Sanvi's POV:
"Lucky bastard!" I muttered to myself.
"Lady Sanvi, did you say something?" One of my servants asked.
"No, it is nothing! I was just wondering what might hatch from this egg!"
I had been feeling kind of lonely lately, so I begrudgingly started perusing the market for a magical beast pet. For certain reasons I can't legally get a fluffy and cute little house pet like a cat or a dog and had to settle for a magical beast instead.
While perusing the beast market I noticed a shady guy selling eggs on the street. At first, I thought he was just another scammer trying to sell fake beast eggs, but as I was about to walk past him, I sensed the feintest hint of qi from one of the eggs.
Animals above common grade tends to have something called a beast core. It is a magic stone that some magical beasts are born with that functions similarly to the cultivation core we cultivators use.
The easiest way to discern a real beast egg from a fake one is to look for any signs of qi. As the magic core is often formed before they are born, you can sometimes see some elemental energy emanating from the egg, and that is exactly what I caught a whiff of as I was walking by.
Upon closer inspection, I noticed small traces of qi from nearly all the eggs. It was not enough energy that you would be able to tell from just a glance, but anyone in the nascent soul realm would be able to tell these were legit if they looked close enough, with only one exception.
"Hey, what kind of egg is this one?"
Out of curiosity I asked the shady guy in bandages about the dirt covered egg that was the only one not giving off any qi. He then gave some longwinded explanation that I now realize was probably just a load of nonsense.
As a nascent soul I could easily make out the face beneath those bandages and I have to say, he looked absolutely stunning. Though he isn't quite my type, I could easily imagine some of my sisters and nieces or grandnieces falling head over heels for him with just a glance.
Being a little thrown off by his looks, along with the excitement from the possibility of getting a legendary beast as a pet, I let him bamboozle me into buying it. However, I realized my mistake moments after as I tried to get my money back, but …
"Sorry dear customer, but I have a strict no refunds policy!"
"Oh, is that so! Maybe you will change your mind once I drag yo-!"
"Oh, good morning officer!"
"You know it is forbidden for cultivators to fight within city limits!"
"Tsk!"
I had lost my temper in front of a city guard. Though, they wouldn't be able to arrest me, it would still be troublesome if I got on the wrong side of a city official as a result. So, I will let it go for now.
"Lady Sanvi! Elder Darsh of the 'Beast Tamers' Guild' is here to see you!"
"Good! Lead him to the drawing room! I will be with him momentarily!"
The beast tamers' guild is a massive organization that specifically handles matters pertaining to the subject of magical beasts across the continent. After being scammed by that handsome brat, I reached out to an old friend I know from the guild.
"Lady Sanvi! It has been years, yet you haven't aged a day!"
"Stop with the flattery Darsh!"
"I am simply stating the facts!"
"Mhm!" I rolled my eyes.
"*cough* Hag *cough*!" He coughed out.
"There is the rude little Darsh I remember!"
"Rude! That's precious coming from the woman who suddenly asked me to go to the other side of the country without an explanation!"
"Oh, come now! That is nothing to someone like you!"
"I have other things to do you know! Being an elder in this country's guild branch doesn't leave me enough time to dawdle about the place like you do, so just tell me what you want already!"
"Fine! I wanted to ask you about this!" I said as I pulled out the ball of dirt I bought.
"Is this a joke? Why would-?"
"That's what I thought! Its fake isn't it! I happened upon some shady guy who was selling this fake beast egg! I would report him to the beast tamer's guild, but I'm no longer allowed to go there becau-!"
"Who sold you this? How many of these did he have?" He asked, cutting me off.
"What's with that serious look on your face? It can't be that uncommon to find someone selling fakes!"
"It is not a fake!"
"Huh? But it doesn't give off any qi! Wasn't it you who told me that's how you tell if it's a real or fake egg?"
"Normally, that's right, but there are always exceptions! In terms of magical beasts, not counting the common grade, nearly all beast eggs give off some amount of qi, but there are some that don't do this, and I think this might be one of them!"
"Then what was with the attitude when I showed it to you?"
"Eggs like these are extremely rare, so it took me a moment to realize it, but the markings and the bits of tissue visible through the cracks hints at this being an egg from a giant insectoid! They sometimes lay them in batches though there are exceptions, but their eggs are usually very small compared to their bodies! There are traces of some outer parts of the rock-like shell being removed, which hints at this one being excavated from a geode, and by the way the inner layer of rock is sticking to the egg, it is likely the type who creates a protective shell that doubles as camouflage using materials in its environment rather than forming it naturally! Judging by the size of this one, I'd say the mother could be anywhere between the size of a human to a small house! And given how insectoids tend to possess superior physical strength to other animals, it would likely be too strong to be ranked as a common beast!"
"So, what does that mean?" I asked, as I had forgotten how he tends to ramble when talking about his favorite subject.
"To put it this way! Once it has fully matured, this creature might possess the physical strength to be considered a rare grade, even if it doesn't have a beast core!"
"Huh?"
"I can't quite tell exactly what it will hatch into, because there are precious few of such eggs being discovered, due to how difficult they are to detect! The person who sold you this didn't happen to tell you anything about where it's from or how he got it did he? It might narrow down the possible candidates!"
"Uh! I think he said it was a spider butterfly! He also said it was a unique grade that could change rank depending on its diet! Hey!"
I was a little startled as Darsh suddenly grabbed me by the shoulders and stared at me with bloodshot eyes.
"Sanvi! How much for the egg?"
"Huh!"
"I'll pay double what you bought it for! Just give it to me!"
"Uh! So, can it really turn into a legendary beast?"
"… No!"
"Oh my god! So, its true! I bought a legendary beast!" I said, as I could tell by that wrinkly old face he was lying out his teeth.
"*Sigh* Okay, so maybe there are a handful of records where a Carnivorous Butterfly Spider reached the legendary grade, but nobody knows how because they are hard to find and even harder to tame! You are not even a licensed beast tamer! Even if you kept it outside of town, you wouldn't know the first thing about raising it!"
"The guy I bought it from seemed to know! I could just ask him!"
"Huh?"
"He even sold me a scroll on how to rase its rank!"
"WHAT? SHOW ME!" He shouted, while his wrinkly face flushed red with excitement.
I pulled out the scroll that came with the egg and showed it to Darsh. It not only listed the things it needed to consume to raise in rank but also gave tips on its habits and how to rase it.
"If this is true then …! SUNVI!"
"I am right next to you! You don't need to shout!"
"Who sold you this? Where is he now?"
"I don't know! He was just some pretty looking brat hiding his face with bandages! He was running a small stall, selling beast eggs in the middle of the market street last I saw him!"
The moment I said that, he bolted out of the room without a word. If I had to guess, he was probably in going to hound that brat into telling him everything he knows about the beast.
"*sigh* He hasn't changed a bit! *giggle*!"