Chapter 114 Manners
The following day, Adam skipped school and rushed to Berger's store first thing in the morning. He was excitedly running through the streets of Moon City. However, Valerian was nowhere to be seen.
That was because the newborn dragon had already gone back inside Adam's spirit sea. The youth was used to having the egg stay inside his mind, but when he saw the little fellow merrily jump into his mind as well, he was shocked, to say the least.
Last night, when Adam shifted his consciousness to his spirit sea, he saw that the little fellow was lazily lying right at the center of the white lotus. Moreover, he seemed to enjoy it very much.
At the time, Adam couldn't help but think in amusement, I've read that dragons are inherently territorial and all of them have their own lairs. Could it be that Val considers the white lotus his lair?
Even now, Valerian was deeply slumbering atop the white lotus inside Adam's spirit sea. It couldn't be helped. After all, the little fellow had almost emptied all the food supply last night.
Both Adam and Barry were dumbstruck and couldn't help but wonder just where all the food went inside such a tiny creature.
After nonstop running for about fifteen minutes, Adam finally reached Herbs & More. It was still early in the morning, so no customers were there yet.
As soon as he entered, he called out for the gnome, "Old man! Old man!"
"Stop screaming so early in the morning!" Berger, who was reading a book, roared.
Adam pursed his lips and muttered meekly, "You're the one screaming…"
POW!
"Oh?" Berger's eyes narrowed and he muttered while cracking his knuckles. "So you think you can talk back now that you've gained a little strength?"
"S-Sorry!" Adam knelt down on the ground, tears threatening to fall down his eyes. No matter how many times he tried to dodge the smoking pipe, he would always fail.
Even with his Sphere of Resonance activated!
The gnome got back to his seat behind the counter. As he cleared the burnt tobacco off of his smoking pipe, he asked, "So, what did you want?"
Adam's eyes gleamed with excitement and all of his earlier grievances vanished. He hurriedly got to his feet and said fervently, "Old man, my familiar hatched last night!"
Berger's interest was immediately piqued. Ever since Adam had shown him the egg he had gotten from the Spirit World, he had always wondered just what sort of creature would hatch from it.
And today, he'd finally get to witness it.
However, when he looked around the youth, he frowned. "Where is it?"
"Hehe." Adam smugly chuckled. The next moment, he mentally transmitted a message to Valerian, waking him up from his slumber. Following that, a gray light flashed and the newborn dragon appeared on Adam's head.
"Oho!" Berger was pleasantly surprised. "Does it stay inside your head? How fascinating!"
But suddenly, his expression turned strange as he stared at the gray kitten lazily sprawled on Adam's head and yawning.
Seeing the gnome's expression, Adam involuntarily gulped. Did he see through it after all?
After observing for a few moments, Berger said with a frown, "But why is it a cat? How strange… The egg had scales on it, so I thought a reptile would hatch."
Adam was shocked that a Rank 3 Magus wasn't able to see through Valerian's magic! But he quickly hid it and nervously clapped back. "H-Haha! Did you think a dragon would hatch from the egg? Wishful thinking!"
Berger sighed. He kept away his smoking pipe and began to roll his sleeves. "Looks like I've been too lenient with you. If I don't drill some manners into you today, I'll shave my head off!"
"You're already bald!" Adam subconsciously retorted. But the next moment, he realized what a grave blunder he had just made and retreated in fear. "W-Wait, I made a mistake! F-
Forgive me—Aaacckkk!!"
BAM! BOOM! THWACK! POW!
Before beating Adam to an inch of his life, the gnome made sure to gently put away Valerian behind the counter.
While Adam was being beaten to a pulp, Valerian tilted his tiny head in a cute manner and squinted his eyes. He couldn't help but wonder, why was it that he didn't sense any hatred, anger, or resentment from Adam toward the gnome, even after getting thrashed so badly.
The newborn dragon pondered hard for a long time. In the end, only one word rang through his young mind.
Strange…
…
After a ten-minute-long beating, Adam was bruised black and blue. However, strangely enough, there wasn't a single drop of blood on him.
Berger felt very relaxed and happy after beating the youth for some reason. "Hmm, I should do this more often."
He turned around and walked toward the counter where Valerian was lying down. "Now, let's continue where we left off."
Seeing the old gnome approach him, Valerian immediately tried to stand on his hind legs. Then, he menacingly waved his tiny paws, trying to look fierce.
"Rawr~"
Seeing such an adorable display, Berger couldn't help but chuckle. He gently lifted Valerian and observed him carefully. "So, little one, what type of cat are you, I wonder…"
He had read about many magical beasts that were feline in nature. However, he'd never heard about a Spirit World creature that was feline. Thus, he was very curious.
The world they lived in was limited, so it was understandable if someone claimed to know all the various types of creatures that inhabited it. However, the Spirit World was countless times bigger than the material world, and the creatures that inhabited it were similarly countless.
So it was not surprising that Berger didn't know about what type of creature Valerian really was. However, never in a million years would he have imagined that the creature he was holding was actually a legendary dragon!
The next moment, the space beside them tore open and Blackie jumped out of it after hearing the gnome's call. "Woof!"
"Blackie, do you know what this is?" The gnome asked his long-
time friend.
"Woof!" Blackie nodded and then curiously looked at the little gray kitten that was in Berger's arms, playing with his beard.
Suddenly, Blackie's eyes narrowed and he tilted his head in confusion. Then, he looked at Berger and sent a mental message.
Listening to his familiar's assessment, Berger was incomparably shocked. "What?!"
He looked at the cute kitten in his arms and muttered in disbelief. "It's…
"Not a Spirit World creature?!"
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