Rapid knocking on his window woke Theo up with a start. A muffled voice called from outside as he rubbed his bleary eyes. “Theo! It’s nearly midday already!”

He shot out of bed. “Wha- oh!” His foot was caught in a blanket, so he tumbled to the floor. Fortunately, his face was there to break his fall. Rubbing his cheek, he opened the window drapes. Once his eyes adjusted to the midday sun, he saw Adam staring at him.

“Adam? What are you doing- Oh dear, it’s so late, I should have had the shop open hours ago! Meet me at the front!” Theo said, raising his voice so Adam could hear him through the glass.

He bolted through his shop, running at the speed of panic. Adam arrived at the door just as Theo opened it up for him. “You’re… very… fast…” He breathed heavily from his rapid sprint.

“Uh, yeah, I guess. So-”

“Watch the... shop for me, please,” Theo said, still out of breath as he dashed back into his home. Halfway into cleaning himself up, he realized what he’d just done.

Why did I just trust a man I’ve met for a single day to watch my shop? He sped up his process further, running back out to the shop room while still buttoning up his shirt. Bursting through the door once more, he crashed into Adam behind the counter.

His cheeks erupted into heat as he stepped back. “Oh- I, um- sorry I just-”

Adam pat Theo on the shoulder, chuckling. “It’s fine. It’ll take a lot more than that to hurt me. No vest today, huh?”

Theo gazed down at himself, eyes widening. “I forgot my vest!” He fumbled with the door, running back into his apartment to find a vest. Slipping on the first one he found, he hurried back to the shop, properly winded from all the sprinting.

Adam watched him take a few deep breaths. “You good?”

“I… believe so.” He checked his outfit, straightening out any folds in the clothes and tucking his shirt in. “Yes, I’m all set now. Thank you for watching the shop. Come to think of it, why are you here?”

Adam glanced off to the side. “I was uh, guarding your shop all last night.” He scratched at his cheek, still not meeting Theo’s eyes.

His heartbeat sped up. A small glimmer of hope lit inside of him. “You guarded me?”

Adam colored slightly. “Yeah, well, Telsa asked me to. Protect the shopkeeper who saved our asses a lot of money from Maraz. Y’know?”

Theo’s heart sank. He forced a slight smile onto his face. “Oh. Of course. Well, thank you. I do appreciate it.”

“Yup.”

He waited a moment for anything more. “...Is Maraz truly that bad?”

“Uh, let’s just say the way it went for you was pretty light from what I’ve heard normally happens. Maybe he liked that you stood up to him? Most shopkeepers don’t,” Adam said, shrugging.

Theo suppressed a shiver. “What have I done? Maybe I should just…” He stopped himself. “No. I refuse to change my prices because some bully tells me to do so. My prices are fair.”

“Yeah, it’s been really nice for my team. We’re spending so much less on supplies. Reminds me of when I first started adventuring,” Adam said, staring dreamily out the window.

“How old are you, Adam? That is, if that’s not an invasive question. I wouldn’t want to-”

“I’m 28. Been adventuring since I was 23.”

“You’ve been adventuring for 5 years? I mean no offense but, how are you still steel rank?” Theo asked, glancing for any obvious debilitating injuries that he hadn’t noticed earlier.

“Funny story about that. You know how I said my parents wanted me to be an enchanter, right? Once I told them that I wanted to be an adventurer, they took away all of my funding and kicked me out. Had to punch monsters until I could afford a club. Moved up from there,” he said, gesturing to the battleaxe on his back.

“Even so, shouldn’t you at least be silver rank by now?” Theo realized what he’d just asked. “Not that there’s anything wrong with steel! Perfectly acceptable rank I just-”

Adam laughed, patting Theo once more on the shoulder. “It’s not rude to ask. My team has… problems passing the test. We’re retesting again next week though. We’re hoping your wand will help us pass. Our comp is good at taking out single targets fast, but we struggle with groups.”

“Oh. Well, I wish you luck on passing. I’m sure you will, I have confidence in my products,” Theo said, smiling slightly.

“Thanks. I’ll make sure to pass then,” he said with a yawn. “If you don’t mind, I’m gonna head home and sleep now.”

“Of course not! Sorry to be keeping you up. Thank you again for guarding my shop. I appreciate it,” Theo said, his heart dropping again as he remembered his previous hope being crushed.

“No problem. Not sure I can do this every night, I’ll need to rest up for our test, but…” He frowned for a moment. “Stay safe, Theo.”

He mirrored Adam’s expression. “I will. I’ll have a security enchantment soon.”

Adam nodded to him. “Right. I’m gonna go pass out now. Bye, Theo.” He waved as he walked out the door.

Theo waved back, frowning as Adam left. “I had hoped for just a second that maybe… Well, never mind that. I have a security enchantment to build.”

He retrieved the sketch of his enchantment he’d be doing and laid it out on the counter. After poring over it, he noticed a few areas where improvement could be made and modified them. It was a simple repositioning of some of the Aspect runes, but he was happier with the end result.

This is all so obvious to me now. Note to self: never draw enchantments when you’re sleep-deprived. However, I do have to admit, these runes shouldn’t be particularly unstable even though I removed a node here and here.

It was finally time to test the effectiveness of the enchantment. Theo retrieved the two items he needed from his workshop, moving quickly as he didn’t have anyone to watch his shop.

First thing’s first, I’ll need a bell and an arm shape. He grabbed a small lump of pristine white vacium clay out of its smooth stone case. Wiping down the counter, he cleaned the surface before laying the expensive clay on it.

Theo hummed as he worked, and soon, he had something that vaguely resembled a bell with a hanging arm sitting on the counter in front of him. It was close enough for a test at least.

This next part required mana and he didn’t want to drain himself, so he opened the roof slats in his shop. Crystal inscription stylus in hand, he pulsed mana into his prized possession. Runes on the stylus lit up, running the spell to inscribe runes onto an object. This freed up his mind from having to constantly cast the same spell so he could focus on the work at hand.

He checked between the paper and the clay bell before he began. Once he was sure where to start, he touched the stylus to the clay. Silvery light emitted from the tip, leaving the telltale lines of runes where it passed.

Theo moved faster than usual, he didn’t have to be as precise on the vacium clay. He had to stop a few times and help customers, but towards the end of the day, Theo had transcribed the complete runic setup from the paper onto the clay bell.

It was a somewhat messy inscription job, but it would work well enough to activate - if a little costly on the mana front. Theo established a connection of his Infusion and Primordial mana to the bell arm. Afterward, he attached a Phrenic-attuned stardust crystal on the bell itself.

Now, how am I going to test the violent intentions sensor? Theo thought, tapping the bell.

He brought his thoughts back to Maraz, trying to capture the moment where he stood up to the man. It filled him with fear and anxiety more than any sense of anger.

The bell at his door rang. Theo looked up. Perfect.

“Wait so this is gonna do what?” Pina asked, raising a brow at Theo’s enchanted clay bell.

“A harmless air cage, I promise. You just need to think violent or malicious thoughts. Perhaps about causing me harm or stealing something from the shop. And tilt the clay bell while you do it. Like this,” Theo said, demonstrating the motion Pina would perform.

“Alright then. I can try,” she said, tilting the bell back and forth and closing her eyes.

He watched as she scrunched her face, moving the bell more rapidly as time passed.

“Theo, this isn’t working. Wait. My boss today was a total jerk and I really wanted to punch him in the- Ah!” she yelped, her body freezing in place as Theo felt a drain on his mana pool.

“It works! Oh, I’m so glad. I was worried I did something wrong with the enchantments and-”

“Theo. Release me first before you gush,” Pina said, glaring at him.

“Oh! Sorry. Right, let me just…” He broke the established link to his mana pool and Pina unfroze. “There we go.”

“It works. It was softer than I thought it would be,” she said, carefully placing the bell back on the counter.

“That’s because it’s just solidified air using Infusion and Primordial mana. The only problem I see now is if someone comes into my shop particularly upset by something,” he said, resting his chin on his hand in thought.

“Is there any way you can make it only thoughts focused on you? It’s pretty creepy that your bell can read minds, by the way,” she said, eyeing the bell warily.

“It just picks up surface emotions. It’s a Phrenic principle I don’t particularly understand but I guess you ‘emit’ thoughts or emotions from yourself that those runes can pick up on. And to answer your question. Maybe? I’m unsure. I certainly don’t have the runes for that. I may just need to offer some apologies and release the customer quickly if that happens,” he said, shrugging.

“So why do you need this, anyway? To stop shoplifters?”

“Ah, well, you see…” Theo lowered his voice, glanced around, and explained the situation to Pina.

Her eyes widened. “Maraz? You threatened that beast of a hu- ahem, man?”

Theo cringed internally. “Unfortunately, it seems. I just thought he was some bully trying to force me to scam people. I wasn’t aware he had a reputation.”

“I’m shocked you don’t have a broken…” She paused, assessing Theo’s body. “Everything.”

He felt sweat breaking out at the small of his back. “I’m not sure why he treated me differently, but I refuse to change my prices.”

“Good, because I need more stamina potions,” she said, picking a few philtres off the shelf. “And a new ache relief poultice. That other one stopped working.”

“I have those right over on that shelf,” he said, pointing to the shelf in question.

She walked over to pick one out. “You owe me a tester’s fee or something, by the way.”

Theo frowned, drumming his fingers on the counter. “Understandable. How about you don’t pay two silver for the wand today and I’ll count it off anyway?”

Pina inclined her head in thought for a moment. “Deal. But you have to make sure I’m buying a good poultice.”

“All of my poultices are quality, I assure you.”

“Yeah, but I want the best one,” she said, smiling widely.

“...Allow me to take a look then,” he said, stepping out from behind the counter. After comparing a few, he handed Pina the newest one he’d made.

“Aha! I knew there were better ones,” she said, holding the poultice up like a prize.

Theo had to smile at her antics. They certainly helped him calm down anyway. “They were all fine, I promise. That one just happens to be the last one I made.”

“So it’s the best. It’ll last the longest.”

“I suppose so, yes.”

“Good. How much do I owe you?” she asked, taking out her coin purse from her messenger bag.

“Well, the stamina philtres are 14 silvers each, and that poultice is only a silver. So 29 silvers total.”

Pina inhaled sharply. “I only have a silver oval, do you have change?”

“Indeed I do,” Theo said, holding out his hand. Pina handed him the oval-shaped silver coin and he counted out her change - two square-shaped silver coins with a hole in the middle, and a circular coin with a hole. “21 silvers is your change. Unless you need anything else today?”

“Nope. All good now. I gotta get going or I’ll be late for dinner,” she said, placing her purchases in her bag and waving to Theo. “Bye, Theo!”

“Thank you for helping me with my enchantment, Pina. Have a nice evening,” he said, waving back to her.

“Yup! See you next time I need a stamina potion!” she said, calling to him as she ran out the door.

Theo regarded his clay bell once more, smiling at the success. He grabbed it, detached the Phrenic stardust crystal, and squished the clay back into a ball. The runes disappeared from the surface and he put the clay back in its box to prevent it from drying out.

After depositing the crystal under his counter, Theo flipped the sign on his door to ‘closed’. His mind felt weary from spending so much time on such a complex enchantment. Rubbing his eyes, he moved back into the house portion of his apartment.

It had been a light day for business, but he still felt exhausted. The slight price increase has been well-received so far at least. I’m still less expensive than anyone else. How could they charge so much for potions? The materials aren’t that expensive and the spells aren’t even that high in mana consumption.

He sat up straight when he heard knocking on his shop door. The knocking only grew louder as he remained in his seat. Feeling on edge, he grabbed the wand he kept under his counter. His suspicions were confirmed when he saw Maraz smiling through the glass of the door’s window.

“I see you, Theo. Come on, let me in,” he said, his voice a mix of cocky and venomous.

Theo froze in place. He swallowed, tightening his grip on the wand. “I apologize, Maraz, but I’m closed for the night.”

A laugh came through the door, loud and deep. “Oh come on, Theo. We both know I’m not here to buy something. That is, unless your prices are higher? I’ve heard they still aren’t.”

Theo’s door shook as Maraz tried the handle. He shivered, his mouth going dry. Sweat accumulated, wetting his shirt under his vest. It felt considerably hotter in the room than it had just a few minutes ago.

“I’m not changing my prices! I increased them a bit as I said I would, but that was because of the ingredient costs. I won’t leave the very people who protect us from monsters unequipped because of greed!” Theo called out to Maraz, grabbing on to a seed of anger once more. He wished he’d kept the clay bell now.

“Alright then. You’ve got two choices, Theo. You open this door or I will,” Maraz said, shaking the door once again.

Please let me be able to do this…

“Okay! I’ll open the door,” he said, steeling himself and walking up to the door. His hand trembled as he unlocked it. He stepped back. “Okay, it’s unlocked.”

The door swung open. Maraz’s face was set in a vicious grin. He walked up to Theo, towering over him.

Theo glanced up, then stepped back. “I-I’ll have you know, I’ll call the guards if you try anything!”

Maraz tilted his head back, laughing loudly. “Oh, that’s rich.”

I suppose that was a bit of a stretch. He didn’t seem scared of the guards last time. And with that reputation… Taking a deep breath, he met Maraz’s eyes. “I’m not scared of you. Well, I am, but that’s not going to change my prices. I’ve heard a lot about you by now, why haven’t you just… beaten me up or something?”

Maraz’s smile only grew wider, exposing his perfectly white teeth. “Honestly? Boredom. It’s been some time since anyone even tried to say no to me.” He flicked Theo in the chest. That flick had enough force that it knocked him off balance. He pinwheeled his arms to catch his balance.

Unfortunately, he lost his grip on his wand in the process and it clattered across the floor. Eyeing the distance, retrieving it was a lost cause. Maraz’s grin turned smug.

Theo rubbed at his chest, already feeling a bruise forming. He hated that he was trembling right now. In an attempt to distract Maraz while he mentally formulated, he tried changing the subject. “Why don’t other shopkeepers lower their prices? It’s profitable regardless, I’ve done the math.”

“Who doesn’t want to make more money? The guild makes more money if the shopkeepers make more. If I don’t make them make more, I don’t make more. So how about you change your prices and I can go home.”

“I refuse,” Theo said, grasping on to the fires of rebellion inside himself for strength.

“How utterly respectable of you,” Maraz said with a sneer. “I’m bored with you again. Maybe this will change your mind,” He tightened his hand into a fist.

Theo raised his own open palm. “Stun Bolt!” Lightning discharged from his hand, dispersing harmlessly across Maraz’s suit.

“Damn, the little shopkeeper has balls. Too bad you mentioned your Stun Bolt last time,” he said, chuckling and raising a hand to show a gleaming yellow gem on a ring. That same hand reached out, lightning-quick, and slapped Theo across the face.

He tumbled to the floor. Please work.

“I-I believe I t-told you before,” he said, voice trembling. “I won’t be bullied!” The full force of his mana pool unleashed as Theo brought his most recent runic construct to mind, sans the Phrenic component.

Maraz began to move closer to Theo before he froze in place. He glanced down in interest. “Oh? What’s this now?”

Theo gulped, rubbing his cheek and standing up. Already he was beginning to feel the strain of manual casting as the runes performed their work inside his mana pool. “An air cage.”

“Sure. So what now? Your mana won’t last forever.” He paused, grinning once more. “Actually, I’m curious if you can even hold me,” Maraz said, his muscles swelling as his own spells activated.

The strain on Theo’s mind increased as Maraz pushed against the air cage. He struggled to hold on.

“Huh. Strong little bugger, aren’t you? Explosive Strength,” he said, voice echoing with the activation of a Named Spell.

Theo cried out as sharp pain lanced through his head. Blood leaked from his nose as he held on. Eventually, he lost control. The world spun, breaking his focus.

Maraz smoothed out his slightly rumpled suit. “This was fun, Theo. You’ve earned yourself one more chance. Change, or else.” He pointed at Theo and walked out the door, adjusting the cuffs of his suit.

The edges of Theo’s vision began to turn black, the last thing he heard was someone calling out to him as he collapsed to the floor.