54: I will decline

I will decline

Liam took out the egg from his inventory space and handed it to the shopkeeper who had a big smile plastered on her face. "Anything for you, handsome!"0

However, her eyes that were still glued to Liam, and looking at him with twinkles suddenly shifted to the medium-sized egg on her hand. 

Her look as well turned serious as she began to examine the egg in detail. It was a white colored egg that was devoid of any specific patterns or marks and it was pristinely clean, almost giving a feeling that nothing could taint it.

"This! Where did you get this?!"

Alex who was rolling her eyes at the woman's blatant fawning over Liam also became silent and listened in on the conversation intently.

She now understood that this was why he had come here and not to buy the eggs that had been on display. 

Sure, it was embarrassing but she was not in a position to care about these small things. She quickly put that aside and focused on the thing that was happening right in front of her.

"Ah. I just found it inside a cave." Liam answered politely with a smile.

"Handsome! This egg, can you sell it to me? I will give you 50 gold." This was the same amount which Alex had just paid her for her big purchase and she opened her mouth in surprise.

The egg which the hateful guy had was so valuable? She simply couldn't believe it. Why the heck was he stumbling and falling on all the good things? This was ridiculous!

Both Alex and the shopkeeper were looking at Liam as if they wanted to swallow him alive and Liam cleared his throat. "Ah, I must apologize. I am not planning to sell this egg."

The shopkeeper's expression once again changed but Liam was not yet done talking. 

"I was wondering if madam could help me inspect this egg. I heard that you are the best when it comes to beast eggs aha ha ha ha. So please take a look at this for me?"

He flashed another smile which made him look all the more charming and the woman immediately started blushing. "Sure. Sure. I can do that for you handsome."

She once again went back to flirting with him just like that. Liam sighed in relief and he waited patiently. After a couple of seconds, a screen flashed in front of him with a string of details.

[Ding. Beast Name: ??]

[Ding. Beast Type: Spirit]

[Ding. Beast Attribute: Fire]

[Ding. Beast Quality: Rare]

Liam gazed at the details and for a second was completely shocked and speechless. 

Even with all of his knowledge about the game, he still had not expected a spirit type egg to fall into his hands this early. 

In his previous life, some players managed to get their hands on this type and at first, they were not too outstanding as the growth of these pets was slow and they required a lot of resources.

But when the trial stage ended, suddenly they all came out on top as it was revealed that only spirit type pets and soul type pets could be carried with one from this tutorial phase to the real apocalyptic world.

Anything that was not a part of one's spirit or soul was basically just a mirage, just like these NPCs. This was also why Liam hadn't bothered to use the tame skill.

He was sure that there was some sort of madness to the method just like with mana usage and control, but he didn't want to spread himself too thin by focusing on everything at once.

But since he had this egg, and he was already here, he decided to get this inspected and it turned out to be an unexpected windfall. 

It looked like everything was nudging him towards something and this time even fate was on his side. Liam grinned. His plans changed a little but not too much.

"Young man, I must remind you. These types of eggs are very difficult to hatch. Even if you hatch them, they might still not amount to much."

"I would still be honored to take it off your hands. How about I offer you 1000 gold for the egg? He He. I can even give you some information. I recently heard rumors about a legendary beast pet."

[Ding. New Quest Available: Visit the royal city and meet with the innkeeper]

[Ding. Quest Difficulty: S-Grade]

[Ding. Do you accept this quest? Y/N]

"S grade quest huh? Ha Ha Ha. Sorry madam, I think I will decline. Our paths are different. I hope you can find someone else to help you." Liam politely bowed and took the egg back from the woman's hands.

"Ah…! That is such a pity!" The shopkeeper looked very disappointed, and quickly ignored him, tending to her other customers.

And since Liam had already gotten what he wanted, he didn't linger there any longer and started walking away.

Alex looked at his figure disappearing in the crowd and she hurried behind him so as not to lose sight of him. "Hey. Hey. Wait a second."

Liam walked out of the black market zone to the blacksmith's association that he had previously ignored. 

Alex followed him there and watched him as he spoke with a person on the counter and learned the basic smithing skill.

"So this guy is just learning a bunch of trade skills without leveling? But then why did he hunt that field boss down? I can't understand his plans at all."

Alex looked at the time and it was almost noon. So she stepped forward and reminded him. "So can we talk now? It's noon."

"Yup. Follow me." Liam walked to one of the small workspaces located in the courtyard of the building where a lot of players, at least those who were interested in learning blacksmithing, were practicing their skills.

"Ummm… Here?" Alex gulped as she looked around, but the other party had already started setting up his bench.

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