"To understand the business of trade, you should study and comply with four factors. Firstly, you must identify the needs of the market. What are the Scientists manufacturing lately? Or what is the trend in the higher society of the City?
Secondly; look for suppliers for your component. The harder the item to find, the higher its demand. You can't trade an item if you don't have suppliers. It is better to look for items that can't be found in the City Market, or even in Southern City Trade Centers.
Thirdly; The delivery. How do you deliver them to the Scientists or the buyers? Can the supplier meet the demand?
Fourthly; Pricing. You must of course know the rarity of the items. The higher their level of rarity, the more expensive the item could be. You must have good margins, especially since these items are dangerous to find.
Remember, every business is scalable. Always think of it as a Currency tree. That your scheme or business model should earn currency even without your presence."
Erik Berkley lectures to his son, Lance
***
Lance cast a wary glance at the multitude of market stalls he passed, their wares scattered in untidy heaps. The merchants regarded him with deathly stares, their eyes cold and brimming with hostility.
Strobe neon lights heaved the marketplace; even the Outsiders had streaks of LED lights on their clothing. They had a fashion of their own, somewhat a bold fusion of tribal clothing and the techno era.
Glancing at the piercing eyes of the onlookers was never a great idea. They haunted him. Hence, he decided to stroll with his head bent low while his eyes trained on the displays. His steps never trailed far away from Damian.
The weapons on their sides made it evident that the place was hostile. The merchants and the marketgoers had been careful not to spark any provoking conversations.
"Merchant One," Damian called out to a wide stall displaying an array of unorganized and uncategorized items as they arrived. "There's a customer."
"Wait!" The merchant responded from an adjacent room located at the back of the storefront. They heard footfalls and a concerning commotion of clanking metal on the other side of the room, paired with occasional cursing. The entire block could hear him.
"You better be customers, or else, you'll ruin my fantastic day!" The merchant went out of the room with a caged Abominant, fat and curled into a ball. He placed it recklessly along with his other displays.
He spat afterward.
The caged Abominant was familiar to him. He might have found it in the laboratories of the Academy of Science or Research Center Extensions.
The merchant was apparent in his late 40's, with his beard reaching to his abdomen. Just like any other merchants they've seen, Lance should tread his words carefully.
George and Joe were fascinated by the hung weapons in the display area. They inspected the weapons as if they were buyers.
"Merchant One, we are looking for..." Damian interjected with the old man's palm facing towards him.
"Insiders you are! I see. They call me Merchant here. Other merchants are called by their numbers. I don't wanna be called by One! It sounds old." Merchant spat.
"I want an Energy Accelerator!" Lance said without hesitation. The Merchant held a fearsome look towards the kid.
"You're in luck, kid," the Merchant declared. "This is the only place that sells those kinds of things. Masterwork-level items like the Energy Accelerator. Let me get it." Finally, a smile streaked across the Merchant's face.
"You two! Help me get it at the back," Merchant pointed at George and Joe, and they scurried immediately to the back.
They took the Accelerator from the other side of the room. It was elongated and heavy as Joe and George were straining to get it, perspiration beaded on their foreheads.
A sudden thud was discernible as the Accelerator was placed on a wooden display table. The component comprises four cylindrical tubes, exhaust chambers, a digital display, and serious mechanical housing. It was like a miniature jet engine.
"3000 units for a Masterwork-level item. Energy Accelerant. I got this from the bowels of Terrabitha. You know, the third surviving city of Oroz Continent before the walls? Due south, kid. Due south. The price is 3000 units." The Merchant emphasized. Possibly, a crucial part of a negotiation is to justify the soaring high price of the product.
"What!" Lance exclaimed. "I thought I could get the Accelerant for free!" Lance turned his glance to Damian.
"Oh no, kid! There is no free in this town. No. No. No." Merchant retorted. "3000 units is 3000 units. No more, no less." Merchant shook his head, his face turned to a frown of disappointment.
"I only have a few units left in my account. There must be some other way that I can get my hands on these without paying such a price."
"You can scour in Terrabitha if you like." Merchant had a sarcastic smile.
"You can't kid," Damian interjected.
"We should go, Damian!" Lance said strongly, neglecting rational thoughts.
"No. Terrabitha will take us a week to travel that far. We can't survive going South for a day, maybe." Damian retorted.
Damian was right. Lance felt a sudden kick of reality. He knew about Terrabitha. It was the first City conquered by the menace of Abominants. It was supposedly at the forefront of the Cleanse – the eradication of Abominants in the Southern part of Oroz.
Probably, Handsome and Damian were stationed there when they were on active duty. Unfortunately, they fought a losing war. They managed to kill a lot of Abominants, though, mostly the lower levels. But these creatures mated and multiplied faster than normal.
The killings would never cease, and it was a race against quantity.
And for twenty years of constant war and hunting of hives, Terrabitha was lost. All citizens were evacuated, and the soldiers were recalled back to Axe Central City. Half of the citizens did not survive the travel to the Bay and Axe Cities, as they were ambushed by the ravaged beasts.
"What will you do with this anyway? It's been so long I have this in my inventory, but nobody will buy it." Merchant said.
Lance did not answer. His mind was racing with a hopeless dream. How can he accumulate such fortune? That scrapping could only provide him with a mere 300 units per month.
He had no inheritance from his father, even though the latter was rich. But all of his currencies were frozen by the Government.
'Never lose hope. Every situation has a solution, even if the solution is still vague momentarily. What's important is you are progressing towards your goal,' Lance remembered his father's teaching.
"What is that?" Lance pointed at the caged Abominant, relinquishing hard the hopelessness that accumulated inside of him. The Abominant was still dormant, purring.
It had different streaks of red and yellow color but was dominated by jet black. It obscured its face, revealing only its fat back like it was a ball of fur.
"It's a cat, kid," Merchant answered. "It's a wonder, these feckers. It's my fast-moving inventory nowadays. I gained a lot of money smuggling these to other communities, even to Axe Central."
"What for?" Lance asked. He tasted hope once again.
"My middlemen told me that their buyers used it to fend off abominable pests, like rats, even small insects. This cat right here eats all of them, including flying insects!"
Middlemen were the delivery personnel; they were the best example of traders in this age. Middlemen's profession had grown into a prolific and lucrative business after the Cleanse and the fall of Bay and Terrabitha Cities. Because of the need for scraps and even food items' rarity, smuggling was the cheapest and easiest choice for the surviving commoners.
Middlemen were the front liners of smuggling.
But Lance already knew their business concepts, those middlemen. But he was better than them. He was educated. He must think outside the box and establish better lucrative ways to improve the trading business.
"Where did you get these cats?"
Merchant rattled the cage, and the Abominant was startled. It stood up from its slumber and showed its face. It had four eyes, fangs protruding from its lips. It had ears, not two but four. It was horrendous to look at.
"We called these feckers, Zelkians!" Merchant said. "I got these from the Dead Forest, a few miles from here. What I have here is a breeder. Lazy-ass abominations."
"You said, breeders?" Lance asked.
"Yes. I need the male ones who are faster than these breeders. The middlemen would not buy these breeders. My collectors were mistaken. They looked the same, though, but they should know. They have known the business for years. Fecking scammers!" Merchant ranted. He shouted occasionally.
"If you have a breeder and a male Zelkian, why not mate them?" Lance asked.
"You want to farm? It's actually a great idea, kid. But look at mah place! I need a wider space for them to nest and breed, don't they?" Merchant was sarcastic.
Farming Abominants was unheard of. But he knew the concept and how the originating animals multiply. Abominants had genetic inheritance from originating animals, however, everything was heightened and accelerated. Even the growth of these creatures had exponential increments compared to their original species.
"How much for the breeder and the male Zelkian?"
"80 units for the Male Zelkian. If you buy two of my male Zelkians, I will give this breeder for free."
'Two males and one breeder? It is unnecessary.' Lance thought.
"How about two Males and two breeders? Give the two breeders for free then, just to dispose of them from your inventory," Lance suggested.
He knew that Merchant wanted some free space for his saleable items. His Breeders were non-moving, consuming space, and even contributed to an appalling smell.
Merchant smiled and shook his hand.