The First Legendary Beast Master

Chapter 1878 Just A Small Loan

”Since Iʼve found one of the many targets for my search within the region, do you mind if I ask questions while you wait for customers?”

Karl shrugged. ”I donʼt mind. Even if there are customers here, there are some questions that I can still answer. Itʼs not like everything is a secret, and sometimes letting fun things slip helps make allies of the most unlikely sorts.”

Veda frowned. That might be true for a World Dragon Avatar, but that was not true for nearly anyone else in the Immortal Realms. If you revealed anything resembling a weakness or secret, it would be used against you in the future.

”Youʼre a remarkably open person. Are you not worried that someone will come to try to induct you into their Guild by force?”

Karl shrugged. ”I have considered it. But if they donʼt send a Legend, I donʼt see it as a major danger, as the Darklight Host is perfectly capable of fielding Supreme Ranked reinforcements for a battle.

Weʼre also working on proper base defences, as weʼve just moved into this city location.

Once theyʼre done, we wonʼt have too much left to worry about, as the city itself will be capable of defending the members. So, my concern is less that someone will come here to try to grab me, than that they might target other members when they are outside the Guild.

We might have most of the things we need right here, but we still go out to collect resources fairly regularly, and I greatly dislike the prospect of losing members to violence.”

”Donʼt we all? Well, all of us from sane and reasonable factions. There is nothing more annoying for the Blue Dragons than to lose one of their people when they are on a data gathering mission.

Who knows how much was lost with them?

They might have died with all their notes in their inventory, and certainly anything that they had learned on that mission would be lost with them.”

Karl nodded in agreement, but he did notice that the concern of the Seeker was that the knowledge would be lost, more than that the person with the knowledge would be lost. It was a subtle distinction, but once all the knowledge was recovered, they would be much less devastated.

While they were talking, a small group of customers came in, looking excited and holding something carefully in their hands.

Karl was about to send one of the Priestesses to take care of them, but Cara appeared in a uniform dress, half black and half white.

”Ladies, welcome to the Darklight Host Guild Store, what can we help you with today?”

”We found a precious resource, and we would like to trade it directly for gear, instead of through the Clan Warehouse.”

Cara nodded, and they held out the object, which appeared to be a massive pearl, the size of a bowling ball.

Cara examined it and smiled. ”Oh, this is good. A perfectly formed black pearl from a Void Immortal clam. Alright, we can offer you a good price for that. What would you like in exchange?”

The girls put on their best ”negotiating” faces, trying to hide how eager they were to get the items they were trading for.

Veda smiled as she noticed their failure, as well as the Chaos Badgerʼs clear interest in the pearl, which she was hiding much better.

”We were hoping to exchange it for three staves, one for each of us. At the Rare Grade.”

That last part was added in a deliberately casual tone that told anyone with a bit of experience that they didnʼt expect to actually get all three, or not all three at Rare Grade.

But the pearl was an Epic Grade crafting material, and should weigh well over five kilos. Pearls that size were very rarely used intact, and were usually ground for pearl powder to use in Alchemy or other crafting recipes. So, it was actually something that should be sold by weight.

But they didnʼt know that.

Karl did the mental calculation, and found that even the three Rare Grade staves would still be a heavy discount on the price of the pearl if the exchange was made at the Guild Warehouse.

At least, at the prices both were turned in for. They marked them up before resale, and that would change the trade in to purchase math.

”Alright, I will put out all the staves weʼve got, and you can pick three Rare Grade staves from the rack,” Cara agreed.

She really did grab all the staves from the Guild Storeʼs storage and lined them up along the wall, dozens of staves, all slightly different in an overwhelming quantity, as they all had different abilities, and would need to be examined individually, then compared.

The group also had two mages and a druid.

So, they were all looking for very different skills on the weapons that they were picking.

Interestingly, the druid was about to pick a staff that had a bear transformation on it.

”You donʼt have a bear form?” Cara asked.

”I took the full healing route because weʼre so short on healers in our class. So, I donʼt have any of the transformation druid skills at all. But having a bear form would make me much safer.”

Cara smiled. ”I know just the spell for you. In fact, I can grant you a skill book in advance, and you can pay it back later with work in the shop.”

Karl narrowed his eyes, wondering what the badger was up to.

The problem with Cara causing trouble was that she never had that telltale sense of guilt that most would have when they were doing something wrong. She only did what was entertaining, so there was no change in emotions or sudden surges in the intensity of their connection that would tip Karl off without searching for her thoughts.

And now, it was a bit late to be stopping her. She had already made the offer.

Cara held out a book. ”All you have to do is come work in the shop until your wages cover the price of the skill book, and weʼre even. I wonʼt even ask for your full wage, half to you, half to your debt.”

The young druid thought about the options and then nodded. ”But I will need to alter my schedule around the needs of my group.”

”Oh, thatʼs not an issue. Weʼre very flexible with scheduling.”

[Because they didnʼt actually need another worker.] Karl thought.

Cara handed the girl the book, and the druid immediately flipped it open, even as her friends screamed in terror.

”No! Wait, donʼt do it! Thatʼs an Artifact Grade Skill Book!”

But it was too late.

{New Skill Learned} [Warbeast], Immortal Rank, Artifact Grade Transformation. Grants a fully armoured bestial form with Epic Grade Physical Abilities and health pool.