Chapter 257: 1.5-38

'Sickle, shovel, spade, axe, pickaxe, hoe...' Xinya muttered to himself as he double-checked his list, making sure that he had written down all the items he would need to rebuild his farm.

When Xinya was confident that he had recorded everything he would need in his notes, only then was he ready to move on to the next thing on his agenda.

After closing the massive tome in front of him and stacking it neatly with the others, the green-eyed stole a glance at the clock on the very top left-hand corner of the interface.

Xinya was a little surprised by what he saw. From the time displayed, he could tell that a little over an hour had passed since Melting Snow returned, and they had started to read their respective books.

He couldn't believe how fast the time had flown by. While he had been waiting to hear back from Melting Snow on whether or not he completed the quest the NPC had given him, it felt as though time had slowed to a crawl.

'I guess it is true, time does fly by when you're not worried, or however that saying goes,' Xinya mused with a shake of his head and a quirk of his lips.

After moving the stack of books to the middle of the table, Xinya turned his gaze to Melting Snow. He was curious to see how he was fairing with the book he acquired.

He knew that the boy was one to get bored easily, and Xinya wouldn't expect a book detailing the history of the Shaolin arts would be entertaining. But as Xinya peered at Melting Snow, he was amazed.

The boy looked to be totally engrossed in that tattered brown tome, so much so that he was almost halfway done with it. 'I guess the book must be more interesting than I thought, or he just wants the hidden class that much.'

Perceiving that it would take a while before the boy would be done with his book, Xinya decided that he might as well begin researching his egg since he had some time. And he knew that the best place to start with that is to read the information the beast tamer gave him.

However, as he was about to take out the book from his inventory, he paused in reflection. 'Before I do anything, I should start the egg's hatching process in case I forget to do it later.'

Giving some thought on whether or not he should start it, he came to the conclusion that he might as well. 'There's no time like the present, after all.'

After scrolling through his inventory and bypassing the various things inside, Xinya finally located the small incubator he bought in Errinisworth.

With care, Xinya gingerly placed the medium-sized round metal object on the table so he wouldn't disturb Melting Snow's reading. Once the incubator was in position, only then did he take out the shiny black egg that housed the Fianna Sidhe.

Opening the incubator, Xinya gently placed the egg into the designated slot before closing it tightly. As soon as he sealed the lid shut, a warm light emerged from the incubator, followed by a ding and three system announcements.

[The Hatching Process of you Fianna Sidhe has begun!]

[Your Fianna Sidhe will hatch in 12 days 23 hours 59 minutes!]

[The Pet tab has been activated! You will now be able to use its functions!]

Just seconds after the system announcement had disappeared, an animal paw icon appeared on the interface screen, making Xinya grin. He had almost forgotten about this function.

The Pet tab wasn't anything special, but it did allow the player to have a separate place to put all the items they needed for their tamed monsters. That way, they wouldn't have to go looking for it in their regular inventory.

Besides that, it was the place where their unsummoned tamed monsters would go.

While the monsters were in their unsummoned state, players would be able to take care of them, either by feeding or healing them, without having to summon them.

In a situation where it would be dangerous to have your tamed animal out in the open, it was an excellent option to have.

Using the 'quick find' button in the Pet tab, Xinya moved all the items he bought from that beast tamer's shop from his regular inventory to the pet one, before moving the incubator inside of it as well.

With all the items easy to find now, he quickly located the book the lion man gave him and took it out, placing it down on the table.

~

'Exceptional Beasts Around the World.' Using his fingers, Xinya traced the title's beautiful golden script as he read it under his breath.

Not just the title, the entire book was lovely to look at. Which wasn't surprising since it was bound in thick, black leather that had animal paw prints embossed on it. However, no matter how nice it was to look, it wouldn't matter if the book wasn't informative.

Hoping that wasn't the case, Xinya opened the book and found the table of contents. Fortunately for him, it looked as though he wouldn't have to search hard for what he was looking for since the beasts were categorized in alphabetical order.

'Fake Ogres, Fangtongue Carver, Fenhaunt, Fennel Rainbow Crayfish,'Xinya muttered as he scrolled down the list of names in the book. 'There it is, Fianna Sidhe page 524.'

After flipping through the pages for a while, Xinya finally located the section he was searching for.

The first thing he noticed as he looked down at the page was a beautifully drawn picture of a Fianna Sidhe. He was utterly astounded with how gorgeous it looked.

Initially, when he saw the picture, he was a little disappointed since he thought it was just some kind of horse. But as he stared at the drawing, he knew that the Fianna Sidhe was more than that.

For one thing, although it looked like a horse, it's body was translucent like it was made from liquid, and its mane and tail weren't made from hair like one would expect, but from either kelp or seaweed.

Although it wasn't some fantastic, mythical creature, Xinya didn't mind since it perfectly fits his aesthetics. Smiling, he began to read the information about it.

Fianna Sidhe:

A Fianna Sidhe is a water sprite that dwells around areas with lakes and rivers of regions that have warm climates. These beasts are very peaceful and only become aggressive when they and their territory is threatened.

They live together in small herds of 10-25 and only reproduce every 15-30 years. These beasts are able to run up to 95mph (Maximum, Sprint), grow up to 12 feet, weighing over 3000 pounds.

A lot isn't known about these animals since they are very dangerous. They might look like horses, but they have the ability to drown a person from a mile away.

However, it is said that these horse-like beasts are led by a king and the king and only the king is able to adopt human form.

'Was that all?' wondered Xinya, turning the page of the book only to see that was all the information the book provided for it. 'Urg, I guess I will need to bother the librarian for a more in-depth book about them.

Putting the waste of money that was the book back in his inventory, Xinya glanced at Melting Snow to ensure he was still reading before getting up from the table to find the librarian.