Living Life As A Game: Through And Through
/ Living Life As A Game: Through And Through 128 Trading For The Unexpected
The head of resources rubbed his eyebrows as he explained, "Are you sure you want to do that, kid? This Saint Stage Tamed Beast was given to protect you from any and all juniors that may have ill intentions on your abilities..."
Elizabeth was about to explain how she didn't need protection, at least not from a Beast she could easily best in a fight, when from behind her, one of the vocal competitors did it in her stead. In a loud and clear voice, everyone could hear, "Why would she want a Beginner Phase Saint Stage Tamed Beast when she can easily Tame Early Phase Saint Stage Beasts like that friggin Tiger as if they were cute little kittens?!"
Smiling helplessly, the head of resources said, "Ok then… What would you like instead of the Saint Stage Tamed Beast? More materials?"
Thinking for a second, Elizabeth had a moment of enlightenment as she recalled her lack of knowledge for Wild Beast Names. Excitedly, she asked, "Could I trade the beast for the book with as much information on Wild Beasts as there is currently available?"
Everyone, literally everyone, from the head of resources, to the competitors waiting for their turns to accept their rewards, had their faces turn downcast after hearing such a god awful trade. "I suppose that's possible… But you're going to need to pick something else to make up for the value of the Saint Stage Beast, else you'd make the Martial Society look incompetent..."'
"Cool~ How many more Fire and Death type materials can I trade for, in exchange for the Saint Stage Beast?"
Quickly making his way over to the stockpile of Fire and Death type materials, the head of resources produced two materials both of much higher quality than what Elizabeth had been allowed to choose from for the six materials prior. He said, "Five of each of these would be about equal to the Saint Stage Beast in value."
"Holy shit! Really?! What if I traded in all these other beasts?" As if she were bartering with pennies, Elizabeth had all seven of the Beasts she tamed in the forest moved before the head of resources. Her actions this time did more than trigger a frenzy, as comments questioning her sanity arose.
"Uh… This isn't a market… I'm only here to give out rewards for the tournament, so… Maybe you could try your luck with the people behind you?" Tasked to think on his feet, the head of resources quickly came up with an excuse as he truly couldn't afford to say the truth. Not only would he lose a lot of respect, but the people who arranged the Beast Taming Event would also feel a burn on their face if word got out that their resource department didn't possess enough materials to trade with a mere junior… How could they have expected for such an anomalous practitioner like Elizabeth to wreak havoc through her eccentric tendencies?
"Oh… Alrighty then~" Turning around to face the competitors, Elizabeth said, "I guess if anyone wants to trade for these here beasts, they can come see me outside by the Arena's entrance. I don't have much time to spare since there are only a couple minutes before the Medical Event begins. So, if no one shows up after ten minutes, I'm out."
Elizabeth waited for the head of resources to return to pick up the four other batches of Fire and Death-type materials before she hopped on her Tiger Beast, and had it walk her to the spot where she promised to see anyone willing to trade for her Beasts. She didn't have to wait long, as mere seconds after she arrived the runner up, who had just finished retrieving his rewards, appeared before her. Still in relative disbelief that she would trade up such powerful guardians, Felix asked, "What would you be willing to trade for the Peak Phase Red-Marked Bear and the Saint Stage Frigid Beastly Tiger?"
"Mhmm… You got any more Fire or Death type materials?"
"Give me a second..." Already prepared for this outcome from the way Elizabeth behaved within the resources department of the Arena, Felix reached for his phone and sent a message. He said, "In about a minute, an associate from the Taming Frontier Faction will come with the materials I'm willing to use to trade for the two beasts..."
Returning a nod, Elizabeth patiently waited for Felix's associate to appear by sitting on her Frigid Tiger. As the two waited, a small crowd appeared as more and more competitors that were finished retrieving their rewards felt like watching how this would play out. In the minute where Elizabeth and Felix waited for Felix's associate, Elizabeth successfully traded Two of her Fox Beasts and one of her wolves for more materials and cores.
When Felix's Associate finally arrived, after handing Felix the suitcase he requested, Felix, in turn, gave the case to Elizabeth. Opening the case to reveal very impressive objects of Fire and Death Affinity, even if Elizabeth didn't know the true value of the materials held within the suitcase, she estimated that the overall value should be double or even triple what she got for training the Beast that the tournament organizers would have given her for taking first place.
Accepting his proposal without activating any penny-pinching tactics to squeeze Felix out of as many resources as she could, Elizabeth jumped off the back of the Frigid Tiger and gave it one final command: This man is your new master, treat him as you would me, else perish a million billion times! She also did the same for the Red-Marked Bear before activating the Storage Enchantment that came with the suitcase for easy transportation.
While the various people around her could only see her initiate the master transferal process, the two Tiger and Bear Beasts could be seen visibly shaking with fear as the subtle pressure of Elizabeth's grandmist and killing intent melded into the ultimate instrument of terror they could possibly conceive of. Even after they became Felix's Guardian Beast, the Frigid Beastly Tiger and Red-Marked Bear didn't dare look at Elizabeth in fear that she would think they were reconsidering their status…
"Thanks for the trade. Until next time..." Felix quickly did away with the formalities as he felt the effects of second-hand terror after his two new Tamed Beasts conveyed their absolute fear of Elizabeth when they came under his direct subordination. Looking into Elizabeth's crimson eyes and telling smile, for a moment before leaving, he couldn't help but think of her title as Taming Demon to be anything but fitting.
Elizabeth stood around for a couple more minutes by the Tournament entrance until she finally sold her remaining Two Wolves to a couple of the more wealthy Beast Tamers of the Taming Frontier Faction. Although she was a bit sad to see her mount leave and return to the peasant's life of walking, as she put it, Elizabeth was happy to see herself become richer in resources and then excited for the break she would receive after the upcoming Medical Event, as she would put these resources to use when that time arrived.
Making her way over to the Principle Tournament Arena where the rest of the Events for the Tournament would take place, Elizabeth materialized a Fire Blossom herb and tossed it over to her Clearlight Sparrow to eat. Like a vehicle set to autopilot, her feet took her over to the Arena as her hands and focus worked to digest the contents of the Monster Glossary she had received from the head of resources in the Northern Arena.
With P activating her Eidetic Memory, Elizabeth scanned through the book at a rate of dozens of pages per minute and by the time she set foot back in Sharktop Village, she was done with the book entirely. With the book memorized, Elizabeth burned it to ashes as she had no more use for it and would rather not clutter up her spatial ring's inventory.
With a couple minutes left to go before the Medical Event began, she re-entered the Tournament Square and browsed the various street food merchants to pick up another sweet. Taking note of an ice cream vendor and ever-hateful of the summer heat, Elizabeth capitalized on the moment and coughed up a very low ranking monster core for a cone of soft serve vanilla ice cream. Then, as if she couldn't sully her image as a holder of two Champion Titles any more, she decorated her icy delight with rainbow and chocolate flavored sprinkles and entered the waiting room for the Principle Tournament Arena like a child who had lost their way…
However, even if she looked like a complete idiot with ice cream smears on her lips as she ate the sweet one lick at a time, her reputation by this point was known by practically everyone; this being the case after she proactively let the world know her schedule for the day. Alas, before she could finish her precious ice cream, the announcer came to ruin her moments in pure bliss as he called for the competitors of the Medical Event to make their way into the arena.
Shaking her head in discomfort, Elizabeth couldn't be bothered to gorge herself in what remained of the ice cream right then and there nor did she want to throw away what remained. So, in the end, she ended up taking the summer delight with her, on stage...
Chapter end
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