Mid Evening - Mid Winter : Atlas Academy | Atlas, Bahamut

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"Hmm... What is this dark pink one over here?"

Hearing Krystallo, the young man behind the counter poked his head over and looked at where she was pointing. "That one is a Southern Lotus Cake. It has a very similar base to the Pink Lotus Cake, but its taste is quite unique. I typically recommend it for elders and ancients, but everyone's palate is different."

Overhearing them, I got curious and looked over. "Is there any reason you mainly recommend it to older stages?"

He quickly nodded. "It has Lantern in it, which has a very refreshing taste but can taste quite bitter depending on how developed one's tongue is."

-Hm?- "What's Lantern? This is the first time I've heard of it."

He immediately smiled. "It's a more recently developed 'flavoring poison', similar to Ocari, except instead of that spicy burn, it's more cool and refreshing."

"Ah, I see..." Essentially, flavoring poisons were human-grade poisons or venoms that dragons had developed as a spice, sauce, or flavoring agent, akin to things like malic acid or hot sauce for humans. -But they're all pretty unique flavors... I wonder what this stuff is like...- "Could I try a bit?"

"Sure, one moment." He quickly disappeared behind the counter before reappearing with a green flower petal in hand. "Just set this on your tongue and suck on it for a second. The petal should start to dissolve."

Taking it from him with my aura, I did as instructed and almost immediately tasted something I had long since forgotten existed. -It's.. minty?-

I barely even recognized it. -I think I have lost my taste for it though...- Although I remember liking mint as a human, the taste wasn't the most appealing anymore. -Maybe it's just too strong though...- "Do you have a more subtle version of it?"

"We do, but the only thing it's in is rockfruit. Would you still like to try it?"

"Hmm..." Rockfruit were a hard fruit with a sour and tart taste similar to an unripened muscadine or grape but lacked most of the bitterness. -The one Grandmother got me to try was alright, but I can't say I'm a big fan of it... Mint could work with it though...- "I guess it's worth a shot."

Giving a quick nod, the man behind the counter disappeared into the back, and I finally turned my attention back to Krystallo.

She was still closely inspecting the pastries, cakes, and candies through the glass display with a troubled expression. -How cute...- "Have you decided what you want to get?"

She quickly looked over at me before glancing at Fterá, who was happily nibbling on a human-sized velvet cake in her dragon form. "The velvet cake is really good.. but I want to try something new. I'm just not sure what I'd like."

I couldn't help but smile seeing her staring at the sweets so intently. "Well, feel free to get a bunch and try them. I'll pay, so don't worry about holding back."

She instantly froze before looking back at me with a gleam in her eyes. "Really?!"

Looking at the prices, I saw most of the human-sized portions between 1 and 5 gold, meaning even if she wanted to use all of her weekly allowance, she could only get 2 expensive ones.

-But, this is Atlas; even if I created and spent a few royal gold, it wouldn't even make a ripple...- "Go for it! You will have to share some with me though."

"Of course!" Her vibrant excitement instantly filled the room as she changed to her dragon form and motioned over the other attendant to get and try several things.

-Geez.. she really is growing like a weed...- My smile quickly warmed, but at the same time, a faint feeling of regret started to surface in the back of my mind.

The last three years were some of her most important years of development, the beginning of her filling out the mold of who she would be in the future, and yet I had been totally absent.

As her brother, it made my heart ache no matter how I tried to twist it, but at the same time, fate had laid out its cards for our benefit.

Without a curtain of naivete hiding the path I had unknowingly taken, I had no reason to doubt myself anymore, but at the same time, I could no longer happily lounge around while idly waiting to grow.

From that point forward, I had to take every step with the intent of growing stronger until the gods looming over the Holy Kingdom were no longer a threat.. even if that came at the cost of spending time with family.

-But everything in life is about balance...- Looking at Krystallo's back, my regret slowly started to fade. -Even if I will still need to leave and do things away from home, I can make the most of the time I have whenever I am with her...-

Walking up to her, I tapped her shoulder with my aura and pointed into the window. "Have you tried this one yet? I think it's called a cheesecake; I heard it's pretty good."

Stolen story; please report.

The young attendant Krystallo previously called over quickly agreed. "It's one of our specialties! I highly recommend it."

Krystallo's eyes instantly lit up like a bright star in a dark night sky. "Okay! Try this one first, though."

She quickly moved a piece of cake in front of me with her aura, which I promptly snatched out of the air and tried. "Mm, that one's pretty good."

"Right?" Her expression was simply washed with joy.

"What about this one next? I think it's chocolate?" A playful smile quickly crept onto my face as I pointed to a fluffy cake.

"Chocolate? What's that? It sounds tasty!"

Seeing her turn back to the attendant with a radiant smile, my anxiousness started to melt away. -It seems like my worries of her losing her innocent childishness were needless...-

Continuing to bounce off her excitement, we ended up trying dozens of sweets until she eventually settled on her favorite, and we split up with Fterá and Palaiós to finally head home.

At that point, I had changed back to my dragon form, but since Krystallo still hadn't finished her cake, she sat on my head and ate to her heart's content in her humanoid form.

-She really is adorable...- "Are you happy with your decision to get the cake?"

She nodded instantly. "Mhm, mhm!"

She ended up getting one of the newer recipes called a fish cake, which was a lighter and more fruity blend of flavors that used fish scales in it. -It's an odd blend, but among what I tried, it's definitely one of the best...-

Likely noticing me eyeing it with my aura, she leaned over and looked me in the eye. "Do you want another piece?"

"Haha, I'm okay. It's really good, but I would rather you be the one to enjoy the final bites."

"Hehe~" She quickly straightened back up before tossing the final small slice into the side of my mouth.

"Mmm..." Without even realizing what she did, the taste of the cake filled my mouth, and a look of satisfaction came to my face. -Damn, that's good...- But I quickly caught up to speed. "Oi, wait! I told you that you should have been the one to enjoy the pleasure of the last piece."

"Hehe~, how could I monopolize it when you didn't enjoy what you got?"

"Do you mean the rockfruit? It wasn't unenjoyable; it just wasn't bliss in the form of a fruit.. thing."

She quickly straightened up with a look of pride on her face. "But you enjoyed the fish cake, didn't you? In that case, I should share it!"

I gave her a surprised look before letting out a sigh. "Haah..." -I guess she picked up more from me when we were younger than I thought...-

"Anyway, besides that, where are we going?"

Noticing the mix of curiosity and confusion in her voice, I glanced up at her. "What do you mean?"

"Well, I thought we were going home, but that's in the other direction..." She fell into thought for a moment before her eyes lit up. "Are we going to the space rune?! Are you taking me somewhere cool?!"

"Haha, not quite." The urge to take her to Siratha only grew upon hearing her excitement, but I had to hold back. "While we were walking around town, I heard about a big auction coming up in a few days. Do you know anything about it?"

Her excitement instantly grew. "The Chalastís auction?! Isn't that solely reserved for the most noble of guests?!"

-The most noble?- "I'm not sure, I have only just been hearing about it, but I can't deny that I'm interested."

"Huh?" She quickly started to calm down upon realizing I hadn't planned this in advance. "So, where are we going then?"

"Well, if we want to attend it, the person we're going to see will be someone who can help us." Finally turning onto a different street, I walked down a few buildings and made my way into a rundown shop. "Plus, if we are going to attend something like that, I need a bit more spending money."

She gave me a confused look as she glanced around the empty shop before becoming curious when we started making our way down to the smithy.

*thump* *thump* *thump* Feeling the rhythmic vibrations in the ground, I quickly smiled. -Sweet.. he's here...-

Finally reaching the bottom, we approached the smithy's massive door and knocked. *thud-thud*

The hammering instantly stopped. "You may enter."

*Click-creaaak* As the door swung open, a wave of heat blasted past us, and we were presented with the view of a forge covered in all sorts of junk and Sir Atsáli standing at the center with his scales covered in soot.

He would have looked like a kid who had a little too much fun with a new toy had it not been for his demeanor, but that changed the moment he saw me. "Vasilias! I didn't think I would see you so soon!" His expression instantly lit up. "It seems we have another guest as well! Please come in and have a seat."

Finally walking inside and over to the table, I set Krystallo down and let her change to her dragon form so the temperature wasn't so uncomfortable.

But Sir Atsáli got down to business instantly. "So, what brought you back so soon? I expected it to be a few months before you brought me any mythril." He cleaned himself off as he spoke.

"Well, I do have some mythril, but I mainly came to inquire about something."

He quickly shot me a quizzical look. "And what would that be? Is it related to her?" He immediately gave Krystallo a curious look.

"Haha, somewhat. Although I’m not sure if you two have already met, she is my sister, Krystallo. Krystallo, this is Sir Atsáli."

Sir Atsáli quickly reached his wing across the table. "It's my pleasure to meet another young Ragnarok, young miss."

She instantly tensed up, but I was quick to calm her down. "He works with Mother and Father often, so you don't need to worry about using that name."

Finally, with a bit of hesitancy, she moved her wing up and tapped it against his.

It was a bit of an awkward greeting, but it broke the ice between them. "So, what was it you came to ask about?"

I quickly took a moment to think of how to ask before simply going for it. "I've been walking around town a good bit today, and I overheard some things about an auction called the Chalastís auction. I was wondering if you knew anything about it." -Maybe it's something I could go to with Krystallo...-

His smile instantly turned sly. "Hoho.. now that isn’t what I expected..."

My expression quickly turned confused. -W..what's that reaction about?-

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