Atlantis

[Bloodedge]

Licht could only imagine that Hikari had missed the point, or at least the part of it he considered major. Even so, it wasn't as if he would openly mention why he brought up the appearance of her Avatar. Knowing it was his sister, and having met her in this world while she was in the form of a child, he could ignore her visage easily... but in seeing the lass now, he knew exactly the type of attention she would have garnered in their world. "Alright, fine. Whatever you sa-" His clause came to an abrupt end the moment he heard Hikari point out the chance of him understanding the body pillow market, as she put it. "Oh, so we're just tarnishing my good name now? Wonderful. Is there anything else you want to try exposing me for while we're here?" the lad asked as Arjuna stepped through the portal, which subsequently closed behind him. The taller male had nothing to offer besides a curt nod toward Hikari, but there was much more yet to be said by Licht. "Your level now is about where I figured it would be. Since we're looking toward the sky soon, as I'm guessing you've heard, it's time we broke the cap. We also have a few things to do for personal development during the meantime, so we're off in different directions. I'll take you with me, if you're interested. Either way, what's this gift you're talking about?"

[Apollymi]

It seemed that Licht was going to give up on the whole of the conversation, until Hikari pointed out his apparent love of body pillows. This led to a bit of a tirade in which the lad accused her of tarnishing his good name. A laugh came from the Demi-human as she waved off these apparent hysterics. "I don't know. Probably not a good idea to tempt me though~" she mercilessly teased. She went on to acknowledge the head nod from Arjuna and then go on with the rest of their conversation. It seemed her brother had major plans for the next aspect of their adventure. Both he and Miki planned on getting themselves together to break the level cap, something they apparently needed to do separately. And then beyond that, it seemed her brother had been filled in on plans of the sky since his waking. "Sou ka, yeah. I know all about the Sky stuff, Diva is helping Kaiba-san and Bulma-san with the boat/ship/thing... " she mentioned easily. "And of course I am up for an adventure, that was kind of always the point of this whole thing for me anyways," she said happily more than willing to join her brother on his journey. "It's a shame we have to split up to do this stuff, especially since..." she paused then giving it some thought. "Never mind, I think Diva wants to talk to the two of you, definitely before we go anywhere..." she finished up making a note mentally to make sure all went smoothly from there. On the matter of their present. "As for the presents I have them, but it might also be what I need to talk to Miki-nee about," she moved herself a little close and motioned towards Miki who approached atop her pillow with a quirked brow. It was still very strange for her to receive presents but perhaps this is simply what groups of friends did.

"I have been working on a little project and I figured you could both benefit from one. It's been kinda slow going though, until Arjuna showed up and gave me the Mystic Codes I needed to finish it off," she said softly. She reached into her pockets and retrieved the small trinkets. Which were made out of a ceramic like material she got from the sea. Beyond this they were bound in a strange way to Mystic Codes. They looked like little blocks black and white in color two sets slightly connected like her favorite barrettes. Both looked like cellphone charms but they were for weapons. "Anyways, these two will help you two out. They are kinda like cellphone charms but for weapons. These one's help with channeling Mana, but I can make them out of any Mystic Codes to amplify things. Arjuna thought I might want to talk to you about maybe running them through you so I don't like get myself kidnapped or something... if you're interested in that sort of thing. I don't want to impose..." she mentioned as she placed the item in Miki's outstretched hand out of her right and would aim to hand her brother a matching one out of her left. Miki upon getting the item into her hand had her eyes widen. There were many things going on in her head, not the least of which was concerned with the novelty of such an item and the ability to market it. Arjuna had been very correct this was a potentially dangerous thing for her to make but also very potentially profitable. Miki's expression would be unreadable for a few seconds, as she considered the best way to approach it, but when she lifted her face, there was a wide almost lecherous grin there. "Of course, you aren't imposing. If you are interested we can talk it out..." there was an opening here, but Miki or rather Kimiko, valued transparency in her business deals.

[Bloodedge]

"Of course it isn't," he replied without a moment of hesitation. Once upon a time, he found this to be an annoying trait of the lass. Now, he couldn't avoid feeling pleased by her antics even as they worked against him. Hearing from the girl that Diva, the child of old Atlantis, wished to speak with the pair of Adventurers who began this journey together, he became puzzled. What could the lad want? Time would tell the tale. "You're right at least; dividing the group is going to be weird. It'll be fine, though. We'll meet up again soon after we're done, and we'll be right back to business," was his assertion. With that said, he stepped aside to clear space for Hikari and Miki's discussion. It seemed to be a potential business transaction related to the new items crafted by the Demi-human, which bore a striking resemblance to something he was very familiar with. "... Sou ka," he muttered under his breath, eyes locked on the charm held in his direction. Hands raised, he refrained from accepting right away. It was clearly an item best suited to weapons, and as Licht, he bore none.

"Arigatou. Could you hold onto it? I don't have need or use for it now, but Kou probably could. I'll take it when I switch back." Indeed, he fully intended to make use of this trinket as Kou, but there was no point in accepting it while bearing the form of Licht. For now, he would pass and let this transaction between lasses progress. The grin Miki bore when considering the exchange was... somewhat unsettling, to say the least. Even so, Licht looked onward with mild curiosity as to how matters would settle.

[Apollymi]

Miki also agreed that the group would be strange. In fact, though she'd played the game AoE to play it solo and enjoy it as such, she hadn't been properly alone since they first entered the world. Being alone again wasn't necessarily something she looked forward to at all. Even so, she couldn't let the idea that she didn't want to be alone again, block her from her progress and from being a good contributor to the group. But strangely though she'd given the gift she wanted to to Miki and watched as the lass had a very strange reaction to it, Licht didn't want it. He made the claim that it was more suited to himself as Kou and that she should hang on to it until he was himself again to accept it. "Hai hai, I made it for that you anyways. Since I got a feel for your Mana a while ago," she said then as if she'd forgotten she turned to him. "BAKA-NII, ending up unconscious all over the place. I told you not to push too much," she chastised the lad for falling ill, knowing he'd not heeded her advice a few days prior when they'd been hanging out. But that didn't really matter now, she was happy he was alright. And she didn't worry too much knowing that Miki had been taking care of him.

Speaking of Miki, the resting look on her face just now wasn't really what Hikari expected of the young business mogul. "If I didn't already know you, that face would make me wonder what exactly it was you are thinking about over there..." Hikari opened which made Miki's face soften instantly. "Gomen, gomen... " she followed up, normally there were others as a buffer between her and her strange business lust. "Iie, it's fine... not like you're the first person I've dealt with to get weird boners about things. But I am sure you know that already too..." said Hikari, unable to avoid taking another jab at her brother. "Anyways, would you be interested in running these through you, if I wanted to sell them to make some extra cash?" she asked. "Anything you could tell me about how this works or would best work out from your perspective would be helpful," she said softly. "Also what you want out of the deal would be good to know before I agreed to anything." Hikari's words let Miki know all she needed to about the lass, it was an interesting proposition. But Miki or rather Kimiko was absolutely the most business oriented person she could be, and given this information she'd handle this transaction as professionally as she could.

"Sou ka, well the first thing to note is, this isn't an extra cash type of business. All on its own, it could make and break the market. The demand for these items will sky rocket once they are made known as they have varied affects that can be applied to anyone and likely anything. In a world where Mystic Codes make or break the skills of everyone any item that can change or amplify them will without a doubt find itself within a booming market," Miki explained, sounding more and more like her old self, but strangely she managed to be somewhat charismatic in this explanation. "The danger of such a thing would be the fact that the person who possesses marketing rights over such an item would be made rich simply by having it and an entire population oppressed simply for lack of access," Miki explained the Market ramifications as well as the immediate social impact of such an item, as it related to business. "An entire empire could fund itself off of an idea like this and knowing that means that if these creations are allowed to float about without being tied to someone or something then their creator will become the target of both intellectual theft or the physical sort," she explained the dangers of the situation rather easily and now Hikari fully understood why Arjuna had suggested talking to Miki about them. "Regardless, I know a good idea when I see one. And the answer to your initial query is yes, I'd be interested in having sole marketing rights to these items at least temporarily," Miki mentioned in the midst of talking she'd begun to twirl her Merchant's Plate around her finger, in the same way she'd been doing when she'd twirled her hair. "Only temporarily?" asked Hikari which made Miki chuckle. "Yes, only temporarily but don't take that the wrong way. My own personal business philosophy is that contracts have to be negotiated from a point of fairness to both ends of the spectrum. While you should make as much money as possible, whenever possible. I don't believe that should be done strictly speaking on the backs of another especially not in a way that breaks individual integrity." Miki explained of herself, while Hikari began to understand exactly how a lass like this became what she had been in their previous world. She didn't know a lot about business but she knew that people were usually more cutthroat than the sound advice she was currently getting. "A temporary contract would allow me Sole Distribution Rights of your products and give you the freedom to create them under my name without having to worry about the business end. In such a situation, you'd could learn to run the business yourself and by the contract simply being temporary you could eventually take it over when the contract runs out. Or renegotiate the terms instead of being stuck in a deal you no longer find fair, or that doesn't suit your needs anymore." Miki's advice in this way was friendly and took both sides of their potential transaction. "And since you asked, my going rate on such a contract is 15 percent of the overall sales profits, with conditions that require you to properly pay any of your staff. But in exchange in this world, you get to use my business to make sales and get my magical protections, you determine the prices of your wares, and make any adjustments necessary. I also become a material supplier to you in any capacity that works for you, be it raw material or simply capital funding if it is necessary," she explained, such ideals were easily seen in her business dealings since coming to Atlantis, but she still wanted the lass to know everything possible before she settled on anything. "In the interest of transparency I will also tell you that it isn't as if I am the only business that exists and you could shop around for better offers or use the information I've given you to get a better handle on the market in general before negotiations go any further. Gomennasai was that too much for one go?" Miki apologized for bombarding the lass with information, but she'd gotten a bit carried away in her explanation.

A chuckle ensued from Hikari but she managed to shake her head. "No, it's fine... I'm used to this sort of thing. I just need a second to make sure I got everything... Nii-san, anything you think I should know before stepping into this sort of thing?"

[Bloodedge]

Hikari's chastising was going to come eventually, whenever she got around to remembering that she'd yet to do so. Licht knew this, but it was all a matter of when she'd catch up. Now was the time, apparently. "Oi oi, relax!" he said defensively. "I didn't have much choice. This form could have gotten the task done without much problem, but Kou had to follow certain... restrictions," he said, knowing the fault was in his Kou Avatar's human body and Celestial heritage. His current existence was a proper Celestial, and could have gone to such extents without wearing out his physical shell. Sadly, his current form didn't have the same crafting abilities as Kou, so he had to work with what he came equipped with during the previous week. "It's fine. I don't think there'll ever be a need to make something else like that."

And so, Miki went about explaining her business practices to the younger female. Licht continued watching and listening, taking a clear interest in all things said by Miki, as well as how she phrased everything. His visage showed a natural quantity of skepticism, but also that same curiosity. He couldn't prevent himself staring at the blonde, finding there to be a certain amount of fairness within the transaction, though there was also something quite dark about the whole thing. Upon being asked by Hikari if there was something else worth knowing, he took several moments in silence to reconsider the deal he'd heard. "I do agree with Arjuna; items that have never existed in this world before, if they have such amazing uses, would be sought after by some very powerful people. Someone would be willing to murder you, just so they can find out how you make them within your Mystic Codes. That's where the negative side of the PvP community comes in, as well." Taking another pause, he sighed. In truth, there was something else he considered pertinent information, but it wasn't at all for the sake of a business deal. No, he instead had a singular concern relating to why business would be of assistance as a defensive measure. "I wonder what the point of it all is, though. Having this craft for sale isn't exactly going to stop anyone from doing harm. With only two being in existence at the moment, this business plan makes them public, first and foremost. Sure, it's an easy way to make a ton of money. What's to stop the people who can see how much it's worth, and who want to capitalize on that? They'll be aiming for the source in a heartbeat, and I don't think those types are looking to settle a buyout in a world like this."

[Apollymi]

"Restrictions my ass... I know you," she exclaimed still not going so far as to throw her brother under the bus, but just far enough. She knew what he'd done, not all the details of it, or even what the item in question did, but she knew the lad had gone the extra mile to present the lass on the pillow with a present for White Day. If she'd known her idiot brother would do something so outrageous she probably would have chewed him out preemptively. But since he was alright and he and Miki seemed to be on good terms she was willing to let this go. "Jeez, you said you'd try not to make me worry is all..." she finished up. Mostly done with the chastising there were all the things Miki had to say which required heavy consideration.

The lass' words were directly but there was something going on underneath the surface. When she directed inquiries to her brother he seemed to be perfectly capable of articulating the kinds of thoughts going through the demi-human's mind. He claimed to agree with Arjuna about the potential dangers of such technology, and claimed that the aim would be to murder her and take the information needed from her Mystic Codes. Licht went on to summarize his own thoughts making one question the forefront. Miki heard these things out and strangely the smile that settled on her face was a happy one. "Hai hai, those things are all things to be concerned about, but the world offers its protections in an interesting way," she said, knowing that Kou hadn't been himself during her business venture in Atlantis and knowing that Hikari had been out retrieving their cure to the Devouring, Miki began to explain the actual protections brought about by being in contact with a legitimate merchant. "Merchants are connected in this world to the Merchants Guild through these plaques," she mentioned which was more than obvious by the fact that she'd asked for this specifically pretty early on in their adventure. "But the Merchants Guild is more than just a group of people who buy and sell the works of others, they should be more or less considered the protectors of Craftsmen. Unique crafting abilities aren't new to the world or anything like that, everything was new or unique at one point in time. Because unique crafting qualities are enabled by a magical world, the Merchants Guild was established as a go-between. Locking yourself into a contract with a Merchant connected to the Merchants Guild, makes the crafting process, the Codes which make it possible, something that can't be transferred without purpose. Basically account binding those codes in such a way that the skill could be taught or given, but it can't simply be stolen from its creator. It mediates the idea of murdering or torturing craftsmen for their skills this applies even in the PvP type scenarios, in the same way that being part of a Guild provides a certain amount of base protection for those involved," Miki explained but this was all part of the learning process and she'd spent quite a bit of time learning the ins and outs of business in this game and she'd been using it to her own advantage for quite some time.

"As an aside directly contracting with a Merchant also protects the merchandise magically in this world, which in my personal opinion makes it a bit better than our own world was because, you can't end up with knock offs of your own materials floating around if you negotiate it properly. It also keeps your contract from being renegotiated without your express consent," Miki stated. "Such a thing was why the Market in this place was so bad when we got here, there wasn't a single person here contracted with the Merchant's Guild, so all of their business was running through someone who couldn't and wouldn't offer the magical protections of the world to the craftsman here. This allowed unjust business practices to take place and made everyone's crafts practically worthless," she said softly. "Merchants themselves assume a lot of the risks in such a situation so contract negotiations entail everything from production to sales prices or the Merchants themselves can't make much off the deal," she explained. "Though Merchants are protecting craftsman's livelihood, the livelihoods of merchants are dependent upon the output of craftsmen. Individual standing in the Merchants Guild and thus how many people who can have under your protections are determined by how much money you make. And you can't really make money if people aren't producing nor if your contractors have already had their ideas or skills stolen and being used on a massive scale. Management of resources, both material and immaterial end up being the most important thing. And that potentially causes friction especially when contracts demand that a Merchant be taught the skill, which could end a contract with materials being produced by not their creator," Miki explained the pros and cons of the system as they were presented. She didn't want the young lass before her entering into a contract, be it with her or anyone else without understanding fully how it would work out for her in the process. "Sou ka, so contracting with a Merchant keeps production of this product with me. And I don't have to worry about it ending up funding some random empire nor harming anyone. But it comes with the responsibility of knowing that how I choose to Market the item will effect how it is viewed in the world and it could help or hurt," she summarized looking to her brother to make sure she understood all of what had been said. "But at the very least contracting early would keep someone from being able kill me and steal the idea."

[Bloodedge]

Licht kept an open ear for information. He was certain Miki had something in mind, or at least some knowledge that otherwise eluded him. Lo and behold, she had exactly that. The lass went on to explain exactly how the Merchants' Guild functioned beneath the surface, making a special note of the protections it granted to those who dealt with it. It was an interesting dump of information, albeit one with a few loose ends, or even an omission that may or may not have been on purpose. "... Sou," he said, pressing his knuckle against his chin while pacing around the pair of girls. "That does sound like a nice balancing system. Connect your craft to the Guild, keep shady business practices from being able to overthrow you and make the gold for themselves. Something's missing though, isn't it?"

Once more, he paused. He didn't expect anything malicious of Miki. Rather, he considered the exact opposite, while thinking it to be a necessary mention, if the assumption he came to was correct. "I'll give the benefit of the doubt, and assume the Guild has a checks and balances system to keep those in charge of it from doing exactly what outsiders could do otherwise. As for the rest..." He sighed. "There's something missing, isn't there? You mentioned these benefits of being a member of the Merchants' Guild, but if this protection is applied to those who form a contract with you, this code protection has to be going somewhere. If I had to guess, I'd say it fits itself into that pass you have. If I'm right, that thing has a Mystic Code of its own that ties itself to you, right? So... if the code for creating something is routed to the Guild through you, aren't you putting yourself at risk? I'm guessing there's no clear way to determine where someone's connection is without finding out through them or a witness, but if they do, what's keeping them from going through the merchant themselves to get themselves the selling rights by stealing their Mystic Codes?"

[Apollymi]

The pair she was speaking to on matters of business, heard out what Miki had to say. Even she had no problem admitting it was quite a large bit of information to digest, but still she'd rather have it all out upfront than deal with the consequences of anything essential coming up later. It was soon made clear by Licht that he'd found fault with something, maybe a bit of logic or information he thought was missing. The lad began pacing, explaining his thoughts and managing to come to some vague conclusions about the missing information. "Hai, definitely one of those. It doesn't really need explaining unless you find such details imperative. The short version is, you are only allowed to be part of the Merchants Guild upper echelons if you were both a Craftsman and a Merchant, so that you have a balanced approach to both aspects. And so the future of protections can be discussed fairly. You also have to agree by contract to not do business with the Vault of Heaven, banning you from their minimum wealth threshold," she gave the most concise version of that speech she could. The the lad took an approach in his speech she didn't expect. It seemed he understood a great deal what the actual risk to being a merchant was in the way that Miki presented it. Though she as a merchant and those who carried themselves similarly had no qualms with it, she knew it to be one of the things she hadn't directly mentioned. This omission wasn't purposeful, and instead was simply a thing she hadn't thought needed explaining.

"Well, that is why Merchants are paid. We are assuming a certain level of risk for the promotion of ideas and products we believe in. A merchant who is worth anything wouldn't put their name behind something they weren't willing to back with their lives," Miki said such was the system of checks and balances. In this world it wasn't simply a name and company image which would suffer if a contract went awry. Here the Merchants themselves were shouldering most of the physical risk and danger and were forced to either hire people to keep them safe as part of the cost of doing business or learn to fend for themselves in such a way as to avoid the potential of theft and trickery. There was one other way to avoid the physical dangers as a merchant, but it was an extreme route most weren't willing to take. "As an aside you can't simply take the Mystic Codes out of a Merchant Plaque. The guild lets you put a price on yours when you access it the first time, and it functions like insurance, without the price being paid the information is inaccessible, even to the person who owns it." And that was all that needed to be said. The way Miki phrased this, made it sound as if she was at least currently incapable of accessing the information of her own accord so binding oneself into a contract with her, had to be more like dealing with a trust than a simple transient business transaction. But in the end dealing this way kept everyone safe as well as ensuring a certain amount of safety for herself. And the amount she'd made her own plaque worth was so ridiculous that anyone who entered into a business contract with her could feel safe that she wasn't simply out to take their ideas from them.

Hikari had been quiet while Miki and her brother spoke. She recognized her elder brother's concern for the lass' safety and felt this was a good thing, even if what they were discussing was her own potential business deal. "Wait wait wait...." Hikari said. "Are you saying you locked yourself out from being able to access the information too? So you literally get nothing out of it, but the 15 percent you ask for, even while potentially supplying the raw materials for the business?" she asked of Miki and the lass simply nodded her head. "Business has to be conducted from a point of fairness, so we undertake it together. I won't take advantage of people trusting me with their livelihoods."

[Bloodedge]

"So you took an impossible price, applied it to your Merchant Pass, and keep yourself from being able to access your business partners' properties? Sou ka. That's fair and all, but even if someone can't access the codes in that pass, that won't stop them from being able to fully incorporate the Mystic Codes that make you, in this Avatar. They could overlay your entire existence and reap the benefits of your earlier transactions, whether they became able to use the goods or not," Licht countered. There was no arguing against the fair grounds Miki established between herself and those she did business with, but a single instance of imbalance was all it took for Licht - or even the human behind the Avatar - to interject. He had no intentions of stopping this transaction, or even shutting down an idea, though he absolutely had to make the dangers known for both ends. "I'm not saying it's a bad idea, or anything of the sort. What I am saying, is that you'll be taking on something that's a few cuts above everything else you could be dealing with. In a world like this, you'll have wealth pouring in from entire countries; human ones especially. Having access to something like this would be the like having lesser Artifacts in the marketplace, and I can't imagine anyone who wouldn't want to benefit from that in some way. I'm sure I don't need to tell you how hard you're sticking your neck out there by doing this, but... it's interesting. I don't know a lot of people willing to claim they're sharing a burden, when they're actually taking the entire thing on by themselves..."

Interesting was one way of putting it. At its most basic level, he could see this ordeal as a minor gamble. With what Miki would be undertaking by going through with a transaction like this one though, was more like agreeing to conflict at the world's discretion, to come at any random point for the duration of the deal. This wasn't how he had seen business practiced normally in any experience he'd had with those who understood wealth, though it was somehow a model of business which appealed to him. "If you're both committing to this, then you just be sure to turn my way for a helping hand if things go sour, yeah? Put me on as a confidant or whatever, and I'll help keep things safe, just in case."

[Apollymi]

Licht seemed to have a good understanding of what the lass had done. Even so, he seemed unusually cautious about the entire thing, as if he thought her life was in more danger than she thought it was. Given the nature of his younger sister's creation, it would be pretty easy to assume that he worried for both of their well-beings because of the existence of the things in question. There was something somewhat comforting about that to Miki. She'd dealt in business her entire life, but never had anyone been worried about the outcome of a transaction she brokered. Least of all, was the worry about her personal safety even when she was dealing with elements that could have been considered dangerous. "I feel like a few leaps are being taken here. Leaps which require a series of events to spiral pretty far out of control and for us to encounter someone who could beat me in a fight and use this Avatar with the same proficiency that I do. It's pretty unlikely," she said aloud, but she understood his point. Given what they were planning to be doing making herself a target in such a way was a bit outlandish but this wasn't really anything new to the blonde lass, and she was willing to face the consequences of her convictions. Beyond this he claimed to know how hard she was in fact sticking her neck out and claimed that something about this was somehow likeable. Miki's eyes widened and she managed to turn her head to the side before an intense blush settled in. "It's not as if I plan to take on the whole of the situation by myself. She's still going to be the one doing the hands on part. I'm just here to be a name and a moving target, which I already am anyways..." Miki knew full well the implications of taking on entire nations. But given the state of most of the places they'd visited thus far, she was betting on them having to fix and thus having a hand in most of the business and governmental dealings.

"Sou ka, she's really taking the brunt of this sort of thing huh. But still she's being pretty open about it, without your extra questions I wouldn't have realized for a while how much of an extra risk someone would take on to back such a project..." Hikari said. But the more she thought about it, the more solid it was in her mind that taking up Miki's offer was the best possible outcome to her potential. Anyone who would willingly lock themselves out of the ability to take over for someone else, and who claimed that being the target of bandits and the rest of the business world was fine had nerves of steel and wouldn't sell out anyone. Beyond that she respected the older girl's ability to articulate her business model. Her brother's interjection claimed that he'd be part of it to help out and further mediate any risks to both parties as he saw them. "Can you add him in like he wants so he can use his brooding big brother face?" she asked of Miki the thought of which made the lass laugh. "Haha...ahem. Yes, of course I can, and I will if you'd give me just one second," she said rewriting a very particular temporary contract for the distribution rights on the creation which belonged to Hikari. The way it was written she would have the exclusive rights to sell this and have it under her name for a year at a time. After this the contract could be renegotiated on all sides. There were also clauses put in for the untimely demise of the Avatars so that the information and ideas couldn't be abused directly from salvaged code. It went on to name Licht, Kou and specifically Avatars of the Geno Killer account as confidant in the contract just in case. "There. Check it over add what you need to then review it and sign it if you are cool with the terms," Miki mentioned holding out the gold stake for the pair to use in their Nexus Vision to review the fine details of this supposed contract. After which they could sign and the business of it would be taken care of.