Ranvir examined the storefront. This was the last stop on their tour. A tour consisting of only two shops. Still counted. Ranvir nodded to their guide, and she headed off, the bird on her shoulder chirping something at them that didn’t quite get translated by the stone.

This shop wasn’t as prominently displayed as their first visit, though it was perhaps the more interesting one. Ranvir’d asked for two shops, the biggest and the most knowledgeable. He hadn’t expected the first shop to be so vast. It had pens inside big enough to hold full on sows, as well as outdoor areas for even bigger but more docile animals.

Unfortunately, they couldn’t bring Menace along because he wasn’t trained to handle such situations and Ranvir couldn’t account for his reaction. Even if it didn’t bother him, they still risked him attacking one of the store’s animals.

They were commonly called ‘pet stores’, though many of them sold animals that fell outside of such a narrow margin. From the previously mentioned sows, to full-on predators like birds of prey or smaller hunting cats.

Dismissing his thoughts with a shake of the head, Ranvir stepped forth and opened the door for the children. The very first thing that greeted him was the moisture and heat. It was almost like being back in Korfyi. A vast display for cold-blooded reptiles stood appeared front and center. Lizards—some six-legged with fiery glowing manes, others with four legs appeared regular until they opened their mouths, revealing three layers of teeth and a blue glow coming from their tongue.

Ranvir shivered and passed the creatures without too much study. Next up was something a little more familiar and comfortable: birds. Colorful ones similar to what lived in and around Eriene, to the more muted blacks, grays, and whites he knew from Vednar. All of them started chirping and yelling at him as he approached. A few even jumped down to a seat closer to the cage.

Ranvir smiled at them and swept his tether over them. Most of them came back with wind affinities. A few had some more irregular mana-typings, but Ranvir expected most of these animals to fall within the broadly accepted and commonly used types, with maybe a few exceptions for long-term customers.

“Hello sir,” a woman said, causing Ranvir to turn around. She reached his chest in height with long curly black hair and a far darker complexion than Ranvir was used to seeing on the people living here. The clerk was covered in thin, pale-white hairs, each of them standing on their own and about a finger’s length. She smiled at Ranvir. Though the smile looked genuine to him, her black beady eyes failed to properly express the message.

A bone-white chill of discomfort wriggled within him. “Hello,” Ranvir replied, nodding to her.

“Are those yours?” she asked, sounding uncertain. Ranvir followed her glance to Frija and Vasso. They were examining a small glass cage and something walking about inside it. It took his Perception a moment to clarify the fist-sized spider and its many hairy legs.

Suppressing a wince, Ranvir nodded. “They are mine, yes.”

The clerk smiled. “My name is Yelisa, sir. My mother’s the owner of the store.”

Ranvir nodded to her. “My name is Ranvir, I guess I’m the father of the two idiots over there,” he smiled in their direction, earning shy waves and grins in return.

Yelisa chuckled. Despite her somewhat inhuman appearance, she sounded and acted very human. “I apologize if I’m pushing against a sore injury here,” she paused. “But are they both looking for a bond? The boy seems a little old and the girl a little young, but maybe you’ve come from far away?”

Ranvir smiled. “They aren’t looking for bonds at the moment.”

“Aww,” Frija sounded utterly disappointed. Even Vasso—who said nothing—looked a little crestfallen, the two having made their way closer to listen in.

“At the moment,” Ranvir repeated with emphasis. “However, I am in the market for a bond. Depending on what you have for me.”

“Oh?” Yelisa blinked, her eyebrows rising. Despite her greeting falling short, her look of surprise came across fine to Ranvir. “I’m sorry, sir. I didn’t expect that. It’s just that most people your age would’ve already bonded…” she paused and resettled herself. “What are you looking for, then?”

Ranvir smiled. “For now, I am just examining my options.”

“He’s looking for something like this!” Frija exclaimed, pointing at a cage with a bunch of rodents inside.

Ranvir approached, though his tether-sense already told him what she’d somehow spotted. One rat towards the back had a mana affinity that was incredibly close to his own.

Cocking his head, Ranvir turned to his little girl. “How did you know that?”

Frija shrugged and grinned. “It felt right.”

Ranvir smiled and tussled her hair. “You’ve got good instincts, Firehearth.”

Unfortunately, the rat was pathetically weak. Ranvir might ease his storm-mana issues, but that would leave him with a sub-par animal. A trade he wasn’t willing to make yet.

“I… Can I ask?” Yelisa said, looking up at him. “I thought your eyes would be the mark of your bond, sir. Is it not?”

Ranvir shook his head. “I’m from very far away. I got the eyes there, so I am without a bond.”

Yelisa frowned and Ranvir felt her tether-sense sweep across all three of them. It felt like the spiritual equivalent of walking into a spider’s web. Perhaps it sort of was.

“You have power,” then her eyes widened. This time, her shock was enough to reveal tiny wiggling bumps on her forehead and around the eyes. “Are you…” she dropped to her knees, but he caught her shoulder before getting that far.

“I’m just a regular foreigner,” he said, hurriedly performing damage control. “I just came here to see what’s available and learn something about the process.”

Yelisa didn’t believe him. Ranvir could see it in her readiness to agree with him and how she gently caressed the shoulder he’d touched. Sighing internally, Ranvir gestured to the rat. “Do you have something like this? But stronger? Perhaps something that could grow stronger?”

Yelisa shook her head. “The strongest thing we have is a few of the guardian boars out back.”

Ranvir sighed and nodded. They would be similar to the sows he’d seen in the first store. Likely, these were what the guards bonded with.

“Although we have a few creatures with similar powers,” Yelisa said. “Though they aren’t quite the same, one of them is quite strong.”

Ranvir gestured for her to lead on.

“If this doesn’t work, sir,” the clerk said as they walked towards the back. “Then perhaps you might be interested in considering the old methods?”

“Old methods?”

“Hunting and subduing your own bonded animal.”

“As opposed to buying them?” Ranvir considered. He could imagine them losing something by streamlining their bonding process. Spirit and anima were the power of intent and action, there was power in the things you intended, said, and did.

“Yes, sir,” Yelisa said. She opened and held the door for him, revealing an enormous bird cage standing next to a cramped pig pen. Everything was kept in immaculate condition despite the small space. The cage’s metal sparkled and the sty, though messy, wasn’t nearly as smelly as what Ranvir expected.

“This is the closest thing we have to what you want,” Yelisa gestured to the cage. “It’s called a storm-feather eagle, though this one is only a chick. Some merchant found it in a nest not too far from the city.”

Ranvir stepped closer, easily finding the baby bird with his tether-sense. It could fit in the palm of his hand and was just a smattering of ratty feathers and pink skin. It resonated powerfully with lightning mana, echoing with water and wind. Ranvir thought it might be a good fit, though it would require a bit of work before it was ready to bond.

He’d needed to shift its focus away from the lightning and onto actual storm mana. “This is interesting,” Ranvir admitted. “Though not quite what I was looking for.”

“May I ask what you were looking for? Something like that rat?” When Ranvir nodded, she continued. “Then if you’re going to go the old ways, then you might look for something like a weatherwing, or perhaps a gray-sky shrike. They’re both relatively common but are stronger than what you usually find in stores.”

Ranvir nodded his thanks. He was starting to agree with her. If he wanted the best results, he would have to go looking for them. For now, they returned to the store. “Thank you for the help,” he handed her a coin. Ranvir’d been given some coins from the ministry. He’d tried to deny it, but they’d just snuck them into his room, so now he saw no reason not to freely give of them.

Next, he stopped by Vasso. He was examining an aquarium, tanks designed to carry underwater life. They were quite fascinating. He put his hand on the younger boy’s shoulder as he found what the kid was looking at, then tracked it to the papers attached on the side.

A douser-jelly.

It appeared to be a mix of the weird-looking squids and living water, perhaps an elemental of sorts? As he watched, the douser-jelly breached the surface of the tank, water pouring off its form to splatter on the tank’s surface.

Far, far more liquid than could’ve possibly been contained on its slight form fell off it. Enough that the water actually started running over the tank’s limits. Not for the first time, apparently, as the store had installed grates and a channel before the tank.

“What are you thinking about?” Ranvir asked, sensing Vasso's solemnity.

Licking his lips and coughing once, he tried to speak. The kid was noticeably pale and swayed slightly on the spot. “My…” a deep breath. “Mom and dad,” he finally admitted. Ranvir remembered, of course. It was one of the first things he’d learned upon arrival in Eriene, even before he’d entered the orphanage. Vasso’s house had burned down. Somehow, he’d escaped or been saved where his parents had simply died.

Ranvir didn’t know the specifics of the situation and he wasn’t sure they were important any longer. Vasso hadn’t been very old when it happened. He likely remembered little. Only that he missed them. Ranvir squeezed his shoulder and pulled him closer.

“How do you feel about beginning some exercises tomorrow?” Ranvir asked.

“Exercises?” Vasso said, looking up at him askance. “Why?”

“Various things, spiritual awareness, soul-sight skill, accessing Amanaris,” Vasso’s eyes widened comically. “Because it makes you feel better. You know, the usual reasons.”

“I’d like that.”

“Me too!” Cried Frija and jumped onto Ranvir’s leg. Knowing what the half-cat half-girl was prone to do in such moods, he quickly swept her into his arms before her jaws could snap shut.

“Thank you for your help,” Ranvir told Yelisa, who stood off to the side, acting like she wasn’t spying on them. She simply nodded and returned to her not-spying.