Reign of the Hunters

Chapter 317 The Pet Shop

There are many different types of pets in Fate, but the most common ones were the combat-type pets typically used by Hunters and Warlocks. But a Hunter must capture his or her own pet, while a Warlock’s pet was summoned. It was impossible for players of other classes to acquire pets of this variant.

Of course, other types of pets exist as well in the form of steed as well as pets used for cosmetic purposes.

They might not be as useful as combat pets, but they were still very popular among players. Steeds have always generally existed in the form of horses before the new patch was introduced. Even a dinosaur like Ol’ Four and Fleeting Time’s Unicorn were pets unique only to the Hunter class due to their Pet Capture skill. Any hunter players with good luck could acquire a steed-type pet.

And due to a Hunter’s inability to trade away his or her pet, players from other classes were not able to enjoy the benefits of having these pets.

But this problem was solved by the release of the new patch, where players could potentially receive eggs as a form of loot drop from dungeon or field BOSSes.

These eggs would then hatch into steeds or cosmetic pets. The players were ecstatic at the release of this new feature, and many of them immediately joined the hunts for the many BOSSes in every corner of Fate. And this meant that the game was flooded with a large quantity of pet eggs.

This also brought an unprecedented number of players to the pet shops in each city.

To Ye Ci, steeds were an essential in the game, but pets that exist solely for cosmetic purposes were next to useless. They were highly popular among female players, but Ye Ci was someone who prioritized functionality over aesthetic. No matter how cute a pet might be, it was useless in Ye Ci’s eyes if it could not be used in combat.

Ye Ci could see a sea of players with their cosmetic pets from far away, and most of them were female players. These pets were hard to acquire, and not many were willing to work to collect the pets. This opened up windows for male players to woo members of the opposite gender. Male players in Ye Ci’s last life would give cosmetic pets to female players that they like to show their love. And this trend did not die off even by the time of her death.

And it was apparent that the trend would continue in her current life.

Female players who received these pets from male players would immediately bring their pets for a walk or put them on display outside pet shops. It was of course a form of flaunting their pets. And these players were not few in number.

Ye Ci brushed her way past a player accompanied by a white bunny, and sidestepped another with a tiny boar pet, then squeezed between two other players with a small butterfly pet and a tiny maneater flower pet before finally making her way to the entrance of the pet shop.

She let out a long sigh. The female players standing outside the shop were either having conversations with their friends or were blatantly showing off their pets. She shook her head in disapproval. Do they not know that their pets will expose their positions in combat?

Of course, it was none of Ye Ci’s business. Each player had their own goals in the game, and it was not Ye Ci’s place to force her ideals on them.

The first thing that Ye Ci noticed upon entering the shop was that it had been renovated. With the crowd gathering outside and her hood that was limiting her view, Ye Ci was not able to have a good look at the shop’s exterior.

But judging from the looks of its interior, the shop had been upgraded into a lvl3 shop. The size of its building had been significantly increased, and here were even NPC helpers in the shop.

“How may I help you, lady?” a blond Human NPC walked up to Ye Ci and greeted her just as she was having a look around in the shop.

The NPC treated her more respectfully than the other customers of her shop due to her Prestige in Red Lake City.

“I wish to see your boss. I handed her an egg some times ago, and this is our appointed date.” Ye Ci lowered her voice to hide her identity.

“Alright lady, this way please.” the Human NPC lowered her voice as well.

The smart NPCs in the game could tell a player’s intention by listening to their tone. With her hushed voice, the NPC was able to guess that Ye Ci wished to keep her pet a secret, which was why she lowered her voice as well.

Ye Ci followed the NPC to the back of the shop.

And the rest of the player did not even notice the hooded player who had just entered the shop and was quick to disappear into the back of the shop.

The Human NPC brought Ye Ci to the Undead NPC and left. The Undead NPC turned around to have a good look at Ye Ci who had removed her hood and was staring straight at the NPC. Despite her beautiful face, the Undead NPC still gave off an eerie aura.

It was perhaps due to their long interaction with the dead since their birth.

“You’re here.” the Undead apparently remembered Ye Ci since their last interaction.

Ye Ci nodded, “Has the egg hatched yet?”

The NPC smiled at Ye Ci. “There is nothing that I, Luna, cannot accomplish.”

Ye Ci raised an eyebrow. So her name’s Luna. As a reincarnator, Ye Ci would of course know the names of NPCs that are important to the major quests in Fate, but Luna was not one of them. She was perhaps an NPC that was insignificant to the plot of the game. “It’s nice to meet you again, Luna.” but Ye Ci still decided to treat the NPC with respect.

Luna did not seem to pay any mind to the courtesy displayed by Ye Ci. The NPC walked towards a container filled with red liquid. The white egg in the container belonged to Ye Ci, and it had grown since Ye Ci left it with the NPC.

Luna took the egg out from the container, and the churning liquid immediately grew calm, as if nothing had happened.

She then brought the egg to a small table covered by golden velvet. A pillow with a frame was placed on the table. It was apparent that the frame was designed to hold the pet egg. Luna placed the egg into the frame, and pulled out a small golden mallet embedded with gems.

She handed the mallet to Ye Ci, “Go, knock on it lightly, and the egg will hatch.”

Ye Ci was shocked by her words. Based on her memories of her last life, a pet’s egg was hatched using a drop of blood from its owner. But she was handed a mallet… Wait, won’t it kill whatever’s in it?

Luna smiled when she noticed Ye Ci’s hesitation. “A special egg can only be hatched through special means. You can trust me on this. I am the best breeder in the entire Red Lake City. If I cause the death of a pet entrusted to me, aren’t I ruining my own reputation?”

With Luna’s reassurance, Ye Ci’s doubt was swept away. She took the mallet from Luna and walked up to the table, “Where do I hit?”

“At the top most part, where it is the most pointed. Hit it lightly, don’t use too much force.”

Luna took a step backwards, and pointed at the location to Ye Ci with a smile.

Ye Ci took in a deep breath, and tapped the mallet against the egg lightly. The shell immediately shattered, and a white life form dropped onto the pillow.

Ye Ci raised an eyebrow at the white worm-like lifeform wriggling on the pillow and stared at it for a long while. “What is that?” asked Ye Ci as she lifted the white thing between her fingers.