"How much will it sell for?"
"Huh?"
"I mean that fur."
Reave pointed at the black reindeer pelt stretched out and hung over a thick tree branch behind Kein.
"Well... if you take it to the merchant guild in Nordford, an unprocessed pelt might fetch around 300 gold coins? And that's only if you scrape off all the fat from the inner side to avoid any complaints." Kein replied.
Kein turned toward the direction Reave was pointing, looking at the glossy black fur pelt. He tossed a few dry branches into the campfire and answered Reave.
"Ugh... so, 100 gold coins each? That's too low! I heard they'd pay 400 gold coins, maybe even 500, in Ixtarn!" Reave complained.
"That's assuming it's been perfectly tanned. Given our current situation, if we head back to the tavern, soak it in saltwater, stretch it, and dry it... you might get a better price in a city with lots of shops that deal in pelts, even without going through a guild." Kein said, popping a piece of well-roasted reindeer meat into his mouth.
"You don't have to give me my share." Gravel interjected.
"What?"
"Huh?"
Both Reave and Kein turned their heads, eyes wide, staring at Gravel in surprise.
"I only came along to observe the hunt, so I don't think I deserve a full share." Gravel explained.
"No way! It's at least 100 gold coins! That's a lot of money, even for an adventurer like you, Gravel!"
"Haha, yes, 100 gold coins is a lot. But I can't say I fully earned a share today."
Not long ago, Gravel had taken the smallest gem he'd acquired from the Grongs to the city's merchant guild for appraisal, and it was valued at 100 gold coins. Perhaps because of the wealth in his pocket, he felt generous enough to make this offer to Reave and Kein, something he might not have done as a novice hunter under normal circumstances.
"Oh, come on! You can't just take nothing!" Kein said, scratching his head as if deep in thought. But the decision came quickly, almost predictably. Kein spoke again to Gravel.
"How about this? You say you can't take a full share, but Reave and I can't let a hunting companion walk away empty-handed. How about you take the share of an apprentice hunter?"
"...Hmm. If taking nothing would trouble you both... Alright, I'll gratefully accept." Gravel said, momentarily regretting not suggesting a smaller share from the start.
"That settles how we'll split it! Now we just need to sell it well. If only we had some Raven berries..." Kein mused.
"You want to preserve it too? Even if we could get some, it'd need to soak for ten days," Reave pointed out.
"Are those the berries used for tanning?" Gravel asked.
"Yes. The juice from those berries, when mixed with water and soaked, softens the leather and makes the fur glossier. They're used in most tanning processes and are great for preventing rot," Kein explained.
"But aren't we leaving Nordford tomorrow?" Gravel asked the pair.
"Yeah. Even if we got Raven berries now, we're leaving tomorrow," Kein confirmed.
"There's a way!" Reave chimed in.
"There's some extra space in the wagon carrying the statue. If Diara agrees..."
The weight of their expectant gazes fell on Gravel, their silent stares conveying more than words.
"...Uh... I'll ask Diara for permission." Gravel offered.
"If you can do that!" Reave exclaimed.
"Wow, you'd really do that?" Kein added.
Smiles spread across Reave and Kein's faces, their eyes sparkling with gratitude as they looked at Gravel.
"Alright, we've got a plan for when we get back. For now, we'd better eat up if we're going to haul all this meat." Reave said, chewing on a piece of meat while sitting with one knee up by the campfire. He glanced at the sacks of meat nearby and the cuts hung close to the fire to smoke.
"Let's keep an eye out for Raven berries on the way back. If we can't find any, we'll have to buy some from the merchant guild... By the way, those sacks look heavy. Can we carry them all at once?" Kein asked.
"If it's about carrying the sacks, I can help." Gravel offered.
"Oh! Are you going to cast a strength spell on us or something?" Reave asked excitedly.
"Is there such a spell?" Kein added, looking at Reave with a surprised expression.
"That's one way, but since you two need to look for Raven berries on the way back, I'll summon a magic creature to carry the load instead." Gravel said.
Gravel considered using necromancy to reanimate the black reindeer's skinned bones to carry the load, but decided it might cause problems and chose a different spell instead.
Let's summon a beast of Xeraxis. I wonder what it'll look like...
Gravel cast a magic circle in a clearing a short distance from the campfire, summoning a magic creature from it. Emerging from the circle was a creature with hairless, ivory-colored skin resembling a carved statue. It had no distinct neck or head, just a large head atop a short, thick torso with stubby limbs. Its eyes and mouth were disproportionately large compared to its head, with a blunt snout lined with sharp teeth and no visible pupils—a living, moving monstrous statue.
The summoning of a Xeraxis beast was a coveted spell in Grand World Online, valued for its convenience due to players' limited inventory space. Though it required periodic mana infusion, high-level mages in Grand World Online considered it worth the inconvenience.
"Whoa... so this is... summoned by magic..." Kein marveled.
The summoned beast emitted a faint jade glow, radiating light around it. Gravel approached, placing a hand on its blunt snout and channeling mana through his palm into the creature.
The mana flowing from Gravel's hand was visible even to Reave and Kein, who watched the beast and Gravel. The light shimmered like the flickering flames of the campfire, filling the creature's body. The beast's green aura mixed with Gravel's bluish mana, causing its entire body to glow turquoise.
*'The beast of Xeraxis... Xeraxis's beast... I'm sure I read about it in some lore in Grand World Online's ruins... but I can't quite remember.' *
Gravel thought, tilting his head as he tried to recall details about the magical creature he'd summoned.
"Just load the sacks onto its back." Gravel instructed.
They tied the ends of two sacks together with rope, placed them on the beast's back, and loaded the remaining large sacks. Only then did the three sit down to rest.
"Tomorrow, we leave Nordford and pass through Linford. If we keep going, we might reach Valla Glas in five days..." Reave said, leaning against a tree and staring at the flickering campfire.
"The wagon's slow, so it'll probably take longer." Kein replied.
"Yeah, you're right... Which means days like today, where we can leisurely grill meat, won't come often," Reave said.
"Then should we cut back on the meat we eat on the road and make more jerky?" Kein suggested.
"The jerky we have, we'll probably just eat tonight. Those guys at the wall construction are always hungry." Reave laughed.
"Haha, true. Well, our bellies are full, so let's share this reindeer meat with the folks waiting!" Kein said.
Reave and Kein began packing the smoked meat into sacks, smothering the campfire with dirt to put it out and tidying up the area.
"By the way, does Iris like venison?" Reave asked Gravel while packing small pieces of smoked meat into a sack.
"I've never asked, but I've seen her order venison dishes in Froikton, so she probably does." Gravel replied.
"Exactly! No one orders something they don't like!" Reave said.
Reave and Kein approached Gravel, their faces lighting up.
"Then please give Iris my special Reave jerky!" Reave said.
"And let her try my Kein jerky!" Kein added.
Gravel found himself holding two small pouches of jerky made by Reave and Kein. As they descended the canyon toward the Big Bear Tavern, accompanied by the Xeraxis beast, Gravel endured their passionate discussion about the spice blends and ratios used in their jerky recipes. And so, their first hunt in Nordford came to an end.
*****
Side Story: Xeraxis and the Thousand and One Beasts
In the continent of Vuul, the great wizard Xeraxis passed through a city that was once the capital of a kingdom.
Before entering the city, near the gates, he met a young man who introduced himself as a horse merchant. The man pleaded with Xeraxis to hear his unjust story.
The horse merchant explained that, as usual, he was traveling to a horse market in a city when he stopped for the night in a small village. There, he saw a magnificent horse so beautiful it was hard to believe. He spent all the money he had brought to buy five regular horses or two fine ones to purchase this extraordinary steed and brought it back to the city.
Upon returning, the merchant witnessed the king's procession. Holding the horse's reins tightly and bowing low, he caught the king's eye. The king, impressed by the horse, ordered his coachman to pay for it with a chest full of gold coins and took the horse.
The merchant's joy at earning many times his investment lasted only a night. The next day, soldiers seized him, and he was forced to kneel before the king again.
The king declared. "When I looked closely at the horse I bought yesterday, I lifted its mane and saw my brand on it."
It was a lie.
The king had paid generously in front of onlookers, but once back in the kingdom, he regretted the gold and framed the merchant, confiscating all his wealth and banishing him from the city. This was the tale of injustice the merchant shared with Xeraxis.
Upon hearing the story, Xeraxis marched to the palace to meet the king. Introducing himself as a merchant from a distant land selling rare treasures, he offered to sell the king a valuable item.
The treasure was a small wooden box called the Box of Pragia. When sand was placed inside, it would turn into gold dust by the next day.
The king promised to pay any price for the box, knowing he could send soldiers, assassins, or even an army to reclaim it later if needed.
Xeraxis requested, as payment, to take whatever treasures he could carry from the royal treasury in a single day. The king readily agreed, allowing Xeraxis to take as much as he could carry. He led Xeraxis to the treasury, filled the Box of Pragia with sand, and retired to his chambers, where he fell into a sweeter sleep than ever before.
The next morning, the king awoke to see a procession of moving statues shaped like animals—lions, camels, elephants, giraffes, hippos, bison, and deer—carrying chests and sacks filled with treasures, marching endlessly out of the city.
Shocked, the king sent his army to stop them, but they were no match for the great wizard. That day, the king lost all the treasures in his treasury. Clutching the Box of Pragia, he sought aid from a neighboring kingdom's king, only to lose both the box and his life, never to return.
Side Story: Xeraxis and the Thousand and One Beasts - End