Ch38.Catch up.

The last two weeks have been interesting to say the least, besides spending most of my day learning about various things, I have been working hard to get my clan on the right track. We have since launched two more cage fighting events, the first one wasn't so successful since on our opening night, the fighters returned to the streets very beaten up. Even though we helped them heal from any major injury, the remaining minor ones were enough to make the desperate people question what was really going on in the arena events.

This changed when it was discovered that those initial fighters returned for the second event, and even though they were beaten up again, after returning to the streets, they were all smiling wildly. Some of them even managed to recover from depravity, a lucky few fighters bet the money they earned from previous fight and ended up making good money. This allowed them to rent a hotel room for a few weeks, and even acquire food without having to beg or steal.

The complete changes some of the fighters went through shocked the hesitant people, resulting in many people who were truly on their last straw, to approach those who seemed to have started to turn their life around and ask how they did it as well as what actually happens at the arena.

While some of the fighters refused to talk, attempting to keep the benefits to themselves, news eventually got out on how well the fighters were paid as well as the opportunities to make some real money through betting on fights. This caused a stir in certain communities, the desperate started to actively seek us out, asking to be able to join in the ring. The sheer amount of people approaching up was actually overwhelming, we ended up having to start booking fighters for the day and told them that those who perform better will get more chances to fight at the Arena.

There has also been a surge of middle class people with some money to spare who were interested in watching some brutal fights. We had to adjust some of our strategies with a surge in interest in these events, so I decided to use a basic ticketing system. I separated the tickets into three levels, we charged 10 copper for a normal ticket, 1 silver for a front row ticket and then 1 gold for a VIP ticket. The VIP tickets were limited in number and the seats were located in the viewing booths on the roof. I made a few modifications to the booths, I added a few more boots so that they surrounded the exterior of the 'Arena' Hall. In order to increase comfort, I added a bell that, when rung, would notify one of my clan members to enter their booth in order to take bets or provide my guests with certain benefits. I added a few mechanisms in the booths so that the VIPs can zoom in on the fight as well as adjust the position they want to view the match from.

Nobody has been crazy enough to buy a VIP ticket yet, and I am truly glad about that. I made the price that exaggerated in the hoped that nobody would buy one for a while, and therefore give us more time in order to prepare all the specifics. I want to make sure that we can create a true VIP experience that makes our VIP'S truly feel that they are special and above everyone else on every level. Now for the front row seats, we have only added 4 rows of chairs surrounding the ring so that these guests can sit down and view the fight more comfortably, the common tickets are standing tickets surrounding the chairs. All of these plans still require a ton of preparation and planning.

Besides all that, I have finally gotten my new Brewery up and running, with magic based construction, things get done very fast so I have had plenty of time to teach Nafets all the basics as well as demonstrate how to make a proper brew. I have made this Brewery much larger than my previous one and have added way more 'fancy' equipment that may or may not be useful in the brewing process. After getting everything built and explained, I told him to experiment by himself and have given him a certain monthly budget to purchase ingredients for the main brew that we will be selling as well as a side brew that he can use to experiment with in order to improve.

I have yet to finalise the plans for my bar, I want it to be unique and special in order to gather a large varied and constant group of patrons but I just don't know how to achieve this. I have acquired the store already, I just need to get the construction agency to come in and renovate it. I am just hesitating as I can't seem to finalize the plan in my head.

My first thoughts were to add a little gambling den to the side of the bar, but then I realised I am in a different world and slot machines don't exist here. If I want them, I will have to design and create them myself and although I have an idea on how they work, I don't have a clue on how to start with the construction. I do plan on eventually creating them, it will just be in the future, after I have gained the relevant knowledge on how to start creating magical artifacts and the related subjects.

I then considered creating something similar to a sports bar, but the problem with this lies in the fact that there aren't really any sports in this country, I am not sure if other countries or races have a national sport but the closest things humans have to sport are Magic tournaments where Mages just show off their Magic. I find that very underwhelming and would be stupid to include in a Bars activities, unless I somehow invent a Magic TV that can transmit a video of a Magic tournament that is happening in other countries. So yeah . . . that's not going to happen, I wouldn't know where to start and even if I did it would take too much time and effort to set up.

I have been thinking of ways to include certain entertainment factors into this bar, such as drinking and eating competitions, but that just isn't enough to make it stand out as unique and special. So I will continue to search for ideas before I am satisfied that the Bar I open will be great!

Other than the business side of things, I can finally start planning to reach a Circle 1 Mage! I am still trying to figure out the most ideal combinations of Runes for my first circle, as well as how many Runes I should aim for. I know that, based on my unique situation, I should be aiming for the 12 Rune Circle because that's the strongest and what a 'main character' should do. My problem with this, is that realistically speaking, is my current body even that talented?

Even though I have definite advantages, such as a more intimate relationship with my Runes due to internally creating them and I have a great Rune, the 'Greater Comprehension' Rune, that will help me immensely with regard to learning and understanding the Runes required to create my Magic Circles, but is that enough? I am not going ignorantly believe that I am the only one who knows about a Rune with this property and that others before me have not thought of using a similar Rune in order to advance further with a less talented body. And if thousands of years of experiments still can't guarantee everyone to consistently advance with a 12 Rune Circle, I don't think I should risk it.

Another aspect of this, is that I can't even cast external magic, so I will be focusing of Runes that will affect my physical body and can be used passively with a talent the Rune grants me , such as my 'Shadow Lord' Rune that is somehow a passive ability and doesn't require me to cast a Magic spell in order to access my shadow space. Since I can't cast magic, I don't have to worry about having to learn stabilizing and affinity based Runes that are needed in order to create a successful Magic Circle.

There are a lot of factors that I need to consider and plan out, but by the end of the month I want to have my first Circle planned out and have the confidence to start working towards becoming a First Circle Mage! This is now my number one priority! I want to first gain information on the specific Runes as well as their exact placement in the Human body and then become a first Circle Mage in the next few months.