Coach Poae walked with Jacob until they got to the adventurer guild. "You're not safe at home until this hatches. I strongly suggest you take the Adventurer's Guild seriously and join them. They can arrange for a safe place until that happens." He turned toward the Representative from the Guild.
The Guild Representative nodded and placed his hand on Jacob's shoulder, "In principle, the Adventurer's Guild accepts."
"I will look in on him later this week." Coach Poae had invested a lot more time into securing Jacob than he anticipated. His own stomach growled, it was time for dinner.
"Bye Coach." Jacob waved and entered the build entry portal again.
"My name is Wessbrant, I handle new arrivals from time to time but things are not normally as.. chaotic?" Wessbrant looked like he was searching for the correct word but his pause was minor. "Typically, the test is done beforehand and my duties keep me here. Because of the circumstances and scene earlier, it will be impossible for you to go and hatch this outside, on your own. Also, once hatched, it will not be allowed within the Adventurer's Guild Building. You will have to get a beastkeepers ring or something of the sort." Wessbrant started up the stairs.
"Beastkeepers Ring.." Jacob thought about the earring he had given to Zadkeil's Granddaughter. "Is there a place where I can buy one?"
"If you have something to exchange that's of equal value, I'm sure that one can be had quite easily. They are considerably more rare than storage rings. Larger Gems mean that there is a larger space inside." Wessbrant didn't slow down one bit, he had other things to do.
Jacob was reminded of the Earring yet again, it had more than just one gem. Lines appeared over his face when he remembered the Granddaughters haughty and air headed response.
"This is you room." Wessbrant opened the door.
Jacob stepped inside and found that there were lots of formations, they were almost everywhere. Even the bedsheets themselves looked like they had runes embroidered on them. "This room is too much. Besides, I still need to get Shortie as well."
He turned his hand over and a small pile of Cores rolled onto the bed. "How many of these do you think will be needed to get two rings?" Jacob didn't know how long everything would take but the Adventuer's guild seemed a little nicer than the others he had run into, he didn't feel threatened by asking.
"That's quite a haul." Wessbrant looked at the pile of Cores. There were several grade 4 beast cores and even a few grade 5. "Where did you get these?" He picked one of them up and dropped it on the bedsheet quickly. His hand was burned, he chanted a quick heal and grabbed an cloth from his own storage to handle the Core. "This one should cover it."
"Okay." Jacob swept the rest into his storage like he didn't care and looked at Wessbrant. "Oh.. By the way, how do I hatch this thing?" The Egg was sitting on the bed.
"You can turn the temperature up in this room with this dialing diagram on the wall. Feed it energy and keep it warm. If you have any questions about the formations, just ask someone below. Put your hand here to open the door, only your hand will allow entry." Wessbrant demonstrated how even his own hand wouldn't open the door anymore.
"Got it." Jacob didn't know why things felt like they were moving too fast but he was happy to be in a room and in a place that had at least promised in some way to help him adjust.
Jacob played with the temperature controls in the room for a minute, it was such a modernized convenience that it left him feeling a bit homesick. The room warmed after a few breaths and there was a nice spot in the middle of the room that looked like a spell circle. He pulled a bunch of furs from his storage ring, laid them on the floor and piled monster cores around the edge in a ring. The Egg would eventually hatch and if it was anything like Shortie, it would want to eat.
Rather than leaving meat out to spoil, Jacob had chosen an alternative route. When the cores sat in the circle, it was like the formation had turned them to flags. They rose from the ground and began to circle the Egg in an orbit.
"Neat." Jacob poked at the ring and the core he touched wobbled slightly before returning to orbit.
It had been a long day, a bed was on the other side of the room. Jacob laid down for rest after eating and fell asleep.
The next morning, Wessbrant came back with two rings and another contribution point tablet. "These are the best rings I could find and here what was leftover after the exchange."
"So I could have used Contribution Points instead?" Jacob was curious, not that the outcome of the transaction had bothered him.
"You have contribution points? But, you've never registered." Wessbrant looked confused, so he asked.
"I spent a year at the Frontier, I have a few tablets with contribution points." Jacob pulled out two he had gotten from Teksivion along with Zadkeil's Merchant Token.
"Ahh. That makes sense. So it's like that. If you'd like to visit our Auction in the future, just ask your attendant. I h ave many things to do but I had come back personally to warn you." Wessbrant stared at Jacob with a sense of pity.
Not liking the sound of that, Jacob had concerns, "Warn me about what?"
"Your beast. It's being targeted in an investigation. There is a City Lord that believes your beast is the one responsible for something that happened in one of the Outposts." Wessbrant thumbed his chin, he could see Jacob's unease. "So it may have some truth to it. No matter, I'm sure there is reason if any existed."
"About that." Jacob wanted to explain.
Wessbrant stopped him, "What's done is in the past, If you're here, then what once was, is no longer. However, you should thank me in the future. I've already brought him to you."
Jacob checked the beast ring and inside, Shortie was sleeping. "Perfect." Delighted, he passed the contribution point tablet that Wessbrant had given him back. "Then consider this my thanks."
"This is too much, I cannot accept. However, If you want to donate it to the Adventurer's Guild, then that would be acceptable." Wessbrant dodged the tip and turned it into a chance for a charitable donation.
Jacob nodded and let go of the tablet.
Wessbrant said his thanks once again and closed the door behind him.
Inside the Ring, Jacob could feel Shortie's snores. "At least he's able to sleep."
For several days, Jacob stayed in the room without leaving. He wanted to be present when the Egg finally hatched but there was no telling when that would be. There was no visible movement. He had considered putting it into the Ring and letting things happen inside but there was no formation. The Formation was doing something and it was likely good for the Egg, Jacob didn't have the heart to change things mid-way so he was forced to watch patiently.
Rather than ignoring the Amenities that the Guild had to offer, Jacob opened the door to his room and went down to the receptionist to look for the list of services they had. He knew it wasn't a hotel but even Wessbrant had told him to ask.
There was usually no harm in asking questions, usually.
"Um. Excuse me. I was told that If I had any questions I could come to ask here. Is that right?" Jacob asked the receptionist.
"The Guild can answer most questions, you need only ask. There is a fee, depending on the information." She winked and passed over a sheet of paper. "This is a request for information. Just fill it out, if you need anything in particular, just include it on the sheet."
Jacob didn't like filling out paperwork but paperwork meant that someone would definitely see the request and it wouldn't go ignored. He wrote down the information that they asked and when it was done, he passed it back to the receptionist.
"Oh, I see you're quite literate. That's wonderful." her tone change slightly like she was impressed and the receptionist walked to behind some shelves, disappearing form sight.
Jacob sat back down.
"Well, well, well.. Look what we've got here!" A familiar voice came from the far end of the room.
Jacob tensed up.
"You little shit, listen to me when I'm talking to you!" The man rushed forward, he was missing an arm. He grabbed onto Jacob's neck and slammed him into the wall, his dagger was drawn and he was about to ram it through Jacob's ribs.
A beam of black light poured down like a hurricane and came between the two of them. The one armed man took a step back and his cloak's hood fell down.
It was the City Lord from the outpost. 'But how? I thought he was dead!' Jacob was alarmed, he was still choking despite being free from the City Lord's grasp.
"This is the Territory of the Guild, you dare tresspass and assault our members?" The light got stronger and moved to cover the City Lord and his lackeys that had come along.
The were pressed to the ground, when the struggled, it pulsed, the more they struggled, the more it pulsed. Driven into the floor, the lackey's were the first to lose consciousness, leaving only the Outpost City Lord aware of what was going on.
"This matter, I saw it clearly. There is law in the Capital, I won't stand for tribal blood lust to contaminate our society, or the Guild. To attack the young, are you not ashamed?" The voice got deep and sounded like a growl, there was little doubt that the voice was losing it's patience.
"Who the hell are you?!" The City Lord tried to raise his head but the pressure was too great.
"I'm just a Gym Teacher.." Coach Poae stepped out of the black light and mocked them openly.
The Outpost City Lord had attacked a student, a member of the Guild.
Coach Poae cracked his knuckles and punched the City Lord in the face until he passed out bleeding. When he lost consciousness, he threw him across the hallway and out into the Streets, body slamming him into a large stone that sat at the entrance.
'Conflict, Fight or Die!' Coach Poae was disinterested in people picking on children. He tied the City Lord up as best he could and called the Guards. The Guild was perfectly within their rights to punish those who caused problems within their territory and Coach Poae, had done just that.