The Immaculate Collection [Merchant Progression]

Self-Published

Community Rating

Description

The Immaculate Collection is a story about a young hopeful merchant and a chaotic retired adventurer doing their best to keep their magic item shop in business and themselves out of trouble.

(Full blurb below)

What to expect:

Chapter lengths vary, with an average length of ~3300 words

Slice of Life elements:sometimes we're just managing the day to day running of a shopLitRPG elements:There are item and spell descriptions, but only one or two numbers to worry about (money management aside)Progression elements:Our MC will get stronger and get more powers and abilities. His friends will too!Many magic itemsFriendship and communityA single 3rd person limited POV following our MC, Reid-(With one exception below)Action scenes with occasionally graphic descriptions

Three Main Chapter Types:The Immaculate Collection:Most of the story is based around the city and the trials and tribulations that come with life running a magic item shopTravel Arcs:Arcs currently planned outside the main city. Occasionally, Reid will leave the main city to travel somewhere to accomplish some goal. These chapters will contain a more focused narrative with fewer slice of life chapters and potentially more direct conflict and danger.Basen's Ramblings:There are chapters where Basen tells someone a story. These are told in first person from Basen's point of view.

The Full Blurb:

While the other boys of his village dream of becoming mighty warriors and mages, Reid Aveno dreams of becoming a merchant. He dreams of brokering deals, traveling the world, forging trade between nations, and being the kind of person people look up to. But most of all, Reid dreams of magic.

In an age of lost old magics, the only path of growth for the people of the Kingdom of Avennia is by connecting with items imbued with magical powers and abilities. These sources of magic are handed down through families, bought and sold by merchants, and for those who live near the ancient places of the world, sometimes found by those who search for them.

When Reid comes upon power of his own, he leaves his small town behind. He is bound for the capital city of New Avennia, where he hopes to fulfill his dreams and become a merchant without equal.

Basen Koh is a retired adventurer and renowned mage. He has spent his life searching for power, protecting his home, and exploring the world. When it was all said and done, he found his collection dusty and disused. He'd spent years building it up, only for it to lay forgotten and unseen. With an eye toward spending time among the people, he took his collection and opened a shop in the heart of the kingdom.

Now Basen finds himself in an odd and unfamiliar place. Failure isn't an easy thing to accept for someone who has the kind of power he does, yet deep down, he cannot deny that his business is teetering on the edge of a cliff. If something does not change, he might lose his collection forever.

When these two men meet, they find out that not only do they need what each other have to offer, but they actually make a great team. When debt collectors, thieves, foreign powers, and competing merchants try to crush their budding business, Basen and Reid need to work together to save the Immaculate Collection.

Summary last updated 7/8/24. Cover art by the author, Havlo.

Information

Status: Hiatus
Year: 2024
Author: havlo

Royal Road Stats

Rating: 4.8/ 5.0
Followers: 539
Views: 95,785

Reviews

No reviews yet. Be the first to share your thoughts!

Community Reviews(8)

neal.mayneRoyal Road
★★★★★ 5.0
I don't typically review stories without a substantial amount of content because usually it takes awhile before I get invested enough to review. That is not the case with this story I found myself self invested in the world, characters, and setting very quick. There is a difficult balance between enough information on the world and magic system to be immersive and boring info dumps that this this story manages with style. Add that to incredibly interesting and engaging characters and excellent humor, I needed to do my part in getting the word out about this story.
Please give it a try.
ZarinthelRoyal Road
★★★★★ 5.0
Overall, slice of life merchant stories like this one live and die by how much the author cares about the subject of their own story, aka, how interested they are in the mundane aspects of selling something. This is actually where this story shines, as Reid's overall character ideal of being the kind of merchant who cares less about profit than about putting the right item with the right buyer perfectly compliments the careless, chaotic good deeds of his eventual employer.
the story has a bit of a slow start, but really gets going once the charistmatic entrance of Basen into the story shows that he and Reid are both stronger as a team in story and out of it.
Style: it gets the job done and is competently written, but i've taken half a star off because i feel like the identification skill is in some ways replacing the author's duty to actually describe what the items in the store look like. it's a story about a magic shop. i want more atmosphere
Grammar: no issues
Story Score: I like what we have so far, and from the author's blurb I'm very encouraged by the fact that they have a clear plan for what is going to happen next and that the story is unlikely to suddenly swerve permanently into a different genre. in terms of what's happened so far, debt problems have managed to seem pressing without making the story feel at all grim.
Character Score: Basen is the standout character by far, but luckily for the rest of the characters standing next to him gives everyone he interacts with More characterization, not less. This is great news for our main character especially, who has really come into his own since he started working for the Immaculate Collection.
All together: it's the type of story I like to read, so I really hope it will continue for a long time.
HaveFunRoyal Road
★★★★★ 5.0
I saw this on the recently updated list and was intrigued by the premise. The writing was good and easy to follow. The swamp with its history of quakes and treasure hunting was really interesting to read about.
We only spend a brief time in that town before Reid (main character) leaves it behind. We do get a glimpse of the magic system and meet some mysterious characters. I especially enjoyed the attention to small details. Some of the side characters felt rude/odd at first, but later revealed to be reasonable.
There's not much to review at only 5 chapters, but I'm really enjoying it so far.
Thoughts after chapter 24:
A promising story has delivered better than expected! Reid and Basen complement each other well - Reid trying to rise up as a merchant and Basen's chaos keeps you guessing even as you root for the characters to succeed. A lovely cast of side characters and an intriguing magic system with glimpses of the wider world makes it a very enjoyable read.
LethRoyal Road
★★★★★ 5.0
I'm enjoying the story so far and it's exactly what's promised from the overview. The story is engaging and entertaining. It's been fun to watch Reid pursue his dream.
Some of the early dialog falls flat but I feel like that's improving as the author finds their voice. The writing itself isn't full of distracting typos and I like how the magic system is implemented and described.
TheAleMasterRoyal Road
★★★★★ 5.0
The worldbuilding in this story has me hooked. I love story that explore how the casual use of magic would drastically the day to day life of the people living there. I've not fallen in love with any of the characters but they have potential and are unique and interesting.
TheGrinningVikingRoyal Road
★★★★★ 5.0
Really like this story.
If I had to pick the single best element I'd say it was the "show not tell" of really deep and excellent world building; you can see hints of the wider world in items that are traded, realistic and interesting conversations between characters, and small background details hinting at bigger things.
I've always enjoyed merchant tales and this is a really excellent one. The writing is as polished as stories I've seen with WAY more views, updates have been fairly regular so far, and the characters are interesting.
I like to give a balanced review when I can, but I literally can't think of anything I'd want changed. If this is the kind of thing you're into (and I am) it's exactly right.
Now go and read it, and give it five stars if you think it deserves it. I really wanna encourage the author enough that I get to see the end of this thing, help me out!
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
furball tigerRoyal Road
★★★★★ 4.5
If you want amusing slice of life, read this. It's awfully entertaining for a story ostensibly about a merchant. There are an appropriate (not too many, not too few) number of little jokes, and it's easy to get sucked into the modest little adventures of our fledgling little trader.
It's good stuff, if those sorts of things appeal to you (as they do to me). If you're looking for grimdark, edgy, OP action, this isn't your story (although there is a fair bit of action, it's not the hook here).
On hiatus as I write this, but I've marked it for later, hoping the author continues.
KollugalaRoyal Road
★★★★ 4.0
A very enjoyable tale so far, very few grammer errors and only the occasional typo. Good world building and characters have believable motivations and developmentt. My only complaint is... as of writing this review it has been about 2 weeks since the last update. Hope this story doesn't end up in the mass litrpg graveyard like so many others.
Hope you continue Havlo, no worries if you need a break, the writathon can burn you out for sure. Keep with it tho and you'll have an Amazon deal no problem.