Chapter 51 - 51. Lucky Find
Slowly pulling himself to his knees still a bit muddled due to his fall he found that the space under the shifted floor was large. Walker pushed the stone revealing three medium crates. Pulling the first one out was a bit tough it was very heavy.
He pulled the lid off the top to reveal at least twenty transparent blue crystals. These were water magic crystals. These were water crystals! This must have been the daughter's store of water crystals to assist in her water magic.
As a party, they didn't need the water crystals for and magical reasons, however, if they brought these to the forge they may be able to sell them and buy some dark crystals for midnight. Walker stored the crate away curious to see if the other two crates were the same.
The second one Walker pulled up was not as heavy as the first which piqued Walker's curiosity. Once the lid was off walker saw some herbs in small vials. Some had aged poorly and looked to be nothing but dust, others looked perfectly preserved. Walker was thinking he should bring these along to the alchemist guild for some clarification. His all around appraisal could help give him insight but he won't truly know the uses. It would be interesting to see the kind of herbs that the daughter of the family had viewed as important to stow away.
The third crate was smaller than the other two and Walker easily pulled it up from the storage. Upon opening the lid he realized it was full of sawdust. Picking up a handful and using all around appraisal walker saw that it was sawdust from an oak tree. He could only wonder why this was so important. He went to grab another handful and realized there was a slimy of black from the sawdust. Walker began clearing the dust away. Once revealed a large fist sized egg that was smooth and dark black. This must have been the egg from the snake she had used as prion experiment ingredients! If so it had been down here for maybe years not hatching or anything. Was it dead? Walker wanted to check with his all around appraisal skill,
'Abyssal serpent egg (dormant)
Abyssal serpents live in dark places but will often leave to absorb light as energy before returning to deep pits or caves. These serpents can grow to great sizes and are often believed to be evil due to their color and ability to devour light. Their extremely tough creatures due to their fast healing capabilities and were once revered as immortal. Eggs are rarely found as they need to absorb light for a lengthy amount of time before hatching is possible.'
Walker was surprised, such a rare creature had been hunted down and killed. Not to mention it had even had an egg within it that was capable of lying dormant for years until the right time to hatch. Another thing that struck walker was that it had been revered as immortal due to its healing capabilities, could this have been the serpent the family crest had been founded on? How strange fate worked that this egg would come to exist here. After being trapped here for years walker believed this baby serpent deserved a chance at life. He stored the egg in his inventory and decided that come the night he would form a contract with it before it hatched so that it would become part of the family as well. He didn't necessarily want it for its fighting capabilities but to give it a chance at an adventurous life. Also, the idea of midnight getting a younger sibling made him giggle.
Walker was about to leave when he saw underneath was a small pendant. There was a woven leather cord and a metal snake biting its tail. Using his skill walker checked it,
' immortal serpent pendant
Assists the body in natural healing +2hp every 10 minutes'
Walker had definitely found a priceless family heirloom and was unsure what to do. There was no family left alive to deliver it to, and his party technically owned the mansion now. Walker stored it away thinking that it might be wise to give this to Su since she would often be taking damage. Realizing he had spent a lot of time down in the study he jumped up and ran back towards the front hall, he had definitely left everyone waiting.
Upon his return, he noticed Remeys annoyed face, "what the heck took you so long? I know we just moved in but did you really get lost?" Yup Remey wasn't too happy but walker was sure he could change her mind.
Walker recounted the discovery greatly downplaying his minor face plant. "So after finding all that you want me to wear this pendant?" Su held up the immortal serpent pendant questioning its abilities " I feel bad we can't return it to the family but I agree that giving it to me is a wise move leader. I will be at risk on the front lines of battle." Su began nodding at the positive though process behind this decision.
"So basically midnights getting a little sister or brother? As long as it's a cute little noodle I won't be too upset with you for being late. But if it's mean looking I'm going to show you how I kept the kids in line when they got in trouble." Remey sent a glare at walker but the small smirk was evident.
" I guess stopping by the forge and alchemist building is also on the to do list for today. I agree that we should find the proper items for midnights growth, you did say that it would help strengthen her scales and since she will grow to a young adult sooner or later it's the same as us eating vegetables." Gil recalled all the times his mother had yelled at him to finish his carrots or he wouldn't grow right.
"Remey I'm sure with your friend's help at the alchemist building we can identify some of the herbs I found. I can figure out what they are with my skill but there's no point if I don't know what they are used for. I'll be relying on you." Walker laid on the sweet words to put Remey back in a good mood knowing she could put up a fight against the old man there.
"Yea I know I'm the only one who can do it, you're right o choose me for this." Walker felt that he may have stoked Remey's ego a bit too much but was prepared.
"On that note let's get moving, we have a lot to do today." Walker started out the door.