Judging from the look on the guy’s face, it was clear that something was going on. If Luke had to make a guess, he would say that the fancy looking egg probably did not have anything useful inside it.
He then glanced at Emma. She was not doing well. Though she had spoken up boldly before, she now looked like a mess. It seemed like she also understood that she had made a mistake. She turned to look at Luke with an expression he was already familiar with. She was about to fall down to her knees and apologize again.
But before she could do any of that, Luke quickly interrupted her. "I did indeed plan to buy that. Thanks for reminding me, Emma."
She stared at him. Luke gave her a small nod, hoping she would understand that she didn’t need to say anything else.
Pathan’s grin widened. "Then go ahead. We’re waiting."
Luke ignored him and turned toward the shopkeeper. "A thousand credits, correct?"
"Yes, young master."
"And that includes the equipment needed to hatch it?"
"The incubation tray is sold separately."
Luke’s face twitched. This bastard. "Include it." He said with a blank face.
The shopkeeper hesitated with an awkward smile.
Luke looked at the shelves Pathan had just offered to empty. "You’re having a pretty good morning, aren’t you? All thanks to me and my friends here. Why be so stingy?"
Hearing him even Pathan’s face changed. After a moment, the shopkeeper smiled. "Of course. We can include a basic tray."
Great. He had successfully negotiated a free plate for his overpriced mystery egg. Now came the slightly more pressing matter of paying for it.
Luke opened his account. The guild compensation wasn’t his only money, but he hadn’t intended to dip into what remained of his savings for this. He still needed equipment, lessons, and enough credits to deal with whatever bullshit tomorrow brought.
A thousand credits wouldn’t ruin him. It would, however, hurt.
"Young master," Emma whispered.
He glanced at her.
"I can—"
"Later." He confirmed the payment before she could offer him her own money.
Pathan leaned forward slightly, watching the shopkeeper’s face. The man checked the notification, then bowed his head. "Payment received. Thank you for your purchase."
Luke caught the brief disappointment on Pathan’s face. Apparently, he had been hoping for a declined transaction.
The shopkeeper lifted the black egg from its holder. Up close, the red streaks looked less like painted lines and more like veins running beneath the shell. Luke reached out and carefully took it.
Immediately, Pathan suggested. "Why not hatch it here itself? How about it young master, Luke? Shall we have a show? I bought a bunch of beast eggs. You bought...ugh.. huh... one? We can all open it right here and see what we have bargained."
Luke looked at him. "I didn’t realize you needed an audience to use an incubator."
"Afraid yours will be disappointing? Come on. The shopkeeper can help us. Unless you’re in a hurry? Come on. Come on. I will make it worth your while. How about I refund you the cost of the egg if you hatch it right here. I am sure you need money right. After all, you got kicked out and shit."
Luke was, in fact, in a hurry. He had a potion to drink and an entire day he would prefer to spend without this guy in it. But money is money. Why should he say no to free money?
He also had an unidentified beast egg in his hands. Hatching it somewhere with equipment and someone who knew what they were doing had its advantages.
And his luck was still only at 4. It was not like he was going to hatch a dragon or a phoenix. He turned to the shopkeeper. "Can it be hatched now?"
"Yes, young master. All these eggs are ready to be hatched."
"Good." Luke turned back to Pathan. "Transfer the credits."
Pathan blinked. "What?"
"You offered to cover the cost if I hatch it here. A thousand credits."
"I know what I said."
"Then we agree."
For a moment, Pathan just looked at him. Apparently, he had expected Luke to get offended and refuse the money.
Unfortunately for him, Luke had no such plans. The man could call him poor all afternoon if he wanted to sponsor his shopping.
Pathan opened his interface. A notification appeared in front of Luke a few seconds later.
[1,000 credits received.]
Luke checked the amount and smiled. "Thanks." Emma stared at him. He gave her a quick wink before setting the egg on the counter. Just like that, the purchase hurt considerably less.
Pathan sneered. "Alright. Now that you have the money. Shall we start?" He turned to the shopkeeper and ordered. "Make all the arrangements. All the eggs will be hatched now."
The shopkeeper hurried along and soon all the preparations were complete.
The eggs sat in a row of shallow stone trays on a long table at the back of the shop. Luke’s black egg occupied one end, while Pathan’s purchases filled the rest.
The woman checked each tray before fitting a crystal into a groove along the table.
"Keep your hands away while they hatch," she said. "And don’t help them break the shells."
Pathan nodded impatiently. "Go ahead." The camera orb was hovering near him. It looked like he was planning to stream the whole thing. Luke already expected this.
In fact, he wanted the guy to humiliate him today. That would mean his bad luck event for the day would be over? He wanted to atleast check his theory. Sure, getting humiliated sucked but he would take that over running for his life, chased by some weird thing.
The another reason why he wanted to do this was... he was genuinely curious. Just what would hatch out of the egg. What could his measly four points in luck get him? And would he be able to bond with that beast without any issues?
More people started gathering in the shop for the spectacle and Pathan and his group of friends already started their commentary for the stream.
"Twenty-three eggs," Pathan announced, spreading his arms toward the table. "Let’s see whether we can get something worth raising."
One of his friends pointed toward Luke’s tray.
"And our young master Luke Ashford has one too. Apparently, he’s betting everything on it. He paid thousand credits for the mystery egg!"
Luke glanced at the hovering orb. He could have said that the idiot sponsored the whole thing but he stopped himself. His goal was after all getting humiliated today. Why ruin it?
Seeing Luke speechless, Pathan chuckled. "I think our young master is nervous. Why don’t we start first with my eggs. Hatching mystery eggs always gets me excited. You never know when you might get something incredible."
The shopkeeper nodded enthusiastically. "Exactly, young master."
Luke wondered whether they had rehearsed this.
The woman adjusted the crystal beside the first tray. Light gathered beneath a speckled green egg, and it began to rock.
Pathan leaned toward the camera orb. "Let’s start with this one. I have a good feeling about it."
A pointed snout broke through the shell. After several determined wriggles, a little brown lizard dropped into the tray. It lay still for a moment, breathing hard, then turned and bit a piece of its own eggshell.
[Rock Lizard]
[Rank: F]
[Level: 1]
Pathan’s smile faltered. "Just an F rank. Well, it was one of the cheaper ones."
The woman transferred it into a padded basket and moved to the next tray.
That one produced a beetle.
The third hatched into another lizard.
By the fifth egg, Pathan had stopped announcing that he had a good feeling.
Luke kept his face carefully blank. Laughing would probably count as interfering with his own experiment.
Still, he couldn’t help noticing that Pathan had already acquired enough creatures to start a very disappointing zoo.
"Are all of these F rank?" one of the classmates muttered.
"Be patient," Pathan snapped.
The sixth egg was pale blue, with a rough band around its middle. It took longer than the others. Something scraped against the shell, paused, then struck hard enough to send a fragment skittering across the table.
A tiny white paw emerged. Luke leaned forward to take a look. Another paw followed, then a narrow head with pointed ears. The hatchling struggled free, dragging a wet, bushy tail behind it.
A fox!
Apparently, mammals came in eggs here too. He would have to add that to the growing list of things he needed to stop questioning.
The little creature sneezed. Frost spread across the tray beneath its nose.
[Frosttail Fox]
[Rank: D]
[Level: 1]
"Oh!" The shopkeeper hurried closer. "Congratulations, young master!"
Pathan straightened immediately. "A D-rank Frosttail Fox." He repeated the name loudly, making sure the orb captured both him and the hatchling. "That’s more like it."
Several people behind Luke murmured appreciatively.
"Good control abilities," someone said.
"Wow! That’s amazing! Lord Pathan is so lucky!"
"My cousin has one. Nasty little things once they learn to freeze the ground."
Pathan looked extremely pleased with himself.
Luke could understand why. The fox was beautiful, and even a useful D-rank companion would make a considerable difference to a new awakener.
Emma watched it with wide eyes.
"Do you like it?" Luke whispered.
"It’s very pretty."
The fox cub opened its mouth and made a noise like a rusty hinge.
Emma blinked. Luke looked away before he smiled.
The woman settled it into a separate basket. Pathan immediately instructed one of his friends to keep the camera on it while the remaining eggs were prepared.
Then his gaze returned to Luke. "How about we take a break from mine? Your egg was the most expensive one here. We shouldn’t keep everyone waiting."
Everyone turned to look at the black egg at the end of the table.