Chapter 31

"What's that?" Autumn asked, her eyes shining in awe.

The trio were walking around the marketplace. Even after such a large scale incident happened, it didn't affect the underhand transactions taking place.

"Glacial fruit. It's only grows in extremely cold temperatures so it's quite rare, even in the north," Rui explained.

"Ah, you have a fine eye. This glacial fruit was brought all the way from the depths of Frostfall. It took quite a bit of effort to preserve its cooling properties," an old merchant chuckled.

Rui rolled his eyes, "Autumn, Ember, let's go."

However, they refused to budge, their eyes wide in curiosity. "Is it edible?" Ember hastily asked.

The merchant smiled. "Of course! Not only is it edible but it's quite refreshing. Just taking a bite sends energy surging through you, like tasting icy cold winds and glacial frost."

Autumn and Ember exchanged glances, their eyes filled with awe. "How much is it?" Autumn questioned.

"10 gold coins."

"That much?" Autumn gasped.

Rui sighed, his wallet about to become significantly lighter. To his surprise, the two shifters spared him not a single glance, but huddled together in discussion.

"Do you still have those coins?" Autumn whispered hopefully.

"A few. Some of them broke already. Let's see," Ember pulled out a few coins from inside her cloak, "One…Two…Five…Seven…"

Ember turned towards the merchant. "I only have seven gold coins. Could we perhaps have a discount as first time buyers?"

The scheming merchant was happy to comply. Glacial fruits were rare, but so were gold coins. He was simply trying his luck, but who would've known they had so much money?

"Of course, please come back and buy again!"

Ember places the coins in his hand, grabbing the fruit with one hand and Autumn with the other, pulling her away. "Quick! Let's go. I don't know when he'll notice the difference, but it won't be pretty."

"Notice what?" Rui asked, "and how did you have that much money on you?"

"Shhhh." Autumn beckoned him closer, "it's fake."

Rui stared in disbelief. Here he was lamenting over how they had been scammed, yet it was the other way around.

Meanwhile, the merchant bit down on a seemingly gold coin, but instead of the cold metal he expected, his teeth sank through the coin. "Pfff!!!" The merchant spluttered, "Mud?!?" He turned his head towards where the three of them stood, quickly grabbing the rest of the coins and destroying them.

"Thief! Catch them!"

The crowd turned towards them. A hand reached out and snatched Ember's hood off her head. "A spirit animal?" Someone questioned.

"Hahaha! How special. Let's catch her. I bet she'll be worth a lot."

Rui was helpless as he was pushed aside, the crowd too much to fight against. Autumn and Ember quickly shifted, their small wolf forms weaving between legs and tripping their pursuers.

"This way!" Autumn called out as she dashed into an alleyway.

"Phew," Ember panted, "I didn't expect them to be that determined."

"Well, you're spirit animals after all." A smooth voice sounded.

"Who's there," Autumn called out, her eyes narrowing.

"Someone who means well for you." A woman's figure stepped out of the shadows, "I'm Melany, here to help you escape."

Ember scoffed, "We've already escaped them. Your a bit late, huh?"

"Oh, the crowd? Of course, but I'm talking about the adventurers. Don't you want to be free?"

"We made a deal. I think we'll be fine. How would they react if they knew you were plotting behind their backs?" Autumn rebutted.

"But they won't know. Because you won't tell them, right?"

"Maybe we will. We're quite happy here. If we left they would hunt us down eventually too."

"Happy? Here? In this gilded birdcage that you deem freedom? Quit fooling yourselves."

Ember snarled, "Enough. What do you gain in manipulating us like this?"

Melany shrugged before speaking, hatred lacing her words. "I'll be honest. I hate you and all other spirit animals. You're all so stuck up and expect us adventurers to curry favor with you. Even now you reject my goodwill, just so you can keep living like pampered pets."

"Goodwill? You're obviously trying to get rid of us."

"Even so, you can't believe that those adventurers really care. They want you because of what you can do for them. Everything they do is to get on your good side."

"Explain." Autumn hissed.

"It's common knowledge that spirit animals all contain energy cores."

Autumn glanced at Ember. The strange stone they had eaten merely days before could have come from a fellow spirit animal.

"I thought they came from evolved animals."

"Hmm? They actually told you such a thing? Spirit animals are evolved animals, in a way. I suppose it's true." Melany hid her vicious gaze as she continued to spout her lies. She was getting to them, and it was only a matter of time until the Phantom adventurer team was under her control.

"Impossible," Autumn spat, but she was in doubt. Ember's eyes shook as she took in the potential implications of Melany's words.

"What about our energy cores, then?" Autumn asked, her question returning their focus.

"The weaker spirit animals have their cores taken, a death sentence. The stronger ones are contracted and used like tools."

"They said we would keep our free will. A contract connects our souls, but not our minds."

"I know you don't believe such a blatant lie. Haven't you noticed? Everything that they say is obeyed."

Autumn's heart pounded. 'If this is true…' She glanced towards Ember. "We have to leave."