At that point the man that looked like a Tamer cut off his voice. Sage saw the back of another man’s head move sharply and he assumed it was the leader of their little group making sure Sage couldn’t eavesdrop. Sage gave a passing look to the creature they were walking about. It looked like a rabbit the size of a large dog or wolf, but somehow it had a huge turtle shell on its back. Such a strange animal, I believe it was called a Tortoise Hare.
Struck with a sudden flash of inspiration, Sage merely smiled at the other group as he walked past and continued looking at all the beasts that were in the room. Many of them were just the species from the Demonic Beast Mount room, but caught from the wild. They were untamed and suitable as breeding stock, or for skilled Beast Tamers to try their hand at training. Most Tamers were really more of Breeders and Trainers. They would use wild beasts as breeding stock and then raise and train the children into obedient pets. Tamers that had profound techniques and powers that allowed them to turn wild beasts into their pets were rare. Usually, such things were the foundation of whole Sects.
Sage moved on from the room of untamed beasts, not wishing to give that group any idea he was interested in them. Instead he moved on to the last room, and the one he was most interested in. It was actually called the ‘Special Showroom’, since it would be where they put their leftover, unusual, unknown, overcrowded, or other sorts of special stock in. He’d been keeping track so far of the creatures he had some interest in purchasing for later, but his funds were limited and he didn’t want to put himself into poverty here.
As soon as he entered the Special Showroom, Sage let a wide smile crawl onto his face. He hadn’t been let down! He immediately saw a wondrous sight upon entering the room. There was a huge cage set down in the middle of the room with a big sign showing off the shop’s current attention draw.
‘Paradise Fantail’
After the name was a short description, one which matched with what Sage knew of the creature. They were small birds, only the size of a palm, but with long broad tail feathers that expanded out like a fan. They were also a vibrant green color with blue underbellies, very unusual coloring among bird species. The males had bright violet wings and a rainbow assortment of color on their small head crests. None of that was really all that surprising though, just colorful little spirit animal birds. The part of them that was great was their ability. It wasn’t anything that made them into combatants, nor did it enhance their owners. It was purely a luxury for the rich. The more Paradise Fantails there were in an area the more that area began to become like paradise. Their presence actually influenced the climate.
One or two would make a hot day seem more bearable, or a cold winter warmer. That cage they were in now was so large it was a full on aviary and with a quick count, Sage saw at least three dozen of the little birds living inside. The room they were in already felt like more like the humid room where the toads and lizards were kept. With this many Paradise Fantails and enough time an oasis would form in even a desert. The heat would be lessened and the humidity would rise. Rain would fall and plants would grow. The whole set of birds was being sold together, aiming to catch the eye of a rich noble that wanted to turn their courtyard into a sub-tropical paradise.
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Sage was amazed at such a rarity, but he wasn’t interested. He was actually just more hopeful of the other wonders he might find here. Browsing the creatures he saw a few more exotic and rare species that caused him to stop and stay a while in admiration. That said, they all paled when compared to the one beast that finally caught his eye. It didn’t have a name, but the description of its ability was fierce.
‘It can control the mind of any creature below Rank 1 that it gazes upon.’
He would have taken the description as nonsense, but the safeguards on the cage changed his mind. The creature was an orange or sandy brown color with darker brown splotches on its back and over both of its rear legs. It looked like a huge toad, at least a foot wide with huge orb like eyes bulging out of the top of its head. Those eyes were what made it seem unusual, they were a dull yellow with wide black horizontal ovals for pupils. The strange part was that those pupils had a thin red outline around them.
The creature was kept inside a box that seemed to be lined with some sort of one-way glass. As Sage walked around the box he could see through one side and saw only a black wall behind the frog. The frog itself was turned so it faced the wall. After a moment another customer asked for a demonstration and Sage saw why it was turned that way. A handler led a small rabbit behind the cage and then another one lifted up a panel on the back of the cage. The dark panel slid upwards to show a set of bars behind it. At that same moment, the Handler with a rabbit came into view and Sage heard a strange distortion noise. The pupils of the toad started to undulate up and down in the center, a pulsating bright yellow light surrounded them as they aimed towards the handler and rabbit.
The handler seemed to stand completely still for a second before recovering while the rabbit in his hands started squirming and fighting. Kicking its legs and flailing around, trying to bite the hand of the Handler. A second later, the dark panel was dropped back down and the rabbit instantly became docile again. The other customer, a young noblewoman, clapped her hands at the show, but then turned and walked away after she heard the price. She complained about it being far too expensive for such a silly little party trick.
Sage, on the other hand, was glad he could control his facial features and outward emotions well, or he might have scared the Handlers with the depth of his greed. The price was so high it would require nearly all of his remaining spirit stones, but all he cared about was that he could afford it. Once the other customer left, Sage immediately declared his intention.
“I’ll be taking this toad.”
Sage kept a Storage Bag on his waist so he’d seem like every other cultivator, and at this moment he had already moved four thousand spirit stones into it and handed it over towards the Handlers, “There should be enough in here. I assume the cage is part of the purchase?”
The handlers were amazed, they’d been showing off this strange creature for a few days already, and they were annoyed by having to constantly face its gaze. The store owner had already put a price tag on it, a price so high that nobody was willing to pay it. All they wanted to do was get rid of it immediately so they wouldn’t have to keep getting nearly bit by a rabbit and get struck dumb for a second many times a day. Wary of a practical joke, the Handler looked into the storage bag before suddenly smiling and bowing to Sage like he was his ancestor.
One of the men ran off to fetch a manager while the other picked up the cage and led Sage to a backroom. A few minutes later, Sage had finished the purchase and was even given a free Beast Bag along with the Cage to store the Toad. Sage didn’t turn down the free hundred spirit stone item, especially since he now had only fifty spirit stones remaining. After the purchase was complete, Sage idled around in the store in the courtyard until he saw that group of men leaving with the Tortoise Hare. He didn’t even look their way, only catching sight of their backs on the way out of a side door.
Time to see if it works.
Walking into the room filled with untamed beasts, Sage walked over to where the Tortoise Hare’s cage had been sitting and closed his eyes. Only his left eye opened back up, a tiny hole into the void of space appeared in place of his pupil.