Chapter 174: Level 8. Arriving at the shop, Noah immediately apologised to Lola for his lateness. He had been about ten minutes behind schedule, and instead of finding her relaxing after her shift ended, he discovered her still dutifully seated behind the counter. "I’m sorry for being late," Noah said with genuine regret. "Some things ran longer than expected." She’s been working extra time because of my poor scheduling. He looked at her with sincere appreciation before adding, "If something like this happens again, just close the store and don’t worry about it. Your shift time should be respected." Lola shook her head with a dismissive smile, her ruby eyes carrying amusement at his concern. "Don’t worry about it, it was merely a few minutes. Not a big deal at all." Noah smiled in thanks and turned his attention to checking the current inventory levels, curious about sales performance during his absence. Lola provided a comprehensive report on the day’s business activities. "The representatives from both the royal guard and Valeria’s guild came for their daily orders. They took their usual twenty-four iced teas and twenty-four bread loaves each." Noah nodded, expecting that much. "I also told them about the increased bread production capacity, like you’ve told me. They were both quite happy to hear about the expanded availability." She continued. "So starting with their next payment, they’ll be purchasing twenty-four iced teas and forty-eight bread loaves each," Lola concluded. Noah nodded with approval. The increased order sizes would provide substantial revenue growth while maintaining the stable relationships he’d built with major customers. Doubled bread orders from two major clients. Coupled with the regular customers, I can easily sell more than 96 bread daily. The stock had been completely depleted during Lola’s shift. Both bread and iced tea inventories showed zero remaining units. With nothing available for immediate sale, Noah’s options were limited to practising his skills or waiting for wealthy customers interested in premium items. Empty shelves mean successful sales, but they also mean there is nothing to do until production catches up. — Host: Noah Carter Age: 28 Shop Level: 2 Daily Revenue: $295,000 (or equivalent) Current Assets: $625,640.21 Shop Points: 5,030 Attributes: Strength: 30, Vitality: 20, Intelligence: 20, Agility: 30 Skills: Swordsmanship(Level 8), Mana Control (Level 7), Aura (Level 7), Wind Manipulation (Level 6), Body Tempering (Level 5), Surviving on Ramen (Level 3), Cooking (Level 3), Programming (Level 2), Gaming (Level 2), Finance (Level 2) — Checking his progress, Noah noted he had reached the halfway point toward the ten thousand shop points required for upgrading to Shop Level 3. Getting the remaining points would be easy given his current sales momentum, so he wasn’t worried about meeting that milestone. 5,030 out of 10,000 shop points. Halfway there already. His monetary assets had skyrocketed to $625,640, a figure that was surely climbing towards the one million mark he’d been waiting for. With no immediate business tasks demanding attention, Noah walked toward the premium item shelf and retrieved a package of beef jerky. It was time to consume his enhancement item and bring his vitality up to match his other attributes at the 30-point mark. Time to balance my stats properly. Without further hesitation, he unwrapped the magical jerky and consumed it, feeling the warmth of permanent vitality enhancement flooding through his entire body. Leo remained surprisingly asleep near the counter, but the young golden mane looked completely relaxed and peaceful. Noah wasn’t worried about the extended nap; such magical enhancement often required recovery sleep for proper integration. With his constitution now properly enhanced, Noah decided to maximise his available time through magical training. With multiple Tier 5 wind orbs in his possession, it would be wasteful not to utilise them for skill advancement. Four wind orbs. Time to make serious progress. An hour of focused practice with the concentrated wind essence yielded excellent results. The magical energy flowed through his enhanced pathways as his understanding of wind manipulation deepened. [Your Wind Manipulation skill has reached level 7!] The advancement brought him closer to the next milestone, each improvement making his magical combat effectiveness more formidable. 𝕗𝕣𝐞𝐞𝘄𝐞𝚋𝚗𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗹.𝚌𝕠𝚖 ... After he improved his wind manipulation to level 7, Noah found himself hesitant about what skill to focus on next. He was stuck between working on his swordsmanship and continuing to advance his wind manipulation abilities. Both skills offered valuable benefits for his upcoming challenges. Swordsmanship would provide direct combat effectiveness for the mysterious tournament, while wind manipulation offered versatile magical capabilities that could complement his physical abilities. Lola, who had been relaxing by watching him practice with obvious interest, decided to offer her perspective on his training dilemma. "You should keep practising your wind manipulation. It will be most useful for you in the long run," she advised as someone whose decades of experience provided valuable insight. "While you’ll be safe with me around, you want to build your own independent strength. Elemental manipulation of the wind attribute will help tremendously because it’s incredibly versatile," she continued with a slight smile. She gestured toward the shop’s ceiling as if indicating the broader kingdom beyond. "Look at the king of the human kingdom. You’ve seen what he was able to do with advanced wind magic." King Aldric’s capabilities were impressive. Levitation, barriers, powerful attacks—all through wind manipulation. Noah nodded with understanding. Her reasoning made perfect sense. Wind manipulation offered defensive capabilities, mobility options, utility applications, and offensive potential that could adapt to virtually any situation he might encounter. "You’re absolutely right," he acknowledged gratefully. "Thank you for the guidance." Noah settled back into his meditation position, retrieving a wind orb to continue his elemental training with focus and purpose. Another hour and around ten minutes of concentrated practice yielded excellent results. The magical energy felt increasingly natural as it flowed through his pathways, responding to his will. [Your Wind Manipulation skill has reached level 8!] The difference between level 6 and level 8 was worth the hard work. Noah had learned a useful basic spell that expanded his magical repertoire significantly. He had mastered a particularly practical technique called Featherfall. The spell slowed descent by channelling wind currents underneath his feet. The ability used minimal mana while providing enormous utility for both combat and everyday situations. Featherfall. Perfect for avoiding fall damage. The spell would be incredibly useful even in normal Earth life, offering safety during any situation involving heights or unexpected drops. After reaching level 8 with his wind manipulation skill, Noah decided to increase his mana control. His mana control skill was at level 7, and increasing it to level 10 would increase his intelligence attribute by a significant amount that he did not know of yet. Two hours passed, during which Noah kept the shop closed for a specific reason—he was waiting for his auto-makers to produce a sufficient stock before opening for sales. It was far more efficient to sell in bulk rather than reopen every hour just to move a few items. Closing, practising his skills, then reopening repeatedly simply didn’t make sense. In those two hours, he had levelled up his mana control to level 8. Now, his three powerful skills had reached level 8. Wind Manipulation, Mana control and Swordsmanship.