I'm at the Sphinxworks Auction Company, buying gift items and dismantling supplies.

I got a ludicrous amount of money from the fracture. Not only am I holding the 'paystub' for what is technically the payment for an entire squad, but I also got gratuities on top of bonuses.

My last paycheck was roughly 50k for the report and 375k for all the loot I sold.

This time, I got 50k for the report and an additional 100k for each "team member." As the leader, I got 1.5x more than an individual squad member.

Plus, decontaminating the fracture, fixing the population density, identifying it as a Zerg fracture and the source, and... no, that's about it.

Decontamination granted me a 90m, the population density got me a measly 300k, and the rest got me 10m.

In total, 101 million credits. And 90% of that is from moving a box.

Granted, I had a death match with a dragon over double my level, but I digress.

The best part of this is that it's 100% tax-free. Not a single cent is being sent anywhere except my pocket.

Immediately, I used all but an emergency ten million to buy stuff.

I bought Duchess a grimoire she was eyeing. Rob got a bone collection. Khan got some quality meat, and Prometheus got some quality metal.

I would've given Prometheus an item he can absorb the qualities of, but this is a gift for him, not me. I know he'd prefer food over function.

Then the man himself, Flash Gordon, got some googly eyes. It's so he can see better.

I think he's the happiest.

Then I bought things for my mother, father, sister, masters, and friends. I'll just give my "employees" some spending money instead of throwing them a pizza party or something.

The first person I wanted to give something to was probably the person out of all those I knew the least. Standing in front of his condo, I get some unfortunate news.

Hoo Hee Haa Hoo, my monkey brother isn't in town.

His butler told me he returned to the woods to get wasted with all the other monkeys. The butler will express my holiday greetings whenever he returns.

Is that less or more weird than a human living in a colony of monkeys, seeing themselves as equals and brethren? I have a monkey brother, but he's a theriomorph, not an actual monkey.

Is that racist?

Anyways, I left my gift with the butler, a box of cigars, and continued on my way.

Outside a heavily fortified neighborhood, I leave Charlie present somewhere the guards will find it with a note. Still haven't had contact with him, but this inconspicuous cake with a nail file in it might help.

I got Jerry some lizard food for his tamed beast. I left it with the dorm manager with a note. He and the rest of my team live on the Auroran Institute's campus. I technically have a room, but I have never been there.

My family members got multiple enchanted accessories and even a few weapons. It was a bulk deal situation.

Master Giles is getting a collage of all my beasts, and Master Wang is getting some coupons for his favorite chicken place and some alcohol.

He prefers coupons, not gift cards.

I also got Rain something, but I'm afraid to give it to her since I stiffed her about helping her around her shop.

It's a gallon of blood from the dragon. I checked on it, and it doesn't seem to be rotting, but I'm still slowly harvesting materials from it.

Rob's a big help since he can "debone" the dragon without harming the meat.

I told Dylan not to fuck it up and left him multiple 55-gallon drums to fill with dragon blood. I got a bulk deal, enchanted too.

That was his present. He's allowed to do work for me. He was so overjoyed that I almost took that privilege away from him.

Master Wang is first. I hop into the security perimeter and leave the coupons pinned under the bottles with a note in the dojo before trying to sneak away.

"Disciple, you smell minty. Where are you going?"

Ah, he's right behind me.

"Merry Remembrance. I got you gifts."

"I see that my disciple hasn't forgotten his favorite master. Hehe. How have you been."

I look Master Wang over, and he's just as old as before. Just as buff. Just as bald.

"Why are you staring at my head instead of answering?"

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"I'm good. Can I get a new Gi?"

"It's hard to ruin even intentionally. Wear it as a badge of honor until I can get a new on- Can't you fix it yourself?"

"I can, but it will be a pain in the ass repairing such durable material."

"Tough it out."

"Okay."

"How are your martial arts progressing?"

"I haven't progressed a step."

"Is your life force better?"

"It hurts when I strain myself."

"Ah, that's normal with age. Just tough it out."

"Okay."

"I heard you didn't help my daughter, even though I told you to."

"Things came up. Can you give this to her?"

"Is this your blood? Is this what the kids are into."

Master Wang opens the lid and takes a sniff. His expression goes weird.

"Dragon, huh?"

"No use denying it."

"Sure, I'll pass it along."

"Thank you. Bye, Master Wang."

"Next time you come over, I'll test your martial arts."

I get out of there as quickly as possible. I was going to ask Master Wang about my brightly colored bones, but I feel that wouldn't end well.

'Your bones are a different color? Well, let's see!' Then snap, crackle, pop. Boom, I have an open fracture.

It might be related to the drugs I consumed to facilitate the vigor prestiging process. Those golf balls *were* a similar color.

Or it could be a side effect from my bone-breaking martial arts. Shit, it might even be from my attuned energies.

Master Giles' tamed beasts are lazily moseying around his estate. I spot him watering some flowers in his garden. He notices my approach.

"Ellis, how are you doing? Are you feeling alright?"

"Here's a present. Happy Remembrance."

"Oh my, thank you. I'll look through it in a moment. Is that all?"

"No. I have a few questions regarding taming and my tamed beasts."

Master Giles puts down his watering can and takes off his gardening gloves. He looks at me and waits for me to speak.

"Prometheus is ready to evolve, and I want to know if it's too soon. If so, how long should I wait, and is there a way to rank up my taming skill, it's rank B level 5, without evolving him? Also, I have concerns about Duchess' bloodline, something I should have mentioned earlier."

"Well, let's tackle all of those questions one at a time. Prometheus would *tell* you if it's too soon. If it's physically inappropriate, the requirements of evolution will reflect that. Have you checked his evolutionary path?"

"Not yet."

"Alright, do that after I'm done talking. Nurturing your tamed beasts is the only way to rank up your taming skill unless a class change does it for you. Don't rush it. Let it happen naturally. It's not always good to rush through life."

"I see."

"Good. I noticed something peculiar with your tamed beast's bloodline, and I thought I mentioned it. Age might be catching up with me."

"What can we do?"

[...]

"Fixing a bloodline is harder than gaining one. Gaining one is relatively easy for beasts. The first requirement is that they need blood, and the second is that they or their species must have some relation with an established bloodline."

"All I know is that her bloodline is 'muddled,' and she has dragons and fairy blood in here."

"Faerie or fairy. One is a nomenclature for a species, and the other is a specific species within that vocabulary. You could have draconic blood from a wyvern, but wyverns differ from dragons."

"The mix-up happened due to a [Faerie Dragon]."

"I see. I'm guessing this was a precursor to an evolution, seeing as the bloodline wouldn't be seen as 'muddled' but instead show as a [Faerie Dragon] bloodline."

"What? You're right about the precursor thing. It was an evolution requirement."

"Then the evolution needed a boost in your tamed creature's bloodline, but it got slurried with all the other ones and came out half-baked."

[...]

"How bad is it?"

"Being purebred isn't necessarily a good thing. Unless the bloodline is 100% what the creature will evolve into, then being a 'mutt' is healthier. Bloodlines are helpful because it lets your creature tap into racial powers they wouldn't have access to otherwise."

"That lines up."

"The biggest downside of having a mixed bloodline would be that it's considered an 'evolutionary roadblock.' Some more stringent evolutions require a decently pure bloodline if you are evolving into that species from one that branched off."

"What can we do?"

"Yes, what *can* we do. Bloodlines have an entire field of study. One that is hard to get into and hard to excel at. Not only do you need a sturdy foundation in biology, but you must also intricately understand the process of evolution and how mana affects it."

"I wonder if that's what my dad did?"

"I wouldn't know. Thanks for letting an old man ramble. My answer to your question is: It depends on what the future of your tamed beast is."

"What's your future, Duchess?"

[Thisss one is going to use thisss one's [Divine Right] to subjugate all of thisss one's lessers eventually.]

"Okay."

[Rejoice, master, for you are one of few, if any, who thisss one does not deem a lesser.]

"I'll support your decision regardless. How do you want to handle this bloodline situation? It's your blood, after all."

[Alas, but that's not the case. That is why there is an issue. If it was truly thisss one's blood, it would already be under thisss one's name.]

"Disciple, do you have the skill [Beastial Communication]?"

From context alone, I'm assuming it's a skill that lets tamers communicate with their tamed beasts and vice versa.

"Nope. My beasts and I just understand each other." Although what I said isn't false, it's deceiving and deliberately dishonest, even if I don't mean to be.

"Wonderful. The bonds you and your beasts share are beautiful."

[Thisss one wants no bloodline. Thisss one wants to forge thisss one's own. Or at least conquer the preexisting ones and make them submit. Much like you did with your attuned energies.]

"So you want to get high?"

"What conversation are you having?"

[If need be. Thisss one is open to suggestions.]

I roughly relay Duchess' wishes to my master, and he ponders.

"Then a magical ritual is the way to go. Bloodline scrubbing - is not to be confused with Bloodline cleansing - is a magical process to rid a bloodline with little harm. This is a requirement for a different ritual called Bloodline Imbuement.

That is the traditional way to put bloodlines into unrelated creatures.

The only difference would be in the imbuing step. A refined version of the 'scrubbed' blood will be integrated into the patient, like a self-donating plasma donation."

"What would I need?"

"I'll share my version of the ritual, but it'll be pricy for anyone but you."

"Thank you, Master Giles."

"Oho. It's not because of our relationship. The ritual needs multiple pure [Blood Stone]s, and you are the only person I know who just happens to have a tamed beast that can mass produce such an object."

"Flash Gordon is quite the helper."

"Indeed. If you prefer self-study, I can find some texts to help you since you are a free spirit and might not stay in one spot long enough for such an arduous transformation."

I am a free spirit, but I'm also a homebody. If I had a choice, I would never leave my house.

"We'll take it in writing, but that doesn't mean we won't be coming back for guidance, master. Thank you for answering my questions... I just remembered I have one last one regarding unlocking stats for my tamed beasts?"

"It's self-explanatory, and I'm confident you can find your own path. Be patient with your beasts. I know you'll treat them right."

"Thank you once again."

"Don't thank me yet."

I was hoping he would forget.

"Since you came to see your old master, you should do something for me."

Great, more chores.

"Great, more chores."

"Not this time. This time it's about the dignity of a master, not just me, but old Wang as well."