Chapter 2: The Eggs
I woke up in the morning and the first thing I did was race out of my room and into the kitchen. “So do I get to keep one?” I asked with pleading eyes at mother who was cooking oatmeal.
“Yes, your father and I have decided that you will be allowed to keep one as a bond beast. One will be sold to pay for your schooling, if you have talent since you already have a bond beast you can go to the mage and warrior academy in Bellora. There you can get stronger and learn to fight monsters once you turn 15. It costs around a gold coin to stay there the first year but after that if you get accepted to continue on to the next year it’s free. The last egg we’re planning on selling so we can get better close, a few more sheep, and a better loom so we can do better in the future if that is okay with you.” Mother said looking at me.
“Okay mom, dad already said I could only have one soul beast cause we’re commoners and it would be really cool to learn how to fight monsters and wield magic. Could I maybe get an elemental stone with some of the money though so I can learn how to use magic?” I asked looking at her. I was fine with my family taking money from one of the stones cause if mother and father had more sheep and better tools we could eventually get a bigger house and more stuff because it was what mother called an ‘investment’ whatever that is.
“If you can graduate from Bellora Academy after five years you will gain the right to have a second beast, there are other ways but this is the easiest. At the academy you will learn more about using magic and fighting. Sadly I and your father don’t know much about either. He has a low earth affinity and I am a high water affinity but even though I qualified for the academy I never got the right to go there I was the third daughter of a noble’s fourth mistress. He didn’t want any of his bastard children attending the same school as his heirs and my mother had no real money of her own so I never got to go. Your father didn’t meet the qualifications for the academy and his family has always been shepherds so he knows even less about magic.”
“So I might be able to learn how to use magic and get another beast if I go to the academy.” I said excited. Magic was so cool I had seen mother occasionally conjure up water, some of the guards use simple fire magic, and the village healer use light magic on me once when I had gotten hurt falling out of a tree after a doing a dare from the other children.
“Yes, we can get you an elemental stone if you want. You will only be able to use one if you have an affinity for it. This can help us find out what yours is. However, we won’t be able to test how strong it is till you turn ten.”
“I hope I have lightning affinity” I said rubbing my hands together with glee. They have the power to manipulate thunderstorms and control lightning.
“We can see after your father sells the eggs but it is most likely you will have water or earth since affinities tend to run in families though the power of one is often random.” Mother said but seeing my disappointed look she continued “but why don’t you go visit your father he’s trying to sell the eggs. The elder said a trader arrived last night and he was setting up his wares today. You can go with your father to see the trader’s wares and then come with me later today to check out elemental stones at Mabel’s.”
Mabel was an old woman who had a small store in the village with a collection of odds and ends. Her shop was an assortment of odds and ends but it was the only place to get magical items in town. I was excited to go because I had only been in there once or twice before and I was never allowed to buy anything.
“Okay, mom” I said and started out the door rushing to get there as fast as I could.
“Wait; don’t forget the eggs your father left them here so you could pick out the one you want.” Mother said looking exasperated that I would just take off running.
“Oh yeah, I forgot about picking which one I wanted.” I looked them over and decided on the biggest one.
They were all a dark brownish color; however, the one I picked was the biggest and darkest of the lot. Grabbing it I ran into my room and set it under my pillow.
Then I ran back into the kitchen/living room grabbed the door and raced off to the village elders house hearing mother sigh as I simply ran out the door. The village elder wasn’t really that old or at not as old as Mabel. He had three children and the youngest was a daughter around my age.
I wondered if I could impress her with tales of my heroic fight but that can wait. Now I need to find father to give him the eggs and check out the trader’s wares. I was so excited about not only getting a bond beast but also an elemental stone and getting to look at everything the trader had. If we were lucky our family wouldn’t be so poor after this sale.
My family normally earned about 35 silver a year for us to live on, this was considered very little but the poorest families in our village get by with 25 silvers a year. Since father owned sheep and mother was a weaver we were one of the richer families in the village not that it means very much when you compare it to what people in the army, guards, and nobles make.
I found father talking to the elder in the village elder’s house. The elder was a dark haired scarred man in his forties. I heard he was once in the army when he was younger. Father had set the horned tri-color flying squirrel’s body on the table between them. He was telling him about me finding it and asking about the trader telling the elder he wanted to sell two of the three eggs I found.
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I walked up to father and when he saw me he stopped talking. “I brought the two eggs.” I said handing them to father. “Mother said I could go with you when you sold them to the trader” I said with pleading eyes begging him to agree.
“Haa ha, yah you can come with me though the elder has expressed an interest in buying one after we confirm their identity with the trader and figure out their price.” He said laughing at my expression and then looking at the elder who nodded.
“Yes, both my sons have bonded beasts two mid third tier flare hounds but my daughter has expressed she wanted something cute and fluffy not big and scary. I plan on giving one to her as a present. They are fairly rare and hard to come by so if I pass this chance up I might have to find a weaker tier monster to get her.” The elder said.
“So let’s go see what the trader has to tell us about them.” He said saying goodbye to the village elder and heading toward the village square that’s near the main gate with the horned tri-color flying squirrel in hand. The village square is on the opposite side of the gate as our sheep pen.
Usually, the village square is empty and just used as a place for meetings and kids to play but when a trader comes they set up their wares there. Today it is quite busy since a trader only comes to our village maybe once a month and never in the winter time. There were only maybe one or two more visits before traders stopped coming for the winter so the market was extra busy today.
In the fall and spring traders are on the lookout to buy beast eggs like the ones I found. Fall and spring is the primary times when magical beasts lay eggs. Some species like bugs and chickens lay eggs year round but they tend to be weaker and strong beasts only lay eggs once a year or less. Traders buy the eggs and bring them to the capital and bigger cities to sell to nobles and anyone else who can afford them.
When there was a break in the crowd of people surrounding the trader father walked up to him.
“Hello, my name is Josan Herto a trader from the Southwestern part of Bellor. Do you see anything that you’re interested in? I can tell you what each of my wares are.” He said gesturing to the tables of assorted items in front of him.
My father shook his head and set the body of the squirrel beast on the table. “We have two horned tri-color flying squirrel eggs we would like to see how much our worth. I am willing to sell one of them to you for the right price.” He brought them out of his pocket and showed the trader.
“If these are horned tri-color flying squirrels then that means they are initial third tier beasts. With a double affinity of earth and dark I would be willing to pay 1 gold 20 silvers for an egg. A normal beast of initial third tier would be about1 gold but with their double affinity they are worth a little more. However, I can’t just pay you the money without confirming their identity. Can I see them please?” Father seemed a little shocked about the price but handed over the two eggs.
The trader brought out a white marble stone tablet and touched one of the eggs with it. It emitted a white glow and words were inscribed on the tablet as well as a black and white outline of a horned tri-color flying squirrel below the outline was Tier 3. The trader tried the tablet on the other egg and it glowed before showing the same thing as the first egg except for one different symbol on the top right corner.
“These are both horned tri-color flying squirrels. One is a male egg and the other is a female egg. I am willing to pay you 1 gold 20 silver for each one of them so a total of 2 gold 40 silver for both.”
My father shook his head “Like I said earlier I can only sell you the one egg; however, I will sell it to you for 1 gold 20 silver and a bonding scroll.”
“Since a scroll is only 2 and half silver I guess I could throw it in but I would be willing to pay 2 gold and 45 silvers for both instead.” The trader said trying to get the second egg. However father was shaking his head he had after all promised the village head the egg.
Sighing the trader asked “which one do you want?” Father said “the female egg.” The trader handed over the female egg, 1 gold 20 silvers, and an old dusty scroll covered in some runic markings. The trader put the egg into a metal box and locked it. Then he turned back to father and said “You should know that the bond is formed by setting the egg on the scroll and dripping blood on the egg until it runs down it and onto the scroll. However, if you decide not to bond it you know where to find me. I’ll be here for another two days.”
I decided to head back to mother. Father handed the scroll to me and told me to tell her what he sold the egg for and that he was selling the other to the village elder. I couldn’t wait to bond my egg and for it to hatch. I would have to ask mother when that would happen.
* If you guys have any comments about grammar or the story I would appreciate it.
Hope you guys like the story. My fictions are World Update: The Era of Monsters and A Warlords Origin