A Dragon’s Curiosity

 

 

The mid and high class room definitely had lesser eggs as compared to the low class room. Walking towards a particular glowing one, Nisha traced the shining white light seeping through the shell for a while before picking it up. Despite being a mid class egg, this was currently the brightest exemplar around.

Flowing like clouds, the markings itself appeared as flying mist, giving Nisha a good feeling this might be the mount Henry looked for.

To make absolutely sure, she also picked up a second egg. Radiating a deep blue, this one held a blue shade overall, not leaving a single white speck. None of the others fulfilled the criterion, leaving the dragon to hope that one of the two held a mount at least.

Nisha wished to fulfill Henry’s dream. He accepted her into the Dharnas household and made the place she used to stay into a place she could call home. This was the least she could do for him.

For her own companion, she returned to the low class room. Henry apparently had some objections to her picking two eggs from the mid and high class range, but the elf didn’t give him time to voice them.

Since I picked two eggs for him, Henry wouldn’t be quiet if I didn’t get at least two for myself as well.

 

Sadly, in this room as well only one exemplar qualified to catch her attention. A grey signature growing and diminishing, fluctuating akin to a pulse, neither too powerful nor as feeble unlike the other life and death element specimens. Finalizing her decision, she picked it up, as well as its neighbour. Nisha appreciated the deep emerald hue the second egg contained, reminding her of the scales Little Breeze possessed. Unfortunately the tone could barely be seen, even by her [Spirit Sight]. If it was stronger, the purity of the wind element would have made this one a target for the dragon too. Now any pick was as good as no pick, and a random choice could fill the second spot.

“It’s nice you found some eggs you fancy, Nisha, but I’m afraid our budget won’t cover them. We only have a gold each. And even with the adventurer’s discount, these four eggs should still be above five hundred gold if I didn’t count wrongly.

That’s more than half of the revenue a house on the level of a duke or a wealthy count makes during a moon.

What’s so special about these four?”

Carrying four eggs at the same time fashioned itself as quite difficult, hence the elf handed the first two over to the intended owner.

 

“Since I picked them, naturally I have a way to settle the bill. Just take them and think of them as a thank you gift from me. I really hope you will be able to get a mount from one of them.”

Raising her own future purchases, she smiled at her stepbrother.

“And don’t think just because your eggs have a higher price tag they’ll be stronger in the future. In no time at all I’ll raise my companions to be stronger than yours!”

Amused by the friendly provocation, Henry ignored the gentle attempt to change the topic.

“Still, it’s a lot of gold. How’d you get your hands on such a fortune? I really can’t accept this if it eats all your savings. You should rather spend it on yourself, it’s too much.”

“Don’t worry about some gold. You know, I grew up on the border to the wilderness. Gold doesn’t have too many uses. A safe space to sleep, something to eat, shelter from monsters and beasts … gold can’t be used for any of that. Naturally some places still have it, but it’s mostly piled up between other metals. Whenever I brought back the spoils of a hunt, grandpa Eldrin helped me bring back as much as possible and sorted it through with me. I didn’t have any interest in gold, but he put the valuables aside to give them to me. He knew how much they were worth even if I didn’t and wanted me to go to the city one day. So when I opened the packet he prepared for me I found he left me a note to explain their value.”

Henry listened to the story attentively. Nisha rarely volunteered information about the time she lived together with their grandfather, the grief and pain still too raw to freely talk about it.

“Anyway, as soon as I arrived at the guild I showed the letter to an old friend grandpa still had in the guild and he helped me exchange the gold and materials. Thanks to that, I have quite the surplus of gold. So it’s my treat this time. Think of it as a present from grandpa to us both.”

 

Flashing a handful of coins from her [Inner Space], Nisha beamed with the same golden gleam, wiping away the previous sadness. She possessed enough wealth, one set of monster eggs couldn’t even make a dent in her assets. Sharing a bit of it with Henry didn’t pose a problem, on the contrary, if it could make him happy, there’d be no better usage.

“Even so, this is your money. I can’t just take it for free.”

Not surprised by the revelation from his resourceful sister, Henry brushed away her generosity. Just taking such a big amount for free went against his bottom line.

“It’s too big to be a gift and I wouldn’t want to owe you something, since we’re family.”

 

“And I want to give it to you since we’re family. And it isn’t guaranteed the eggs are better than mine just because they’re higher priced. How about this then. You’ll likely go into the Dungeon in the future, so if an egg appears at that time, regardless of the rank, you can give me one of them. Whether it appears early or late, it’s up to fate. So I’ll get a chance at a high class egg in return or maybe I’ll get to gift these two eggs to you. Would that work?”

Fighting with himself, her stepbrother could only give in eventually. The allure of obtaining a high and mid chance towards his dream - a mount - won over his reason.

“Don’t laugh at me! I’ll accept for now, you just see. In no time at all I’ll conquer the dungeon and get a top class egg from the lowest floor!”

Receiving a large amount of money from his little stepsister was too much, even for a levelheaded youth like Henry. Carefully carrying his treasures towards the counter at the entrance, his figure was chased by Nisha who held back her amusement to avoid breaking the delicate mood.

 

“These four please.”

Placing the eggs on a prepared cloth on the wooden counter, Nisha took the initiative to call out to the girl who handled them so far. Recognizing their intent to make a purchase, she hurried over and offered them a genuine smile this time.

“Thank you very much. I will call over one of the appraisers right away. Do excuse the wait please, he is doing an assessment currently and will be with us shortly.

It’s rare to see such a big purchase though, I would have prepared another member of our personnel to await the conclusion of your selection if I had known. I’m very sorry for not preparing adequately.”

An acquisition happened rarely for first time customers. Rather than purchasing an egg as soon as they had the money, most adventurers first secured better equipment and the environment to support a monster, including precautionary visits to the shop; purchasing more than one egg as soon as they arrived warranted the VIP treatment even for two youths like Nisha and Henry as they likely came from a big house or faction.

Another reason to be happy was the commission the female clerk would get from this sale. In addition to their base salary, any sales would render them a cut of the profit, inciting them to provide the best customer care in order to make more deals.

“It’s alright, we don’t mind waiting. We decided to purchase some on a whim, otherwise we’d have told you in advance. During the wait period, can you explain the procedure to us, what exactly will happen from now on?”

Completely convinced now that the two young masters in front of her completely deserved their exalted status if they were able to purchase multiple articles from the guild store on a whim, the employee was more than glad to attend to them.

 

“Simply speaking, the protocol is quite short once the eggs are picked. The chief appraiser will be with us shortly and confirm the rank of the eggs to determine the price and apply the subordination seal. By pouring aura, mana and a drop of your blood on the seal, the monster inside will eventually awaken and enter into a primary link with the owner. This includes the benefit of shared growth, if either side of the link exceeds the other in cultivation, the partner will nourish the weaker one with his or her own progress until the equilibrium is restored. As a cautious remark, this primary link cannot be passed over to other people and if you ever purchase a beast or monster from another store than ours, be advised that it cannot be verified if there has been a primary link established before.”

Rearranging the goods waiting for purchase, she made sure the broad side of each faced up, preparing them for the assessment by her superior. After that, legal documents drafting the outlines regarding ownership and management for beasts were assembled as well.

“To complete the awakening, a certain amount of energy is needed. The guild has prepared incubation rooms outfitted with mana crystals and aura stones to speed up the hatching process. Of course you can also take the eggs home with you, by keeping it close to your body the seal will naturally absorb the amount needed. Some adventurers swear this method increases the depth of the bond and the amount of trust the monster possess towards the owner, but I cannot confirm if this is the truth.

Ah, sir, we are ready for a purchase. Please identify these four.”

Addressing a man in dark robes, his advanced age showing by the amount of wrinkles in his face, the attendant respectfully bowed when she made the request.

 

His appearance slightly surprised Nisha, not because of his choice of clothing or age, but because of the bright radiance her emitted in her [Spirit Sight]. By a far margin, he was the strongest individual present. Furthermore, the Guild must place a lot of importance towards this store to dispatch such a strong expert to work here.

Casually approaching the group of three, he kept up a lofty air and didn’t put them in his eyes, which was justified considering his position as a top rank existence, probably not only in the guild but in the whole city.

“Girl, you requested me to identify some things?”

Approaching the attendant first and ignoring the customers, the elderly man unhurriedly swept his eyes over the cloth on which the eggs rested.

“This is correct, sir. The esteemed guests are awaiting your appraisal to finalize their purchase.”

Showing extreme respect, the employee bowed even deeper than when she welcomed Henry and Nisha, demonstrating the difference in status between them.

The palm of his hand hovered over each of them. After the first two, his brows knit in anger, only the third shell slightly piqued his interest and after inspecting the fourth, he nodded in understanding. Nisha followed his actions, every time his palm changed places, a small stream of mana left it to enter an egg before returning into his skin, a technique that should hold some significance, which aroused her attention in turn.

“I’ve confirmed it. One high class, one mid class and two low class. If that’s all, I will take my leave.”

Glancing at the attendant, the mood of the expert had already returned to indifference. If he had been called to identify two low class eggs only, he would have certainly let his anger be known to the foolish employee that failed to do even such a basic task. Appointments were usually made if someone planned to purchase a high class monster, so he’d have known about it, he was only called when someone could not properly identify an egg and needed help. It couldn’t be helped if he was requested to help this time, with an unexpected high class case appearing.

 

The female clerk, who didn’t even foresee how close she came to disaster, gladly saw her superior off, noting down his assessment.

“Adding up those four, it comes to a grand total of one thousand and fifty two gold. Are you registered as an adventurer yet? To receive the half off discount, you need to present your guild card. You can also register here if you are not a member yet, I’d definitely recommend it.”

Retrieving the already prepared guild card, Nisha handed it over and started going through her [Inner Space], counting the needed coins.

“I’m a registered already, it’s enough for both of us, right?”

“Certainly. All that’s left if the money, then you can take the eggs away. The seal is going to take a second, you can prepare a certificate from a bank for the needed amount, we can hold onto your goods in the meantime.”

Giving the couple of siblings only the best treatment after fantasizing about the sizeable commission she would earn from this sale, the female attendant didn’t pay attention to the dragon, who took out coin after coin from her pockets.

“No need. This should cover it, right?”

Stacking a neat pile of ten one hundred gold coins as well as half a dozen ten gold pieces, the elven girl gifted her a bright smile, the excitement of obtaining a new monster subordinate delighted her already.

The female clerk on the other hand suddenly had cold sweat running down her back. She already knew the two youths before her had no ordinary background, but most powers still chose to entrust their wealth to a reputed bank. Casually stacking up the monthly revenue of a middle ranked noble family, which kind of lofty individuals were they? If she treated them just a tad poorly …

Imagining all kinds of horrid things, the girl took a while before she could complete the purchase.