"So then, since only the three of us haven't been here before, what should we do first?" Asked Elif while the group casually walked through the bustling city.
"Whatever you wish, your Highness." Replied Idonea instinctively.
"Why are you always so serious around me, Idonea? It's no fun when you always act like that; come on, loosen up." Remarked Elif as he playfully pouted.
"I can not, your Highness; as your follower, I must always act per my status and position." Said Idonea seriously, though that demeanor didn't last for long.
"If you don't loosen up, I'll do what I did earlier in the carriage again. Whether we're in a private or public setting, it makes no difference to me." Said Elif brazenly with a smirk, though his words sparked curiosity in Eyvor.
"What is he talking about?" Asked Eyvor quietly while walking beside Marley.
"Um, I can't say; His Highness ordered me never to talk about it; if he finds out, I'll be severely punished. Though between you and me, it was something slightly vulgar." Whispered Marley with blushed cheeks, though when Elif looked in her direction, she quickly acted as if she was observing her surroundings.
'S-Something vulgar?' Thought Eyvor in confusion, though when she saw that both Idonea and Marley had noticeable blushes, she also gained a flush while her mind started imagining incredibly vulgar things.
"F-Fine, your Highness, the spirit rock gambling store sounds interesting." Said Idonea with blushed cheeks as she quickly selected a random store so Elif wouldn't remind her of that event.
"Well, you heard the lady, onward toward that gambling store; it better be more entertaining than the gambling leaf back home." Declared Elif as he ignored Marley and shifted his focus to the spirit rock gambling store.
Approaching the multi-floor building, when we entered the store, we were met with a large room filled with people and piles of different colored and various-sized rocks on the ground encased in a bubble-like dome.
"Ah, an Elf, a rare sight. Hello and welcome to the finest spirit rock gambling store in all of the Fairy Archipelago- Young Mistress Eyvor! My apologies for not greeting you sooner; I didn't see you there." Said a pleasant-looking attendant who quickly ignored Elif and bowed toward Eyvor when he caught sight of her.
"This is a first; to think someone actually ignored me." Commented Elif casually; however, he quickly turned around and eyed Illumia when he heard a snicker from behind, though he only saw the usual bland expression on her face.
"It's fine; however, I'm currently not the group leader, merely accompanying a friend." Remarked Eyvor as she pointed at Elif, currently glaring at the bland Illumia, though she sounded awkward when mentioning the word friend.
"I-I understand, young mistress Eyvor; however, if you don't mind waiting a few seconds, I'll summon the manager and have him attend to you." Replied the attendant, a little confused about why he sensed awkwardness when mentioning Elif, though he wasn't foolish enough to ask about that and just ignored it while quickly heading toward his boss's office.
"Hmm, where'd the attendant go?" Asked Elif after finally giving up on Illumia, though the moment he did so, he heard another snicker, to which his face twitched in annoyance.
"He went to go and inform the manager of our arrival; oh, it seems he's already returning." Said Eyvor, slightly smiling at the friendly banter between Elif and Illumia before noticing the attendant approaching their location with another person.
"Young Mistress Eyvor, it is an honor to have you step inside my humble store while also giving me the pleasure of personally attending to you. Tell me, what can I do for you?" Said the elegantly dressed manager respectfully with a bow.
"You're really stealing all the spotlight, huh, Eyvor." Said Elif in amusement, though this time, not only did he hear Illumia snicker, but Marley joined in as well, much to his annoyance.
"I didn't mean to; It's just our Clan is pretty reclusive, so only clan members will have knowledge of the outside world; everyone else is quite ignorant of the OverRealm." Replied Eyvor with an awkward smile, causing the manager to become curious at the identity of Elif as he was able to speak on even terms with Eyvor.
"Excuse my impoliteness, sir, but just as young mistress Eyvor said, most Fairies are quite ignorant of the outside affairs, and I'm not too different." Said the manager with the same respect as when he spoke to Eyvor, though when he finally laid eyes on Elif, he was shocked.
"P-Prince Elif!? M-My apologies for not realizing your identity sooner; I hope my actions didn't offend you!" Exclaimed the manager as he quickly bowed before Elif.
"It's fine; I don't mind. Anyways, what's this store about?" Replied Elif with a wave of his hand.
"Spirit rock gambling is a popular trend that has been going on for many Eons. Usually, you would only mine spirit stones from spirit veins; however, one day, someone came up with an idea to mine large pieces of rocks from a spirit vein and sell them alongside normal rocks. That is why it is a gamble, as the customer doesn't know whether they'll luck out and win a rock filled with spirit stones or not." Explained the manager as he began leading the group through the store while watching other people buy several rocks.
"So it is all luck then? If that's so, it is such a boring concept; if no skill is involved, then it's simply a waste of time and resources." Said Elif with a frown.
"While it may seem to be all luck, that is only for the inexperienced." Said the manager with a slight smile as he headed up the stairs.
"Where are we heading to?"
"To a floor filled with higher ranked spirit stones, young mistress Eyvor; the first couple floors are only filled with spirit stones of the earth rank; I'm sure people of your status wouldn't want to waste your time on such insignificant stones." Replied the manager as he and the group continued walking up the stairs, passing by several floors before eventually stopping at the topmost floor.
"Here we are, the topmost floor, where you can find up to God-ranked spirit stones. There are rumors that you can even find Immortal-ranked spirit stones at the top-most floor; however, they are all lies; Immortal spirit stones are not that easy to come by." Announced the Manager while whispering the second part quietly.
The floor was currently empty of customers besides us; however, it was filled with large piles of stones, all looking much more radiant than the ones on the floors below.
"Actions speak louder than words, Prince Elif; why not give it a try before further judgment." Declared the Manager with a smile while gesturing to a pile of glowing stones.
Seeing the pile of glowing stones, I scrutinized every single glowing rock; however, I couldn't tell the difference, and unfortunately, the bubble-like dome prevented me from using my divine sense. Though right when I was about to take a shot in the dark and pick a random rock, an idea came to mind; something that would truly make this enjoyable.
"Before I do that, are the four of you interested in playing a little game?" Asked Elif in a mysterious tone, garnering the attention of the four women.
"What do you have in mind, Prince Elif?" Asked Eyvor, though she already had a rough idea about what he would suggest.
"How about the five of us compete against each other? Each one of us will pick five stones; whoever has the most spirit stones after breaking open all the rocks will win. Sound good?" Declared Elif with a smile seeing their eager expression.
"I'm down for it, your Highness. Yes. Yes. Why not? It could be interesting." Replied Marley, Illumia, Idonea, and Eyvor, respectively.
"However, your Highness, will this be merely for fun, or will something be on the line?" Asked Marley curiously, her words grabbing Idonea and Eyvor's attention.
"Of course, there will be something on the line; otherwise, it wouldn't be nearly as fun, would it? Anyways, we'll talk about that part once we've each collected five rocks, and don't hold back; since I'm the one who suggested the bet, I'll be paying for it." Replied Elif with a mischievous smile before waving his hand to the four ladies, signaling to search for their five rocks.
"Also, Illumia, no using your divine sense; it wouldn't make this fun if every rock you picked were filled with spirit stones." Stated Elif as he eyed Illumia.
"Prince Elif, I can-"
"Don't bother trying to talk me out of it; I already said I'm paying, so just go and pick out some rocks." Said Elif as he interrupted Eyvor before walking away, completely ignoring her.
Since this was my first time ever laying eyes on these types of rocks, I had no idea what I was looking for, and I didn't know if there was some outward appearance that indicated a particular rock had spirit stones in them, and one didn't. So with that mindset, I tried my absolute best, and after roughly thirty minutes of scrutinizing every single rock, I finally picked out five stones that I felt good about, though in reality, I had no idea if they were good.
When I finally returned to our original spot, I noticed I was the last to finish gathering their five rocks.
"Now that we are all here, what shall we compete for?" Asked Eyvor solemnly while looking at each person.
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Elven Legacy (Chapter 127: Eyvor Arrives & Birger XOXO Sarah) || Hero of Harmony (Chapter 9: Jinx!) || One Piece: Chaos Kong (Chapter 12: Make It Double!) at [patreon.com/Ozonelayer691]