His eyes snapped open in shock. Finally! Finally, Kain may get some clues as to what his affinity is. Reaching frantically for the handle of the door, He tried to open it. Locked.
He immediately rushed back towards where Breeder Merida was.
"I felt a pull! I felt a pull! Can you please help me get that egg?" Kain said excitedly.
Merida calmly followed Kain as he led the way towards the back of the nursery. She was walking way too slow for his liking but, there was nothing he could do about it.
"In here!" He said, pointing to the locked door for staff.
Merida's face immediately turned strange.
"I know it's staff only in there. But could I please at least get a glimpse at what's causing this draw? It's the only one I've felt since awakening my affinity" Kain begged.
Merida shrugged and then proceeded to open the door, "Sure it's not a big deal. It's not like there's anything top secret or rare inside."
As the door swung open and they entered a dimly lit room she explained "this is where we keep all of the dead eggs."
Kain's stomach immediately dropped, "what?"
"Dead eggs. None of the eggs in here will hatch. Sorry to disappoint you."
Kain entered the room and quickly located the source of the draw. It was the ugliest egg he had seen since entering the Nursery. It was black, and wasn't smooth like most eggs, full of bumps all over. Then there was the smell.
"Ugh!" He turned away while covering his nose.
"Told you. Nothing is ever hatching out of there."
"Could you at least tell me what was supposed to be in there?" Maybe it'll at least provide him with some hint.
"It was found among a pack Shadow Leopards. However, it is known that shadow leopards do eat eggs, and Shadow Leopard eggs do not resemble this one. Also, strangely all of the shadow leopards, at least 200 of them according to the mercenary's reports, were dead but had no injuries on their bodies."
That is strange. Shadow leopards are Gold-quality and located at the most extreme eastern borders of the empire. Even among Gold-quality species, they are among the most deadly and difficult to kill due to their ability to jump from shadow to shadow.
"Did they have any more information about where this pack was located?"
"Not really…ah! They did say they were coming back from a mission at a relic controlled by Dark Moon College."
'Dark Moon College. One of the 5 top colleges, last year ranking third out of the 5.'
"Can I still use my voucher to exchange for this egg?" After all, since it may not be a Shadow Leopard egg, he'd like to study it longer. Maybe at college, with more access to higher-level books and professors he could figure out its species.
Also, he hasn't completely given up on the hideous egg, as far as he knows a pull should only be felt if there is something he can bind to. Once a creature dies the pull should no longer exist unless he has the rare affinity for the undead. But, although rare an undead affinity is not so completely unheard of as to not know what awakening an undead affinity should look like.
What should hatch from his affinity eggs during the ceremony, if he had an undead affinity, would be the appearance of the undead that he could bind, whether that be skeletal, ghost, or reanimated corpses.
"There is no need to use your free exchange on a dead egg. You can just take it."
Not wanting to waste a free opportunity to exchange, Kain decided to take the chilly blue unidentified egg he saw earlier. It resembles the eggs of the Silver-quality Ice Bite Wolf, which is an ice-attribute wolf that causes severe frost burns upon touch. It is typically only found in the northern regions, so, understandably, nobody here recognized its egg.
Had he not been studying to potentially enter an Evolutionary Planner major in college, he also likely would not have recognized it.
"I should remind you that any creatures taken from here cannot be sold. Otherwise, you risk receiving severe fines and even jail time," Merida's eyes narrowed in suspicion. Afterall, she already guessed that he did not have an affinity for this egg based on what he said earlier.
"I am aware. Thank you." It isn't selling if he just gives it to Bridge when the time comes for his second contract.
After exchanging for the egg with his free voucher and receiving a free complementary incubator in place of the typical free week's worth of food, Kain put everything into his school bag and headed back to the orphanage.
'Home sweet home. I wonder if Bridge already spoiled the surprise of our results to everyone…'