"Aunt Olivia, I'll take ten liters of Firefel pure mineral water, two crates of rainbow carrots, and two more bags of Heatwheat."
After Ray realized he had money to spare, he bought beast items without restraint. Every item was sucked into his magic bag all at once.
"What's this? As soon as you know you have money, you spend it right away! If you need anything else, you can always come to my store, Ray. I'm always happy to welcome you. If you pass the Temmecia exam and live the good life, don't forget about me!"
"Yes, Aunt Olivia. Thank you," he beamed, walking to open the shop door to leave.
Out of concern for someone she had cared for like her own child, Olivia walked over and cracked the door halfway open to warn Ray:
"Don't spend money frivolously buying expensive, flashy things. I've been seeing a lot of people getting robbed lately. Be careful of thieves too."
"Come on, Aunt! What thieves are there? Thieves wouldn't bother chasing after me. I've never been robbed in my life."
The young man turned back to chat amid the peaceful medieval European town atmosphere. There were a few clouds, sunlight filtering through in dappled rays, townspeople and magical beasts walking back and forth on the beautiful stone-paved streets.
"Hey, thief! Someone catch him! He stole my stuff! That young man over there, watch out for the thief!"
A shout came from the distance. Suddenly someone in black clothes came running at breakneck speed, bumping Ray's shoulder and nearly knocking him over.
Ray steadied himself just in time. "Come out, Geed! Kick!" He sent the Fluffy out from his bag to jump and somersault in midair, landing on the thief's head until his face scraped against the stone road.
They stopped him. The items the thief had stolen scattered across the ground.
Many people stopped walking to stare at the commotion with sparkling eyes. The owner rushed over to thank the young man.
Ray turned back to look at Aunt Olivia, who just shrugged and raised her eyebrows.
"I told you. Be careful of thieves." With that, she walked back into her shop and closed the door.
"Are your belongings safe?" Ray walked over to the thick-spectacled man in animal fur clothing who was gathering his scattered possessions. The thief had been apprehended by Lugana police, and he had the right to remain silent.
So Ray bent down to help the man collect his things with extra effort.
"Thank you so much, young man. Without you, I would have been in real trouble."
"It's nothing."
"You're really a good kid. Come to my shop sometime. I'll treat you to a cup of coffee."
"Actually, I don't know how to drink it," Ray scratched his head and smiled, before realizing, "Uh, I mean I'm not rejecting your kindness. I just don't know how to drink it."
"Hahaha! Okay, okay. Well, if you have any raw materials or items to sell at my shop, I'll give you a special price. I just opened recently at that corner over there. Baymark's shop." He pointed toward the corner of the central town fountain plaza.
"Oh right! I was just about to sell some stuff. I'll sell at your shop then!"
-----
"Wait a minute, young man. How did you get these 32 phoenix feathers?"
"I collected them," Ray beamed at the counter where Mark was examining the bird feathers with a magic magnifying glass. Ray told the complete truth—he really did collect them. They just happened to fall in large quantities.
"All authentic. To collect this many, if you're not raising a phoenix yourself, then you're impossibly lucky…" Mark pushed up his glasses, looking at Ray's face that seemed to be hiding something. Even with his mouth shut, it was obviously suspicious as hell.
"Hahaha! I'm just lucky!"
"You're raising one, aren't you?" He peered over his glasses.
"Uh, well, yes," Ray scratched his head sheepishly.
"Sigh, I shouldn't ask further, should I, young man?" He held his temples and shook his head before putting all the feathers into his own bag.
"Does my face give it away that much!?"
Mark nodded. "You look like you can't lie. If you tried to lie, you'd definitely fail. Don't try to lie to anyone else, kid." Then he placed all the money—450,000 G—on the counter. Ray's eyes sparkled seeing the money. He had never imagined having this much money in his life. He quickly grabbed his wallet to absorb and store it immediately.
"Please don't tell anyone, okay? I'm begging you," Ray pleaded.
"Sure, but people will find out eventually anyway."
"Huh? Why?" He tilted his head curiously.
"Well, I can see you're taking the Temmecia exam, right? You'll find out when you take the test."
"Do you know what they test? Can you tell me what kind of questions they ask?" Ray stood pressing against the counter, craning his neck forward excitedly.
Mark scratched his head lazily.
"Telling you wouldn't mean anything since the exam is tomorrow. Other kids already know what they need to do. But whatever, I think you should just go for it like this. With that one you have, I think you'll pass no matter what."
"Really, Mark?! I should be able to pass, right? Yeah! Thank you!" Ray smiled happily with bulging cheeks when someone told him he would likely become what he'd wanted to be his whole life.
The other party shook his head at the teenager.
"Just a warning: don't stay up late and wake up late for the exam."
"Oh, yes sir! By the way, do you know any magic bag shops? I want something that can help make my magical beasts more comfortable. I only have this old bag."
Ray lifted up his own bag to show. Mark furrowed his brows, not thinking this world still had people using bags from this generation.
"Hmm, go to old man Dref's shop, young man. And don't try to bargain with him—he's fierce."
"Yes sir, thank you!" Ray nodded cheerfully.
The spectacled man nodded back lightly.
Before the young man turned to open the door and leave the shop.
"Wait a minute, young man. There's one more thing I want to warn you about."
"What?" He held the door open and turned back.
"Don't make your bag too fancy. Watch out for thieves. Lots of people are getting robbed lately."
"Ah yes, I already encountered one today! Geez, I don't know what you're all warning me about. I probably won't encounter another one. Hahaha!" Ray smiled widely and laughed happily.
Just then, a townsperson's voice rang out from the distance: "Someone help! Catch the thief! The thief is running!"
*Thud thud thud thud*
The sound of running past the shop front along with the shadow of someone scrambling away at high speed.
Ray turned back to look at Mark's face in the shop, bewildered.
The young shop owner pushed his glasses up his nose, lowered his head, then walked back into his shop in complete silence.
Ray opened the door and came out, eyes vacant, looking down the evening street where everyone was looking the same way as him, seeing the thief get caught by police again. He sighed, scratching his head in confusion.
"What the hell is happening to this world?"
-----
Wanting to challenge life's craziness by doing something extreme after all the insane events that kept happening back-to-back in one day, Ray ate expensive food for once in his life and chose to buy nice clothes for school.
Then he walked to choose and buy a sparkling diamond leather three-dimensional bag at Uncle Dref's shop. Its features included twenty beast gardens with twenty different climates, able to store over a thousand magical beasts, durable, beautiful, and the latest cutting-edge model.
"When you buy expensive stuff, be real careful of thieves, kid," Uncle Dref, a bearded dwarf, told him before handing over the top-tier bag.
Ray nodded in acknowledgment. "Yes, Uncle," before carrying the bag and walking out of the shop, still bewildered by everything that had happened.
-----
Late at night after finishing all his missions, Ray threw himself onto his old bed in his cheap room.
"Sigh, so many things happened today. I'm exhausted but I love today so much. But tomorrow… tomorrow…" He flipped over and sat up on his bed, looking out the second-floor window into the night.
Past the beautiful lantern-lit pedestrian streets of Lugana town, all the way to the massive Temmecia Academy castle standing majestically on the other side of the big city. Moonlight shone and reflected off the school's roof in an enchanting way.
He looked at it from here every day.
Tomorrow would be when the young man finally got to walk in and step on that ground. He could hardly contain his anticipation.
He could barely stop smiling.
"No, no, Ray! You need to sleep. You have the exam in the morning! Tomorrow morning is the exam. Don't get so excited you can't sleep!?" He tried slapping his own cheeks to call himself back to reality, then breathed in and out slowly.
A bright light flashed from the fancy bag behind him. Ray turned back to look. Geed jumped out from the bag, climbed up onto his lap and nuzzled his head and fluffy fur against him adorably, while Nixie flew over to perch on his shoulder, calming Ray's mind. Everyone looked out the window together in unison.
"Not much longer now. I have to do it. I have to do it!"
Ray spoke with determined eyes. The phoenix gazed at those eyes and didn't reject that burning desire. Both Geed and Nixie were fully ready to face everything tomorrow for his sake.
Until bedtime, Geed sang a lullaby to help Ray fall asleep.
-----
"Geed! Geed! Geed!" Suddenly the voice of the half-rabbit, half-squirrel woke Ray with a start in the middle of the night, shaking his drowsy head to wake him up.
Ray rubbed his eyes with the back of his hand.
"What's wrong, Geed? Why did you wake me up? I have my exam tomorrow…" The moment Ray asked, he saw the answer to his sudden misfortune when he looked toward the window edge and saw a large black cat holding his sparkling leather bag in its mouth.
**Name: ??**
**Beast Species: Shadowprowler**
**Level 12**
**HP: 1,000 MP: 3,000**
**Element: Dark**
**Rarity: A-Rank**
**Info: A mysterious magical creature with unpredictable moods. Rarely seen by humans or other living beings. They are highly independent and love hiding in people's shadows. They can't resist when they see gold or shiny objects—they will find ways to possess them. It's said they often use human shadows to steal and collect treasures in their tails. When happy or wanting valuable items, their black tails turn golden.**
**Skills: Copycat, Shadow Blade, Shadow Control, Light Step, Hide in Shadows**
After making eye contact for just a moment, the Shadowprowler jumped away through the window, carrying Ray's bag with Nixie sleeping inside it.
"Aaaahhh! Thief!! Watch out for thieves! So you're the cause of all this! I'm going to catch you! Shadowprowler!!"
With that, Ray jumped out from the second floor chasing after the evil black cat thief that had run off with his bag.