All the students were crowding forward, desperate to see what they had just spent a fortune on.
Mistblade and Maple Syrup were pressed right against the counter, tails and wings lashing so fast they left afterimages. Not because they were excited, but because they were smacking anyone who dared to shove them.
The raptor standing behind Mistblade had already been whipped so many times by her tail that it could barely stay upright.
By the time their teammates broke free of the crush, Rita finally saw what Mistblade was hugging.
A box.
She blinked. "That's the ship pet? A… square box?"
Mistblade, struggling to keep hold of it as they pushed toward the exit, replied, "Yes, but it won't open yet. And we can't store it in our inventory either."
Outside the shop, contestants were already starting to die. After pawning off another gem and spending half an hour stocking up on essentials, they decided not to waste any more time. If they hesitated, all the decent ships would be taken.
