Abigail approached an unoccupied guild receptionist and asked, “Me and pouty here are looking to buy a mount do you know any good places to go?” As she asked, she slid a copper over for real information. A little bribe can go a long way.
The young woman behind the counter took the coin, making it disappear into a pocket and asked, “Are you looking for a standard mount or a mana beast?”
Abigail looked at Thomas but all he did was shrug saying “Either?” It came out more as a question because he didn’t know what he wanted or could afford.
Abigail looked back to the receptionist and said, “If there is a place selling both that would be the best.”
After getting the details they headed towards the place, it was in the middle district, they didn’t have to go far. The company they were heading to specialize in selling varied but affordable mounts to people from all walks of life. Or so they were told.
The building wasn’t anything special, standing at only two floors tall and not very large. Thomas was confused about where the actual mounts where, maybe they were held outside the city. Either way they walked in and were greeted by a sharply dress beastkin man. He was tall with sandy brown hair, with slightly darker brown eyes. His pointed wolfish ears and slightly swooshing brown tail behind him denoted him as some sort of wolf beastkin. With a charming smile he spoke saying “Welcome! Sir, Madam to Mortan’s Mounts and More my name is Steffen. How can I be of help today?”
“I’m here to buy a mount. I’m Thomas and this is Abigail.” Thomas answered not sure what else the man needed to know. Abigail gave a small wave when she was introduced. Steffen nodded and asked, “Are you here for a mount or one of our other services?”
“Yes, I am here to get a mount. I have only ridden one horse and I have no idea what you could have.” Thomas said with a shrug.
“That’s no problem at all, please lets step into my office so we can go over your options.” Steffen guided them to a door off to the side of the reception area. Opening the door, it led into a small but neat office. At a quick glance he could tell it was set up in a way to make anyone feel comfortable. There wasn’t any overt showings of wealth but enough tasteful things to make it clear there was money here. Like the two paintings of exotic beasts or the fine dark wooden desk they were about to sit at. It actually made Thomas feel more at ease, like he wasn’t out of place like he felt in the upper district. Refocusing back to the task at hand Abigail joined him as he sat down across Steffen. On the desk between them was a stack of papers.
Steffen asked “Before we begin is there anything I can get you? Something to drink or eat perhaps?”
Abigail and him both said yes to a drink, so Steffen continued talking directly to Thomas saying, “Well then, for starters how much are you willing to spend?”
Thomas looked to Abigail; she had said that mounts were a expense that the guild would cover. She nodded and answered saying, "Go with the assumption that price isn’t an issue.”
Thomas didn’t miss a quick look of shock on Steffens face as he looked at Abigail for a moment. She just shrugged, and asked “What all do you have?”
Steffen picked up the stack of papers on the desk and pulled four sheets out. The sheets had pictures and information on them. He laid them on the table, the first one had a standard horse on it. The second had what looked like a mutated horse, it had six legs instead of four. The third was what looked like a large bear. The fourth and final one was a large cat.
Steffen started to explain “These four are our standard mounts. We have more exotic mounts, but these are the ones I would recommend. We have the standard horse and its mana beast counterpart. The only difference between the two is the mana beast is just better in every way. Larger, faster, and can normally use mana albeit in limited ways. The second is a Hexaquine, it’s a pure mana beast from birth. they were tamed about sixty years ago and is starting to become a favorite of anyone who travels long distances. It has more endurance, is faster, and they have minor combat abilities. On top of that, it eats less than a horse, which will save you money in the long run.” He paused to see if they were following. Thomas wasn’t, he was staring in fascination at the last one. He always loved cats and he was imagining himself riding on the back of a massive one.
Steffen cleared his throat and Thomas looked at him also seeing Abigail having a small smirk on her face. Thomas spoke “Sorry, what’s the next one?”
Steffen just smiled and continued saying “Next, we have a warbear. They are slower and have less endurance than the others but has the highest combat abilities. Their combat ability puts them closer to combat companions than mounts, but they can do both. They also have the problem of eating more than most. Last, we have what I consider a balance between all of them. A feline mount, there are different breeds that are slightly different but on average they are faster than all the others. The biggest drawback is that they having less endurance than the horse or Hexaquine but have higher combat power just under the warbear. The biggest issues with the feline mounts is that they can be temperamental.”
Abigail spoke up after Steffen finished speaking “Which one are you thinking about Thomas?”
Thomas just sighed, maybe it was childish, but he wanted a large cat, it wasn’t practical, he knew that. Still, he asked “Can I see all of them? I can’t just make a choice without looking at them.”
Steffen smiled but he paused slightly before he said “Of course! Unfortunately, before that I will need proof that you are able to afford a mount. The low end is roughly ten gold while the high end is around four hundred gold or higher. I do apologize but it is company policy.” As he finished speaking, he had an apologetic look on his face. As he talked about the price, he indicated that the horses ran for ten gold and the feline or warbear mounts were closer to four hundred.
Abigail just raised an eyebrow and flipped a pure white coin in the air while staring at Steffen. When she saw that Steffen stiffened and looked like he was about to panic, seeing that she made it disappear. Thomas looked at her and she answered his unasked question “It’s a platinum coin, they are worth five hundred gold.”
Thomas paused at that, five hundred gold could buy, well anything he could think of. He just let out a long sigh, this side of Abigail wasn’t something he could understand. He asked Steffen who looked frozen at the sight of the coin “Is that enough proof?”
“Yes, sorry for the implied insult.” Clearing his throat he continued “Please follow me.” Steffen got up and escorted them out of the room.
They followed him through the lobby and through a door in the back. He led them through an empty hallway until they made it to the back of the building. Leading them out the door into a spacious courtyard that was surrounded by large walls. There was a set of double doors that led out to the street on one side. The other thing Thomas noticed was the outside noise was muffled. They were still inside a bustling city after all. The last thing was directly across the courtyard there was a smaller building with another set of large double doors.
Thomas asked, “Are the walls enchanted to keep the noise out?”
Steffen nodded and explained “Yes, they are. This isn’t a trade secret, but we do ask for your discretion.” He opened the door to the building and walked in. Inside was a single room but the four guards in the room were unexpected.
Steffen continued saying “This is where we keep them all.”
Steffen motioned for them to stand next to him as they did, he motioned to the guard standing closest to them. The guard pushed one of the glowing runes next to him. When he did the entire platform, they were on started moving downwards.
Steffen continued to explain “When Mortan’s Mounts and More built their location here we decided to instead of expanding outwards or upwards we went down. Balwyn Hill quickly became one of the more profitable locations form all the people traveling between the frontier and the rest of the kingdom. We spared no expense in making it the best.”
The platform came to a stop, in front of them was brightly lit short hallway with more large double doors at the end. Steffen walked forward and opening them, into a massive grassland, that had a small lake with trees around it. There was even what looked like a sun shining overhead. Stunned at the sight before him, it apparently even impressed Abigail as she whistled and asked “An artificial ecosystem for all of the beasts, that’s impressive. Based off of what I can tell spatially expanded too.”
“You are correct Miss Abigail; the cavern was as large as it could be without risking destabilizing the city above. Then we spatially expanded it as large as we could. We have a designated team of mages and enchanters that inspect the runes to make sure they are stable. We were able to set the runes up in a way that they are mainly supplied by ambient mana.” Steffen said with clear pride.
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They all stood there for a second just watching the different beast running around the open fields. As they watched Abigail asked, “Did you get permission to build this from the Count Hill?” Thomas could tell she wasn’t just asking as a curiosity, it sounded like she asked it in her professional voice. He could understand why she wanted to know, if this happened without the Counts knowledge what else could be happening in the city or even the rest of his territory. Especially with the treat of demon cultists looming over them.
Steffen continued to smile as he answered, “Yes, we did, we offered this as a shelter in case of emergencies to the lovely citizens of Balwyn Hill. After we offered that and showed that it was safe he agreed. Of course, he wanted his own team of mages and specialized enchanters to verify but we gladly agreed.”
Thomas was only half listened as Abigail asked a few more questions but he could tell her slight shift in demeanor was already gone. He watched three flying beasts that couldn’t have been bigger than a foot flying around each other. They started darting between the trees that were around the lake. It looked like they were harassing something that was in one of the trees. As he watched, one of the flying beast darted away a massive cat launched out and grabbed it. it happened so fast that Thomas only managed to say, “What was that?!”
Steffen chuckled and said, “let me show you.” They started walking towards where they saw the cat grabbed it. As they walked Steffen explained “None of the animals in here are truly hostile to each other. The ones who can’t get along with the others are in a separate area. All of these are either herbivores or intelligent enough we don’t have to worry about them killing the others. What you saw happens quite often, the draco you saw have a tendency to harass or play games on a few of the others. It is never malicious, but it always ends up with one of them getting caught.”
Sure, enough when they walked up to the tree that the cat jumped out of it was laying there sleeping but one of its massive paws was pinning down what looked like a miniature dragon. The draco was wiggling and trying to escape but the little lizard was only a foot or so long and the paw of the massive cat easily held it in place. The other two draco looked like they were doing the equivalent of laughing as they sat on a branch overhead and watched their compatriot struggle to escape.
Thomas inspected the large cat. Its sleek fur looked to be dark green with hints of dark blue. It was taking all of Thomas’s self-control not to rush forward and give the massive kitty some scratches. When the three of them approached the large cat opened an eye. They were met with a vertically slit blue green eye, as he inspected that cat it was clear that it was inspecting him right back. Thomas didn’t for a second believe he was looking at some ordinary large beast. No, he could tell this cat was just as intelligent if not more so than Angel. The look in its eyes and the nod of its head it gave him confirmed it as the cat was done looking at him and turned to Abigail and Steffen.
Abigail again whistled sounding impressed and said “A tier three mana beast if I had to guess. Don’t see those every day.”
When Abigail spoke, the cat nodded to her words, and it let the draco go, which darted away after spitting a puff of smoke at the cat. The cat stood to its full five feet or more in height and walked up to her. She talked directly to the cat and said, “I already have a mount, we're here for him. It is nice to meet you and I will say you are beautiful though.” As she pointed to Thomas.
Thomas though was distracted by what Abigail said “What does tier three mana beast mean? Never heard of that before.”
Abigail nodded and said “That’s not surprising. Please don’t take this the wrong way but Les is in the middle of nowhere and you probably wouldn’t have encountered any. Angel for example is a newer tier three mana beast.” Thomas was intently listening to Abigail and when the massive cat got closer, he started petting it how he would normally pet the cats that hung around the park. Right behind the ears with one hand and the other was knuckling the cat along its whiskers. Thomas got a half smile when he felt the large purrs coming from the beast. The purr was so deep he though he felt the ground vibrating. Thomas completely missed the mixture of astonishment and horror on Steffens face as he pet the cat.
Abigail didn’t stop explaining saying “As you know the only difference between a monster and a mana beast is its ability to use mana. For example, a normal horse could one day awaken its core and it would then be classified as a mana beast.” She paused for a second as Thomas had to crouch down to keep petting the cat that was now laying on its back and whining for him to pet its belly. Now he knew she was well, a she.
In a more amused voice Abigail continued saying “When it comes to the grading scale there are a few factors that matter but intelligence and temperament are the main ones, it has to be smart enough to earn a tier in most cases. A mana beast could be as strong as a dragon but if it only listened to its instincts, it wouldn’t get a tier. There is a five tier system, tier five being just smart enough to understand their surroundings more than normal animal or monster. To a tier one who are smarter than the average noble and are normally as strong as a S-ranked adventurer in most cases. Tier three is when they are as smart as the average person. That is when you can make a pact with a mana beast. That’s how I made a pact with Angel. The tier system is only used for non-hostile mana beasts. Honestly, it’s a system set up to make it easier to understand companion, mounts or combat beasts. It also prevents unnecessary killings and well there is a few other factors as well.”
Thomas nodded along as she explained and was zoning in on the cat’s sweet spot that had her twitching in delight.
When she finished speaking Steffen spoke up saying “Beautiful explanation and to add to what Miss Abigail said a true tiered mana beast like her are extremely rare. When she was found she was a cub, she was already smart enough to understand what was happening around her more so than an average beast. When the adventure team found her, they luckily could see she wasn’t aggressive and more curious than anything. They asked if she wanted to come back to the city with them and when she didn’t object to taking her with them. They brought it to the guild who promptly contacted us. There is a large reward for them but also a lot of laws involved such as not taking them by force. When we approached the young lady, we made a deal with her. She would come live here, and we would provide a comfortable place to live and provide food for her. If a buyer wanted to purchase her, she would have to agree to go with that person and they would also agree to her demands. Which are simple, treat her as a partner not like a random beast, no cruelty will be allowed and is already extremely illegal in all of Athera. The other requirement she wanted is good food.”
Thomas thought he understood what they were explaining but he asked “Shouldn’t all mana beast be broken up in tiers then. Abigail, you said before that as a mana beast gets stronger or when they evolve, they get smarter. From what you all are saying intelligence is the only determining factor.”
Abigail nodded and said “Your right, you could put that tier system on any mana beast but like I said before it isn’t just intelligence. Most mana beast in general, even an extremely strong one only follow their instincts. How they achieve those goals may be smarter, but they are still following their basic instincts. Then there is the other side, they are also most of the time still extremely hostile towards everyone and impossible to build a healthy cooperative relationship with. Either way the guild does tier them and that’s what most people follow anyways, they just use the E-S ranking system.”
Thomas finally found the cat’s sweet spot and had her leg kicking like a dog would. That made him chuckle seeing the comparison. That raised another question “That makes sense I guess probably makes it easier to determine the threat level is for the guild. Well now that whole explanation makes me question the ethics of it all. Isn’t selling a sapient mana beast just wrong? You also mentioned pacts what is that?”
Steffen was the one who answered his question, by saying “I can see why you would wonder if it were ethical. The truth is she could leave whenever she wants, the guard’s upstairs aren’t to keep any of them in but to keep intruders out. The reason why we try and sell them is because we want to get some of our expenses back and if we can make a profit why shouldn’t we. There is a total of four other tiered beasts here. Three warbears tier four and a tier two draco, the draco hangs around the accountants. He finds all the moving money fascinating and has been working here for a few decades. Yes working he has an employee contract and salary like anyone else. The three warbears go out into the city every few months and just interact with the people. All we do is send a guard with them to make sure nothing untoward happens to them or if they want something we normally buy it. They even left once for a few months before coming back, all we did was give them each a small band with an information plate in it in case they ran into adventurers. That was difficult to explain because I would put a tier four mana beast on the intelligence level of around a six to ten year old. To answer your question, I fully believe it is ethical and they even understand that we are technically selling them. I should add that not everyone is allowed to handle tiered mana beast, you have to be given permission from the Helsara Kingdom. Tiered beasts have deep cultural significance to them and take the upmost care in protecting them.”
Thomas looked down at the large cat who was purring even louder at his deep tissue massage and asked. “Are you truly fine with someone putting a value on you and trying to sell you?”
The large cat cracked an eye open and slowly sat up and looked him in the eye. It nodded its head and shrugged its shoulder then she looked at Steffen and nodded to him. He surprisingly understood that she really didn’t care and that she was grateful for the care they had shown towards her. He just shrugged and said, “Huh fair enough then.”
Abigail then explained “Pacts are a contract between a mana beast and their partner. It’s similar to what you are thinking but different. It’s hard to explain, it’s primal almost. I would almost describe it as linking two souls together. It’s magic that goes back way before even the unification. It’s something that we can go over in depth later, it’s not something that really matters currently. Angel and I have one since we have been together since I was a child and the pact has only been in place for a few years. We were even luckier with having compatible mana types that helped boost each other’s power too.”
Thomas soaked in that information, him leaving Les was already showing him new things he never imagined. Finally, he said to the others “Well we got off topic, were supposed to be finding a mount for me.”
Abigail started to laugh and even Steffen had a confused look on his face. Thomas asked “What?”
Steffen just pointed to the large cat and said “She has been here for two years, and you are the first person who she allowed to touch her, let alone pet her. I thought you were going to pick her and ask if she wants to join you.”
Abigail joined in and said, “You looked like you were going to jump for joy when you saw her.”
He defended himself and said, “Well it wouldn’t be right to not go see the other ones! How do you even know she would want to come?” Thomas looked back at the cat, but she was looking away like he had betrayed her.
Steffen nodded at that and said, “That is your option sir, if you want, I can show you the others.”