As Lassim and Silvari entered the town a little before noon under the mostly sunny sky, the culture shift from what he’d expected in a border town was immediately evident.
Hardened warriors, looking every bit the stereotypical rough and tumble mercenaries, crowded the streets. Their appearances were rugged, with many of them wearing beast pelts and tooth necklaces, the common fashion of this place.
Even the local arachnid citizens had adorned their carapaces and abdomens with strings of poorly cut or mottled strips of beast furs and teeth.
Lassim noticed a considerable number of the natural colorations of the arachnids seemed to match different animal fur patterns as well. Some had the dark purple with silver streaks reminiscent of moonlight panthers, while others were black and white striped like the striped cerapods of the Radiant Empire’s plains region.
"[Look at them all, big brother,]" Silvari whispered in awe from underneath her hooded cloak, her eyes wide as she took in the bustling scene. "[It’s so different here.]"
Lassim nodded, keeping a firm grip on her hand. "[Stay close, Silvari. We don’t want to get separated. Nothing should happen, but you’re under my protection for this adventurer, so we need to be careful.]"
Finding their destination proved easy. The largest building in the town was exactly what they were looking for as its property occupied a massive space, with a large fenced-in area behind the storefront visible from the street out front.
This 𝓬ontent is taken from freeweɓnovel.cѳm.
As they approached, they caught glimpses of beasts in slightly larger cages in that back area, with some enclosures simulating incredibly unique environments. It was clear this place took pride in their beasts’ well-being.
Upon entering the building, the smell was immediately overpowering for Lassim. The various beasts and their scents overlapped in a cacophony that overwhelmed his enhanced senses. Silvari’s reaction was a bit different as her predator instincts kicked in and seemed to drool slightly, but quickly wiped her mouth to avoid drawing attention.
Seeing him visibly recoil and catching the disguised spider girl’s reaction from seeing her exposed mouth under her hood, a burly clerk approached them with a laugh.
"Seems like it’s both of your first times coming to a beast market shop of our caliber. Are you here shopping for a pet for your…?" He paused, letting Lassim finish the sentence.
"Little sister, and we’re looking for either a pet or a beast mount. We want to see what you have before making any decisions," Lassim replied, also in the common tongue.
"Ah, what a caring older brother! Well, you’ve come to the right place. We are one of the best establishments for finding such a companion. Do you have any particular requirements for abilities or preferences?" the salesman asked, eager to make a commission.
"She’s hoping for something intelligent, friendly, and large enough for her to ride on as it flies around. That can be now if it’s a mature beast or in the future for something she can raise herself," Lassim listed.
"We will certainly find something that suits your tastes. Please, follow me," the salesman said, gesturing for them to follow.
They began a tour through the massive animal housing facility, observing all kinds of different beasts. Most of them were already mature in the main entrance area, each one more impressive than the last. They all looked well groomed and even spotted some of them seemed freshly bathed with extremely pristinely clean cages.
"This one here is a Sky Serpent of the common variety," the salesman said, pointing to a large snake-like creature with iridescent scales. "It’s intelligent and can fly, but it’s not very friendly unless tamed from a young age. If she’s got wind elemental abilities or has an affinity for this creature, it could be an option."
Silvari shook her head. "[It’s beautiful, but it doesn’t suit me.]"
"[Alright, let’s move on,]" the salesman replied in the Spider Queen’s language, leading them further into the building. "Here we have a Flame Griffon. It’s majestic and powerful, but it might be a bit too wild for a young girl right now, BUT if you give it a year it should settle down from its hormones in maturity."
Again, Silvari shook her head. "[No, I don’t want to be a roasted spider.]"
They continued through the warehouse, each beast more exotic than the last. There were winged tigers, armored raptors, and even a majestic ice phoenix, but none seemed to meet Silvari’s criteria or attraction.
"[This is a bit frustrating, brother]" Silvari murmured, looking up at Lassim with a frown. "[Nothing seems right.]"
Lassim squeezed her hand reassuringly. "[Don’t worry, we’ll find something.]"
The salesman then led them to the outside area behind the store. The fenced-in area was filled with various creatures of various regions and kingdoms nearby, but again, none of the options he recommended caught Silvari’s attention.
"What about a Lion Bat?" Lassim suggested after growing tired of just hoping to stumble across a beast that Silvari would like. "I know that it’s a creature of this region that might meet our requirements, as we previously tried hunting for one ourselves. However, we didn’t have luck when we went searching."
The salesman’s face lit up. "Ah, the Lion Bat! What a discerning and brilliant customer you are! You have impeccable timing as well. We just received one of those this morning, but it’s kept in a special section. Follow me."
Practically dragging them back into the main store, the salesman led them to a closed, curtained-off area that was dark with only a mana-infused purple light illuminating the beasts contained within. It felt almost like entering a cave, probably due to the inhabitants consistent of mostly nocturnal or night-favored elemental beasts.
He brought them to what seemed to be almost like a hospital clinic or nursery at one of the back corners in this smaller room.
When they arrived, a team of employees in white coats were currently repairing what looked to be a broken paw of a newborn pup of the exact Lion Bat species they were looking for.
"This little one was brought in by one of our hunting and retrieval teams," the salesman began to explain. "A nearby town had issues with an overly aggressive pair of Lion Bats that were terrorizing the arachnid citizens. They hired a mercenary team to deal with them. Once we caught wind of that mission, we knew they were only that aggressive because of a possible newborn they were caring for.
So, we sent out our retrieval team which followed after the mercenaries. As they completed their mission of eliminating the parents, we managed to buy the cub from them before they could kill it. Unfortunately, in the process of the battle, it was injured and had its paw broken with some other minor injuries."
Silvari’s eyes filled with tears as she looked at the poor baby creature. It was so adorable and its oversized paws and big floppy ears made it look irresistibly cute. She wanted to care for the baby so badly that she lifted her hood slightly, her pleading eyes locking onto Lassim’s. It was clear she wanted this creature and wouldn’t leave without it.
"We’ll take it," Lassim said firmly. "If you could give us a healing and feeding plan for this creature, we’d be happy as well. We’ll make sure it’s well cared for and back to full health quickly."
"Ah!? Well, if you don’t mind a damaged product, we’ll be glad to sell it to you. It’ll be a fine mount in the future too. If you pay extra, you can also have the magical contract to ensure that the partnership and bond between the owner and beast endures. It will allow a transfer of emotions between the pair, which will help with training as you raise it to maturity.
I’d sell it to you, with the beast of course, for a total of 95,000 mid-grade ESS. You won’t get a better deal than that, as this will be a future Spirit Ascension level beast at minimum," the salesman said with an eager glint in his eyes.
Lassim didn’t argue at all as that amount of money was well within his 30,000 high-grade ESS daily allowance. So, he quickly paid the amount for the young spider princess’ new companion.
In return, they received a special crib for the small, 40cm tall cub that was put to sleep with some aesthetics after they finished the healing procedure and attached a cast to its front right paw, so it could rest.
"Thank you for your payment. Now, let’s go ahead and apply the contract now with a drop of your blood in the box and place the magical seal on the other side of the sheet to the Lion Bat’s forehead," the salesman stated after passing her the magical beast contract.
Silvari completed the procedure, and there were zero complications. The bond between her and the Lion Bat was formed, and she beamed with happiness, already envisioning their future adventures together with her soaring across the sky like she had in Lassim’s water sphere, but this time on the back of her new lion bat.