Here we go with chapter 4! Once more, I would like to thank those who gave me wonderful advice and encouragement, and once more, please feel free to leave a review!

 

 

The Thaumaturgist

by

Elite Shade

 

 

 

"Okay!" Daso said to himself eagerly, as he went over the checklist on his clipboard, checking each box on his list as he performed his last minute inspection, walking from one room to the next. Today, he was wearing a simple green T-shirt and jeans for his outfit, making sure that his hammer and apron were nearby when needed.

"The displays are properly positioned, the product shelves have all been stocked, the potions are all labeled, I remembered to put up the flyers and purchase the ad space in the local papers a few days ago. Check, check, check that too." He could feel the excitement bubbling inside of him, as well as a few shreds of nervousness. Today was it, the grand opening of his new shop, and the official start of living his dream. He looked at his handmade timekeeper above the shop's entrance.

Two more minutes! Daso continued with his checklist, marking everything as he went down it. This was actually the third version of the list today, just to ensure that he was not missing even the tiniest of details.

First impressions are important. Daso smiled as he checked off the last box, and set the clipboard under the counter just as the timekeeper started to beep, with the ethereal hologram of a phoenix, a beautiful bright orange feathered bird, projecting out of the face, leaving a trail of multi-colored sparkles as it gracefully flew around the entire shop.

"That outta do it." Daso continued to grin, while the ghostly flaming bird continued to soar around his shop. The timekeeper and its projected image were actually to serve multiple purposes, one of which was to be a demonstration of Daso's ability at his work. Another being that the image, which would continue to fly around the shop until closing time, would keep careful track of anyone and everyone in the shop, to spot potential thieves. It also served as his security system, in the event of a robbery, alerting the nearest authorities with a recording of Daso's own voice, to specify exactly what the situation is. And, of course, it told time, exactly down to the unquantifiable millisecond. In addition to his timekeeper, Daso had also spent his time in the days leading up to the opening, crafting all sorts of tools, weapons, potions, and gadgets to stock the shelves and displays with. Many of which were enchanted in some way or another, most being benign.

"Showtime," Daso said, taking a deep breath, and flipped the closed the sign to open in the display window. As Daso walked back to the register, also something he had forged and built, and subsequently enchanted, himself; the phoenix made a melodious sound, indicating that the door had been opened.

"Welcome to Daso's!" He said as he spun around, with gusto, only to stare in puzzlement. Before her were many pink and white heart-shaped mylar balloons. "Uhh..." The balloons were moved aside, and Daso saw a very familiar and annoying face.

"My lady love! I have come today to wish you the greatest of luck, and to ask for your fair hand," Arono said, producing a small box, opening it to reveal a gold ring with a large diamond glinting in the light.

 

 

Two Hours Later...

 

 

"Thank you for choosing Daso's! Please come again," Daso said after ringing up the next person in line's purchases and taking their shelt. After the slightly unorthodox beginning, more and more customers had been arriving, most making a purchase or placing an order.

"Excuse me, miss Daso?" He winced again at being referred to as miss, and looked up, a small smile forming on his lips.

"Officer Tietro!" He said, looking at the good-looking elvish face before him. "Decided to come and check out the shop, I see."

"Well, I must confess that I did stop by initially for another reason, however, I must say you appear to be doing quite well."

"Well thanks! But you said another reason?" Daso said, his smile widening a little as he briefly attended to another customer.

"Yes... uhm..." Tietro started rubbing the back of his head, feeling embarrassed. "W-Well, it would seem that my cousin... may have been... bothering you the past few days or so... as he is want to do from time to time with his various infatuations... and I was starting to get a little worried, after he called me earlier and explained that he was going to propose to whom he declared to be his one true love, a woman with your description and name..." Tietro trailed off uncomfortably.

"Oh, you mean Arono. Yeah, he came by when I first opened the shop, and made a big scene." Now it was Tietro's turn to wince.

"On behalf of my cousin, I apologize."

"Accepted." There was just something about Tietro's formal attitude that he liked. Especially considering that he had arrived in his guard uniform, which Daso thought to look very well on him. He wasn't sure why this was, nor was he fully sure as to why, while taking down an order for a new hydra-cycle engine, Daso checked his outfit for any stains.

"Uhm... he wouldn't happen to still be here? Usually when he gets... rejected... he calls me up immediately afterwards, more often than not to bounce ideas off of me for a new way to convince whatever poor girl he is pestering to accept his love, and he still has not."

"Oh, you might wanna check the dumpster in the alley."

 

Outside in the alley...

 

"Arono?" Tietro asked after peering inside, to find his cousin lying there, softly moaning in pain, a shiner of a black eye already forming.

"Tietro? Is that you?"

Tietro sighed. "Yes Arono, it's me. Let's get you out of there," He said, pulling other, slightly dazed elf out from the dumpster.

"My love is truly such a mischievous little minx. In response to my proposal, she beat me up and threw me into that dumpster there. Truly, the flame of our passionate love shall inspire the great bards and poets of untold future generations!" he said, stumbling over a little as he tried to walk forward.

"Arono, when a woman beats you up after you propose to her, most would take that as a sign that she's not interested," Tietro tried to explain.

"Most would then simply misunderstand our courtship!" He defended. "It is an intricate and mystifying dance!" A fire was alive in Arono's eyes.

"Oh Arono..." Tietro sighed, knowing that his cousin just wasn't yet ready to listen to reason. He always got like this when lusting after some girl or another. Eventually, he would take the hint, but until then, he would continue to pester them.

"Now cousin, I must away! I need to come up with an even more romantic gesture to win my fair Daso's favor, as well as stop by the nearest physician to pop my left arm back into its socket!" Arono called out as he started sprinting away, swaying drunkenly from time to time.

"Not again." Tietro sighed, rubbing his temples. He then smiled as he saw that he was still looking at the small scrap of paper with Daso's portable communicator contact information on it.

"At least one good thing came about from this visit with Arono," he said aloud, smiling as he started walking after his troublesome cousin.

 

Another Hour Later...

 

The initial flood of patrons visiting his shop had trickled to a crawl around lunchtime, giving Daso just the opportunity he needed to start restocking some shelves. His heart swelled with pride as he noticed how well his Wight Lights had sold, the entire shelf of the small purple pyramids being completely empty. The image of the phoenix chirruped happily, as it had successfully caught three attempted shoplifters in the act, projecting a recording of each in progress large enough for everyone in the shop to see, and locking the door when the thieves tried to run, all three of whom, two humans and a shifty-looking dwarf, also ended up in the dumpster, dazed and moaning in pain. Daso had been a bit worried that this act of violence on his part would start to deter his customers, who surprised him by applauding his actions. Other than that, it had been largely uneventful. Just as Daso finished with the restocking, his stomach growled.

Lunchtime! He smiled, heading to the miniature fridge behind the counter, under the polished steel register. He looked around to see if there was a customer in need of his assistance, and finding the shop now empty, pulled out his sandwich. Just before he took his first bite, the phoenix chirped again as the door swung open. In strode a tall and lanky-looking woman, who appeared to be a cross between a large yellow praying mantis and a human.

"Welcome to Daso's!" Daso said in a chipper voice, quickly wrapping his sandwich back up and setting it under the counter as the willoso looked around, before she strode up to the register, easily towering over Daso.

"Hello, I am Lady Vishenel," she said in the slightly raspy voice of a long-time Mister, the click of her mandibles audible as she spoke. "I see that you've made some... colorful changes to what should have been my shop."

"Excuse me?" Daso asked, hearing the slight edge to her voice.

"No, I don't think that I shall excuse you," she said, pointing a finger right at Daso. "You just swooped in and took the shop that I had spent several months trying to force into bankruptcy. Well, let me tell you something missy! If you think that I'm going to stand idly by while some country bumpkin tries to start up her own fashion boutique, you've got another thing coming!"

"Madam, I am in no way opening a fashion boutique. I am a thaumaturgist. Now, unless you plan on buying something, I'm going to have to ask you to leave my shop," Daso said in a frighteningly calm voice, to which Lady Vishenel hissed before speaking.

"Thaumaturgist you say? Well, I certainly hope that you have all of your paperwork and licenses proper in order, I do suspect that there will be some visits by some inspectors and members of the Guild in the coming days."

"I can assure you that I do indeed have all of the paperwork necessary to operate this shop in order, and I've already had several different inspectors and other assorted city officials stop by and give me their seals of approval," Daso said coolly. "Now, I do believe that you know where the door is, correct?" Vishenel hissed once more, and then slammed the door shut on her way out. Daso sighed as he pulled out the sandwich once more... only to quickly re-wrap it and place it back under the counter after hearing the door chirp yet again. Expecting to meet the baleful gaze of the willoso, Daso was instead surprised to see two partially familiar faces.

"Goodness gracious, it would seem that they do indeed grow some serious backbone out in the countryside!" Sapha said as she walked up to the counter, flashing Daso her most winning grin, framed by her tusks.

"She's right dearie, it's not everyone who can stand their ground with a cool head like that when Vishenel's on the warpath." Gerda chuckled, eyeing a few of the displays, nodding in approval as she did so.

"Oh.. .uhm... thanks," Daso said.

"I do not believe that we've been properly introduced," The orc said, holding out one of her white-gloved hands. "I'm Sapha Du Griellera De Contiela. Perhaps you are familiar with my family name, hmm?"

"Uh... Pleasure to make your acquaintance ma'am. And yes, I believe that I do," Daso said, taking the offered hand and shaking it, realizing that he was shaking hands with a woman whose family owned one of the most prominent mining companies around. As he let go, he found the dwarf striding up to him, holding her hand out as well.

"I'm Gerda MisTranshire, of the Furian MisTranshires." Daso shook her hand as well. "And let me tell you, I like a girlie with some thick skin. You need it to get anywhere in this city."

"I think I've heard of the MisTinshires, doesn't your family own the leylines that crisscross the entire continent?" Daso said, suddenly feeling very nervous to have two financially and politically powerful women in his store. He did feel a little at ease when Gerda simply laughed and nonchalantly waved it off.

"Yes indeed. Anyways, I must say, for such a skinny slip of a girl, I'm amazed at the level of craftsmanship in your products. Even further up north, in Furia, you would do very well for yourself!"

"W-Well thank you."

"I must confess, that I myself am not particularly familiar with forging and the like, but I have spotted some interesting potions you have for sale. Interesting, and quite difficult to make. Are you also making those yourself?"

"Yes ma'am."

"How wonderful! That settles it!" Sapha said as she pulled out a small cube and began tapping different buttons with different symbols on it. "I insist that you meet me and my nephew Halso for tea next week, I do believe that you and he will have much to discuss, as he is quite the accomplished alchemist himself. And single as well," Sapha said with a wink.

"Of course, that will be after she meets my nephew, Lotan, who is also single and just so happens to own his own string of blacksmiths and metallurgy shops, oh I just know that he'll take a liking to you." Gerda also shot Daso a wink, before pulling out her own cube to schedule the meeting.

"W-Wait!" Daso tried, to no avail, to try to come up with some reason that would convince these two women of industry not to bother scheduling these separate meetings, but couldn't come up with anything that didn't risk insulting them. Soon enough, they both bade Daso a pleasant farewell, and exited just as more customers started to arrive.

Well that's just great! Daso thought as he took down the details for some orders. Not only do I now have two very powerful women trying to set me up with their nephews, on top of the recurring annoyance of Arono, in addition to the mischief that crazy willoso is probably going to try and cause me... but I didn't even get to eat my sandwich! Daso frowned as his stomach grumbled in protest again.
Oh well, at least business seems to be great! Daso smiled as he picked himself right back up from his brooding thoughts.

 

Several hours later...

 

Daso stretched after he flipped the open sign to closed, the projection of the phoenix flying back into the face of the timekeeper and disappearing. He then set about restocking the shelves, and checking his books, just to make sure that everything was accounted for and to see today's earnings.

Over three thousand shelt?! WOW!!! Daso was so excited at having made so much on his first day. He calculated, even after the daily cost of running the shop, he was still very much ahead of what he had been anticipating. Daso emptied the register, pouring all of the shelt into the vault that he had constructed himself and built into the floor, activating its concealing enchantments, and then activating his full security system after he left, making sure to lock up as well. The sun was beginning to set, and Daso felt like eating out. As he drove along, a pair of large and ovoid red eyes watched him from an alley.

"The bitch just left. You want me to follow her?" A rough voice said.

"No you idiot! I want you to trash her shop! Make her know that she isn't welcome here. Serious property damage while you're at it, if it looks expensive, it has to be smashed beyond repair. No one takes my shop."

"Yeah, yeah, just have the rest of my money waiting for me when I'm done." There was a beep, and out from the shadows on the alleys stepped a goblin. His grey scales, which were coming off in large patches, were a sure sign that he was a Nostalgia addict. His large ears twitched as he listened and looked around for any witnesses. Seeing none, he crept up to Daso's shop, and pulled out his lock picking set. It took a few moments of concentration to get his hands to quit shaking, but then he set to work. Just as he slid the pick into the first lock, something caught his eye.

"A tiny phoenix?" He wondered aloud, right before he was knocked back, straight into a brick wall across the street. He started to pick himself up, grunting as he did so, before he looked up to see a series of tiny projected phoenixes circling him overhead, one flying away.

"Oh no," was all he was able to get out, before they descended upon him. Despite being projections, their tiny claws, beaks, did all too real damage. By the time the guards arrived, the hired vandal was actually glad to be taken away with them, even if it did indeed count as his third strike. The tiny projected birds faded from existence, after one phased out of the shop with several photos taken by the security system, which were dropped at the feet of the guards. Just as they were loading the goblin into the back of the cart with his hands cuffed, amazed at how detailed the pictures taken by the security system were, they all stopped and listened to a screech of pure unbridled rage in the distance.

 

 

 

I truly hope that you enjoyed this new chapter! As always, I am open to any and all helpful and constructive suggestions!