Chapter 338 What Are These Creatures
Once he doted on the four jealous girls the five of them started exploring Starfall City. As they were walking they spotted a stall selling weird-looking artifacts.
When they approached the stall the old man behind it spoke with a cheery voice. ''How can I help you, young master?''
''What are you selling old man?'' Archer asked him.
But before the old man could speak Sera ran up to Archer and declared in a happy voice. ''Sweetheart, we are going to look at the other stalls.''
Archer nodded, passing her a pouch filled with gold, and gently kissed her forehead, eliciting a delighted smile from Sera.
She ran off and joined the other girls, the stall owner finally spoke. ''Well, young man she was adorable, is she your lady?''
''Yeah old man.'' Archer replied.
The old man chuckled before talking. ''I can see you cherish that little lady. There's a look in your eyes when you're looking at her.''
He thought about it and remembered when he met her on that tree branch all those years ago and how her affection healed from his downward spiral.
Archer shivered at the thought of going mad and commented. ''Yeah, she saved me from a bad fate.''
The man nodded his head before introducing himself. ''I'm Ted and I see old trinkets and Mana Stones.''
Archer looked at the stones and picked one up, when he did he felt something blocking it and sent some of his mana into it causing the blockage to clear but he stopped as he felt someone walking toward him.
That's when Hemera appeared from behind him and spoke with surprise in her voice. ''Oh, they are Arcane Stones. They are used to power manaships and city shields.''
She picked one up and started examining it but soon sighed as she commented. ''They are broken, somethings blocking it.''
Archer grew curious and asked. ''Are they worth buying Hemi?''
''Not in this state. If they were new then it would be worth purchasing them.'' She quickly answered.
He smiled and spoke to the old man. ''I will buy all the Mana Stone you own. Do you have more?''
Ted nodded his head before answering in a regretful tone. ''Yes I have hundreds of them, a friend of mine thought he found a way to unblock them but alas he failed.''
''How much did you pay for them all?'' Archer asked.
''Two hundred gold pieces.''
Archer took out two hundred and fifty gold coins and gave them to the old man as he spoke. ''Now you have the gold. Can I get my stones?''
Ted's confusion deepened as he sensed the heft of the pouch and grew utterly surprised when he turned to Archer.
"These are worthless, young master. As your lady mentioned, they're damaged beyond repair."
Archer sighed as he demanded. ''Just give me the damn Mana Stones old man!''
The older man nodded his head and emptied hundreds of stones onto the stall. Once Ted was done he stored all but three in his Item Box and held one as Hemera looked at him.
She didn't get involved as she knew Archer was up to something again as a grin appeared on his face.
He sent mana into the stone and felt something fighting back but it was quickly destroyed causing the Mana Stone to shine so bright that it hurt Ted's eyes.
The old man yelled. ''What did you do boy!''
While the old man was rubbing his eyes Hemera was staring at Archer with a twinkle in her eyes. ''Archer! What did you just do?''
She approached him and took the stone while examining it then looked into his eyes as she asked. ''No more importantly how did you do this? Do you know what this means?''
Archer was happy to see her reaction but was confused so asked. ''What?''
Hemera smiled before explaining. ''Empires and kingdoms will pay you a lot of gold to charge their Mana Stones that power the shield and mana ships.''
His eyes widened in shock and realized he could make more gold which pleased him. The two of them said goodbye to Ted before looking for the rest of the girls.
The two of them found the group in an exotic beast shop. Hemera looked at Archer as she spoke. ''Why would they be in here?''
Archer casually shrugged and answered, "You know how it is with them, seeing something adorable probably drew them in."
She laughed but grabbed his hand and walked toward the shop. When they entered they saw the rest of the girls crowding around something in one corner.
When Archer and Hemera walked over to them. Ella saw them and motioned for the other girls to move and Archer saw a dozen Owlbear cubs which he looked at with fascination.
He scanned them.
[Owlbear Baby]
[Rank: ----]
Archer noticed their condition and it was bad, they were chained up by the neck and looked starving.
That was when he saw an older man standing not far away smiling like he'd hit the jackpot. He turned back to the bears and cast Mana Manipulation to free all of the trapped bears.
The chains snapped and dropped to the floor shocking everyone. Archer then crouched down and called to the Owlbears.
''You will be okay now. Are you little guys and girl hungry?''
The closest bear studied him before nodding its head. When Archer saw this he looked at Ella and spoke. ''Don't let the human go and watch the bears.''
She nodded and took out her bow before aiming it at the shopkeeper. Leira and Nefertiti stood at the shop's entrance.
Sera stayed with the bears while Archer returned to the domain. He made his way to the tent city and looked for the food tent.
After searching for a few minutes he found it and entered it.
When the dragon-kin inside saw him they all bowed to him before an old man approached him. ''My King. What can we do for you?''
Archer looked at him and nodded before talking. ''I need a lot of raw meat.''
The old cook heard this and ordered his assistant to bring some. Not long after the boy returned with a trolley of meat.
There was enough to feed the bears and whatever he found in the shop. Archer stored it all away and gave them some gold coins before vanishing.
He returned to the shop and saw the human had an arrow in his thigh. The man was screaming in pain.
Archer looked at Ella and asked what happened. So smiled and told him. ''He tried to attack Sera when she was distracted with the bears so I shot him.''
When he heard this he got angry and approached the man who stopped screaming and crawled away from him in fear.
But Archer stamped on his back and spoke. ''What you did earned you your death but you can decide now how brutal that death will be human.''
The man stammered out. ''What do you want?''
Archer grinned, his tone firm. "I want everything in this shop, including all your wealth and creatures. Do I make myself perfectly clear, human?"
The man nodded in understanding, and Archer allowed him to get to his feet to bring him his belongings. Then, he shifted his attention to the bears, producing a handful of meat.
They fixed their gaze upon him, waiting eagerly. Before offering them the food, he addressed them with a few words.
''Do you want a home little bears?''
The little owlbears bobbed their heads in cheerful agreement. When the girls saw him they all felt happy that they found him. He was a dragon and was powerful but he was still kind.
Seeing their response, he spoke to them once more. "Will you be my helpers when you grow into big strong bears?"
He got the same response so he gave each one a piece of meat. The girls were all keeping watch or talking.
That's when he got hit in the head by something and turned around. He saw a floating jellyfish-looking creature.
Archer scanned it.
[Flumph]
[Rank: F]
He smiled as he held up a piece of meat and the creature's tentacles grabbed it as it started floating around him making happy noises.
That's when more of them appeared shocking him and the girls. Archer looked at them and thought he'd try talking to them.
''Do you want to come with me Mr.Flumph?''
It bonked him on the head causing everyone to laugh but that's when he heard a feminine voice. ''We can come if you take us, Master?''
Archer's eyes widened but nodded. ''Yes, you can come.''
The Flumphs tentacle stroked his face before taking off to eat. He saw the other creatures join her.
He started counting them and stopped at fifty. That's when he heard Nefertiti's voice. ''Archer come back here and have a look at this.''
Archer made his way to Nefertiti, he entered the back room and saw a large cage with what looked like little frog people.
There were about a hundred of them all crammed together. Nefi looked at him and spoke. ''What are these creatures? I've never seen them before.''
[A/N - Leave some comments, power stones, and gifts. It all helps support the book. Artwork in the comments or discord]
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