The companion beast emporium was a decent-sized multi-level store, with a huge, attached barn right behind it. The smaller animals and beasts were all kept on the second floor, while the medium-sized ones were on the first floor. All the truly large potential companions and the extra stock were kept in the barn.

  Angie, surprisingly enough, didn’t seem to care one way or another about getting a companion. If it happened, it happened. However, for the most part, she was content with paying attention to Aura. She could see the benefits of having a companion beast, but there were also a lot of downsides as well. Especially when they weren’t as intelligent as Aura.

  There was also the matter of the dungeons and whether or not they would be able to come inside with them. If they couldn’t, then they would be leaving them inside the RV unsupervised for hours on end. An RV which was already somewhat crowded.

  If a specific one called out to her, she wasn’t opposed to the idea, but they were mainly there for Lindsay. Perhaps in the future, when they knew more or space was no longer at a premium, she would revisit the idea.

  Nate didn’t let Aura stay in the RV this time and had her come along, so while Angie stuck to Lindsay’s excited side, they went off on their own. As a store dealing with all things related to companions, that naturally meant it also had toys, vitamins, brushes, shampoos, and more. Everything someone might need to properly take care of their other-legged companion.

  To Nate’s utter lack of surprise, Aura completely ignored the toys. As a being with intelligence on par with any human that didn’t surprise him in the slightest. These toys were meant to be stimulating, in the same way that baby toys were for a newborn. Squeaky toys that were meant to imitate the noise of something in distress just didn’t do it for it her.

  However, she was practically drooling over the brushes and all the different shampoos and conditioners.

  “My tails will be silky smooth” She kept projecting to him in a mutter.

  She was less impressed with the vitamins but was willing to try them out. Cultivation tended to take care of a lot of issues, but it never hurt to be careful, especially in the early stages. Even if she was further along than him.

  When Lindsay and Angie found them a while later, it actually took him a moment to recognize that she had gotten a companion beast instead of a new scarf.

  “Lindsay,” He sighed, pressing a hand to his forehead. “Please, tell me you did not just go for the cuddliest-looking animal here and buy a weasel because you could wear it like a scarf.”

  Next to her, Angie was nodding emphatically.

  Lindsay elbowed her and smiled sweetly. “No, of course not. What would ever give you that idea?”

  Angelica coughed at the bald-faced lie and turned to her friend in surprise. “I barely managed to talk her away from getting a red fox initially. Then she saw this, and well, it was over. The little bugger came over and licked her finger and she was done.”

  “Huh, well, not what I was expecting, but he, she, it(?) is cute at least,” Nate said, leaning closer to Lindsay to see the weasel’s face.

  It opened its eyes right then and yawned, sticking out its tongue for a brief moment.

  Lindsay scratched it behind the ears with a smile. “Her, she’s a female. You’re even more outnumbered than before.” She laughed. “I haven’t come up with a name for her yet, but something will come to me. In the meantime, I wanted to stock up on a few things before we leave.” She nodded to the supplies he already had in his own cart.

  Nate noted the bracelet she was wearing and the collar on the weasel’s neck. It had been too short of a time for her to use a proper companion beast training method. As a result, the emporium provided a temporary low-quality training bracelet and collar.

  A little while later, they were back in the RV and headed to the meetup spot. This time Nate was driving while Lindsay was learning the support skill ‘Companion Bond’. It was the same skill his parents had given him many months earlier. He had never had a reason to learn it, as the dungeon had taken care of their bond automatically. However, he had still studied it for the purposes of maintaining his disguise, and Lindsay was finding it useful now as well.

  Unfortunately, as it was a proper support skill, she would have to forget one of her current skills to slot it into place.

  Next to her, Aura was conversing with the still unnamed weasel, finding the qi-changed animal smarter than its base compatriots, but nowhere near her level. The being could understand what Aura was telling her, to a certain extent at least. It was somewhat akin to talking to a smart toddler. There was some understanding, but it was more about the other party copying the older one than true understanding.

  The narrative has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the infringement.

  Sitting next to Nate in the passenger seat was Angie, acting as navigator once more, guiding him through the city. The roads of this city were confusing to anyone not familiar with them, and he was being extra careful due to the size of the vehicle they were in.

  The roads were cramped with other drivers, many of whom were heading toward the same place as them. Thankfully, as in their city, all the professional hunters left their rigs and trailers in the designated parking lot near the licensing bureau.

  They were meeting with the rest of the group that they would be traveling with them. It would be a simple, quick meeting designed to introduce everyone and understand what each was capable of. Then they would separate again to go their own ways before rejoining again around noon, or whichever time they agreed upon the next day.

  The five merchants from the Richlow Group, whom they had met a couple of hours earlier, were in the midst of parking their own vehicle when Nate drove up.

  “I don’t think I’ve ever seen the merchants arrive before everyone else,” Nate remarked with a grin at Angie as they climbed out. Lindsay was a few moments behind them, quietly whispering different names to her new weasel companion. The animal was definitely smarter than Nate had first given it credit for, though still lacking when compared to Aura, who had once more adopted the appearance of a large red fox.

  Angelica sniffed haughtily. “That’s because we carry all the goods and foods that need to be transported between cities. It takes time to make sure everything is organized properly and won’t shift while we are moving.” Her eyes flicked to the computer on her wrist. “At least that used to be the case.”

  One of the Richlow Group ran over to a nearby semi and trailer to check on it, before rejoining them a minute later. While they were in a city, they used the SUV which they towed behind the trailer of the semi. It did limit them to the roads they could cross, but the trailer itself more or less had the same limitations anyway.

  “Angelica, Lindsay, Nathan, Aura,” The well-dressed woman who was the leader of their group said in a way of greeting. “And it looks as though you have gained a new companion since we last met a couple of hours ago.”

  Lindsay ran a finger tenderly across the weasel’s cheek. “Yup, we just picked her up. Isn’t she cute? I am having a little difficulty picking out a name for her though. She doesn’t seem to like any of my choices so far.”

  Nate’s face screwed up in protest. “Why don‘t you tell them the names you’ve been suggesting before you make it sound like she’s the one being unreasonable?”

  “I told you what her room was like when we first met Aura, remember?” A suddenly tired Angie said.

  “I know, I guess, a part of me just never quite believed you until now. Wait, didn’t you say that foxes were her favorite animal? How did you convince her not to go with that red fox earlier?”

  “I just told her it would never be able to compete with Aura. That we already had the best fox there is.”

  “And that worked?”

  Angie pointed to the weasel. “Apparently.”

  The Richlow Group was watching the byplay in amusement, waiting for them to finish. “Okay, but you still haven’t mentioned what names Lindsay has been suggesting for her new friend.”

  “Princess,” Nate said dully. “Starlight, Pretty Pie-”

  “Hey!” Lindsay protested. “I never said her name should be Pretty Pie. Don’t go making up names.”

  “Whatever. It sounds like something you would have tried calling her.”

  The merchants were laughing and shaking their heads. The Richlow Group was composed of some friends who had grown up together and then, with the help of their parents, gone into business with one another. They were actually from a town nearby and were eight years their senior.

  They learned that there used to be more of them, but in their second year of operation, they had gotten greedy and stupid. They had done a run with minimal guards and lost three of their friends. Two of them had died due to injuries, while the third had suffered debilitating injuries, losing the use of her legs forever. Now, she stayed back in their hometown and worked to organize all their routes, among other things.

  The five older people in the Richlow Group knew that Angelica was part of a larger mercantile group. However, at the same time, they decided to tell their story to the teens while they waited for the others. It was the basis for many painful lessons that they had been forced to learn. Angie might have grown up being told these things, but hearing it again wouldn’t hurt. The teens’ group was even smaller than theirs had been, though there was one key difference. Nate, Lindsay, and Angie were all focused cultivators and hunters. This journey they were on wasn’t related to any sort of merchant work.

  The members of the Richlow Group were cultivators, of course. However, until the attack in their second year, it had never been their focus. It still wasn’t. Part of the reason they had become merchants was because they weren’t particularly skilled cultivators and didn’t want to do other jobs. Each of them had a sense of wanderlust, and this was the only way to fill it.

  While they were talking, another couple of cars sped into the parking lot and parked nearby. Ten professional hunters piled out of the vehicles and hurried toward them.

  “We’re late, sorry about that.” A large man said as soon as he got close. “We’re training up a rookie at the moment, and apparently he didn’t get the message that we had a meeting this afternoon.” He turned to glare at a young man who was not so subtly admiring Lindsay’s and Angie’s forms. The man whistled sharply at the boy, who jerked guiltily and turned away.

  “It’s… We were just swapping stories and getting to know each other while we waited.” Nate told the man. He wasn’t going to say that it was alright, since it wasn’t. Being late for a meeting they had organized in the first place was bad form, and then showing up with someone who openly leered at the girls they were supposed to protect. All around it was less than professional behavior, in his opinion.

  He had largely adjusted to the way this world worked over the last year. Still, every once in a while, things like this threw him for a loop. Misogyny and misandry were no longer even ideas in this world. Cultivation had solved that by putting both genders on equal footing.

  Interestingly enough, despite that, things like this still happened. If anything, they were even more common than before and were being done by both genders.

  The man’s eyes narrowed dangerously as he glared at the rookie. “Right. Well, my name is Shane. I’m the leader of this group. How about we head inside and get this meeting underway?”

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