Multi-Dimensional Merchant System

"Oli! Good to see you, bro!" Tyrone waved from his seat as his friend entered the dead stock room, before turning a warm smile to the statuesque woman that followed. "Lily, nice to see you as well."

"Still wish he had brought us some cute catgirls or something..." Ed muttered with a sad sigh, only to be smacked on the back of the head Gary.

"Ignore him." Gary quickly added with a withering glare at his friend. "He's been whining all day about how unfair it is that Oli ended up as the anime protagonist."

"All week is more like it." Marty supplied with a chuckle.

"It is a pleasure to see you all as well." Lily's gentle smile shifted slightly to something more mischievous as she turned to Ed. "But... wouldn't acquiring one of these 'catgirls' require you to actually converse with a female?"

For just a second, the room fell silent as everyone processed her joke, before a ripple of laughter ran through the gathered friends.

"She's got you there, bro!" Tyrone boomed as he elbowed his friend.

"Yeah, when was the last time you actually asked a girl out?"

"I think it was that Amanda girl, two years ago! You remember, the cheerleader that told him-"

"Ok, ok! I get it!" Ed cut off their ribbing with a grumble. "Bunch of jerks, the lot of you- not you, Lily. I would never say that about you."

"Especially not with Oli standing right there!" Gary tagged on with a snort, already rummaging through his desk for a snack.

"If you guys are done picking on me," Ed huffed, though his amused smile made it clear he wasn't really bothered by his friends' teasing. "Oli came here to work, right? So maybe we should get things rolling?"

Deciding to save his friend from more jokes, Oliver's eyes swept across the rows of neatly packaged supplies and finally jumped into the conversation. "Well, you guys have already done your part, so it's really just on me."

"But first..." Stepping quickly across the room, Oliver stopped in front of the desk where Marty sat, already working his way through more of his notes on the Commissions. "I think Marty here deserves a reward for all his hard work!"

"Dude, what the hell!" Gary exclaimed, fragments of potato chips spraying from his mouth- which he quickly wiped up while throwing an apologetic look towards Lily. "Sorry about that... But seriously, what the hell? You didn't mention we would get rewards for working hard!"

"Maybe if you actually did work hard, you would get a reward!" Ed snarked, laughing as he dodged a swipe aimed at his head.

Pausing in his notes, Marty sighed and shook his head. "I know Oli is messing with me; My last job rewarded my hard work... with a promotion and more work- and, when I complained, all he would say was-"

"The reward for work well done... is more work." Oliver cut in to supply, a slight, mocking grin on his lips. With a thought, he pulled two things from the Warehouse and set them on the desk in front of Marty- a potion, and a tome. "But I think you're going to like the extra work I'm assigning you."

Within seconds, all of them were gathered around the desk to stare in awe- even Lily, though she had seen both items before during their time on the ship. Specks of silvery light swirled within the glowing purple potion, and the tome... looked like any other dusty old book, long forgotten on a library shelf.

"That looks cool as hell..." Ed muttered softly, his friends nodding in agreement.

"But what is it?" Marty asked calmly, not touching either item. "I'm guessing they are something special, even if the book doesn't really look the part... So, what are they? And what is it you want me to do with them?"

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"Well, for starters..." Oliver spoke slowly, a teasing smile on his face. "That is an Arcane Awakening Potion; drinking it will unlock your mana and allow you to learn magic-"

"Fuck! I want that!" Ed hissed in disbelief.

"That means the book is one of those magic tomes you mentioned, doesn't it?" Gary asked before anyone else. After a second of thought, his eyes went wide with surprise and excitement. "Wait, if you're giving this to Marty... then, doesn't that mean Poli has already used one? Probably Lily too, right? How many of these did you get?"

Before the questions could get any more out of control, Oliver raised a hand to cut them off. "Ok, chill guys. First, Poli and Lily haven't used one yet-"

"Then why give it to me?" Marty interrupted in shock- all of them had agreed to the rule that Poli got first dibs, since she was going with Oli on all the jobs. "Wouldn't it make more sense-"

"Maybe if you guys stopped interrupting me with so many questions, I would be able to explain." Oliver said, glaring at his friends- and struggling to suppress a laugh as both Ed and Gary mimed zipping the mouths closed.

"Anyway... Poli and Lily both agreed because neither felt that this-" He gently tapped the tome sitting on the desk. "-was suitable for them... And we all agreed that Marty was the most suitable."

"What you have in front of you, my friend, is a Beginner's Tome of Talisman Creation."

While Ed, Gary, and Tyrone shared blank looks at the simple explanation, Marty sat stunned for a second... Then started laughing.

"Ok, I don't get it." Ed said over his friend's laughter. "I mean, I'm guessing it's something good, but..."

"Oh, it's not just good." Marty said between chuckled. "This is awesome!" Seeing the lack of comprehension from his friends, he tenderly ran his hand over the cover of the book as he explained- a hint of smugness in his voice. "Unlike you guys, Oli and I share an appreciation for wuxia, xianxia, xuanhuan..."

"Yeah, I know you guys have no idea what I'm talking about... but that doesn't matter." He shrugged, excitement clear in his voice. "But, the gist of it is... Talismans, at least according to those stories, were these little cards or slips of paper that were imbued with magical effects- and making them always required a lot of study, a steady hand, and at least a little artistic talent..."

"Kind of like calligraphy." Oliver nodded, happy to see his friend so excited. "We figured that, between how studious Marty is, his love for wuxia, and the fact that he paints those little plastic figures-"

"Miniatures, bro, for Warhammer 40k."

"-that he would be the best choice for this." Oliver finished, ignoring his friend interrupting him again. "Plus, Marty and I have already discussed backup plans for getting Poli- and now Lily- magic of their own."

"Ok, so Marty will learn how to make these magic papers..." Tyrone said slowly as he processed everything they were just told. "But what will they do? Are we talking, like, fireballs and invisibility? Flight? What?"

Oliver shrugged, as even he didn't know for sure- and none of them would until Marty learned what was in the book. "No clue. All I know is that the tome will teach him ten different Rank 1 Talismans- though probably not Fireball, since that's a Rank 2 spell... So, maybe something like firebolt? I don't know for sure, but there is probably a mix of offensive, defensive, and utility Talismans..."

"Which brings me to my next point." He said softly, taking a deep breath. "Aside from Marty being the best suited in our minds, him having this means that, eventually, he'll have ways to help protect you guys when I'm not around. I still fully intend to get more stuff for you guys, but this is the start."

"Though, fair warning, from what I know of these Tomes... Expect it to take a while to learn anything useful- I'm talking months, maybe years; I don't know... So, not that helpful in the short term, but it will be a game changer later."

"That's still a while..." Gary began slowly as he thought about it.

"Please, man!" Ed scoffed, shaking his head. "This is Marty we're talking about! He's going to dive head first in to this; I would bet he has a handle on it in three months- four months, max!"

Eyes glinting, Marty excitedly reached for the Arcane Awakening Potion- only to be confused when Oliver stopped him.

"Ah, I was warned that the potion has some...ah... side effects..." He said with an apologetic shrug. "It would probably be best for you to wait until you get home to drink it."

"What sort of side effects?" Marty asked, his eagerness dimming with worry.

"Ah, nothing too bad." Oliver waved it off, though humor danced in his eyes. "Unlocking my mana just hurt like a bitch, which I was warned this potion would be similar."

"Well, that isn't too bad-"

"Oh, and the mad scientist that made it said it would cause explosive diarrhea..." Oliver threw over his shoulder, already turning towards the waiting Commissions.

"Explosive what!?" Marty exclaimed from behind him, voice sounding worried. "Wait, it was made by a fricking mad scientist!? What the hell, man!"

Only Lily, who had followed behind Oliver, could hear his muted laughter under the commotion he caused...

"So... What are 'catgirls'?" Lily asked him softly, causing his laughter to double.