"Wait, give us a minute, please." Sophia requested the dragon elf and scurried toward Liu Wei, who didn't leave his spot.
Upon reaching him, she went on whispering something in his ear, making him suddenly change his mind and give her a nod.
After informing the three students that they would be compensated for the breach of agreement, she turned toward Aerondor and put up a smile, "Mr. Fireheart, they are all yours to take. We'll be selling at a discounted price."
"Good that you know your place," Aerondor then gestured for his guard to lower the weapon and proceeded with the rest of the formalities.
Soon, all ten cubs along with their respective cages, were seen placed in a truck before they were taken away, leaving behind Liu Wei, who was staring at the copy of the bill sheet with a frustrated look on his face.
Sophia, who returned after sending the customer away, let out a deep sigh and apologized to him for causing trouble, "Sorry, Bro. I didn't expect it to turn this way. But, Genesis Corp is the whale here. It will be tough for us to do business in this city if we offend him."
Liu Wei responded by crumpling the piece of paper and took a glance at the three students patiently standing on the side.
Sophia then apologized to them before stating that she would compensate them with an extra 1000 Zeni from her pocket, along with the refund.
However, before any of them gave their reply, Liu Wei took out a brochure and placed it on the table.
Sophia was taken aback by his move. "You are going to give them?" She exclaimed. As Liu Wei nodded firmly, the three college students became curious and their attention shifted to the desk.
Sophia and Liu Wei went into a staring contest for the next five seconds before the half-elf took the brochure and handed it to Nikolas, who was standing nearby. "Our store offers a membership card to individuals who are not in any adventurer guild or bound to any government or private organization. Similar to the guilds, the club members will be given missions, and once they finish them, they will be paid with the promised rewards.
If you opt for a beast companion, you will also be provided with one on the same level as you without the need for any deposit, but outside of the mission, whatever materials you acquire in the dungeons whether you take its help or not, 30% of the loot must be given to the store as a share. Naturally, you are also responsible for its well-being and will be liable to pay compensation to the store if it dies. But, this one is completely your choice."
Adjusting her spectacles, she ended the explanation with, "One of the few advantages you have upon taking the membership is that you always get a 20% additional discount on the purchases you make here or at any branch of the store in other cities in the future. As mentioned in the brochure, we will also treat the beast companions you were provided for free, in case they got injured. Additionally, you can also contact the other members of the club through us to perform joint missions or even ask for their help in times of need.
Usually, the membership cards cost 100 Zeni a month and 1000 Zeni a year, but since the mistake was on our side, we are willing to give you for free aside from the refund. If you are not interested, my earlier offer of 1000 Zeni as part of compensation will be provided.
Please discuss it with each other and tell us your decision."
The three of them went to the corner and started their discussion while taking a look at the brochure once again.
Originally, they didn't even pay the full amount and merely reserved to purchase the beasts later on as they planned to acquire the Crystallized Spider Venom and a heap of Blue Sage grass from the dungeons in exchange for paying with money.
Sure, it did hurt their feelings a little bit when Aerondor forcefully snatched their reserved pets too, but the three of them weren't disappointed to the extent of suing the pet store for the breach of contract.
Now that they were even provided with significant compensation, they weren't losing no matter what option they chose.
Surprisingly, the three of them were on the same page and it only took 30 seconds or so to end their discussion before Nikolas informed the store owner, "Mr. Liu, we take the membership cards."
Handing out the membership cards with a microchip behind them, Liu Wei let out a smile as he wrote the words in the air, "Welcome to the club."
"Thank you." "Pleasure to work with you, Mr. Liu." "Thanks."
*Ding!
After a while;
The three of them left the store with all smiles as they not only didn't spend any money out of their pockets but also got free pets to use temporarily, although, for that, they might have to wait for a week to get them.
Sophia escorted them to the exit, not forgetting to remind them to promote the store in their academy.
Since all pets were sold for the day and it will take a week before the new batch of pets come in, according to her experience so far with the store, she erased the discount and replaced it with the words "advanced bookings open."
She then entered the store to say goodbye to the store owner and took an early leave for her house hunting.
Liu Wei once again thanked her for bringing a big client to the store and sent her off with a smile.
But once she was gone and he locked the door, Liu Wei's facial expression changed. His smile was wiped off his face, and he started climbing the stairs.
Soon, a holographic screen popped up before his eyes with a series of notifications recorded on it.
*Ding! 5 Tier-1 Smilodon cubs have been sold for 25000 Zeni. Please deposit 22500 Zeni into the system's account to convert them into 225 credits within 24 hours.
*Ding! 5 Tier-1 Direwolf cubs have been sold for 25000 Zeni. Please deposit 22500 Zeni into the system's account to convert them into 225 credits within 24 hours.
*Ding! You completed the side quest, "Sell 100 Direwolf cubs." 1000 credits were added to the account. 1 Prehistoric token (Elite) was sent to the inventory.
*Ding! You received a new side quest, "Sell 1000 Direwolf cubs."
Quest: Sell 1000 direwolf cubs
Reward: 1000 credits, 1 Prehistoric token (Heroic).
*Ding! Three new members joined the Primeval Pet Parlor's Elite Club. 3 dino tokens (normal) were sent to the inventory.
*Ding! The number of members in the club crossed 20. You completed the side quest, "Level up the Club." You receive a Dino token (Elite).
*Ding! You received a new quest, "Level-3 Club."
Quest: Level-3 Club (21/100)
Description: Recruit at least 100 individuals into the club to raise it to the next level.
Reward: Dino token (Heroic)
Liu Wei clenched his fists as he spoke to himself in his head, "Finally, A Heroic grade Dino token appeared. Had I known this, I would have sped up the recruitment instead of approaching it cautiously. Nevertheless, it isn't late either. Let's rework the benefits. Once this is done, I can proceed with the dungeon creation, a seed that will grow into a giant tree and bring down the entire Divinian council. And that will begin with the decimation of this city."