“Uuuuuuuuuuh, wasn’t this area in disaster zone or something?”

Kat growled, “It was when I left.”

The caravan had entered into a full festival zone. Wonder guessed it had to deal with this King of Ego that Dark mentioned. Sadly, he was really living up to that name so far.

Though Wonder kept thinking back on that hint about books and covers…

Kat said, “I’m going to talk to the town officials, but… oh no.”

A petite woman walked up. She had wings like a traditional dragon, and much of her upper arms was covered in white scales. Also: dragon wings which flapped idly. Wonder knew then he had met his first Dragonkin.

The woman stopped in front of them. “Kat Masculin. It is good to see you again.”

Kat huffed. “Lil. Good to see you, but I’m guessing this whole thing is your brother’s fault.”

Lil said, “He has Tamed the dragon hatchling that was causing havoc. The town is throwing a festival to celebrate.”

Kat rolled his eyes. He looked at Wonder. “Wonder, this is Lilliana Brainstrom. We grew up together.”

Lilliana looked at Wonder and bowed slightly. “It is a pleasure.”

Wonder repeated the bow, presuming it was like Japanese bows: a greeting with respect. He said, “Pleasure is all mine, Miss Brainstrom.”

Wonder looked at Kat. “Looks like my Quest got stolen so I’m not getting paid. Not blamin’ yah, but I also am not going to get caught in personal business. This will be the kids’ first festival, so I’m taking them to have a good time.”

Izuku jumped up in excitement. “Festival!!!”

Sakura shuffled up and took Wonder’s hand, but her eyes were sparkling.

Lilliana blinked, but nodded. “That is fair. Kat, we need to talk…”

Kat said, “No joke.”

Wonder left the duo to traverse the festival. He was glad to have saved up some money. He still held limits, but the kids got to play games and have some cool snacks… and okay, Wonder had a great time too.

However, Sakura’s tolerance for crowds was low. Not that Wonder could blame her. But about an hour in, Sakura suddenly started yanking his finger and whining. Wonder picked him up, and tapped Izuku’s shoulder. They headed out to the less crowded edge.

A case of content theft: this narrative is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.

They ended up by a bunch of stalls with cages. Most of these had beasts in them. Wonder had to perk, but looking around revealed there were no people outside the handful of bored-looking stall owners. Some saw Wonder and quickly acted busy.

Wonder looked at Sakura. “Better, baby girl?”

Sakura looked at him, then snuggled closer. But her eyes were starting to wander.

Wonder said, “Daddy’s gonna look at the cool beasts. But if it gets too much, just let me know, okay?”

Sakura nodded. “Ay, Dada…”

Wonder looked at Izuku. “You too, Izuku.”

Izuku said, “OK, Daddy!”

Wonder started checking out the stalls. Most of them were beyond his price range, but all the stall owners were willing to let the kids pet the safe ones.

Wonder then came upon a stall with a ton of water tanks. Wonder blinked, looking over them. All sorts of fishes and aquatic beasts.

A grizzled seaman—like no joke, this guy was the epitome of old sailor. Tanned, shriveled, missing an eye, white wild hair. He even had an Earthling sailor costume. On purpose or not was another question.

He gave a grizzly laugh. “Well well well! Interested in a pet for the kiddos? We have many easy beasts to care for here!”

Wonder chuckled. “Don’t tempt us. Izuku is quite a budding Tamer.”

Izuku giggled and clapped.

The seaman laughed. “Fair enough.”

Sakura looked at a tank, and pointed. “Evoh.”

Wonder blinked. Did Sakura just try to say Evolve?

Wonder looked at the tank in question. In it was a fat goldfish the size of a small dog. But in a brilliant red that was suspiciously familiar.

The seaman laughed and waddled over. “Yer daughter has a sharp eye! This is a evoh fish.Probably the weakest Beast ye will ever find, but it also makes it one of the easiest to raise. Just feed this guy twice a day, then make sure it gets some flopping time outside its tank.”

Flop?

Weak?

Evolve?

Was it… a Magikarp?

Which meant…

Wonder asked, “Hey… I’ll pay you double if this works. But mind if I let Sakura try something?”

The seaman seemed to debate, but shrugged. “Go ahead.”

Wonder put Sakura down. Izuku perked, and used his tentacles to pull the evoh fish out and on the ground. It flopped around his feet a few times, earning giggles from Izuku.

Sakura looked at Wonder. Wonder nodded. “Go ahead, sweetie.”

Sakura looked at the beast, then held up both hands. Brilliant circles of light surrounded her hands, and then pulsed out and hit the evoh fish. “Permanent Enhance: Level Boost!”

The evoh fish flopped in the light… and began to change. Its scales turned from red to blue. It started to stretch and elongate, slowly morphing into a long catfish that had sharp-looking fins on its back and two forward arms. It stopped when it was nearly Wonder’s height, green eyes blinking. The seaman was gaping.

Trust Levels Reached!

The Cazard wants to become your Beast!

Accept? Y/N

The seaman said, “Oh my…”

Wonder smiled and hit the Y. He said, “Welcome to the team… Garados.”