Chapter 1835: The Drink Order
Ophelia was about to complain about Karl having led Lotus directly to caffeine, but she was already being dragged inside.
For such a small creature, Lotus was exceptionally strong. And bonding with both Tifa and Tena had made her even stronger. Now, she could even drag Ophelia down the street, as long as she could get the traction and Ophelia didn’t pick her up.
Rue and the Black Dragon Avatar turned to smile at each other.
These two were going to be great entertainment, that was absolutely certain. So amusing, in fact, that the two of them had become nearly invisible in the chaos that surrounded the Darklight Host’s visit to the city.
It was incredibly relaxing, though the Avatar had long since mastered the art of masking his aura in such a way that he didn’t feel completely blank, only incredibly unremarkable to most.
Most people didn’t feel that he was a threat, he always felt just a bit weaker than them, but not so weak that he would feel like an easy target.
It was a talent that Rue had never mastered, or even seriously considered.
Displaying your strength was the way to stay alive in most of the Immortal World, and even the way that Karl muted his aura without making himself feel less powerful was an odd thing to her.
She knew that his actual aura was absolutely monstrous, and everyone would give him a wide berth if he walked down the street, but instead he just felt like The Karl, vaguely threatening to most things, but not enough to actively intimidate them.
Even as they entered the café, it was Lotus who attracted the most attention.
Partially because she was trying to steal Tifa back from Ophelia, but mostly because she had the loudest and most vibrant personality of the group. The staff knew instantly that this would be a valuable customer for them, if she could convince her friends to let her have coffee on a regular basis.
That seemed like it would be the hardest part, given how hyper she already was.
"Can I get a raspberry mint latte, double shot of espresso, two lemon Danishes, a cinnamon bun with raisins, and one of those chocolate brownies?"
"Of course. Would anyone else like to order? We have pup cups of whipped cream for the ones who can’t have caffeine."
Ophelia snorted in amusement, but Tifa raised her paw.
She didn’t know how a cup of whipped cream was supposed to be special, but she was a big fan of it. Perhaps that was the reason? Did they know that bears liked whipped cream?
"I’ll take one of those lattes, with just a single shot, and Karl will have your fruit smoothie special of the month. Then a half dozen assorted pastries," Dana decided.
Rue nodded. "We will have the same, with extra straws."
"Bring me a black coffee. Extra large," Ophelia sighed, realizing that they were going to be here a while.
The waitress smiled as she went to fetch their order, which would fill the large table with sweets. Her suspicion that the Green Dragon would be a good customer seemed to be completely justified.
At least, that’s what she assumed Lotus was.
The Priestesses took after their patrons, but she didn’t have a Priestess Class, so the natural assumption was that she ended up that way because she was a Green Dragon.
Lotus was practically bouncing in her seat, waiting for the good stuff to arrive, and the other patrons of the bakery had to struggle not to laugh at the happy songs she was making up.
And at the Spirit Bear trying to sing along.
Tena had given up on trying to sing along with their songs, neither of them sang in a tone that melded well with her voice. Instead, she was in an intense discussion with Leo about the various advantages to coming here to go to school.
They basically boiled down to "Leo had friends here, and he didn’t know many of the other hatchlings." That wasn’t an advantage for her, so Tena wasn’t planning to change, even if the Red Dragon Matriarch of the Orphanage scared her a little.
It was better to be with her clutch mates and a scary teacher than to go to a school with all new people.
Perhaps she could convince Leo to switch?
He could float in the air, and that was basically flying without wings, so he should fit in with the dragons.
The food and drinks came out quickly, and Lotus pivoted from excitement about her drink choice, to what she was going to do next. There were so many options now that she was an Immortal, and she had heard all about the fun things that Karl and Dana got to do, like going to Immortal dungeons and exploring new places.
That sounded like fun to her, and she would gladly drag everyone along.
She had only forgotten one small thing.
"Young Lotus, you must wait for your Immortal Spirit to be formed before you wander out into the wilderness, unless you want to risk permanent death. As much as you might want to run out and play, just like your daughters, you must wait until you grow up a little bit more before you can go play outside."
Lotus frowned at the Black Dragon Avatar as he finished his speech.
"But that’s so far away. I want to go out and play now."
"How about you explore around town, where there are others to keep you safe, and then when you’re properly into the Spirit Immortal Stage, you can begin to expand your explorations.
There is a lot to see, even in a Clan like this.
I bet that you didn’t even know that they had over two hundred different kinds of edible fish."
Lotus and Tifa exchanged a shock stare.
"Two. Hundred. Kinds. Of Fish."
The Black Dragon Avatar laughed. "I thought that you might appreciate that. I found that little tidbit when I was doing my research into the situation surrounding Karl. There are actually a few restaurants that specialize in serving all sorts of fish, but the best way is to go to the docks and see what is fresh."
Lotus nodded. "What’s the big deal with that anyhow? The Black Dragon Avatars keep showing up to tell him that he can’t have a dragon, when he’s technically got hundreds of them."
The Avatar smiled. "I suppose that we have time. Would you like the whole story, or the abridged part that is directly relevant to Karl?"
