New Fantasy World: Galeia-Chapter 26

We reached our objective when we entered a storage hall of sorts, filled with crates, chests, and large wooden containers. I purchased three thick blank books from a woman similar to the priestess that received me. One was the size of a regular notebook, though in book form, with about one thousand pages. The pages were blank; no lines, dots or squares to guide what I'd write, which I was okay with. I had mastered the mythical skill of cursive.

The other two were intended as sketchbooks, and looked the part. Both had around four hundred pages each, fifty centimeters tall and twenty wide. I also got ten writing utensils; quills, pencils and erasers. I paid twenty silver for everything, apparently the materials were top notch.

We left the cathedral after that, walking out to the street. I noticed a lot of people looking at us on the way, especially people from the Church. They were smiling and whispering among themselves as if a glorious event was upon them.

"What's with the gossip?" I asked Alyssa in a quiet voice. "Do I have something on my face?"

She giggled. "They must be happy for me. We clergy are a united bunch." she smiled and shyly waved back at a group of priests, who in turn gave her a set of twelve thumbs up.

"That's pretty cute." I laughed with her. Supportive circles are a nice thing to have.

We left the grounds and walked over to a parking lot of sorts connected to the road.

"Looking for a ride, Lady Alyssa?" a gruff voice called.

Next to a carriage stood a woman built like a brick shithouse. She wore a leather top and pants, and nothing else. Two black horses waited in the front.

"Norma, long time no see." Alyssa said back. "We're going to the Burhim & Pam breeding farm."

The driver looked me over and smiled. "And who's the lady?" her short dark hair and brown skin made me think of an Amazon.

What a chad. Look at that charismatic smile. I nodded to her.

"Natasha, nice to meet you."

"Nice indeed." she opened the door to the vehicle. "Fifty copper discount for the nice view." she winked at me and laughed. I gave her the money and she got on top of the carriage surprisingly quickly.

I laughed and followed Alyssa as she climbed on the vehicle. The insides were identical to the one from before.

I sat down and she took a spot in front of me. I took a sketchbook and a pencil.

"Get comfortable, I'll take my time." I looked at her.

"Okay." she blushed slightly.

I had noticed before while sketching me and Lapia that my hands were more precise, taking less time to shape what I had in mind.

The strokes were decisive, accurate and quick. I chalked it up to my high dexterity. Ten minutes later I had finished the initial sketch, going with shading and depth next. I had no colored pencils, so I ended with a cold drawing. The details made up for it, having drawn every single visible scale on her body and lines of her horns.

Around twenty minutes later, I had finished. Even though I took my time to avoid as many mistakes as I could, I was impressed at the final product and how quickly I completed the piece.

I presented her the picture and she was speechless for a few moments.

"Holy crap." she covered her mouth. "This is beautiful."

"You are." I smiled. "You can have it. I'll keep future drawings, though." I carefully detached the page from the book, handing it over.

She stared at it and stroke her cheek. "Thank you. I've never seen myself like this except in mirrors." the paper disappeared and she moved over to me, sitting on my lap.

"I'm glad you liked it." I hugged her and rested my head on her chest. They made for godly pillows.

"You must've laughed at my pathetic drawing." she said, laughing awkwardly.

"I found it cute." I took the form out and pointed at the arms she doodled. "You have a basic sense of body dimension, so it's not pathetic." I looked up at her and smiled. "You need to work on your tail, though." I giggled at the squiggly line.

"You meanie." she pouted. "I can't see it very well."

"Oh, didn't think of that." I thought of her butt-cheeks blocking the view and grinned.

"Breeding Grounds!" Norma called, tapping on the roof of the carriage. "You better not have made a mess inside there." she laughed loudly. I laughed too.

"Good ol' Norma." Alyssa sighed and opened the door.

She fixed her dress and left the vehicle, I followed doing the same.

A wide expanse of green greeted us. We had crossed the inner wall at some point, the road was paved at least. Land spread for kilometers, animals here and there. Some were small like cats, those I spotted near. Some were as big as elephants. Both too far to appraise or see any details.

A farm looking property connected to the road via a short path. Trees surrounding it. It looked like a country side farm that could be found anywhere, but at least ten times larger. It was two stories tall and wide as could be.

"I'm getting excited." I admitted, my thoughts gravitated to dragons and wyverns. Unless those are Luzo ancestors.

Alyssa giggled and took my hand. We walked to the farm, a short man coming to greet us.

"Welcome to Burhim & Pam." he opened his arms wide. "My name is Jök, what can I do for you, Ladies?" he was wearing leather and was leaning on a walking stick. He had Asian features, inclined towards the southern islands.

[Jök, Tilen Human Lvl 53 Merchant]

I appraised him and was surprised to see a new race.

"I'm Natasha, my partner here is Alyssa." I introduced ourselves, the Luzo smiled and waved. The man nodded. "I'm looking for a battle mount. Strong enough to pull a carriage. Not too big, though."

"Let's go inside, then." he gestured to the closest building and walked towards it, I noticed a limp. "Lady Natasha, we here at Burhim & Pam proud ourselves for providing the best. We deal in cattle and beasts of burden. We also have a wide variety of E'eral beasts you might be interested in. If any catches your fancy, don't hesitate to let me know."

We came into the building and the raw smell of animals and their waste assaulted my senses. The building was deceptively large. It reminded me of a barn, but white in its entirety, much like any edifice I had seen so far in Riverfield. The floor was covered with straw and leaves. Animals were kept behind a fence, spacious room to go around.

The closest animals walked over to the fence. Regular horses, Bhin, which were red horses with ox horns, and others I wasn't too interested in to appraise. I saw a horse that had four eyes and a horn on its nose. I stared at the animal for a few seconds trying to figure out how that came to be.

[Bey'tu Lvl 9]

"Looks like they like you already." Alyssa said next to me, caressing a Bhin's head. The animals were all looking at me.

"Well, isn't that a surprise." Jök laughed cheerfully. "You seem to have quite the affinity, Lady Natasha."

"So it would seem." I kept the details to myself, he didn't exactly need to know that. "Do you have higher level beasts? Above one hundred?" I turned to the man.

He thought for a second and turned around. "This way."

The animals followed us and stopped once we reached a wall that separated their shed with the next one.

The same scene welcomed us, animals walking over to us as if appealing to me. The same animals with a few additions, horses with added body parts. Their levels too low. The man ignored them and kept going, entering the next shed. After the fourth, he stopped and turned to us.

"Animals here are higher level. Their strength confirmed at being able to pull twenty tonnes of dead weight." he presented the space. It looked exactly the same as the previous ones except for the animals. "We have Untu: large and agile felines. Bhin..."

The man went on about the animals, introducing them by name and features.

I saw a couple Untu a distance away, recognizable by their shape and color. I remembered Alyssa's comment about being expensive to keep. I could sustain that, probably for a few hundred years. A cat though? I had my doubts. True, a cat would be helpful in combat, but their eccentric nature would be troublesome.

There were cats of various shapes, sizes and colors. Some looked fairly simple, others with horns or tusks. What looked like dogs were present as well, unnecesary extra things like horns, spikes, or tusks on their bodies.

I looked at other animals, but wasn't very impressed. I miss my penguin.

"Oh, a Ratnak." Alyssa's voice reached me and I turned to where she was looking. "Those are rare."

A savior? Hope bloomed in my heart.

There, what would be best described as a drake lied resting on the ground staring at me. It stood up when we made eye contact and closed the distance at a slow pace. Its body was covered in red scales. Deep blue eyes locked with mine.

As it approached, I noticed it was at least four meters from its head to the end of its short tail. Its nostrils opening up every time it took a breath. Those were big enough to fit my entire arm inside. From head to floor, Its was three meters tall at the very least. Strong legs supporting its frame. The neck a meter long, covered in large scales. Its face had no lips, the pointy teeth opening slightly as it exhaled. It reeked of iron and copper.

It was a drake through and through.

The thing's eyes never left me or blinked until it stood right in front of me, lifting its head.

[Ratnak Lvl 150]

"These are pretty good." Alyssa commented. "They eat metal." she said offhandedly.

"They what?" I turned to her.

"Ah, you looked away." the man said, now behind me and a few meters back.

I noticed movement from my periphery and turned back to the beast, only to see its forehead the instant before it headbutted me.

The impact made me close my eyes, expecting to be knocked back and out. It felt like a weak punch, however. My neck moved back a few centimeters. I heard a loud roar followed by a thud and opened my eyes.

It was sprawled on the ground, clutching its head with its four digit claws. If they could be called that. No opposable thumbs... Not a paw either.

It was growling in pain, its eyes closed.

"Ha! You fool." I snickered. "You can't kill me, I'm a badass bitch." I laughed, the momentary panic gone in an instant.

For good measure, I wiped my forehead in case it wounded me, but not even a bump was left, the area felt a bit numb, though.

I heard Alyssa sigh. "They are quite smart, but simple minded. In the wild they form herds, following the strongest one of the bunch. They find mines and feast on them until nothing remains, sometimes even entering dungeons to find ore veins." she smiled at me. "Now that you proved to be stronger, it'll follow you even if it means breaking the walls." she laughed as I gaped at her.

"Oh." I turned to the man. "Would it have been better if I played dead?"

"If you want her, you did perfectly." his smile was not amused.

I got the message. I better not claim ignorance or they'll be troublesome. His eyes told me something similar.

"Uh. How much for the Ratnak?" I asked with defeat. At least it looked cool. Not as cool as a green penguin, though.

"One gold coin." the man answered.

CHEAP! I screamed in my mind. This cataclysm looking motherfucker is ONE gold piece?

"What about information on how to take care of... her?" I asked the man.

"Yes, her." he nodded. "There's an office next to this shed. We'll sign paperwork and give you a booklet about Ratnaks. It would seem your partner is very knowledgeable, however." his smile was still a bit tense.

"That's right. I know them." Alyssa confirmed. I looked at her and she smiled.

I approached her and asked in a quiet voice. "Are you okay with this? Are these animals somehow related to your ancestors or something?" her smile went so up, her eyes squinted.

"Not at all. I come from the Storm Dragons." she fought back laughter. "These are as distant as a pig." she giggled. "You're so cute." and kissed me on the cheek.

Storm Dragons? That sounded badass.

"Well." I fixed my hair. Though the impact was negligible, my hair took a hit. "I'll buy it."