The group of four separated from the rest of the teens and proceeded to head deeper into the city. The sound of steps or wheels travelling on the cobblestone road reverberated in their ears. Matthew felt his bosom for the pouch filled with coins, and recalled he was given 3 golden coins and countless silver ones. A thousand copper coins were worth 1 silver coin, while a thousand silver coins were worth 1 gold coin.

His reason for feeling the money pouch was because they were in the commercial district, where nearly every building on both sides of the road wanted to relieve your money from you. Besides the increased amount of shops was the shift in appearance of people passing by. When they first entered the city most of the people wore sets of tunics or cotton. Now though you’d see the occasional person in leather or chainmail with a weapon strapped to their back.

The variety of level in their equipment meant they shouldn’t be militia, which meant they had to be mercenaries. Matthew sensed the Auras of the mercenaries around him and found they were mostly red or the sparse blue. This meant they either trained in body strengthening (red) like Matthew, or relied on emotional empowerment (blue) for strength. “Woah look at the beast that guy has!” Carl pointed at one particular man carrying a metal cage with a small humanoid creature in it.

With a doll like face, and creamy white skin only helped enhanced the image of a distraught child who’s lost it all. At least it would’ve if you ignored the obvious signs of her monster heritage. She had golden brown wings attached to her human torso where arms would normally be, and equipped with a set of chicken legs. Clearly it was an adolescent harpy who was most likely captured for the tasty eggs they’d produce. Matthew glanced at the rest of the boys and noticed the intense curiosity in their gaze.

“Where do you think he’s going with it?” Dylan asked what was on the three boy’s mind, which only prompted Carl to respond with “Onwards!” and followed the man with his friends. The man stopped outside of a two story building made out of ironwood giving it reddish-brown color. A sign attached near the double oak doors featured a painting of crossed swords behind a red and white shield.

“Why am I not surprised the mercenary guild used the same symbol, although the colors on the shield are different this time…” Matthew sighed to himself mentally. The man entered the building and Carl was about to announce something, but the ringing of church bells resounded throughout the city. “I was an idiot for not checking if there was a church of Rebecca in the city!”

“Before I was interrupted I was about to say let’s hurry up before we lose them.” Carl proclaimed with a few steps forward before he realized Matthew wasn’t walking forward with them. The trio looked around and realized he vanished from their sights.

Dylan turned back towards the building and realized the man had already went inside. “Forget about Matt he’ll just miss out on seeing the monster.” With Dylan prodding the other two the boys finally entered the mercenary guild.

As the boys entered they were overwhelmed by the variety of armaments and mercenaries in the room. From pale to brown skin, from swords to halberds every mercenary in the room carried themselves with a swagger to their every stride. The mercenaries were split amongst themselves in the spacious building.

On the right side was a café where mercenaries would relax by themselves or with their group to the comfort of a warm meal. To the left was a massive wooden board with various papers attached that people would occasionally take and wander to the final area. In front of them were 4 separate queues of mercenaries, and Carl spotted the man they were following earlier nearing the attendant in one of the middle lines.

Although Carl was mainly interested in the monster due to it being the first monster he’s ever seen, but as he looked at its sad eyes that would wander around he realized he felt a connection to this beast. Something was calling him towards this monster and as both of their eyes met each other he rushed towards the man. Carl brushed aside some mercenaries as he squeezed by eliciting some curses, and confusion why a child was in here alone.

When he finally arrived at the man’s side Carl was out of breath and grabbed the same arm that was holding onto the metal cage. As expected of a mercenary, what greeted Carl was a coarse voice like gravel.

“Who the fuck do you think you’re touching so casually kid?” He was a muscular tanned man with tattoos all over his bare arms. There was a scar lining across his face that Carl noticed as soon as he turned to face him. “Are you gonna keep gawking at me or say something brat?” Shaking himself out of his trance like state, Carl realized most if not all eyes were on him at this moment.

Carl gathered his bravado once he realized he was nearly the same height as the bald man. “What do you plan on doing with…that thing?” He gestured towards the cowering creature that was only the size of a toddler.

“This thing is an adolescent harpy with a mana core. It’s gonna earn me a lot of coin, and I don’t see how my money is any of your business.” He finished with a snort and went back to disregarding Carl. Something within him told Carl he had to obtain that harpy at any cost.

“I’ll give you ten silver for the harpy!”

A boisterous laughter erupted from the crowd and Carl could feel his cheeks grow red from embarrassment. It was clear he just made a fool of himself and could only stand there in awkward silence. The twins took this chance to squeeze past the crowd and backed up Carl.

“How much did you guys get from your parents? I really need to get this harpy or I’ll regret it for the rest of my life.” Carl turned to the boys in desperation and they shared a look amongst themselves before they each responded.

“My brother and I both only received ten silver and that was only after beg-“

“Don’t worry Carl us bros got your back!” Zack and Dylan both spoke at the same time and Zack shot Dylan a glare, when he realized he almost gave up both their precious cash.

“Ignore my brother and take it.” Dylan pressed two small pouches towards Carl, while Zack realized his brother somehow took his money without him noticing.

“Alright how about thirty silver?!” You could hear a bit of desperation coming out of his voice, and the twins were wondering what was going on with Carl. Another round of laughter came from the crowd but ended quicker than last time.

“Kid I don’t know why in the hell you’re so bent on getting this harpy, but you’ll probably never be able to afford him in your lifetime. Now scram you’re getting annoying brat.” The man was finally next in line but before he could proceed to the counter Carl grabbed his arm again.

Without any warning he thrust an open palm at Carl’s chest, which blew the boy back into his friends whom nearly fell while catching him. Although the strength was great it was clear the man was still holding back.

“Mr. Tyson I’m sure you’re aware we don’t tolerate violence in this establishment. I’m sure you’re also aware of the 100 silver fine.” One of the ladies at the counter remarked with a cold voice. Before Tyson could respond a smooth voice responded followed by four sets of footsteps coming down a set of stairs.

“Who knew a mercenary would stoop as low as to hit a kid, and none of you so much as battered an eye…” The group of four finally arrived from a set of stairs to the right of the counter. As they approached the crowd naturally made way for them, and the trio noticed their equipment was a step above the rest.

The man in front was around 6ft with flowing brown hair and a bit of a stubble on his smirking face. He had a great broadsword strapped to his back, and his plate armor was abnormally white. Any seasoned mercenary would know the armor was made out of mithril, one of the world’s strongest metals.

The beautiful lady to his left was even taller than him at around 6’3, with chocolate skin filled with muscle and a blonde ponytail. She wore olive green brigandine armor, with metal gauntlets and chausses for extra protection. As her eyes wandered the crowd, her face adopted a scowl that seemed like second nature to her. It may have been the intimidating aura around her or the massive battle-axe on her back, which made some of the weak-willed mercenaries flinch when her eyes wander over them.

The other male in the group wore a black cloak that hid nearly all of his face except his black beard, but what grabbed the crowd’s attention was the 6 foot gnarled wooden staff in his hand. The wood at the top was wrapped around a shiny red orb that naturally drew everyone’s gaze. He was whispering to their last member while they both occasionally glanced at Carl.

Looking at her elongated, pointed ears and creamy skin would immediately reveal her identity as a Lunar Elf. She was equipped with a set of light green leather armor, and her weapon of choice was a longbow. The odd thing was there was no quiver in sight on her body. Elves were a rare sight in the outer ring of the Griffon Kingdom, and the boy’s mouths were agape at not just her beauty but the fact of seeing an elf.

“Lads I’m trying to help you out here but it’s a little awkward if you keep gawking at my teammates.” The man in armor chuckled before throwing a pouch at Tyson’s face. “We’ll buy that harpy off of you at a better price than the guild.” Tyson grabbed it with his free hand and opened it to find several gold coins.

“You got yourself a deal mate!” Tyson hurriedly payed the fine before scrambling out of the building. This left Carl, Zack, and Dylan staring at the group of four in sheer awe and curiosity. After a few moments of staring at each other Carl finally decided to say something.

“Um thanks for the help Mr…”

“You can just call me Philip.” Philip smiled again before continuing. “Anyways I believe this belongs to you.” He handed Carl the metal cage and watched the natural developing affinity between boy and beast.

While Carl and Dylan were fawning over the harpy, Zack couldn’t get the question of “why” out of his mind. He looked back at the cloaked man and elf hoping for one of them to spit out an answer.

“Well we should probably go somewhere where we won’t be bothered with a crowd.” Philip gestured to the crowd that remembered they had other business to do and slowly went back to forming lines. The group walked outside and after making sure he had the boys’ attention he continued. “The whole reason we bought you that harpy, was because we’re trying to invest in you Carl.”

“Wait how do you know my name?”

“Your friend said it remember? That’s beside the point.” When Philip noticed the streets weren’t as congested as they were earlier he whispered in Carl’s ear. “How’d you like to be a Beastmaster.”

“Uhh what’s a Bea-“ The warrior beauty quickly blocked Carl’s mouth with her hand and shot him a stern glare.

“We can talk more at this tavern called The Familiar Spade. I’m sure you heard of it.”

Dylan broke his attention away from the adolescent harpy as realization dawned on his face. “Hey we’re staying there for a bit before we head off to the Royal Academy! Rebecca sure works in mysterious ways…” Philip’s smirk only seemed to get bigger in response.

“Cadets huh? She sure does work in mysterious ways…”