Author’s Corner: Might not be able to post a chapter today/tomorrow(depending on how you define time. It is not a new day until I have slept!) since I am getting stuff ready for Christmas. As such, since I am currently suffering from a bout of insomnia, have an early/late chapter!

The next day, I didn’t spend any time cultivating in the morning like I had been. I had a schedule to follow, and I planned to stick to it. “Celeste, pet store?” I smirked down to her. Now I had a bit of coin, so maybe I could at least get in to look at the pets. All I needed was something with batlike wings and a serpent’s tail. Then I could have my nerd moment and turn into a tiny dragon.

Celeste appeared at my wrist, giggling slightly. “Yes sir.” She smirked, and the directions appeared in my Cybernetic eye, like a path of blue light. After having my quick breakfast, I went down the path she laid out for me.

“Don’t suppose you know the prices of some of these pets we’ll be looking at?”

“Nope. Novelty pets aren’t considered a big business, so there wasn’t much information in the guide program aside from where to find them. If it was a combat pet, I could tell you the price for a wind wolf pup or a harpy eagle chick. They even sell Great Boa eggs.” The AI answered from my wrist. I really needed to hurry up and upgrade my hearing so that I could add that connection to her program. That way, at least I wouldn’t feel like I was talking to a midget all the time.

“If they only sell local animals, we might not be able to find what we need. Hopefully, they have a few exotic pets. I’d settle for just the wings at this point, we can get a snake tail pretty much anywhere.”

Soon enough, I arrived at the pet store that Celeste identified from the program. Inside, was an alien I had only seen a couple times before. I did not know the name of the race, but it appeared to be a four armed purple toothpick with a giant head. Well, the head looked more like a big balloon with two large black eyes and an oval mouth, but the body was definitely scrawny enough to qualify as a toothpick. Since there were no distinct gender characteristics, I had to use Aura Sight to look into the person’s mana and find out if they were male or female.

“Excuse me, sir?” Yes, it turns out it was a he. “I’m looking for something, and I was hoping you’d help me.”

Thankfully, the alien understood my language. It would have been weird if it didn’t, since it had a shop in the capital city. “Hmm? Yes, what do you seek?” Its voice sounded like it was talking through a fan, which made me chuckle inwardly.

“Can you show me a list of your pets? Specifically, any that are reptilian, can fly, or both.” He looked a bit confused at my remark, but shrugged his upper arms and tapped on the counter. A moment later, a holographic list appeared, and he began inputting commands. “We have a flying iguana, if that is what you are looking for. Not a very popular pet, as they don’t have many utility skills that are useful. If you’d rather, I can show you our silkweaver bat. It is capable of producing a supply of silk threads, so it is a bit more popular.”

While that did sound interesting, it also sounded expensive. “Can I take a look at the flying iguana? I never got the chance to see one in the forest, and this is my first time in the capital.”

The man gave another shrug, and led me through the store. On the way, I saw various creatures, from two headed puppies to cats with angel wings. I even saw a turtle that turned into a rock when we got too close to its cage. I’ll be honest… I really wanted to buy the two-headed puppy… It just looked too adorable.

Off in the back of the store, with the ‘less popular’ pets, the clerk showed me another cage, this one with a lone branch in it. On the branch sat an iguana, with large fleshy wings. I briefly activated my Aura Sight, and discovered that the cage was shielded with a series of runes that prevented me from seeing the aura of the creature inside. That made me a bit disappointed, until I saw the price for the creature. They’re willing to selling it for five silver? Even the puppy went for fifteen.

“This really must be an unwanted pet, huh?” I turned my head to ask the clerk, who nodded his balloon head. The balloon head was being very distracting every time I turned to look at him, so I did my best to focus on the lizard.

“That’s right. Most animals in this store have the ability to use some kind of utility ability or support magic. For instance, the stone turtle is able to detect mineral veins, and absorb ores to strengthen its shell. The angelcat is able to use very low level light magic to illuminate a room. However, the flying iguana can’t do anything like that. So, nobody wants to buy one. If we don’t sell it soon, we’ll just have to release it outside the city.”

I thought about that, and sighed. If it were the puppy, I’d have bought it to save it from that fate. But the only thing I wanted this lizard for were its tail and wings. “Don’t suppose you’d let me have a few minutes with it before you do? I’m a druid, and for various reasons, I need to study this animal to learn its aura.”

The man’s pitch black eyes widened a bit, but he nodded. “Alright, but you’ll have to pay the standard fee. Any druid can study an animal here if they pay two silver. Naturally, that’s two silver per animal.”

I nodded my head to him, and pulled out two silver. Then, after thinking about it, I asked. “By chance, what is the special ability of the two headed dog near the entrance?”

He tilted his head sideways a moment, before it naturally gravitated back upwards. I had the distinct feeling that if his body were any lighter, he would float up into the air. “That’s a lesser orthrus. Although they can be raised to become combat pets, their magic is generally not strong enough to support someone. They’re fire and water aligned, with one head having minor control of each element. Unfortunately, that means their strength with those elements is halved compared to their stronger counterpart races.”

I suddenly wanted to buy the puppy even more… However, I simply pulled out another two silver and handed it over. “I’d like to study it as well, after I’m done with the lizard.” Even if it was weak, fluffy, and adorable, it was still a magical animal. And that meant I needed to study it…. for science. Yes, for science. Not at all because I wanted to pet it. I’m not Sharon.

Speak of the devil, and she will send you a whisper. I received a message from Sharon as soon as the clerk had opened the cage to let me study the lizard. “Hey Falenel. I finally made it to the capital. Saw your level increased a bit, so wanted to see if you had already moved on yet?”

I shook my head, replying as I sent my Mana Sense into the lizard, reaching into the cage to grab it. Not only was it a useless pet, but it was too lazy to avoid me. “No, was planning to later today, but had some stuff to take care of first. Your training finish up well enough?” I glanced to my contact list, and saw that she had gained a couple of levels as well since we left, likely from the same method I had.

“Yeah… Finally managed to make the grove big enough to fit everyone inside me. Would you like to meet up?”

I thought about it for a bit, but I had just spent four silver to study a pair of animals. “I’m at the pet shop right now, studying a couple of their pets. I warn you, though, there is fluffiness here.”

After that, she didn’t say anything, so I was able to quickly study the flying iguana in peace. I had already memorized one set of wings, and my ability to memorize things had improved greatly, so it only took me ten minutes to finish up. In total, I copied its wings, tail, and the tiny spines on its back. I felt like it’d be a nice little addition.

“Celeste?” I spoke to my wrist after putting the iguana back.

“Yesss?” She asked in a drawn out voice, a grin plastered on her holographic face.

“You know what to do, I take it?”

She giggled lightly, nodding her head. “Operation dragonfly is a go!” With that, her hologram vanished, and she brought up the image in my Cybernetic eye of the compiled aura I had created before. The four feathery wings were replaced by two large fleshy ones, the wolf’s tail was replaced with that of the iguana, and the spines were added all along its back. “Saving preset as baby dragon. Estimated mana cost, five hundred and fifty.”

I chuckled a bit at her comments, before moving back to the front of the store. Once there, I saw that Sharon had already long since arrived, and had her face plastered against the cage for the angelcat. “I warned you that there was fluff.”

When she heard me speak, she turned her head a bit to look, smiled, and turned back to look at the cat. “It’s so cool… I wish I could afford it… I wonder where they are born.”

“No idea, but you could probably find a job somewhere around here to get the money to buy it. Though, wouldn’t you still need to get both a male and a female one for your grove?”

She thought about it for a second, and then shook her head. “Jarl showed me how to separate my grove into different sections, that way certain animals can live in it without fighting. I can’t do anything about my wolves needing meat, but I can at least keep my favorites safe.”

So she essentially has two groves. Wonder how that works. “Well, in that case, if you earn up some silver, you’ll be able to buy your very own angelcat.” I smirked, before taking the flying iguana back to the clerk, who walked off to put it back in its cage, and then got the lesser orthrus out for me to study next. Naturally, when she saw this, she looked at me confused. “You have to pay, but you’re able to study the animals here to get their auras. Most of them are magical animals, so I wanted to do this while I had the chance.”

She nodded her head slightly, but her eyes were more focused on the two headed ball of fluff in my arms. Smirking, I held the puppy up and studied it with my Mana Sense. It was absolutely necessary for me to pet it behind its ears while I was doing this.

The aura of the magical beast was surprisingly similar to that of a normal wolf, with a few key differences. Most notably, the streaming lights of mana were thicker. Also, I could sense a small part of the aura in each of the two heads that was attuned to one of the elements. I had spent enough time matching my own aura to both water and fire to spot it in something else.

Following the mana paths from the elemental sections of the aura throughout the rest of the head, I nodded my head in satisfaction. With this, I should be able to create breath weapons of any element for my tiny dragon form. Maybe if it were a full grown magical beast, or a more powerful species it would have been more difficult, but studying this little guy’s aura was surprisingly easy.

About fifteen minutes later, I was still petting the puppy and received a message in my eye. You’ve already memorized the aura. I knew that… Reluctantly, I went and gave the puppy back to the clerk. When I did this, both of the puppy’s heads whined pitifully at me, and I almost spent the last of my money to buy it right there on the spot. However, I steeled myself and handed it over. As I did so, I saw Sharon, no longer in front of the cages.

Instead, she was standing next to the clerk, begging him to let her work in the store. I chuckled a bit as I watched her wear him down until he finally agreed to give her a part time job. Though, she was given strict warnings not to use her druid magic to study the animals without paying, since he had overheard our conversation about her being a druid as well. Seeing her vigorously she nodded her head and agreed to that condition made me smirk. Naturally, I knew that she was only here for the animals, and would likely continue working until she managed to buy both the lesser orthrus and the angelcat. Leaning over, I tapped her on the shoulder to get her attention. “If you refine some elemental seeds, the local enchanter will buy them off of you.”

After I said that, she smiled brightly and thanked me, since that meant she had another source of income to speed up her inevitable purchases in this pet shop. Part of me was glad I hadn’t taken her to the store selling combat pets. They would likely be far more expensive, and she would have to work much longer in order to buy one.

As I went towards the starport to head up to the station and bid farewell to this planet, a thought occurred to me. I finally have a dragon(ish) form, but when am I going to get the chance to use it!? I had no idea how long it would take before the ship that left from X-23 would arrive at its destination. Do interstellar journeys take hours, days, weeks maybe? I’d need to find that out once I got up there!

As always, I shall do my best to answer any questions people may post in the replies… After I wake up and take care of my Christmas preparations. But now, I have a pillow that is beckoning me closer.