One year earlier;
Year 41, Third Age of Astron;
City of Triton, Republic of Lineria, Eastern Continent;
As the students were done for the first day of school, Lucas and Raph left the academy and hit the streets.
The Triton City was bustling with youngsters roaming on the streets, especially in the Mercentile lane.
In this commercial district, there's nothing that you can fail to find. Every kind of store is available here, and so, the daily traffic is also quite high.
Three friends, wearing the school uniform with the crest of a crowned dragon and a sword, were discussing what beast companion they should take.
"Bro, if you want to impress Diana, you cannot go with aggressive beasts, I'm telling you," Nikolas advised Tyler, whom he had grown up with since childhood. "Listen to me and buy something like an Erudian. It looks cute and can help you cast illusions. Moreover, Diana loves housecats, right?"
Before the other party responded, the broody-looking fellow, Draven of the noble but poor Ironhelm family, voiced out his opinion in a firm tone, "It is a useless pet costing thousands of Zeni to purchase and have high maintenance. What if she won't be impressed? You will throw it away? Just get a beast that is of low maintenance but has great use in dungeons, such as Elemental Hawks. You can get a pair for less than a thousand Zeni."
"Elemental Hawks?" Nikolas scoffed at his roommate's suggestion.
He argued, "It is a common bred pet seen everywhere. People will look down on you for owning it."
"But, it is still a pet that has the potential to reach 4-Tier," Draven Ironhelm calmly countered.
Nikolas didn't admit defeat and continued to argue, "It will take its lifetime to reach such a level. There is a reason why they are sold at a very low price."
"It's the skill of the swordsman, not the sharpness of the blade," Draven didn't back down to make his point clear.
Seeing Nikolas was getting riled up by Draven's counterargument, and it seemed like these rivals were about to settle it with a battle as usual, Tyler decided to intervene but made not to side with either of them.
Just as he was wondering about what he should say, his eyes spotted something, and he immediately took the opportunity to distract them.
"Hey guys, look over there. There's an opening for a new pet store." He pointed his finger at the building, not so far away from their current location. It was a three-story building with the name displayed large enough to be noticed by passersby.
As the three of them reached the store named Primeval Pets Parlor, their eyes also spotted the board placed outside the entrance.
"Grand Opening. Flat 50% discount on all pets available today."
The heavy flat discount attracted their attention and the three of them stepped inside of the store.
The ground floor was completely wooden and furnished with pet food displayed on the shelves of the walls.
The first impression of the customers was that the store looked neat and clean, although it wasn't spacious.
A pale-faced young man with round glasses, of eastern origin, was seen arranging the accessories in his section.
Just like with the store, the first impression he gave off was that he looks neat and a bit classy.
The 26-year-old young man sensed the presence of customers as they got inside and turned around to face them.
He let out a smile and then raised his hand. A small amount of mana escaped from his body in the form of a fireball.
The three youngsters were taken aback by the young man's actions. They thought he was going to attack them and their first instinct was to dodge.
However, their fears didn't come true and the fireball merely transformed itself into a bunch of words. "Hello, welcome to Primeval Pets Parlor. I'm Liu Wei."
"Eh? It was a greeting? Phew…" Nikolas sighed in relief and immediately scolded the young man as the words dispersed. "What's with this mischief, mister?"
The young man shot out another fireball, startling them once again.
The words then appeared in the air. "I apologize, I can't speak. My assistant went outside for lunch and hasn't returned yet." Followed by that, the young man bowed slightly.
The store owner's situation made them feel pity for him.
Nikolas couldn't help but apologize for his earlier outburst and stated his original purpose. "We are here to buy a pet for our friend."
The young man replied with the same method as earlier, "Follow me upstairs."
The three of them went upstairs, only to be surprised by the presence of two giant beasts peacefully sleeping in their respective cages.
"What the…"
One looked like a wolf, but much bigger in size. The other looked similar to that of a giant lioness, but with two massive teeth like a walrus.
"It's always pleasant to see such expressions on the customers…"
Their reaction brought a smile to the store owner, who could not talk.
He went on to write the words in the air, telling them to look at the description on the boards displayed before every cage and select one if they were interested.
The three youngsters cautiously walked toward the cage where a giant-toothed tiger was sleeping.
Name: Smilodon
Affinity: Fire
Stage: 6-Tier (reached maximum)
Current age: 12 years
Personality: solitary, cautious (against multiple enemies), aggressive (against single enemy), competitive, and stubborn.
Lifespan: 25 years
Rental price: 1000 Zeni per day.
Refundable deposit: 500,000 Zeni
Not for sale
"6-Tier? Eek" "500,000 Zeni deposit for rent?"
Tyler and Draven reacted at the same time, although for different reasons.
Meanwhile, Nikolas observed the descriptions of the cubs. The four cubs all have different elements as their affinity. One is a fire element like the big one. The second one is water, the third one is lightning, and the fourth one is dark.
As for their prices, each saber-toothed tiger cub is sold for 10,000 Zeni.
The extremely high prices made Tyler speechless for a second. He didn't even stay there for a very long time and swiftly rushed to the other side where the wolf cubs were placed.
Name: Dire Wolf
Stage: 6-tier (Reached maximum)
Affinity: Lightning
Current age: 4 years
Personality: Social, cautious (when alone), aggressive (when in a group), highly competitive (against the same species), and very loyal to the owner.
Life span: 10 years
Rental price: 1000 Zeni per day
Refundable deposit: 1,000,000 Zeni.
Not for sale
"This one even has over 1 million Zeni. Never ever I felt so poor in my life… sigh…"
Upon seeing that the dire wolf cubs also have the same prices, Tyler lost his interest in staying in the store any longer.
Turning toward the store owner, he said with a bitter smile, "I'm sorry for wasting your time. I can't afford any of these pets. I will be leaving."
"Wait…" Nikolas grabbed his friend's shirt and stopped him. As Tyler looked at him, his friend reminded him of the 50% discount.
Before Tyler answered, Draven shook his head and spoke instead of his friend, "Even then, it will be over 5,000 Zeni. Judging by the adult, both of them are easily high-maintenance beasts, meaning the costs to raise it will burn a hole in his pocket. Let's leave and look for the elemental hawks."
Nikolas clenched his fist in frustration. Feeling that his friend was missing out on an opportunity, he turned toward the owner and asked him about the estimated cost of raising it.
The young man simply let out a smile as he wrote the words in the air using fire energy. "The pets in my store are special. They don't need any food as they will absorb the natural energy from the surroundings and feed themselves. All they need is enough space to sleep and play around."
"Ohh!" The three of them have a priceless reaction as they read those words. All of a sudden, they felt like it was worth the price.
As if the store owner wanted to hit the hot iron, he wiped out the sentence and wrote a new sentence, this time explaining about its combat readiness and the maturity age where they reach their full strength.
"All the cubs are battle-ready. You can take them to the dungeon and see it for yourselves. Smilodon cubs need 5 years to reach full maturity. Dire wolf cubs need 2 years to reach full maturity."
The moment he spoke out those words, the hands of Nikolas and Draven Ironhelm were raised up in the air just like the students raise their hands in the classroom.
"I want a Dire wolf cub of fire attribute" "I also want a Dire wolf cub, but of lightning attribute"
Tyler, on the other hand, fell into deep thoughts.
He only had roughly 5900 Zeni as savings. If he spends 5,000 Zeni here, it'll become tough for him to even survive until the end of the month.
Furthermore, what if he made a wrong choice? Once bonded with the pet, he cannot go back.
Of course, he might be able to sever the bond and sell it to someone else, but such a thought never came to Tyler's mind.
As Tyler was wondering whether he should take this chance or visit another pet store in the area, his shoulder was tapped twice, making him come out of his thoughts.
Then, Tyler saw Nikolas' index finger pointed to the front, where the words appeared in the air, one more time.
"If you purchase four of them together, you'll get an additional discount of 15% on the total bill value. That will be 17000 Zeni for four cubs. Or you can pay with stalks of Blue Sage grass. We will buy them at market price."
"Eh? Sage grass?"
They stood there, completely flabbergasted.