Chapter 48- New addition

"Ah, I see you've found our prized monster."

The store clerk happily trod over with slow and steady steps. As he did, the bird in Liara's hands let out a cute yet aggressive squawk.

He chuckled slightly and shook his head as Liara tried to calm it down.

"That there is a baby snow bird, a monster not typically found on this continent." He explained while backing off slightly before continuing.

Due to the rarity of the monster, he thought he could make a tidy sum. But, it had currently attacked everyone even remotely interested in it so far, gradually lowering its value as fewer buyers were interested each day.

"If a familiar doesn't bond with someone, it will never obey their orders, no matter how much you order it to." Seeing it calmly nestled into Liara's hand once he backed off, caused him to sigh in resignation.

It was the first time he had seen it calmly allow itself to be touched.

Liara happily held it closer to her chest, as though she were codling a small child. Looking up at Lucious, she smiled innocently before being cut off before she could open her mouth.

"How much will it cost us?" Lucious asked in anticipation of Liara's question.

"Seeing as it's taken a liking to your friend here, how about we settle it for just twenty gold?" He said with a friendly grin, his eyes gleaming with anticipation.

"Ten gold, or we walk and you can keep looking for another buyer." Lucious replied confidently, not leaving room for negotiation.

He knew the store clerk was trying to rip him off, and shook his head.

"And throw in a monster ring for us to store it." He continued with a cocky grin.

The store clerk furrowed his brows and spoke up in an annoyed huff. "If I do that then I'd be making a large loss, best I can do is fifteen gold and a saddle."

A mischievous grin spread across Lucious's face before he turned to Liara and shook his head.

"Let's go. We'll find some other place to buy you a familiar." Lucious didn't wait for her to reply before turning towards the exit and walking away.

Disheartened at being told to leave the familiar behind, Liara put the snow bird back in its cage and chased after him.

"Wait." It wasn't until they reached the door that the store clerk called out in resignation. "You have a deal."

Grinning triumphantly, Lucious withdrew ten gold and handed it over as the store clerk led Liara and the snow bird to a small table near the entrance.

Using his skills as a monster tamer, a faint white shimmer enveloped his form before a small white light shot towards Liara. The light then extended towards the snow bird, connecting them both like a piece of string as he formed a connection between them.

Once done, he grabbed a small white ring and handed it over to Liara before explaining its usage to her.

"Hehe, from now on, you're name will be Loa~" she happily murmured as it flew towards her shoulder.

Wrapping up their business, Lucious and Liara, along with their new addition Loa, set out and braved the overcrowded streets of the marketplace once again.

After exploring a small portion of the city, the duo finally returned to the tavern for something to eat.

"It's only noon, want to go take a quest after this?" Lucious asked as he sat down opposite Liara.

However, instead of agreeing as he anticipated, Liara shook her head and crossed her arms. "You promised we could explore the reverse dungeon once I learned frozen arrow. Well I've already learned it."

Her voice was stubborn as she stared at him with a pout. Lucious scratched the back of his head then sighed in resignation.

"Yeah, I guess I did promise that... Alright. We can explore the first floor after we've eaten." Lucious said, defeated in the face of her cute pout.

Lucious and Liara ordered a light meal and discussed various strategies to keep them both safe.

The first few floors should be safe enough against monsters... but against other people are a different matter. Lucious thought to himself as he ate.

He had already made a small list of thugs disguised as adventurers that the protagonist of the novel encounters. But thinking they are the only ones would be far too naive.

Liara, oblivious to his thoughts, happily tore some bread and fed it to Loa.

System can you show me Loa's stats?

[Name:Loa]

[Race: snow bird]

[Contracted to – Liara Faren Elgarwyn]

[Elemental Affinities – Ice

[Level: 0]

[Exp: 7/20]

[HP: 5/5]

[MP: 10/10]

[Energy: 5/5]

[Strength: 2]

[Agility: 4]

[Stamina: 1]

[Endurance: 2]

[Intelligence: 10]

[Perception: 10]

So they're as low as they look? Makes sense since it's basically an infant monster.

Lucious rubbed his brow then thought back to his impressive collection of monster cores.

One way to speed up the growth of a monsters strength is to feed it monster cores. The stronger the monster core, the larger the increase in strength.

He had been saving the monster cores to develop, strengthen and level up his aura and mana cores to advance from the first stage.

Lucious already had Liara to help get stronger and adding Loa to that list would mean losing more monster cores.

System, how many monster cores do I have with either light or ice elemental affinities?

[Sixty-eight with an ice elemental affinity, eleven with light affinity]

So I can give them thirty four each, with an extra eleven to Liara... that should be enough for now. Lucious thought while making a mental note.

By giving monster cores with the same elemental affinity as themselves, Liara and Loa will gain an small increase to the strength of their element affinity.

This small increase will make the process to evolve their mana core easier later down the road.

Once they had finished eating, Lucious and Liara departed for the reverse dungeon, the large spiral tower in the centre of the city.

The dark obsidian-like material caused an oppressive feeling, as though a rift had been tore in the very fabric of space itself. The tower seemingly never-ending as it extended far into the heavens.

Liara could feel her breath catch in her throat as she began to have doubts while getting closer.

Nevertheless, she continued on as Lucious's back started getting further away.

"Wait for me!" She called out while chasing after him.

Once the two approached the entrance, their visibility reduced drastically. Lucious grinned and turned towards Liara as she hesitated.

"Having second thoughts?" He teased as he started walking backwards while Liara stood in place.

"No... I'm ready for whatever awaits inside." Liara said before taking the first step into the unknown.