Chapter 385: Join Us
Kael and Andre remained motionless, waiting for the egg to do something after the second knock. A full minute passed while Kael held the black shell between both hands, watching the purple veins glow beneath its surface. He expected another twitch, a crack, or some sign that the creature inside intended to emerge.
The egg remained completely still.
Kael turned it slightly and listened before tapping the shell with one finger. Andre’s frown appeared almost immediately.
"Don’t do that. We know nothing about what’s inside, and provoking it before it hatches seems like a poor way to introduce yourself."
"It knocked first," Kael said. "I’m only answering."
"That does not make this a polite conversation. If something inside an unknown monster egg starts knocking, sensible people put it down and move away."
Kael looked at the egg again. "You moved away. I’m still holding it. Between us, the risk appears reasonably distributed."
Andre muttered something about Kael’s understanding of reason while the purple veins continued their slow pulse. Another half minute passed without movement, and Kael’s anticipation gradually faded.
"I was hoping it would hatch."
"And I was hoping to finish the day without anything trying to eat us."
"If it tried to eat me, I’d at least know what kind of creature it was."
Andre stared at him. "That may be the stupidest standard for discovery I’ve ever heard."
Kael ignored him and activated Inspect again. The same nearly useless window appeared above the egg.
[ FAMILIAR STATUS ]
====================================
Mutated Dark Beast Familiar
State: Unhatched
====================================
The Tower offered no species, incubation period, hatching requirements, or explanation of how Kael was supposed to care for the creature. He dismissed the window and examined the shell from another angle.
"It will probably resemble the Dark Beast."
Andre scratched his beard. "You keep saying that name as if it explains anything. What was the creature actually like?"
Kael thought back to the Rift.
"It was a big cat.." Kael said. "Violent too. It had too many teeth and seemed personally offended by my existence."
"That description applies ta half the monsters in the Tower."
"This one was especially strong, got uglier when it activated a rune on its body though."
"Y’er telling me, a monster was capable of activating a rune?"
"Yeah, something about a broken rune, called the Beast or something..."
Andre opened his mouth, then closed it. Kael saw that.
"What, you know something don’t you?"
"Nothin’ of value..."
"Tell me. You’re hiding something." Kael was persistent, and Andre knew it, and he’ll get more annoying if he doesn’t tell him.
"yer damn masters said he heard news about this very rune."
"The Beast? it’s a trash tier rune, I have one." Kael pulled out the broken rune of the Beast he got from the rift.
"Throw that stink away, I’m not talking about tha fragment, the one ya have is incomplete."
"What are you talking about then?"
"The complete one... though ya’ll have ta wait fer yer master t’a come back for it."
Kael knew he wasn’t getting more out of Andre. But it was still good news to hear of his master moving through the tower.
Kael turned the egg one final time before accepting that staring at it would not accelerate the process. "Do you know what makes familiars hatch?"
"Why would I know that?"
"You’re old, and you’ve spent years working with monster materials. I assumed some knowledge might have slipped into your head by accident."
Andre pointed toward the forge. "I know metal, Runes, leather, bone, and how ta turn dead monsters into useful equipment. That thing is alive, so it falls outside me professional interests."
"Smiths really should diversify."
"And Climbers should stop bringing me problems that breathe."
The dwarf considered the question despite his complaints. "There’ll be records somewhere on Floor Two. This place is older than most of the people wandering through it, and the archives are full of information if ya know where to search."
"Are they organized?"
Andre gave him a flat look. "Of course not. That would make them useful."
"So I could spend several days searching and still find nothing."
"Aye. Asking someone who’s been here too long would probably be faster. Old Climbers, guild masters, established merchants anyone who has seen enough unusual rewards."
Kael immediately thought of the Blue Rose’s bartender. The old man had lived on Community Floor 2 for longer than Kael understood, knew nearly everyone worth knowing, and always seemed to possess more information than he volunteered.
"The blue rose Guildmaster." He might have seen a familiar before."
Andre’s eyebrows "That man is a pain in the ass."
"He was pretty cordial."
"Those aren’t mutually exclusive."
"He gives me alcohol and hasn’t tried to kill me. That places him comfortably within the definition of a friend."
"Your standards for friendship are nearly as worrying as your standards for discovery."
Kael returned the egg to his inventory. "If the bartender knows anything, I’ll have an answer before the archives teach me ten conflicting methods of incubating a griffin."
"Try not to bring the thing back here immediately after it hatches," Andre said. "I’d like warning before an ugly creature with too many teeth starts chewing on my forge."
"I’ll give you several seconds."
Andre simply snorted and turned away.
Kael was already equipped for the Community Floor. The Malachor gauntlets covered his hands and forearms, while the reinforced trousers and long black coat fitted comfortably around the rest of his gear. The Darkness Rune remained inactive within its socket. His Spartan-style helmet was still the weakest part of the set, though it hid enough of his face to make recognition more difficult.
Kael lowered the helmet into place. Andre looked him over, taking in the polished black-and-green metal and the expensive coat.
"Now ya look like someone worth robbing."
"That sounds dangerous."
"It is. Half the people out there will want the equipment, and the other half will want to know who made it."
Kael started toward the door, but Andre called him back before he could leave.
"If anyone asks where the coat or gauntlets came from, do not mention my name. I’ve enjoyed having the doors closed."
Kael glanced toward the equipment. "I’ll tell them everything came from a random drop."
Andre nodded with immediate approval. "Good lad. Anyone stupid enough to believe that deserves to spend the next month searching for it."
Kael stepped outside and discovered that keeping Andre’s involvement secret might already be impossible.
Several Climbers near the forge noticed him first. Their eyes moved across his helmet, coat, and Malachor gauntlets while they tried to judge the rarity of everything he wore. One man stopped walking entirely.
Then someone looked past Kael and noticed the open forge.
"Andre’s working again."
The statement spread through the street faster than any system announcement. Climbers turned toward the workshop, and within moments, people were hurrying from every direction. One carried a broken spear, another held half a breastplate beneath his arm, and several began arguing over who had reached the forge first.
Kael had barely taken ten steps before the street behind him became a crowd. Someone claimed he had been waiting for more than a week. Another accused him of lying, and a third attempted to slip past both of them while concealing a cracked sword beneath his coat.
Andre’s voice erupted from inside the workshop.
"One at a fucking time! If ya break my door, I’ll use your bones to fix it!"
Kael smiled beneath his helmet and continued walking. The crowd’s interest in Andre had overwhelmed its curiosity about his equipment, which suited him perfectly. For once, attracting less attention merely required standing beside someone more desirable.
The farther Kael traveled from the forge, the more frequently people noticed him. The Nine Yang Destruction Body had changed him too much to disappear entirely beneath a coat. His shoulders had broadened, his frame had become denser, and he carried himself with the balance of someone accustomed to fighting.
Even so, nobody approached. People stared, whispered to their companions, and continued on their way. Kael could tolerate curiosity as long as it remained at a distance.
He eventually reached the Blue Rose. The familiar sign hung over the entrance, and the interior had changed so little that Kael briefly wondered whether time moved differently inside. Climbers filled the tables, eating while studying maps, comparing equipment, and arguing over the division of loot. Behind the counter, the old bartender polished a glass with the same cloth Kael remembered from his previous visits.
Possibly the same glass as well.
The bartender looked up when Kael approached, smiled, and reached beneath the counter before Kael could speak. He placed a bottle and a small glass before him, poured a drink, and slid it across the polished wood.
Kael, raised the glass "Salud." and drank. The alcohol burned pleasantly down his throat before settling warm in his stomach.
"That’s still good."
"It usually improves when someone else pays for it," the bartender said. His gaze traveled over Kael’s coat, gauntlets, and helmet. "You appear to have become considerably more expensive since your last visit."
"Andre repaired what survived Floor 11 and replaced what didn’t."
The bartender began polishing the glass again. "You should join my guild."