Coming into the world with a small, albeit piercing howl, the creature coming from the egg was very familiar to Nisha. She had hunted quite a few of them when she was still Little Flame.
Dressed in a suit of sanden fur like its sh.e.l.l, a newborn wolf emerged. It’s bristly fur shook as its cry ran against the heavens, as if announcing its birth.
Locking eyes with the dragon, a trace of natural understanding flashed through them. It lowered its head in front of her, showing loyalty and grace.
As the master she naturally sensed the connection made by the seal, binding the two together like a series of cobwebs. Waving her hand, the insignificant tie shattered instantly, dispersed by her intent.
While she had been living in the [Dragon’s Den] the elf had seen many races swearing their allegiance to either the territory itself or to one of her siblings. A flimsy constraint such as the contract imprinted by the guild was far below their sincerity.
Towering proudly under the sky, Nisha extended her hand with the cut towards the budding beast, the awakened intelligence already developed enough to understand the choice it was offered.
Licking another drop of blood to reaffirm its choice, the wolf bowed his head under her hand, accepting the offer made by the dragon. Still as silent as a day giving way to night, a flash of radiance enveloped the small body from head to toe, sealing their agreement.
Nisha knew right now the bond might not be as strong as the shackles imprinted by the guild, yet she also trusted that in time, her way would prove to be far stronger as the contract could ever be.
Charmed by having obtained a true follower, the dragon smiled happily, cradling the wolf in her hands while admiring the new features that appeared after the flash subsided.
Dyed in a rich golden amber colour now, the body of the wolf grew in one size, with a single white line running along its spine. Pulsing faintly in her [Spirit Sight], there was even a trace of a beast core forming in the body of a newborn monster that could barely qualify as having reached the first rank.
Whatever your motivation was, I will not let you regret the choice you made today.
As she continued to caress the soft fur, the bristly strands of hair smoothened out and rearranged themselves, transforming into a shape similar to scales. While it still had furs and no plates, the new look gave the wolf a formidable air.
“What happened? This isn’t how the contract is supposed to go.”
Finding his bearings first again while the adopted daughter of the house communicated with her beast, Galan stepped forward with a puzzled look.
“I’ve heard that some contracts can fail, but if that was the case, would a monster peacefully behave itself? Young Mistress Nisha, do you have an idea what happened?”
Handing over her new companion without a worry, the elf replied calmly.
“Sure, go ahead uncle Galan. Her name is Accalia.”
With the relations.h.i.+p between them well defined Nisha wasn’t anxious to hand the little bundle of fur over to the butler and neither was the wolf unsettled by changing hands.
Being slightly large for the elf’s palms, the beast fit right into Galan’s hands instead, who performed the same spell as the appraiser at the store.
“[Identify]!”
Sending a wave of mana towards Accalia, the rebound entered his body again, while Henry inched closer to pet the fluffy pup.
Regarding the spell itself she already formed a slight understanding, the general skills useful in mundane life also included an instruction on it. By sending out an investigative surge and reading the results when it returned, it was possible to get a general gist of information regarding the object the spell is used on. So far the dragon had never felt the need to put this knowledge into action as she had a hold on all of her possessions - at least the parts she was interested in - and where she placed them in her [Inner s.p.a.ce]. With the addition of little Accalia - which she conveniently dubbed Lia for short in her mind - practicing this spell held some merit now, especially since there was still another egg left.
“This is strange, no matter how I look at it. A regular contract doesn’t involve any flas.h.i.+ng lights or changing appearances…”
Mumbling to himself, the old man stared at the small wolf as if he was trying to see through the secret her body held by willpower alone.
“Grandpa Galan, don’t keep us on our toes. You identified the little one’s race, right? What is it?”
Captured by the purring response of the golden wolf, Henry brought back Galan’s thoughts into the present.
“Well, according to the feeling I get from the [Identify] spell this is without a doubt a [Wind Wolf]. They are commonly found roaming the open fields and plains and usually rank as second to third grade monsters. This one here, however, already possesses mana and can only be a.s.sessed as a variant cla.s.s beast, which shouldn’t be possible. I can’t really make heads or tails out of it, the chances for a newborn monster to awaken as a beast can’t even be calculated, not to mention if you combine that with the chance of a variant emerging. Clearly the contract influenced this event, but it eludes me how exactly. It’s vexing.
Mistress Nisha, did you feel anything out of place when you formed the bond?”
On one hand, the elf admired the old servant. In his dedication to the family, she knew he had opted to forsake several chances to ascend to a n.o.ble t.i.tle. His wife supported his decision and the couple served the duke household for many years now. Their son took the spot of the head of one of the leading count t.i.tles beneath the duke, although his family was still on a similar scale as the Dharnas house.
In the end, she couldn’t really explain the actions she took either and decided to refrain from telling Galan.
“I’m sorry uncle, I’m afraid I have no idea either. Would you mind holding Lia for a moment? I still need to contract the second egg so brother Henry can take over.”
Glossing over the unusual matter as much as possible, the dragon once again cut her finger in a different angle, the previous incision already showed signs of closing.
Seeing her decisive action, the old man too was unsure whether she knew something or not, and could only admit defeat. Retreating several steps, he made sure to take the young master with him to keep the distance, lest another unfortunate accident happened this time.
The second egg had already attracted Nisha’s attention inside the Guild store. Although it was neither the strongest nor the weakest signature she could read with her special sight, the exceptional clarity as well as the element it belonged to greatly intrigued her.
s.h.i.+mmering in pulsating black and white lights, the monster inside most likely belonged to one of the elements she possessed as well, the Life and Death attribute. Stuck on creating a skill from the Seal she researched in the library as well as the lack of insight regarding her third gift, the elf decided to purchase this egg, no matter if it was a low, high or middle grade product. Even if the current tier was deemed as low grade, she now held some confidence regarding the contract due to the previous matter with Accalia.
Dripping a drop of her dragon blood on the seal, she expected the same scenario that happened awhile ago.
Gathering a cloud of only a single attribute, the reality differed from her expectations.
Refining a single edge from the gathered grey cloud, a blade of the same colour instantly slashed out two times, drawing two circles intersecting each other two times.
Falling into four equal parts, the inner content appeared to be empty, lest someone was blessed with an ocular skill akin to Nisha.
Breaking free from its constraints, a cloud of intermixing black and white lights devoured a mist of blood. When the blade had slashed out two times, the cuts intersected directly above the seal, severing the contract on its own accord this time and scattering the drop of blood.
s.h.i.+vering in the air, the mist wavered for a second before rus.h.i.+ng towards Nisha’s body. Rather than taking a defensive stance, she was more interested why there was no loss of mana and aura this time and what the ent.i.ty tried to do.
While the males stared at the remains of the sh.e.l.l, they couldn’t help but be puzzled. Meanwhile, the elven girl stared in wonder at her own body as the cloud merged with her own mana, giving her strength back and filling a small amount of energy that left her when contracting with the [Wind Wolf].
Instead of danger or repulsion, the process felt natural and she easily let it happen, if she wanted she could have retaliated against the invader by expelling her spirit or mana.
“Really, one irregularity after another. This time it’s an empty egg? I’ve heard they are exceedingly rare as well. Maybe we should let the young miss enter a gambling den, you seem to have a great talent for drawing in luck. Or is it misfortune? I don’t even know…”
Giving up on questioning her any further, Galan could only sigh in discontentedness. Even if she could somehow have knowledge regarding the contract, creating an empty egg wasn’t something even duke level characters could accomplish.
“Uncle Galan, it’s different this time. Rather than being empty, this little fellow doesn’t seem to be a monster. It has a body made completely from mana, if that makes sense.”
Somehow, Nisha’s smile did not let the old man doubt that piece of information at all. Skipping her current condition, he could only be shocked again and again.
“This time it’s a spirit? You really know how to shorten my lifespan, how much of a miracle do you want to be? Receiving a spirit outside of the church? Forget about a variation or contract failure, we need to get you into a casino.”
Staring into empty s.p.a.ce, the two youths watched as Galan’s spirit slowly escaped his mortal sh.e.l.l. Fl.u.s.tered, Henry stepped up to fill the gap.
“What’s a spirit, grandpa? Are they very amazing?”
Returning to reality, he didn’t know how often he shook his head during the current day.
“Rather than saying amazing, it’s a first time I ever heard someone was able to contract a spirit from an egg. It goes against all established rules. If you desire a spirit as a follower, you have to pay your respects at the church and earnestly pray towards the G.o.d governing the element. Even then, bestowing a spirit in this way could be said to be rarer than … I don’t even know a proper comparison. As far as I know, only high priests, long serving clergymen and super devout followers ever had the chance to contract an elemental spirit.
Ahh, I don’t know anymore.”
Plunging into one of the seats prepared around the table where the ceremonial knife had been prepared, Nisha felt slightly guilty about the dispirited old man.
It’s not like this is my fault. Is it? No definitely not. I haven’t said anything, haven’t heard anything, haven’t seen anything.
Banis.h.i.+ng the great three evils, the dragon finally handed over the blade to her step-brother, signaling him with her eyes to continue. If it went on like this, maybe the remaining life span of Galan would really disappear.
Heroically taking up the duty, the blond haired young n.o.ble opened his own egg, revealing the cloud patterned one first.
Slas.h.i.+ng directly at his palm, he didn’t care about any decorum, which in turn attracted a frown from his step sister.
“At least clean the blade first, even I know that should be the basic courtesy.”
Pointing out how two different kinds of blood were now smeared on the ceremonial knife as well as the egg, Henry donned a carefree smile in response to Nisha’s rebuke.
“Isn’t it just a bit of blood. We’re from the same line now anyway, so you could say it’s the same anyhow. This much is fine, I tell you.”
His words weren’t far off from the truth, he had clearly underestimated the sharpness of the blade after having seen the elf slash her finger twice to be able to get the necessary blood drops.
Right now, a big gush of blood basically bathed the ground with the sanguine liquid after he dropped some on the seal. The excitement sealed his sense of pain anyway, so only Nisha was left to click her tongue at the excessive wound.
As the young man’s blood seeped into the sh.e.l.l, the insignia on it started to light up and the egg trembled, the monster within struggling to get out. In the time it took a cup of tea to cool down, a grey beak broke through the constraints, sending large fissures everywhere.
Clenching his hand tightly, the owner didn’t even seem to notice how he dug into his palm even more, excitement on his face. A beak was fine with him, as long as the monster belonged into the mid to giant size category, he could definitely groom a flying mount, sending endless excitement down his spine.
With a lion’s cry, the sh.e.l.l finally broke apart, revealing a grey and white body with four limbs and two wings, completed by a set of perceptive golden eyes.
Trembling to the point of having to hold onto the table, Henry urgently called over the one who could give him a final affirmation. Meanwhile, Nisha inched closer to the table as well, having recovered Lia from the servant’s spiritless hands, slightly caressing her soft fur.
Rebounding from his stupor, Galan hurried over and casted the [Identify] spell as fast as he could.
“Tell me, grandpa, just tell me.”
Renewed by the atmosphere, a joyful beaming face plastered itself all over the old man’s face, giving the two youths hope as well.
Splattering a few drops of blood again as he clenched his fists even tighter, Henry hung at the old man’s lips.
“It’s a Guardian Griffin!”