blacksmithoftheapocalypse
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1273. Joke around
🕑 Added 2025-02-23 15:19:36 +0000 UTC---Spring City---
Around midnight, the trio left the venue of the private auction they had chosen to visit. Although it was not boring...
“Who would have thought they wouldn't have even one interesting thing...” Mina mumbled disappointed. The auction products weren't even comparable to the items they saw at Erka's shop. They didn't know what they expected, but they left a little downcast.
With their evening ending with some mild entertainment, they were just in time to take the snake back to their resort. When the snake left the barrier of the city behind, Mina suddenly leaned over to whisper to the other two.
“We have a tail,” the perceptive shadow assassin revealed to her two companions. “ I noticed it after the restaurant. I wasn't sure at first, but now the presence followed the snake out of the barrier. Do you think they are-?” she didn't name it, but it was clear what she meant.
Considering what they heard from Senior White today, the chance that these were cultivators planning on ambushing them was not zero. Of course, the chance that they were simple bandits, or innocent players was also out there.
“So...what do we do? Should we confront them or play along?” the fairy brute asked with a sparkle in her eyes. Fin was always up for a fight. Maybe a good vacation needed some recreational battle in her opinion?
“Let's wait and see. Maybe we are just overthinking it. Just stay vigilant, it won't be too late to take them down when they actually attack,” the blacksmith said confidently. Maybe he would have made a different decision if there were others in the cabin, but the three of them were the only ones currently using this snake.
Nothing happened.
Although the presence followed them for most of the way, they stopped the pursuit about 5 minutes before they reached their resort. This was not the worst possible outcome, but weird, nonetheless. In the end, it wasn’t some unlucky player who missed the snake and ran after it, which increased the chance that it was some scout.
But it was unlikely for anything more to happen tonight, so the trio decided not to dwell on it for now. After all, they were on vacation. Once back at their hotel, they checked back in for the night and stopped worrying. If things were supposed to happen, they would happen.
…
The next morning, they started off early to have breakfast in the city. Spring City was not old yet and didn’t have many big attractions apart from the temple, the bazaar, and the procession. Instead, it had rich culinary diversity.
Owing to the fact that it was technically a tourist city, there were many restaurants and cafés serving food from all districts and some from places in the Chrona Empire. Thanks to Senior White's policy, there had even popped up some taverns and “pavilions” in the style of the Cloud Continent.
Of course, there was not just food, it was also a business opportunity for more stable merchants and crafters to set up shop. While the bazaar was more for traders than came and left from day to day, shops in other places offered local goods of higher quality, albeit lower variety.
Driven by Fin's zealous gluttony, and Mina’s reason, the girls had prepared a whole map of smaller places to visit. Thus began a day of shopping and hopping between restaurants. A long stretch of this journey was the glorious Elysian Avenue, one of the big main streets in the city.
When the bazaar was a place where everyone could cheaply rent a place to set up shop temporarily, then this was the place where only reputable and successful merchants and businesses could set up a place. Like polar opposites.
“Oh, I didn’t know there is a branch of the Turquoise Anvil here, “ Seth exclaimed surprised, seeing the familiar logo at one of the bigger buildings along the beautiful boulevard. Judging by the crowd inside and in front of the shop, it seemed well received, despite Spring City not being a great hub for adventurers.
“Oh look, it’s another one of those egg shops!” Fin exclaimed, pointing at the opposite side of the road. The place was called “Eggcelent Beasts” and was just as big as Minas Mar’s store. Although comparable in size, there was less of a crowd in this place.
This seemed a little weird to the blacksmith, still remembering the chaos at the Bazaar where people were rabidly gambling on pet eggs. It couldn’t be the name, right? Or maybe they were just that high-class and eggspensive.
Seth could understand the hype for eggs, although he was not part of it. He was lucky to come across two ultra pets like Tatzel and Puffles he would not change for anything in the world, but actually having a strong mount and pet was not as common as one may think, and always staying with the same wasn’t either.
For the longest time, most players on Urth didn’t even have pets or mounts. It was simply too difficult or expensive. Unless one was lucky enough to find a beast egg, beasts had to be purchased from a tamer, who had to either tame wild monsters or breed his own.
Of course, that situation had changed since that, especially in Minas Mar, where Evan could safely breed pets and mounts like the Alpekas. Especially since he became the chosen of Hermes, as the god of Husbandry. Still…
“Should we have a look at the eggs?” Seth suggested intrigued. What was different about the shop, compared to the stall at the bazaar? Although he had no more slots for a pet, it was different for Mina and Fin.
Even in a system world that had a Mount and Pet culture and integrated pets into party play to make up for a lack of balance, like Yulecat’s Fur when he first met them, it was not common for a normal adventurer to have both.
The other day, they had not gotten the chance to have a look at the egg gacha, because Seth got distracted by Erka’s shop and they had to hurry back to see the procession and go to the temple. Now was the chance for them to have a look.
Although they both already had an Alpeka as a mount, neither Fin nor Mina had a pet, and despite already having a mount, it didn’t mean they couldn’t get a new one. Alpeka were only useful for travel in mountainous terrains. They couldn’t fight and had their weaknesses.
Players had to be pragmatic when it came to this stuff, even if they grew a bond to their pets or mounts. The beasts were usually meant to accompany them in battle. If they were too weak, it was best for both if the pet or mount was released, especially when they had a good bond.
Although players couldn’t die in dungeons if there was an adventurer guild around, pets and mounts still could. Losing their pet or mount because they brought it along to a dungeon that was too dangerous for it was still the smallest possible tragedy.
“Uhh, yeah let’s go!” Fin immediately agreed joyfully. She had already wanted to do so at the bazaar. Mina glanced at the note she had.
“Hmm, it’s not on the list but it sounds interesting,” the cat girl agreed to take a look.
