Chapter 468: Pond rippling
The next day came and the news about Michael’s Mystic talents continued to spread.
But despite how interesting the news was, business still had to continue—especially in the Upperwoods District.
Today was the last day of the festival, meaning that this was the last chance for companies to try and increase their rankings by getting a lot of sales.
The seventh day of the festival was usually the busiest day out of them all. This was where people swarmed stores in an attempt to buy items and services with the discounts given only during the festival. It was the last hurrah, as others liked to say.
Companies doubled their staff, increased their inventory, and prepared for the crowd of people that swarmed through their doors.
But as the day started, something weird happened. Many companies saw a distinct lack of people visiting their stores. The amount of people that entered their premises was the exact same as the day before, with not much change.
This was very weird because they expected the last day to have almost double the amount of customers they had before.
They thought this was simply a slow start, and that more people would come as the day progressed.
But as the sun continued its journey through the skies and reached the zenith, the customers they got still remained at a constant rate, with no increase or decrease.
Many companies were weirded out at this point. And eventually, they sent out their own people to investigate the cause of this phenomenon.
And they didn’t have to walk far before they stumbled upon the answer.
In the middle of the Market Plaza, there was a large gathering of people crowding a single point.
"Why are there so many people in the park?"
"Could there be a really popular store there? What’s the company located in the J5 area?"
However, as they sent out their men to investigate, they found out that there wasn’t even a stall or a store where the people were gathering.
These people were just standing in line, waiting for nothing!
"HUH?! What are they doing?!"
"Are they caught in a trance or something?"
They eventually asked the customers themselves. And when questioned why they were waiting in line for an empty spot, the answer was that they were waiting for a company called Reborn!
Because Michael finished his permit test in three days, he was forbidden to continue selling items in a stall. Since the Market Plaza was reserved only for those companies yet to have their permit, Michael couldn’t sell his items despite the demand from the customers.
On the fourth day of the festival, people sought out Michael’s stall and saw it empty. This left them disappointed, but still optimistic.
On the fifth and sixth day, the J5 stall was still empty.
And on the seventh day, many customers thought that the Reborn stall would pop up once again since it was the final day of the festival.
Essentially, the people who came from the fourth to the sixth day all returned on the seventh day, which now created this large group of people waiting in line for Michael’s stall to return.
Once the other companies in the Upperwood District found this out, they couldn’t believe it.
"Wait...they only needed three days?!"
"Is that even possible for a new company?"
"Is the Association sure they’re not another shell company?"
"They’re sure. Didn’t you hear the rumors about the items they’re selling? It’s all new items that people have never seen before."
Due to the unique and high quality items the Reborn company offered, they finished their permit test in record time, only taking three days to pass. And because they finished so early, a lot of customers who weren’t able to buy their unique items were left unsatisfied and kept waiting for more.
This was unprecedented.
"What if they continued to operate the stall throughout the festival? Could they have reached a high ranking?"
This question scared and amazed most of the companies who heard about Reborn.
It didn’t take long for them to do the math. If they continued selling items throughout the seven-day festival, then it was more than possible for them to reach the top 10 ranking in the Upperwood festival.
For an unknown company, achieving this feat despite only starting in Metropolis a couple of days ago was beyond comprehension.
Of course, most of the general public wasn’t made aware of this kind of news. It only stayed within the community of companies in the Upperwood District.
Still, even a small splash in a pond could end up rippling all the way through the surface of its water.
It wasn’t long before the Legacies heard about Michael’s feat.
Bobby heard about it through Dicky. Of course, since Dicky was bound by a vow of silence, he didn’t talk about Michael’s Aubility or his weird flying Mithril weapon. He only told Bobby about Reborn’s feats in the Upperwood festival, which was already public knowledge.
"Hoooo! I didn’t think that little guy was so impressive," Bobby muttered. "I would have asked him to become an officer in Quench if I knew how talented he was."
Meanwhile, Aerith heard about it after getting contacted by the Association to heal Kobra and Mamba.
When she went to treat Kobra of his injuries, she realized that he had gone completely insane. The man kept on banging his head on the walls, muttering some unintelligible words. He had a very deep psychosis, something that even she couldn’t repair.
Because of this, she heard about Michael and the Reborn company.
It amazed her that a kid she met from a small rural town ended up becoming a genius in the Mystic Arts.
"Four elemental mastery? I should have recruited him into my apothecary when I had the chance. His talent in healing must be extraordinary."
The last one to hear about it was Alaric Goldstone. His entire day was scheduled around preparations for the parade. However, such news became so sensationalized that he ended up hearing about it despite how busy he was.
"Interesting," he muttered, fidgeting with the golden ring in his finger.
And just like the others, he found out about the crowd gathering in the Market Plaza waiting for his stall to arrive.
"Reborn will become a formidable opponent," he realized.
His right hand man, Perseus, and his left hand man, Orion questioned the conclusion of their leader.
"I don’t believe so, Alaric. They’re a good company, but not good enough to compete in the top market of Metropolis," said Perseus.
"And this Michael kid may be powerful in the Mystic Arts, but that’s not enough to reach the top," Orion added.
Alaric shook his head, disagreeing with their observations. "Bobby and Aerith will only see his talents in the Mystic Arts, just like you both.
But I’m looking at something completely different.
They passed the permit in just three days. This means they got 7000 sales in such a short amount of time.
If they continued to get that much sales throughout the entirety of the festival, then they could have reached the top 10. This is good, but not that impressive.
However, many people are missing something. They wouldn’t have stayed stagnant in their sales. By all accounts, they would have doubled it with each day that passed. The crowd in the Market Plaza proves that.
And when you take that into account, you can see the number clearly.
They would have surpassed the Quench company and reached first place in the festival!
He would have done that...in a small, little stall.
It doesn’t matter if he doesn’t have enough strength to reach the top. His intangible business talent will allow him to hire all the muscle he needs."