing my preparations to head to the Brimgan Empire.’
“Master Inala, it’s a pleasure to meet you.” A couple approached him with wide smiles, making him nervous instinctively, “It’s hard to get a hold of a busy man such as you.”
“Please, you only need to send word and I would have arrived at your doorstep.” Inala flashed an expression of flattery and bowed politely, staring at the faces of the City Lord and his wife. His back was drenched in cold sweat, because, unlike everyone he faced until now, they were true powerhouses, related to the Kingdom’s royalty.
In terms of strength, they rivalled a Mammoth Clansmen, especially the City Lord as Inala felt the latter’s strength.
8-Life Stage!
