Unusual Loot

I arrived and people were having their things checked by an attendant with a mysterious stone, though I missed the first few items.

____________________________________________________________________

The Attendant that was checking their things had a blue glass like stone in the shape of a cone, however the tip was cut off a little less than half way from the base to the tip. It seemed to have two copper rings concerned in small engravings around the edges of the stone, and magic circles on the base and plateaued tip.

I see the others grouped together watching the attendant, however some people were missing, as a few people don't want to expose what they got to the others in case they got something really valuable. The one that is having their items looked at was beside the attendant and seemed a bit nervous.

I join the others and they welcome me with open arms, literally, I found myself being squeezed to death by Jacklyn who had also been there, since she was a winner for the year above. I was then passed to Emmy and held like a five year old holds a toy. They really love suffocating me. Luckily, I now only lack 80% of the oxygen I normally bring into my body, instead of the 100% I lack when jacklyn attempts to physically induce lung failure with hugs. Thanks, but I would like to have all of my air back please.

After a minute of being held I began to writhe out of Emmy's arms when I was picked up by Caroline and they turned into a game where I was passed around like a white elephant gift on Christmas, I went everywhere and stayed in no one person's arms longer than a minute. After I had been held by everyone at least once, even by some of the people I had never met before, I was let down. I couldn't escape because my feet didn't touch the ground and if I resisted enough to escape it counted as a pass and someone else would wrangle me up and continue, I gave up after escape attempt number six. As I was being passed around I watched people go up and have their items identified. The process took about a minute each item and it told the person the condition of the item, what it was called, it's effects and other little bits of information about it. Most items were generic like iron sword or copper bars. Basic names, basic items. However, there were a few unique ones in the group. Out of everyone that got something there were only eight items that were outside of the ordinary or I would say are noteworthy.

The first item of note was found by Lapis Azure. She found something called a skill stone. A skill stone was a mystical item that takes the form of a typical Pebble or an everyday river rock. They allow the acquisition of a random skill that is contained inside the rock. Lapis told us she got the skill Mana Breath from it.

The Second item of note identified belonged to Grant. He received an item called The Forger's Secret. It was a blacksmiths hammer that slightly increased the efficiency of forging and the purity of minerals used in forging. It doesn't sound overly, out of this world, but what do I know. Grant had stars in his eyes when looking at the hammer and the largest grin I've ever seen on the man.

The third Item was found by Johnathan Vermillion. He had found a phoenix feather. The description given was; "A feather that comes from a bird with an extreme connection with fire, life, and death. Can be used to craft solutions that increase the strength of a fire based affinity, or a charm that allows one to return from the brink of death.". Very cool.

The fourth and fifth items belonged to Jacklyn. They were a skill stone and an item called a skill amplifier. The fact she got two items wasn't the impressive part, but the fact she got two things that go together so well was. The amplifier, was a blank piece of paper that had only had a circle on it. It's use is to amplify, or upgrade the skills contained in skill stones. The stones were rare but the amplifiers were more so. Jacklyn had immediately used both and got a skill called Blink.

The sixth item was Lyric's and it was an Ice cube. An Ice cube called Eternal Ice. "A piece of ancient ice of unknown origin, which has yet to show signs melting. Can increase the effectiveness of ones Ice affinity."

The seventh item was a crystal heart found by Caroline. The heart was from a golem formed from excessively rich Mana crystals and was a vibrant rainbow color. Not much else was said about it.

The final item belonged to Tanya. She had gotten a vial of black sludge. It was called Demonic blight and was said to have come from a very powerful demon who had great powers of decay. It cautioned against allowing living things from touching it. It would occasionally move or jiggle unnaturally and was kinda fun to watch.

It was now my turn to identify items and I was a little apprehensive about it. I understood that there were most likely things people would do less than moral acts to get, but I had a rather abstract collection of items and no real objective with my choices. There was now way they were that valuable. I convinced myself it was fine so I decided to identify them anyways.

I placed all of my items on a table that they had used for identifying things. One red gem, one ball of yarn, two bags one black one brown, and a large feather. I opened the bags and poured their contents onto the table. Inside the brown bag was a series of rainbow colored gems, one was blue, one was yellow, one was green, and the last was purple. The other bag had a dried black heart and a bottle that seemed to be full of ink. As the lady began to identify the objects she read off the description it showed to her.

Beginning with the red gem it was revealed to be a Mana crystal. It was a natural crystal created by amassing surrounding Mana for long periods of time. The color, size, and time it spent forming determined the capacity, which currently wasn't known and would have to be tested for.

The second thing identified was the yarn. It was an item called soul string and was a type of string that strengthens the soul based entity that resides within the thing that's made from it. It also can make some really nice high quality clothing.

Then we identified the black heart and ink. The heart was called a Demon heart and was a rare ingredient for alchemy but it was rarely needed for recipes, and the ink was called poisonous ink, like ink isn't already poisonous.

After, the rainbow stones were identified and

were revealed to be Runic gems and an equipment sphere. The Runic gems had two uses, it could either be refined into runes that can be engraved onto a weapon to allow for unique effects that have to be activated or you could forge them into weapons and armor to allow for minor passive effects. The yellow gem could be used to add the wind element onto weapons or reduce damage from wind element attacks on armour or could reduce the weight of metals it was forged into. The green could be used to cast low healing magic when on a weapon and make minor self healing magic on armour, or allows for slow self repair when fused into a metal. The purple was the most interesting and allowed for the use of lightning magic, an advanced form of fire and wind magic in similar ways as the yellow gem, and it's passive form caused the metal to shock whatever touched it. The last of the gems, the blue one, was an equipment orb. They are used in unique spells blacksmiths could use to repair equipment without needing extra time, resources, or the chance of breaking the gear.

Finally, the feather ... was just a pretty feather. A 'Shocking Pretty Feather' was what it was called it it's description read, and I quote, "a pretty feather that gives a light shock to those it touches."

I feel that my haul was decent and a bit abstract but according to everyone else the only thing of real value was the Runic gems and possibly the Mana stone. Mana stones are not uncommon and can range from really cheap to extremely expensive depending on its size and capacity. Other than that, demon hearts arent commonly used and only if someone was in need of one of them, would they really be Worth anything. The string could make nice clothes and that's it for people, and everything else seemed to have no real purpose.

Someone asked me about the suspicious mass of metal and I told them bringing it here would be a nightmare to Which they all agreed after remembering the screeching sound it made as I dragged it across the floor and how long it took for me to bring it back.

In the end we got the results for a game I didn't know we were playing and determined that I got second place to Jacklyn on the best items pulled, with Johnathan behind me in third.

We had fun talking for a bit as people started to depart from the group to do other things. while we were all talking, I got to know Johnathan and Lapis a bit more. I had heard about them but never talked to them until now. Johnathan was a nice person, he was confidant and prideful but he didn't let his ego become narcissistic. He did seem a bit cocky but I'm sure it's from always being first place, as I have been frequently told he is an absolute prodigy in most everything. Lapis was also an interesting person, she was cold and curt when speaking, but you could tell she was never rude intentionally. She also was a bit expressionless not completely lacking but had some facial expressions that were harder to distinguish, I had a better time than most because I was a lot like that in my old life. All in all they seemed like nice people.

After a while, as the last of us were diverging because it had gotten late, Lyric asked if I wanted to come over for dinner.

" Sorry I can't." I reply " I have to go to work."

"I understand Harmony is probably going to be sad though. " Was lyrics response " Is there any day you can come over? Everyone wants to talk to you more as it's not every day someone new joins the family here."

" What family did I join?" I asked.

" Beastmen and other demi-humans are often prosecuted in most parts of the human continent where we are, this place is better than most and is often seen as a haven for those who are rediculed, so anyone like us that comes here is always welcomed into the family." Lyric said in admiration for the town, he did mention he was ran out of his old village, it must have been hard on him and his family.

" I'll be sure to tell you if I can, it would be lovely to see everyone again." I say and leave to get ready for work.

Work passed and it was fun but tiring, there seemed to be people who would come every night or were there all the nights I've worked. And so far, I've been aquatinted with a few.

The first typically comes near the beginning of the dinner rush, a man named Gerald. He was a bit of a fluffy guy, not fat but bigger. He had a scary, maniacal face and the most pristine handle bar mustache I've ever seen. His face could definitely fill the evil mastermind role, but he was actually a really nice person. He liked me especially because I didn't keep my distance once I saw his face, I do admit I did try to avoid him at first but, I have to serve everyone, and those are minor details. I do notice people avoid him a bit, some unconsciously, some not, but overall I give him an A+ for both effort, and personality. Not to mention he is an absolute gentleman, or at least that's what I've seen ever since I've been here. He always is the first to assist a lady in need no matter how trivial. You may call it desperate, I'll call it chivalry.

The second I don't like so much, she is an old lady named Mesra. She is quiet, always comes at exactly 7:30 on the dot, and is chronicly obsessed with manners, etiquette, and posture. The few times she does open her mouth is to critique my ears and tail, tell me to fix my posture, tell I'm not walking in a feminine way, etc.. It seems she comes up with a new critique every time she speaks, the only repeats being to fix my posture and how awful my animal parts are. It definitely peeves me but you can tell from a distance she is senile and it's only a matter of time before she kills over. I'm only slightly hoping it will happen sooner than later. Waaaaay sooner. Is that Awful? Eh, who cares, she deserves it.

The third, and final is a man named Lincoln. He is an adventurer and is one of the rare people who are incapable of using mana. He was a good looking guy, the first time I saw him I was a bit envious and I'm pretty sure the lady I was serving started drooling a bit when they made eye contact. He is probably my favorite of the people who come by because he doesn't treat me exactly like a kid but he is still more kind, gentle, and understanding to me than others when I watch him from a distance. He helps me with my speaking skills and has become pretty invested in helping me. I am capable of understanding the words themselves and he helps me with my speed of processing them, if I ever get stuck and the such. Seeing as most people don't like repeating themselves, they usually start with universal language or switch to it once I ask them to repeat because they were talking too fast, but he is patient and I thank him for it.

There are other regulars that are starting to become more familiar, but they don't have as big an impression or talk to me enough to get to know them yet.

I return to my room after work and decide to sleep because I am both mentally and physically exhausted from today's events.