Chapter 28: Zephyr’s Evolution
[You have successfully fulfilled the evolution requirements for Zephyr. Would you like to complete the evolution?]
[Yes | No]
Staring at the system prompt, Draco smiled. After clicking yes, he wasn’t only going to evolve Zephyr’s talent to D-Rank, but he was also going to complete the system mission.
—
Mission: Evolution I
Evolution is a part of life. You must prepare to evolve Zephyr’s talent to D-Rank within 4 days.
Reward: Uncommon-Rank Beastmaster cultivation manual, +1 stat point, +2 EXP
Failure: -5 stat points from a random attribute.
—
Draco’s mouth opened, and he muttered. "Yes,"
After accepting the evolution, Zephyr, on his shoulder, started glowing with light.
[Master! Help me! I’m glowing! I’m going to die!] Zephyr started panicking as his tiny body became enveloped in radiant energy. He began flapping his wings erratically as strange sensations coursed through him from the inside out.
Draco chuckled softly, placing a gentle finger near his companion to provide comfort. "Relax, you’re evolving. You’re going to become much stronger now."
Zephyr stopped his frantic wing movements and looked at Draco with the most pitiful expression his tiny features could manage.
[Master, you are so mean! You could’ve told me before this happened! I thought I was dying!]
"Alright, alright. I’ll inform you next time before any major changes," Draco responded, unable to suppress his amusement as he watched the transformation
Zephyr was growing in front of his eyes!
Zephyr’s body was slowly expanding, his wingspan increasing, and his overall proportions becoming more robust.
The golden light intensified...
A full minute passed before the transformation was finally completed. The golden light faded, revealing Zephyr’s new form.
"Wow."
[Mission: Evolution I] ☑️
[You have received Uncommon-Rank Beastmaster Cultivation Manual]
[You have received +2 EXP.]
[You have received +1 Stat Point.]
...
Draco Von Ashblade [Awakened] EXP: 39/100
Title: None
Talent: Dragon Lord (SSS-Rank)
Strength: 14(+3) / Agility: 21 (+3) / Constitution: 14 / Mana: 51
Beastmaster Manual: Uncommon-Rank [0/4 EXP]
Skills: Stone Heart(Uncommon, Lvl.1)
Stat points: 1
...
Staring at his stats, Draco couldn’t help but smile happily. Everything has been going great, with the uncommon-rank beastmaster manual providing four experience points daily instead of two, his development speed would accelerate dramatically.
Let me calculate... with daily missions providing two EXP and cultivation providing four EXP, that’s six points per day. I need sixty-one more points to reach level one, so roughly ten days if I maintain this pace.
The prospect of reaching elite rank in just over a week was almost unbelievable.
Turning his attention to Zephyr, Draco’s smile widened even further.
The hummingbird was now noticeably larger, about the size of a small sparrow rather than his previous thumb-sized proportions.
"Zephyr, you’ve grown up already, you are no longer small anymore, I’m afraid your weight has doubled," Draco teased the hummingbird.
"Zephyr, you’ve grown up already! You’re no longer tiny anymore. I’m afraid your weight has doubled," Draco teased his evolved companion.
[Master! You are so mean! Zephyr isn’t heavy! I’m just... more mature now!] Zephyr protested, though his voice carried more confidence than before.
[Pet no.1] Hummingbird
[Rank] Common
[Talent] D (Hidden Potential: SSS)
[Connection] Medium
[Skills]
[Super-Sonic ] → [Hyper-Sonic]
[Micro-Vision] → [Nano-Vision]
[Nano-Vision] Grants the Beast Master the keen eyesight of a hummingbird. Enables the Beast Master to perceive minute details with exceptional clarity. When facing enemies of comparable strength, this heightened perception may reveal subtle weaknesses or exploitable points.
[Hyper-Sonic] Grants the Beast Master the speed of a hummingbird. Increases the Beast Master’s agility by 2x.
Draco’s eyes sparkled as he read through Zephyr’s new stats. The hummingbird didn’t just grow in size, but also in strength!
The previous super-sonic skill granted a boost of 1.5x. But the new hyper-sonic skill, granted a boost of 2x. That was a qualitative leap!
The previous Micro-Vision skill only allowed for simple zoom-ins, which were useful but limited in value. The upgraded version, however, offered much more. It granted the potential to identify the weak points of his enemies.
"Zephyr, we’re going to celebrate today! What do you want to eat?" Draco asked, watching as the hummingbird began flying excited circles around the room, clearly testing his improved size and capabilities.
[Meat! Meat! Meat! I want to try all the meat! Big pieces of meat!] Zephyr chirped happily, his appetite apparently having grown along with his body.
Draco laughed at his companion’s enthusiasm. After the trials they had endured in the Swift Gate, a proper celebration was definitely in order.
...
Draco enjoyed a wonderful celebration day out with Zephyr, treating his companion to various meats and exploring the city. But after they finished, his mind turned back to business matters that required his attention.
With nearly two thousand gold coins in his possession now, Draco decided it was finally time to scale up his shampoo production. He had proven the product worked, and now needed to transition from experimentation to actual business operations.
After some consideration, he decided to manufacture approximately one hundred bottles of shampoo. Each bottle was designed to last about a month with daily use, providing substantial value for customers while generating significant profit margins.
The reason he limited himself to one hundred bottles wasn’t due to financial constraints. In fact, it was strategic planning for a much larger goal.
Draco was going to sell the recipe, not try to monopolize the entire market himself.
While the ideal scenario might involve hoarding the formula and controlling all production personally, Draco understood that approach was both unrealistic and dangerous in his current position.
He lacked the necessary connections to establish large-scale manufacturing, the distribution networks to reach customers across the kingdom, and most importantly, the power to protect the recipe from being stolen.
Instead of fighting a losing battle to control everything, I’ll profit from licensing the innovation.
His plan was elegant in its simplicity: sell the recipe but retain royalty rights. This approach would eliminate the hassles of production management, security concerns, time investment, and operational complexity while providing him with passive income that could fund his continued development as an awakener and soon to be elite.
And this is just the beginning. The shampoo is merely one of dozens of innovations I could introduce to this world.
Draco wasn’t concerned about giving up control of this particular product because his knowledge from his previous life contained numerous other profitable inventions. Deodorants, make up for rich noble ladies, and many more things.
When I have more power and loyal subordinates, I can establish my own production empire. But for now, licensing makes the most sense.
The ingredients for one hundred bottles cost him exactly twenty gold coins total, which meant each bottle required materials worth twenty silver coins to produce.
The profit margin was astounding.
Based on his market research and the quality of his product, Draco was confident each bottle could easily sell for one to two gold coins. Even at the conservative estimate of one gold coin per bottle, that represented a five-times profit margin. If the market would bear two gold coins per bottle, he’d be looking at a ten-times return on investment.
[Master, what are you thinking about so seriously? You have that planning face again.] Zephyr observed from his perch, having learned to recognize his master’s various expressions.
"I’m planning our next business moves, Zephyr. Don’t worry about that, are you excited to cultivate with the new manual we have?" Draco smiled, stroking the hummingbird’s head.
[Yes!]