Asher found himself wandering the city. It has been a while since he had any free time. In his arms sat the lotto egg. It was as big as an ostrich egg easily. Asher remember what Cynthia said, "It is a lotto egg. A lotto is a creature that can lay eggs randomly there is no way to tell what will be until it hatches. You have to be patient and let it hatch."
She told Asher to spend time with it as it should hatch by end of day. She also went over the process to forming a contract. Since the creature will be a newborn, it would not be hard. Asher used his scan ability watch the gage. It was filling slowly in the past two hours it only increased to 10 out of 100.
"This is going to take forever." The city seemed so peaceful. Almost frighteningly so. It was the kind of scene you would see before you find out the city is going to be attack in a movie. The silence before the storm. Asher wander through the city.
"I leave for the dungeon in two days. So, it should be enough time for my first taming contract." Asher thought out loud. He found himself at the market. There was plenty of stalls around, but they seemed rather empty.
He looked around. At some of the stalls, there was hardly any items. "See something you like?" Asher turned to find the lady that sold him flowers.
"Hey, it's the lady with dead husband." Asher said without thinking.
The lady laughed at Asher's rude comment. "It's Lilian. Tell me, did that boy enjoy the flowers?" She giggled.
"Boy? What boy?" Asher suddenly remembered the conversation they had a few days ago. "Oh right. It was perfect." Asher let out a nervous laugh wanting to change the conversation. "Umm... Why is the stall so empty?"
"It is because of the Spirit Festival. Most of the materials have been bought or is being stored for the festival. Most of the people are stockpiling as a lot of people from the surrounding village and town will be coming here." Lilian smiled with her wrinkly face. "We all have a shortage around this time of the year."
Lilian looked around before leaning in and whispering. "If you need some more flowers for that boy, I am sure I can put something together."
"Umm..." Asher tried to think of an excuse as Mirr popped into his head. "Well, he left a while ago to be a squire at the war front. So, it will be a while before he comes back." Meanwhile in his head, 'Why the hell did he face appear? He is just a dumb prince who can't dodge a punch. It was just I was put on the spot. Yeah, that's it.'
"Oh my. If he that capable to become a squire in the army, he must be a very competent mage. They are usual so selective to who can do that, right?" Lilian gave a tired laugh. "I remember when my Hubert went off to war. I missed him so terribly. I would wait by a tree to the west of the city and wait for him."
'Why do you sound like a romance novel mc?' Asher thought, 'If that man did show up shirtless on a horse with longer hair than you, I would be pissed.' Asher laughed nervously, "Sounds like you are a luck woman."
The woman smiled. "Oh yes, my Hubert is my greatest gift. May the Guide rest his soul."
"Guide? Oh, I see. Right. I am sorry." Asher had a fuzzy knowledge of the gods in this world. Lyra was the goddess of light, and the patron god of the Holy Kingdom. She was called the the Guide because she was supposedly the one who lead souls into the afterlife where Anam God of soul and ruler of the afterlife takes them.
The Holy Kingdom gave reverence to all the gods and goddess but saw Lyra as the best deity due to the fact that she was not just the guide of the dead, but the guide to wisdom, inspiration, knowledge, and destiny. She was always depicted as a beautiful woman in a white hood with a iron lantern in one hand and a compass in the other.
Asher did not really believe much in the gods of this world. But there were many people who were religious. Many people wore a pendant around their neck as her symbol for protection, and most people buried people with a compass for her to use to guide them to the land of Anam.
Lilian continued to talk Asher's ear off. Until finally, Asher was able to slip away when someone else fell into Lilian's claws. He let out a sigh. "That woman could talk a parrot to death." Asher head an area just outside the city. He checked the egg in his bag.
[Scan complete]
Name: Lotto Egg
Description: An egg from a Lotto. No telling what is inside. Pour mana into into it to make it hatch.
52/100 MP
'Wow, she talked so long that the egg is now over halfway ready to hatch.' Asher sighed as he found a tree to sit under. 'I am started to get why these elements suck so much. Taming takes forever to get anywhere. Half the day is already over.'
Asher closed his eyes and entered meditation. He sat quietly on top of the ocean. The black expanse sat above him, while the star-filled ocean shifted below him. He sat quietly with his thoughts. The aetheric essences seemed to slow down their appearance. And it was taking him longer to get anywhere.
It had already almost been a few days since he formed his core, yet it feels like it has been several months since then. But now fewer essence appeared out of the empty void than before. Cynthia did note that it would become harder and harder as he became stronger and stronger. "I wonder if this is what she meant."
Asher looked around. He has been hesitant to come back to return to the ocean after the monster attack. But right now, it was empty. The ocean was calm and quiet. That creature was truly nightmare fuel. Asher open his eyes to the sight of his status from the meditation. He barely collected anything. Only 10 essence per element and considering he need 5000 per element to advance to intermediate level it would take him nearly two years at this rate.
Asher checked the egg again. "Looks like it is now up to 80. So, it should hatch when I get back to the shop. It is getting late. Let's head back Eggbert." He playful talk to the egg. "God I am a lonely kid."
Asher took the long trek back to the city. As he walks towards the city, he spotted several little kids in a circle around something on the street. As he approaches, he saw a small bird that the kids poked and kicked. "Hey knock it off!"
The kids jumped as Asher shouts and run off. "Let's get out of here." They ran away. Asher knelt by the bird. It was a small bird no bigger than his fist with beautifully emerald-green feathers. It looked like hummingbird.
[Scan Complete]
Monster: Apatite Sylph
Quality: Novice
HP: 3/20
MP: 0/50
Description: A rare, beautiful bird-type monster that is infused with wind and poison-elements. It beautifully green colored fathers are coated with a paralytic poison that it uses to paralyze predators. This bird can flap its wings 13 beat per second. It is rare to see this creature as it will constantly migrate long distances looking for flowers with potent aetheric activity.
The bird screeched at him. It was heavily wounded, and blood died many of it pretty green feathers red. "Those kinds couldn't have made these kinds of wounds." He reached down to help the little bird. The bird pecked at the back of his hand drawing blood. "Ouch. Hey, I am trying to help you."
He pulled out a health potion and poured it on the ground. The bird looked and examined the liquid before looking up at the boy. Asher showed the bird it was safe by drink it. Satisficed, the bird licked up the potion it wound slowly closed.
The bird seemed calmer. It even let Asher wrap its hurt wing in a bandage. "There you go. The potion only will help more physical wounds like cuts so you will still be sore." Asher petted the birds little head with his two fingers. "You are going to be okay."
An eerie limelight left his fingertips and wrapped around the sylph. The sylph disappeared into the light and the ball of light went into the back of Asher's left hand. Asher was shocked by the event. When the light disappeared, a new tattoo was now on the back of his hand. It was a tattoo of the little bird flying. This was quickly flowed by a notification.
[Congratulations! You have tamed your first monster.]
[Would you like to name your first tamed monster?]
{Y/N}
Asher looked stunned. "What did I do?" He could not remember doing any spell or activating a skill. But now he tamed his first monster which it was this random bird. Asher rushed back into the city. If anyone knew what is going on, it would be Cynthia.