Got to say, yesterday was a good day. Almost hitting 3000 average views!

Enjoy guys

Also, many thanks to Straborvsky for his picture of Hunie's fate

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Steel reached down to the chest and opened it slowly. A light shone out of it, blinding the occupants of the room for a moment, before disappearing as quickly as it appeared. Steel reached in and pulled out the contents of the chest.

4 things were inside the black box:

A sword, a book, an egg, and a pair of gloves.

Steel activated identification, and inspected the four items in front of him.

Darkness BladeType:SwordDurability:100/100Quality:RareRequired Stats:15 strengthEffects:15-20 damage

5 darkness damageA fine sword imbued with the power of darkness. This sword is a stronger form of a dark mana infused blade than a typical blacksmith could forge.

Skill Book: Blinding CloudType:DarknessSkill rarity:DRequired Stats:15 IntelligenceEffects:Upon cast, a dark cloud will erupt from the user's hands, causing blindness on who ever it covers. The affected area lasts until 6 seconds have past.

Familiar eggType:EggDurability:N/AQuality:UnknownRequired Stats:15 leadershipEffects:Hatches a familiar. Unknown typeAn egg found from the remains of the alpha wolf. Unknown familiar, but most likely a wolf.

Devil Wolf's GlovesType:Leather Armor, glovesDurability:100/100Quality:RareRequired Stats:5 Agility

10 wisdomEffects:+2 Agility

+5 darkness resistanceLeather gloves made from the remains of a devil wolf (alpha). Wearing them makes the wearer a little quicker.

Steel whistled, all 4 items were interesting and unique. He considered each one separately. First, the sword; an obvious fine weapon if he had ever seen one. The damage Steel had been doing was primarily from the shield piercer, and could be dodged by smaller opponents. His strength was the only thing affecting his damage, but this sword would add 15-20 damage to his attacks Not only that, but it had a bad-ass wolf head design on it's hilt.

The skill book would also help him as well. Both the devil wolf and the alpha wolf had used this skill on him, albeit a stronger monster version, but he knew it's effectiveness in battle. He considered the possibilities: blinding his opponents and then tripping them with Earth Wall, or an unexpected charged shield bash. Good possibilities.

He had no idea about the egg. Frankly, he didn't have a real interest in another servant. He put it to the side.

Finally, the gloves. He liked them, they were from the same set as his current armor; as the alpha was merely a stronger version of a regular devil wolf. They were handsome gloves: black leather with very soft fur at the openings.

The leaders walked over and inspected the items as well.

Captain Hamilton picked up the sword and inspected it, interested. "These are all some quality things, hm. I'd say you would do well with any of them whelp."

The archmage picked up the skill book, inspecting it with his professional eye. He scoffed, "Huh, these are all for you melee types, any mage could cast a better version of this spell in their sleep." Hamilton raised an eyebrow in his direction.

"Oh really Archibald? Now, would that be before or after they blew themselves and a part of the town up? How many times this month have I had to calm people down that you're not trying to kill them."

The archmage blustered, "Those were perfectly safe magical experiments, we just had a few...incidents that affected our work." For some reason, Steel could feel the burning gaze of the archmage on him. He had no idea what he had done to earn his attention....wait, Mary blew up the tower that one time.

He cleared his throat, bringing his full charm up to bare. Hiding his hands, he turned and bowed to the archmage, "Dear Master Archmage, it is with my deepest regret that I apologize for causing the incident at your mage tower. I hope that you find the smallest bit of forgiveness inside your noble heart."

Steel's words were met with deafening silence. The archmage became quite flustered, everyone's attention on him as he considered the boy's words. Behind him, Harkin gave a cough, his fist hiding a very large smile on his face.

"Ahem, well, er, yes." The archmage stammered out, "Apology accepted young one."

Steel smiled, hiding his hands behind his back, a faint magical glow disappearing. The Charm skill really was helpful in these kinds of situations.

He continued, "This feels me with great relief sir archmage, as one of your teachers has been very helpful to me. Without her expert help, I doubt that I would have been able to learn magic as well as I have."

This time, Harkin, Mema, and M.M. were hiding giggles while the archmage's eyebrow twitched.

"Is that so young one." He said slowly, "And what is your impression of your teacher?"

"Why sir." Steel smiled, "She is the only teacher of magic I have ever had, so forgive me for my bias. She's well trained, powerful, yet with a hint of innocent charm."

The archmage folded his arms and nodded, "Agreed, she is definitely innocent, and so cute too."

The lord cleared his throat, "Yes, well that is very interesting, but can we please get on with this?"

Startled, the two men sharing a moment broke out of their stupor. Steel looked back down at the 4 items in front of him. He crossed his arms and frowned.

"The only one I don't understand is the egg, can someone explain it to me?"

Looking at the egg, the faces of the leaders ranged from greed to outright disgust. Hamilton shook his head.

“That was the one thing I did not expect the wolf to drop. From the looks of it, I’d say this was the alpha’s child, and would have become a new demon wolf had it stayed longer in the mana. Honestly, if it were up to me, I'd get rid of it before it watched."

Captain Harkin nodded, "Aye, I agree, if only to soothe my memories of my son.."

Yorick spoke up quickly, "You men aren't thinking this through. The beast could be enslaved and sold for a pretty silver in the slave auction. In fact, I'd very much like to take for that reason." Steel could feel the gold signs in Yorick's eyes as he eyed the egg.

The archmage shook his head, "A creature born to that exposure to mana could have dire consequences even with a slave seal. If asked, I would not be able to guarantee the safety of the owner." Yorick's face changed to one of resigned disappointment, his profits leaving in front of his eyes.

The lord shook his head, "If it's worthless to us, then get rid of it. I have no desire to hear of another demon wolf again unless it involves dungeon raiding."

Hamilton reached down to remove the egg, but Steel stopped him.

He eyed the egg, it's black sheen reflecting the torchlight back into his eyes. The egg had no purpose, it merely existed. For its existence, it was deemed worthless and troublesome; and sentenced to destruction. Even though he had lost Hunie to the wolf lair, Steel felt a connection to the egg, as if he were looking at a younger version of himself. He stroked it's shell, finding it unexpectedly smooth and silky to the touch.

"Leader's of the city, I'll only repeat this once." He said softly, so that ears had to focus to hear him, "This is my creed, my voice in my actions."

"Existence is never a crime. Never condemn another for living, for everything is born under the same stars above, with all the potential in the world."

Steel picked the egg up and cradled in his arms, "I'll take of this egg, no one is allowed to touch it."

The curious air around the lord disappeared, replaced by something regal and serious. His eyes focused on Steel with an intensity that would have shaken most men, but not Steel.

"Do you understand what you are doing boy? Everyone in this city will hate your wolf for a time, and most likely will make jest of it when the fear wears off. If your charge were to snap, you would be held responsible for everything it, and be liable for all the damage it would incur. Are you sure you want the egg to be your reward?"

The "yes" or "no" box appeared in front of Steel, and he didn't hesitate as he clicked yes. When he did so, the three remaining items disappeared into Yorick's arms, who seemed a bit smug.

"I'll have these sold to the highest bidder my lord." He bowed deeply, "Rest assured, we will make a tidy profit from these, oh yes we shall."

As he turned to leave, Steel asked him a question, "If possible, I'd like to try for those gloves myself, could you tell me when the auction will be?"

Yorick paused, thinking a moment, "My receptionist will tell you tomorrow when you come in for your bounties. I'll even tell her to give you a special ticket to my more...diverse auctions. After all, you need a new servant right?" With a sneaky wink, the guild master disappeared into the night.

Sighing, Harkin moved toward the door as well, followed closely by Hamilton. "I best be off as well, come see me tomorrow Steel after I've read the sergeant's final report." They strolled out into the night as well.

Bowing, the archmage tapped his stick on the ground and poofed away, but not before taking a long, hard look at Steel before he did so. Mema and M.M. stood on either side of Steel, and all three bowed to the lord before exiting themselves.

Once the door closed to the hall, Mema turned to Steel and hugged him.

"I'm so sorry." She whispered, taking him into her bosom, "I'm going to miss her two." His mind clear of thoughts for once, Steel rested against her warmth for a moment, the egg still against his chest.

"Ahem, sorry to break your moment." M.M. spoke up, "But how are you going to take care of that egg? Monster eggs are different from normal eggs you know, they hatch when they feel like it and not a moment before."

"That'll be something I face when I get to that bridge." He said simply, "I've never been the kind of guy to look too far ahead into the future." M.M. shook her head, her arms out in a shrug.

"Whatever you say traveler, your kind is always saying weird things like that." But she smiled and rubbed his head before heading toward the guild. Mema and Steel followed behind, but not before Mema asked another question.

"So Steel, what did you bring me this time?"

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A little shorter than usual, about 200 words short, but this was just finishing up the last chapter, nothing too big.

Next time though: debriefing, auction house, possible training start? And what about the egg, how long will it take to hatch? Is it even a wolf pup?