Chương 90: Rich Tastes With a Poor Man's Budget

Curious as to what I would discover, I went back to the store and scrolled to the Divine Skills. Almost immediately, I wanted to curse yet again. What the…? The lowest price for a divine skill was a thousand crystals. And that didn't even include the other skills I'd have to learn first. In addition, there were other restrictions as well.

Normal people wouldn't even be able to buy a divine skill until they upgraded their body through numerous other purchases, such as Reinforced Constitution, Mana Infused Constitution, and Mana Body. While that might not seem like much, there were conditions for each of those skills as well. Even the richest people in the world wouldn't get such powers any time soon. Still, it did make me wonder, Just how powerful have the Richie Rich guys become?

No wonder Tala doesn't have any divine skills yet, I thought, remembering when a couple of my powers had merged together. Suddenly, my meager fifteen planar crystals became almost a joke. A single crystal was worth about as much as the average person would make in a month. In one sitting, Loki had brought in a year's worth of salary, and that was after giving the adventurers a 95% discount. I sat there, staring at the marble-sized planar crystal. It was condensed mana.

I didn't even need to think about what that meant. Soon, there would be a new main currency in the world. The U. S. dollar no longer reigned supreme, at least not for long. Tala seemed to sense my mood. Either that or she was just getting bored, "Uh, what's up?"

"Nothing," I said.

"Just thinking. I can't afford much at the moment." Technically, since the planar crystals were mine, she couldn't open the store. Before closing the store, I took a deep breath and considered buying the Identify Skill. While the Web of Wisdom was useful, Identify still sounded like something that would come in handy as well. However, I held off for now. I could always buy it later. After that, I didn't even bother with the store anymore. It was a waste of time.

There was no way I could afford anything better at the moment. I'd just have to wait for Loki to earn his keep. Sighing, I gathered the crystals and placed them into my fanny pack. Of course, it wasn't obnoxious like Pierre's. Instead, it was a tasteful solid black that slimmed down my stomach. Unlike my ability to eat as much as I wanted, I was going to have to be a penny-pincher where planar crystals were involved.

The math was depressing, so I needed to talk to Loki about it before the next wave of adventurers arrived. It's weird, I thought. At first, I'd thought he'd be a headache, but now he was looking more like a godsend, at least once I got his pricing under control. The numbers didn't add up yet, but they would once more adventurers started showing up. Loki's teaching would bring in steady income at the new prices. With that, I could see a path forward.

Six months from now, I'd be sitting in this same spot with a crystal pile big enough to buy something good. A year from now, I might even be able to afford some of the divine tier upgrades. Five years from now, who knew what was possible. The thought of five years felt ambitious for a raccoon who'd been a god for less than a month, but I'd spent fifty years as a prepper planning on timelines exactly like that. You build what you can afford, and then you build more. I went to find Loki.

He was in the clearing, sitting on the log and looking at the sign Groot had grown for him. He had the expression of someone who still couldn't believe any of this was real, and he didn't notice me until I was a few feet away.

"Got a minute?" I asked. He stood immediately as that old court reflex kicked in before he caught himself and settled back to something more casual.

"Of course."

"So I looked at the Planar Store," I said, sitting down on the log next to him. Loki went still for a moment before he said, "I take it you found the shapeshifting prices."

"I found a lot of prices, and none of them made me happy." I looked at him.

"Do you have any idea what the store charges for a shapeshifting activation?" He paused and shook his head.

"I did not check the store before setting my prices." I was actually impressed. Loki wasn't trying to deflect blame. He was even accepting unfair criticism. After all, it wasn't like he could open the Gaia Store without crystals, so there was no way he could be blamed. Still, he was accepting the blame. This narrative has been purloined without the author's approval. Report any appearances on Amazon.

"It's not your fault. You had no way to know. However, let's just say that you gave those three adventurers the deal of a lifetime. And I'm not exaggerating." I let that sit for a second.

"The store price for what you taught them is so far above five crystals that I don't even want to say the number out loud." Loki's expression went through several phases, starting with confusion, moving through calculation, and ending on something I could only describe as professional horror. It was the face of a craftsman who had just learned he'd sold a masterwork for pocket change.

"How far above?" he asked quietly.

"Far enough that we lost hundreds of crystals in potential revenue from just three students." I could feel the annoyance rising in my chest again, but I kept it in check. Getting angry at Loki wasn't going to get those crystals back.

"And that's not even counting the prerequisite skills they would have needed to buy first if they'd gone through the store instead of you." He sat back down on the log with the quiet folding of someone whose legs had decided to stop cooperating.

"In Asgard, teaching was compensated through tribute," he said after a moment.

"A symbolic gesture. A meal and a story or a favor owed. The value was in the relationship, not the transaction."

"This isn't Asgard, Loki."

"No, it is not." He stared at his hands for a long moment.

"I charged a fraction of what the skill was actually worth. I didn't even know there were prerequisites that I was bypassing."

"Because you're a live instructor, you can bypass the prerequisite requirements entirely. That makes your teaching even more valuable than the store, not less. A student who goes through you skips all the foundational purchases and goes straight to the gift." Loki looked at me, and I could see him processing just how badly he'd undervalued himself.

"That means every student who comes to me instead of the store saves hundreds of crystals even at a higher price."

"Exactly. Which is why going forward, the minimum for a basic activation lesson is twenty-five crystals. That's still a massive deal compared to the store, so people will happily pay it once they understand the alternative."

"Twenty-five," he said, testing the numbers. It sounded like he wanted to charge a lot more, which I heartily agreed with. However, at the moment, very few people had enough planar crystals as it was. Pretty much the only people who would be able to afford our prices would be rich people or adrenaline junkies who risked their lives fighting on the front line against planar invaders.

"Honestly, you could probably charge more, but I'd rather keep the price reasonable and get more students through the door. Volume matters more than squeezing every crystal out of each visitor." He nodded slowly as the professional horror started to fade and something sharper replaced it. I could see the trickster brain kicking in as strategic thinking caught up with the initial shock and reframed the whole situation.

"That's not a loss," he said.

"That's an investment."

"That's what Tala said. Advertising and introductory pricing."

"In Asgard, we called it 'the first taste.' You give the mortals something extraordinary for almost nothing, and they become devoted. They return with friends, and the friends pay full price." A slow smile crossed his face. He straightened on the log as calculation and planning replaced the last of his embarrassment.

"Twenty-five crystals for basic activation. Fifty for advanced instruction with improved stability and additional forms. I'll add an illusion magic tier as well at thirty crystals for basic activation, and I'll offer package deals for returning students."

"Package deals?"

"The falconer woman will come back because she had genuine talent and she knows it. If I offer her a reduced rate on her second and third lessons, she'll bring other serious students with her. The serious ones are worth more in the long run than the tourists." I watched him lay out a business model with the casual expertise of someone who had been running cons, negotiations, and divine economies for a very long time.

"You're good at this," I said.

"I'm good at everything that involves convincing people to give me things." He paused and seemed to hear what he'd just said.

"That sounded worse than I intended."

"It sounded exactly right." I stood up from the log.

"New prices start next session. And the fifteen crystals from today go into a communal savings pool. We've got expensive upgrades to save for, and the plague rats aren't going to wait for us to finish comparison shopping."

"Understood." He held the crystals for a moment, turning one between his fingers.

"Abe, thank you for not being angry."

"I'm a little angry," I admitted.

"But at myself, not at you. You've done nothing wrong." After that, I left him in the clearing where he was already reorganizing his lesson plans with the focused intensity of someone who had just discovered that his side hustle was actually a goldmine. Back at the cabin, I looked at Tala.

"We need to figure out new ways to get the crystals." She paused when she heard that. Then she cocked her head to the side as if asking me what she was supposed to do. However, I ignored her. Tala was smart, and would come up with something. Suddenly tired, I sat down. Tala immediately curled up on the armrest next to me. Unable to stop myself, I pulled up the Gaia Store one more time, just to remind myself what we were working toward. I started making a wish list.

I placed everything that looked life-changing on it. The wish list ended up being long and expensive. A sanctuary ward, blessed ground for the church, a stabilized portal, a territorial beacon, and a divine power for Tala were at the top of the list. At twenty-five crystals per student, I'd need a steady stream of adventurers over the next month or two to afford even one single item on the list. That wasn't counting any planar crystals we might be able to get from the plague rats. Eventually, I closed the store.

I hadn't even realized it was so late. Tala had long since fallen asleep. In fact, the darkness had come and gone, all while I sat in my recliner going through the store. Morning sunlight was starting to seep into the cabin. It was a little unsettling. I hadn't even noticed the passage of time while I was thinking. I didn't need to go to the bathroom. I wasn't even hungry, which was really strange. When I first reincarnated, I ate like a pig.

It was only now that I noticed that I'd been eating less and less ever since then. Did I even eat yesterday? I wasn't sure. Something about having to ask such a question bothered me, but I shook it off. I had more pressing problems to deal with. The crystal economy was going to take time to build, but I'd get there eventually, one underpriced shapeshifting lesson at a time. However, I wasn't satisfied. I needed more crystals. I just needed to figure out how to get them.

That is when my thoughts were interrupted by a phone call.