Chapter 12 : Opening the First Chamber (2)

Lloyd took cautious steps toward the newly opened gate. He was escorted by Blackie, who walked at the front to protect him in case something strange crawled out of the portal.

The powerful shockwave that swept through their body startled both of them, so they remained on high alert as they approached the portal.

"Selita, are you sure it's safe ?"

[Absolutely. Since the chambers are located in other parts of the Void that are far from this room, the system has to open an extra-dimensional gate every time you unlock a new chamber. This process releases some energy, but it's not dangerous. It's just an after-effect.]

"Is that so...?"

Noticing the suspicion in Lloyd's eyes, Selita sighed and explained in more detail.

[While the shockwave caused by the opening of a new chamber is tremendous, it emits too little Void energy to be harmful to you or your dog. You'll get used to it, eventually.]

"...Just in case, give me a minute."

Selita words reassured Lloyd, but he still wanted to examine the portal before deciding if he should cross it or not.

Lloyd was very cautious by nature.

Because a lot of things happening in this world made no sense to him who used to live on Earth, he took the habit of always remaining vigilant when dealing with something he didn't understand.

As he was inspecting the purple mist spewing out of the portal, Lloyd took off one of his shoes and held it by the end of the lace, before throwing it inside.

After patiently waiting for a few minutes, he pulled back the lace and checked the state of his shoe.

Except for a few strands of grass stuck to the sole, it was intact.

"It seems alright. Let's go, Blackie."

"Woof !"

Only when Lloyd was sure it was safe did he finally pass through the portal.

As his body vanished within the vortex of purple smoke, a ghost-like entity with an ethereal body materialized where he stood just a second ago.

[...What a strange owner.]

It was the first time Selita saw someone throw his shoe inside a portal to test if the other end was safe.

Usually, new owners were so excited to open up their first chamber that they would rush inside before she could even finish her explanation.

[I don't know if he is abnormal, or if he's the only one who kept his common sense intact even after becoming the Backroom's owner.]

She chuckled when she recalled how even the previous owner, Cheon In-Su, almost fell off a cliff the first time he entered a chamber.

Compared to Lloyd who diligently followed her advice and chose to unlock a Beastmancy chamber related to his pet store business first, In-Su did as he pleased and started with an Exploration chamber instead.

As soon as the Chamber of Gathering opened, he rushed inside the portal head first before she could even inform him that the location was generated randomly. If not for his quick reflexes, he would have ended up as a human purée fifty meters below.

[I still can't believe that crazy bastard died of old age. He truly kept his word until the end... Tsk.]

Selita clicked her tongue, yet her voice was filled with sorrow.

She couldn't help but grieve the loss of her companion, whom she had been following for decades.

For a short moment, she sounded way more human than when she talked with Lloyd.

[He could have at least visited me before passing away, just one last time...]

Feeling that the emotions she had tried to contain for so many years were about to resurface, she regained her composure and quickly followed Lloyd, her misty form vanishing within the portal.

___

What greeted Lloyd and Blackie on the other side of the portal was a scene they didn't expect.

The portal led them to a wide terrain covered in grass, dotted with wildflowers and other indigenous plants Lloyd couldn't recognize. This strange place was wide, but not so much that he couldn't see its end.

It looked like an ordinary meadow, except...

"Is it floating?"

"Woof..."

...for the fact that it was surrounded by clouds.

Lloyd recalled hearing about floating islands from one of his customers, a traveling mage who always passed by his shop to say hello when she was in the capital. She came from the Technocracy of Castiel and was quite talkative whenever she visited the pet store.

Castiel was a small yet very influential country to the southeast of Valor, known for its advances in magic and technology. Despite its small size, it was one of the Central Continent's greatest nations.

While Valor was reputed for the proficiency of its Beastmancers and the prestigious Royal Academy from which thousands of geniuses and other gifted youths graduated each year, Castiel, on the other hand, was heaven for those who were pursuing the path of magic.

Every mage, runemancer, and scholar on the continent wished to visit the Technocracy of Castiel at least once in their life.

There was a reason why they were called the most advanced country of the continent, and they didn't hesitate to boast about it whenever they had the occasion.

Among all the magical wonders that originated from Castiel, the numerous islands floating above their capital city were probably the most grandiose.

So much so that even a shut-in like Lloyd, who rarely left his shop and didn't know much about the outside world, heard about it.

"Now that I can see it with my own eyes, it's more impressive than I had imagined."

Lloyd looked up and smiled, enjoying the beautiful scenery. It wasn't every day that one could walk on a floating island.

The sky all around the island was foggy, but through the small gaps in the clouds, Lloyd could see a glimpse of the purplish-red haze filling the entire space.

(author nt. : There exists no word in English for the color I had in mind. Just google 'pourpre' if you want to visualize it.)

It was brighter, and felt lighter than the dark purple smoke he had seen coming out of the portal and from Celestine's body during her transformation.

"I wonder what is this mist. It looks different, but for some reason, it feels similar to the one I saw earlier."

[You have a good intuition. It is identical, indeed.]

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While Lloyd was looking at the sky lost in thought, Selita's voice echoed within his head and confirmed his speculation.

[The chambers share the same properties as the dimension the Backroom has been extracted from : the Void dimension. The purple mist surrounding this place is called Void energy. This is what's holding the entire dimension together. Without it, it would collapse in an instant, especially since Igor completely separated the Backroom from the Void at its creation.]

"And you're saying this Void energy is the same as the smoke I've seen around Celestine's body ?"

[It is indeed the same, it's just that its color is brighter here because it remained in its most natural and volatile form. What Celestine used was processed Void energy, which is much more compressed. That's the reason why it looked darker and the smoke seemed more dense.]

"I see. It's fascinating."

Selita's explanations satisfied Lloyd's curiosity. He got answers to many of his questions thanks to her.

He still had no idea what Selita was exactly, nor how she was able to talk directly from within his head, but the fact that she had an explanation for all the weird things Lloyd couldn't understand impressed him.

Even though he just met her, Lloyd already started to appreciate her company.

"So, how do I use this Chamber of Nurturing ?"

[The Chamber of Nurturing is an adaptable space where you can raise your beasts and let them grow in the best possible environment.]

As Selita started speaking, a translucent screen with two empty boxes appeared in front of Lloyd's sight.

[You need to select a beast to nurture first.]

"Well... I don't own any other beasts than Blackie, so I don't really have a choice. Just register him in the first slot, I want to see how this chamber works."

[Understood.]

The moment Lloyd chose Blackie, a picture of his chubby dog showed up in one of the boxes, and two columns of information appeared below.

| Name : Blackie. |

| Specie : Two-headed Cerberus. (Mutated Ashen Wolf) |

| Growth : End of Infancy. |

| Class : Early-Stage Thaumiel. |

| Primary Attribute : Fire-type. |

| Secondary Attribute : None. |

| Fusion Attribute : None. |

| Primordial Attribute : Darkness-type. |

Lloyd read each line carefully, before his focus went back to the second column.

"Hmm..."

He could guess that these 'attributes' were related to Blackie's species, which was apparently called Cerberus, but there was no clear description next to 'fire-type' and 'darkness-type'.

It was too vague.

As far as Lloyd could remember, he has never seen Blackie use magic, nor anything else similar. He wouldn't even have known his dog had an affinity with fire and darkness if it hadn't been for the screen in front of him.

Save for his two heads and unusual look, Blackie was no different from the dogs on Earth in Lloyd's eyes. Sometimes, he even acted more like a pet dog than those Lloyd had seen while working in South Korea.

If what was displayed on the screen was true, then Blackie possessed 'fire-type' and 'darkness-type' attributes. Did this imply that he could spew fire from his mouths like a dragon, or cloak himself in the shadows and become invisible ?

As Lloyd's imagination ran wild, he bent his head and peeked at his chubby dog with a pensive look.

"Woof ?"

"..."

Sensing the gaze of his master, Blackie raised one of his heads to meet Lloyd's eyes, panting heavily with its tongue out, while the second head was sniffing his own butt.

'...Nah, there's no way.'

Although in Greek mythology Cerberus was the hound of Hades who guarded the gates of the Underworld, just a glance at Blackie was enough for Lloyd to dismiss any idea that his fat dog had something in common with a legendary beast, except for the name of its species.

Instead of trying to guess what were those attributes, Lloyd decided to ask the voice in his head.

"Can you tell me what are those attributes exactly ?"

[As their name suggests, attributes are the elements that your beast can have an affinity with. They can be innate from birth, or result from a mutation or evolution.]

Lloyd was taken aback.

If Selita was right, then Blackie wasn't just a lazy dog that spent his day eating, sleeping, and growling at his customers.

Just to be sure, he looked again at his dog.

"Woof !"

"..."

This time, it was the second head who met his eyes, while the first one was munching on the grass, probably curious to know how it tasted.

'How is this dog capable of using magic...? Is she perhaps taking me for an idiot ?'

Lloyd started to seriously doubt Selita's words.

He couldn't believe his beloved -but slightly retarded- dog could spit fire or hide in the shadows.

'...Forget it. It's not like I expect anything special from Blackie anyway, I just like him just the way he is. It makes no difference whether he is a Cerberus or just a normal dog.'

Lloyd sighed, scratching Blackie's back with a gentle smile.

"Woof, woof !"

"Yes, yes, Mister Cerberus. I woof you too."

As Lloyd walked his chubby dog in the field of grass and explored the area, he continued his discussion with Selita.

"The attributes shown on the column are divided into different lines. What's the difference between primary, secondary, fusion, and primordial ?"

[Primary attributes are the four most basic elements that are present everywhere in the nature : Fire, Water, Earth, Wind. All other attributes, except for the Primordials, originate from one or two of those elements.]

[Secondary attributes are variations of primary elements with different properties, but they still share the same base. Explosive-type with fire, Ice-type with water, Metal-type with earth, or Lightning-type with wind.]

[Lastly, fusion attributes, also called compound elements, are the stable results of merging two primary elements. For example, Magma-type combines earth with fire, Fog-type combines water with wind, Sand-type combines earth with water, and Steam-type combines fire with wind.]

It truly felt like Selita had the answer to everything.

"What about primordial attributes ?"

[They regroup the universal principles and laws of this world that aren't specifically bound to an element. Among them, the most common are Light, Darkness, Time and Space. The elements that are present in nature but have nothing in common with the four primary elements are also classified as primordial attributes, such as Plant-type or Sound-type for example.]

"Oh, those are easier to understand."

[Indeed. You may be more comfortable with Primordial attributes since you come from Earth. From what I've heard, the humans living on Earth developed a highly advanced civilization over the centuries relying on science rather than magic. Most of the forces, principles, and laws discovered by science and studied by the scholars of your world would be classified as primordial attributes here.]

"Like gravitation, electromagnetism, or nuclear reactions ?"

[Exactly. It is also the same for the Void energy by the way, but you don't have to bother with this for now.]

"Alright, I get it."

Lloyd stopped in the middle of the field, and examined again the lines of information below Blackie's picture.

Under the two columns, a list suddenly appeared.

[Once you have selected the beast you want to raise, the second step is to create a fitting environment. Please, choose one from the list. The first one is free, but additional environments will require resources, so choose wisely.]

Thanks to Selita's explanations, Lloyd started to understand what was the role of this chamber.

'It really feels like a game...'

A light sparked in Lloyd's eyes ; he was getting excited at the thought of building this place however he wanted.

Now, he just had to try it.

Lloyd skimmed through the list and considered every option, before hesitating between three different environments.

| Underground Cave, Rank F, Level 01.

A cold place where no light shines through. Good resting place for Earth-type and Darkness-type beasts.

Requirements : None

Cost : Free |

| Field of Brazier Sunflowers, Rank F, Level 01.

These flowers absorb ambient light and transform it into Fire-type and Plant-type mana. The small amount of mana they expel can be slowly absorbed.

Requirements : None

Cost : Free |

| Lone Tombstone, Rank F+, Level 01.

The corpse of an evil man who had been cursed before his death rests in this tomb. His soul was damned to never rest in peace, forever bound to his decaying corpse. An aura of death will spread to the immediate surroundings.

Requirements : None

Cost : Free |

Lloyd chose the first two places because they were the only ones mentioning Blackie's attributes, which were fire-type and darkness-type.

Both of them seemed like a really good choice to help Blackie raise one of his attributes, but the third option piqued Lloyd's interest.

It was of higher rank than the underground cave and field of sunflowers, and curiously, its description didn't mention any attribute.

'Hm... Should I try it ?'

Although the system claimed that the tomb would emit an 'aura of death', Lloyd believed that if Selita added this choice to the list, it wouldn't be harmful to his dog.

'Since I registered Blackie in the first slot just to experiment with the chamber until I can get my hands on another beast, I may as well test different environments to know their effects.'

Lloyd also had a gut feeling that this tomb was more than meets the eye.

He didn't know why, but he felt that this aura of death could be beneficial to Blackie.

'Perhaps I'm being influenced because Cerberus was the Underworld gatekeeper in Earth folklore, but... who knows ? Even if it seems unlikely, maybe Blackie's species is truly related to the Cerberus I know from Greek mythology.'

Having made up his mind, Lloyd gave his answer to Selita.

"Please, build the Lone Tombstone."

[Oh, that's quite an interesting choice. Are you sure, though ? Don't forget that like with the chambers, only the creation of the first environment is free. The second one will require resources that you may not have currently.]

"Yes, I'm sure. It's precisely because the first environment is free that I chose this one. Even if my judgment was wrong and this tomb ended up being useless, at least I wouldn't have lost anything."

[It does make sense. Alright, please choose where you want to place the Lone Tombstone.]

"Over there."

Lloyd pointed to the far end of the island with his finger.

He didn't know what effect this 'aura of death' would have, but from its ominous name, he could guess that it wouldn't be good for the living beings in its surroundings.

It was better to be careful and isolate the tomb, putting it the furthest away from the rest of the island.

| Lone Tombstone, Rank F+, Level 01, is being created.

Estimated time : 6 hours. |

The system's mechanical voice echoed in Lloyd's mind, and the ground under his feet started to vibrate. A cloud of grey mist emerged from the ground at the location he pointed, slowly taking over the place.

Lloyd narrowed his eyes and noticed that every flower and strand of grass touched by the grey mist withered at a visible rate.

As the mist expanded slowly toward his direction, a drop of sweat ran down his temple.

"I hope it wasn't a mistake..."