“We’re almost there, my Lady,” Jason spoke up and Liliana opened her eyes. She’d been trying to use the ride as a chance to try out meditation. She’d read about it in so many books back on earth, characters getting amazing powers from mediating. Yet when she closed her eyes, she couldn’t stop her mind from thinking, no matter how much she tried.

Liliana looked out the window and had to resist the urge to plaster herself against it as she saw the rising walls of the city, Ravencross, rising before them. The city walls were made of a pale gray stone threaded with blue. They had some magic-resistant qualities and should have monster-repelling wards worked into them. The walls were expensive, and Ravencross was the jewel of the Rosengarde territory. Built by one of her ancestors long before she or her father had ever been born, it had weathered wars and monster hordes.

Liliana felt the game lore she still had bloating her mind rush forth as they approached the enormous gates to the city. Ravencross wasn’t a high level city, as the levels of creatures around simply weren’t high enough for it. But it was a key part of the game if you chose Emyr or Alistair’s path for your play through, as it was where they got some of their first ‘real’ quests. From fighting back encroaching monsters, clearing new dungeons, or even fighting off an enraged creature. The specific creature varied based on who you played. Emyr got a Heliobear, Alistair got Duskweaver.

I wonder if being Liliana will trigger a unique creature for me? Or will both appear? Liliana wondered when a thought hit her and her already saucer-wide eyes grew.

Was Lelantos my creature? Did I just… skip a quest line? Liliana felt herself sweat a little. If that was true, had she messed up other quests? What kind of repercussions would that have on future events?

Will the Goblin Dungeon that’s supposed to spawn in a few months still appear? There’s no way I messed with that. Liliana drew back into her seat as she considered the possibilities. Now that she was approaching the city, her mind ran over all the Quests she knew had been available. She knew, now at least, that Quests weren’t something given in the world. But it likely didn’t change the events themselves. There were just fewer boxes guiding her movements.

First, I should get the things I need. Then maybe see if I can stumble upon one of the lesser events and test it, Liliana decided with a small nod. She perked up when she heard the guards outside her carriage greeting the ones guarding the gate. They were waved through quickly. The perks of being a noble, she supposed.

Liliana resumed looking out the window as they passed by the buildings filling the city. Her mind supplied the names of the ones she recognized. Many had just been scenery and therefore not enterable in the game. Now though, her curiosity had her wondering about the mystery buildings. Soon they passed what she assumed to be a residential area and emerged in the part of the city dedicated to stores.

There’s the Silver Sword, the smithy, that focuses on weaponry. And his brother’s shop, the Adamantium Armor for heavy plate armor. There’s the Whispering Wind, the tavern that’s a front for the Thieve’s guild. The Broken Stem, the apothecary. There’s the Golden Spindle, for cloth armor. The Leather Dream, for leather armor. Liliana mentally listed off the places she saw with a growing sense of familiarity as she saw the city was laid out the same way as she remembered.

Oh! They have the bazaar too! They always had a rotating market so you could occasionally find superb stuff there, though if you didn’t buy it in a set amount of time, it was gone forever or you had to wait hours or days for it to appear again. Liliana mentally noted that spot as a place to explore today. She may find a hidden treasure.

The Written Word, a store where you could buy spell or skill scrolls. They even had a few grimoires, but they were so outrageously expensive they weren’t worth buying as you’d out level the skills before you got the money. Liliana was practically vibrating with excitement. She wanted to jump out of the carriage and run into all the stores and spend the gold burning a hole in her pocket. She’d never had so much gold to use in Ravencross before.

Oh! There’s Marty’s Magical Oddities. He sells mage gear like staffs, wands and focuses. And there’s An Adventurers One Stop Shop. It sells most of the basic gear for adventurers but doesn’t have any specialities. And Bags, Boxes and Baubles! They sold all the different types of storage devices. I need to stop by there first! Liliana was practically salivating at the option of getting a better storage device.

Huh, I don’t recognize that shop? Liliana stared at the store. It had a paw print sign, so she assumed it was either a pet store… or for tamers.

“What’s that shop?” Liliana asked as she pointed it out.

“That’s Macie’s Menagerie. It’s a shop for Tamers and taming supplies. I assume my lady would like to visit it?” Jason asked, and Liliana nodded. The guard thumped the top of the carriage, bringing them to a stop and Liliana blushed. She had thought they were going somewhere to park the carriage and then they’d walk around. It seemed instead they had been waiting for her to ask them to stop.

Jason got out first, checking the area for any threats. Rather unnecessary in Liliana’s mind, but she didn’t speak up. When the Lieutenant was satisfied that a cabal of assassins was not waiting to murder her, he extended a hand to help her down. Liliana took it gratefully as she climbed out of the carriage, mentally cursing her skirts. It was a nightmare to climb down anything when one’s own clothing tried to wrap around their ankles.

Jason and Astrid followed behind Liliana as she entered the store, a pleasant tinkling announcing their arrival.

“Hello, hello! Welcome to Macie’s Menagerie!” A cheery voice rang out seconds before a woman appeared between shelves of items. Her red hair was in a frizzy braid and she had some dirt smeared on her face, but her eyes shone with a happiness that set Liliana at ease.

“Oh! Lady Liliana! I apologise for my appearance,” the woman, Macie, she assumed, hastily dropped into a clumsy curtsy that brought a smile to Liliana’s face. She assumed the woman had used [Identify] on her and seen her name.

“It is no matter, Ms. Macie,” Liliana waved off the woman’s apology.

“Oh, well thank you, Lady Liliana!” Macie seemed to recover quickly, her bright personality hard to dim.

“How may I be of service to you today?” The woman asked as she walked up and Liliana gave her a kind smile.

“I recently found myself bonded to an Evanesce Tiger and need appropriate items for his care,” Liliana explained, enjoying how the woman’s eyes widened when told of Liliana’s bond.

“Congratulations Lady Liliana! A successful bond is reason for celebration! And such a gorgeous creature too!” Macie’s eyes were sparkling and Liliana sensed a kindred soul before her. Someone who could truly appreciate the many magical creatures this world offered.

“He is quite beautiful, and he knows it,” Liliana giggled a little as she remembered how much Lelantos adored praise and attention. He’d love Macie.

“Oh, I’m sure, all feline types are very noble, you could say,” Macie jested and, as if to punctuate her comment, a feline appeared on her shoulder. Liliana’s eyes widened as she looked at the small cat. It had bright purple fur, decorated with swirls of a dark magenta.

Cheshire Kit

Level 16

A feline adept at disguising its presence by manipulating the surrounding light with its small bit of Light affinity. Very particular about the people it chooses to be around. These creatures are usually not aggressive, and are occasionally sought after as pets.

Rank: 10

Did Lelantos look like this as a baby? I know any Cheshire can evolve into one of the other versions at a high enough rank. Oh, I wish I’d seen him as a baby! Liliana thought. Her eyes locked on the adorable creature. Large purple and black eyes met her own, however the kit seemed to be uninterested in her and looked away to clean its paw instead. Liliana pouted a bit at being so thoroughly snubbed by the tiny feline.

“Oh! I’m sorry Lady Liliana! Buttons here just isn’t much of a people person,” Macie hastily tried to cover up her cat’s insult, and Liliana shook her head with a smile. It seemed naming cats after inanimate objects was something that traversed time and space.

Should’ve named Lelantos Microwave, Liliana thought with an inner laugh. He’d probably have eaten her for that, Bond or not.

“Oh, I know, that’s simply how cats are. They care not for the titles and ranks of humans,” Liliana soothed the store keep.

“So, since you just bonded, I assume you’re looking for a Summoning Stone?” Macie seemed eager to change the topic and Liliana nodded.

“And if you have any bestiaries?” Liliana asked hopefully. She had been planning on trying The Written Word, but this store seemed more likely to keep the kind Liliana would want.

“We have those too! Are you looking for a specific type, or area?” Macie asked as she walked off to a shelf, Buttons jumping off and vanishing before he landed.

“If you have one that has every creature known, I’d like that. If not, one that is specific to the Cista queendom would do,” Liliana answered, eyes drawn by movement. She watched first one book get shoved off a shelf, then another few.

“Thank you Buttons,” Macie said as she wandered over and grabbed the books, placing a palm sized clear crystal on top.

“You likely need some Beast potions as well,” Macie commented as she grabbed a few bottles full of sparkling pink liquid, “And as it’s a feline some Valerian oil,” another bottle was added to the stack and Liliana’s eyes widened.

“Some Rank 6 cores as well, as he’s Light and Illusion aligned Light Sylph cores should do,” Macie seemed to be talking to herself at this point and Liliana turned a wide eyes stare to Astrid, who seemed even more lost than Liliana.

“Why the cores?” Jason was the one to speak up, bless him.

“Oh! Well, with Beasts, you can either feed them mana rich meat, or Mana Cores. Cores are easier to buy in bulk than meat and they’re easier to carry around too,” Macie answered, and Liliana simply nodded along.

“My Lady, your Father said he’d cover the cost of feeding your Tame, we can have a shipment of cores sent to the manor,” Astrid spoke up and Liliana sighed in relief. She had almost watched all of her newly gained wealth go down the drain.

“In that case, we can work out a deal for that. I get a discount from the Adventurers’ guild for cores, since I buy in bulk from them. I can get you a better deal than they’d offer,” Macie spoke up, drawing Liliana’s attention once more to her and her heart nearly stopped when she saw the pile of items had grown.

“This should be enough. If you want a saddle, you’ll need to stop by the Leather Dream. I can’t make those myself.” Macie settled the items on the counter and Liliana walked up mechanically. She could see all her new gold vanishing.

“We’ve got an extensive bestiary for the Rosengarde territory for creatures, and one for the whole of the Cista queendom. I sadly don’t have one that covers all the creatures in the world,” Macie seemed saddened by that, though Liliana had a feeling it was because the woman herself wanted such a tome.

“I’ve also added twenty Beast Recovery potions. They’ll recover 100 health a second. Normal human potions won’t work very well on them. There’s also twenty Beast Mana potions. They recover 100 mana a second,” Macie pointed out the bottles, and Liliana nodded thankfully. She hadn’t realized health potions worked less effectively on Beasts. It explained why her health tinctures hadn’t healed Polaris very well.

“This is a Summoning Stone. It’s rated to hold a creature up to Rank 4. As you know, you can only keep one creature per stone. So if you Bond any others you’ll need a new stone. If you want to have it worked into jewelry, as is popular, the Diadems Delight can help you,” Macie pointed out the palm sized stone and Liliana itched to grab it. She never wanted to leave Lelantos behind again.

“I’ve also included four bottles of Valerian oil. Felines love it and it's good to calm them down if they’re in a rage. Though keep it locked up, as they will go through all of it if you don’t. I’ve also included an expandable feather staff, and a magically inflatable nearly indestructible bell ball. There are also magically enchanted clippers for his claws, a brush for his teeth and a brush for his fur,” Macie finished rattling off the items, and Liliana nodded along. It seemed like a lot, but everything would make Lelantos’ life better, so she couldn’t find fault with it.

“This all totals out to 683 Gold, 62 Silver and 12 copper,” Macie read out the total and Liliana felt her soul leave her body for a moment. She’d never spent so much money at a single time!

“Here is a cheque for the total,” Astrid spoke up, pulling out a cheque and writing the total. Liliana was glad that in this world one wasn’t required to carry around all their gold, provided they had a bank account. Her father had allotted her 2,000 gold for her shopping trip and she’d just used over a fourth in one store.

“I’ll carry my Lady’s items,” Jason spoke up, producing a spatial bag and placing her purchases into it. Liliana itched a bit at having the two adults do everything for her, but it meant she didn’t have to carry everything around at least.

“Come back anytime! And bring your Bond next time!” Macie bid them a goodbye and Liliana had a feeling the woman would be celebrating her recent windfall. Liliana felt that she may have been swindled with her purchase, but she wasn’t entirely knowledgeable about the price of Bond items to say for sure.

“Where to next, my Lady?” Jason asked as they exited the store. Liliana noticed they had moved the carriage to the side, out of the way of the main road. The guards had also dismounted from their horses and were waiting outside the shop for them.

“B-“ Liliana stopped herself. The stores had signs with symbols on them, not names. If she started spouting off shop names she shouldn’t know, it would be odd.

“Could we go to a store that sells spatial items?” She corrected herself, and Jason nodded, looking around.

“Bags, Boxes and Baubles it is!” Jason declared and after pointing it out to Liliana, they set off. Luckily, most of the shops were all within a few blocks of each other. In the game, it had been to make it easy for players to get everything they needed without having to travel from one side of the city to the other. She wasn’t sure what prompted the city to be built in the same way in a real world, but she assumed for the same reasons.

Liliana entered the store and almost turned right back around when she saw the other customer in there. His telltale bright blue hair standing out even in the less than ideal lighting of the store.

“Hello, Lady Liliana,” a cool voice called out as Emyr set the bag he was looking at down and turned to look at her. She would swear she detected a bit of amusement in his cold eyes.

“Lord Bealstal,” Liliana responded, her voice so cold she could almost feel frost growing in the room. An eyebrow lifted slightly from the young Lord, but he didn’t remark on it.

“What brings you to this store today?” Liliana asked, the slightest bit of emphasis on her words as her patience wore thin. Today was supposed to be a good day, a shopping spree funded by her dick of a dad.

“I had need to acquire some new equipment,” Emyr answered and Liliana’s eyes narrowed.

“What fortuitous timing that I too am here in Ravencross to obtain new gear,” Liliana commented, though they both knew Emyr’s reason was bullshit. He’d followed her here like the sticky stalker he was. She should’ve known that his curiosity in her wouldn’t dim as soon as they got home.

“Yes, it is weird sometimes the way fate works,” Emyr answered noncommittally, but the way his eyes sparkled with mischief belied his words. He knew he was irritating her and knew right now she couldn’t speak her mind the same way she had when they’d been traveling.

Fuck you, Emyr, and your whole damn house, Liliana mentally groused as she took a deep breath, maintaining her poise.

“Then I wish you luck on your shopping endeavors,” Liliana tried to end the conversation, and salvage her day.

“Perhaps it would be good for us to peruse the stores together, to better save time,” Emyr said, his lip tugging into the lightest of smiles. Liliana wanted to scream. She couldn’t deny him without it being seen as an insult. One she couldn’t afford to give in public.

“Yes, that… would be… a fine idea,” Liliana grit out.

“Ah, Lady Liliana, may I help you find what you need?” A hesitant voice called out. The shopkeeper obviously hadn’t wanted to interrupt a conversation between nobles, but he seemed to detect the worsening atmosphere and was trying to get a sale before the two nobles possibly destroyed his store in a spat.

“Yes, Mr. Brown, I need a spatial bag cuff, I’d like for it to be 150 square feet,” Liliana turned to the man, her demeanor making a 180 as she greeted him with a beaming smile. The man seemed dazed for a moment before he recovered and hastened to get what she asked for.

“I’d like a 160 square foot ring,” Emyr cut in and Liliana closed her eyes as she took a deep breath. She could feel he was doing this just to irritate her.

“Do these come in other color?” Emyr asked next and Liliana opened her eyes, a defeated sigh escaping her.

It’s going to be a long day.