Far Beyond Expectations
'Sigh. This thing is a headache.' Osho thought as he walked forward. He completely ignored the pool of blood on the floor as he walked towards the egg that kept oozing the unmistakable red liquid from its surface.
Such a sight would normally unnerve people at best and startle them terribly at worst. After all, beast eggs weren't known for being able to secrete blood. In fact, unless hatched, beast eggs were supposed to be completely dormant, utterly incapable of doing anything to affect the surroundings until the creature within was revealed.
That's why when this first happened, Osho was, understandably, spooked. At first, he thought that maybe the egg had broken somehow. However, he realized that the shell was still intact.
Moreover, it didn't take long for him to realize that the reality was a bit different. After all, the amount of blood it released was simply unnatural and utterly impossible to be released from a single creature within an egg of that side.
It was at that point that Gale, with his new sensory abilities, pointed out that the egg was hungry.
It made no sense. Eggs were meant to absorb atmospheric Mana to sustain themselves, and yet this one was hungry, and it released large amounts of blood to show off that hunger for some reason.
Returning to the present, Osho stretched his arm forth and touched the egg. As soon as he did, he felt a stinging pain shoot through his arm as he grimaced, but he kept his arm on the bloodied surface of the egg as he felt his blood get sucked out.
'Gale!' He gritted his teeth.
'That's enough!' Gale immediately pulled Osho back with his magic, and Osho grabbed his arm with a wince. He looked down at it and saw that his palm, which had touched the egg, was covered in blood, but not all of it came from the egg.
He stared at the red oval on his table and sighed. The pooling blood had finally stopped, and as soon as it did, a magic circle lit up around the table, and all the blood got evaporated.
Compared to needing to clean it manually, that was much better.
"I do NOT like that thing." Gale said with indignation, and while Osho didn't say anything, he found it difficult to disagree.
The egg had been nothing else besides problematic, if he was being honest.
After reaching the Adept rank, the first thing he did was see if he was compatible with it, and when he tried... something weird happened.
That didn't mean he was or wasn't compatible with it, though. Instead, all he felt was nothing.
This was very strange, as when one tries to see if they are compatible with a beast, they would either feel a low or high compatibility rate. But with the egg, there was no reaction at all, like there was nothing inside the egg.
But that made no sense as, despite not being able to see through the shell, Gale was certain that there was a living creature within the egg.
Osho then called over Ellie and Irene, who were the only other who had broken through to the Adept rank as well, to see if this was a universal thing or if the reaction was unique to him, and that's when something very strange happened.
The egg attacked them.
He remembered it vividly. Ellie wanted to touch the egg, but as soon as she got close, blood suddenly erupted from the shell and coalesced into a blade, which tried to slice Ellie apart. Luckily, she was fast enough to react and evade the attack.
However, this answered Osho's question, and after a long session of explaining why the egg was somehow able to attack, which he didn't truly know himself, that he finally managed to convince the two girls to leave.
After running several more tests on the thing, he concluded that... he still didn't know anything about it.
Looking at it, he wouldn't say he felt any resentment towards it and the creature within, but he'd been lying if he said he was satisfied with his things, especially after he discovered a particular issue.
He couldn't check the compatibility with any more eggs.
Or rather, he couldn't create a link to tame another beast egg even if he had a great compatibility rate with it.
Every time he tried, he'd feel a pang of pain shoot through his head, and simultaneously, the egg would immediately start the bleeding routine.
It was only after some time that Gale said he noticed a thin, almost invisible ephemeral string connecting Osho and the egg.
'I sort of resembles the bond you, Bedrock, and myself have, but it's so thin I could barely see it. However, it's weirdly strong.' After that, he said in a strange tone.
'I don't know what exactly happened, but whether we like it or not, that thing is already linked to you. So you better hope whatever is inside is worth all this stress.'
Recalling the conversation, Osho grimaced and stared at his bloody hand before getting rid of the blood. There wasn't a glaring wound, just numerous small holes in his skin from which the blood had been sucked out. Newest update provıded by NoveI~Fire.net
'Fuck it, I'm dealing with this today.' He walked towards the egg.
"Uh, what are you doing?" Gale frowned and hopped after Osho.
"Settling this thing now. I have way too many things on my plate to leave a possible time bomb just lying around. I'm gonna hatch it and see what's causing all of this." He said resolutely.
At that moment, Bedrock trudged into the room.
Compared to a few weeks ago, the gorilla had gotten pretty big. He was now reaching Osho's waist as he supported his weight on his forelimbs which were thick with muscles.
Oddly enough, his skin was completely devoid of the usual earthen materials that covered it. Instead, he just looked like a shrunken brown gorilla. However, the spark of intelligence in his eyes suggested that he was anything but normal?
"Great timing, Bedrock." Osho nodded, and the latter just gave him a thumbs up, looking as chill as usual. However, the look he gave the egg suggested that he wasn't as calm as he put on.
"If it looks like something bad is about to happen, I need you to pull me away." Osho instructed the two, making them look at each other.
"Define 'bad'." Gale said warily.
"Uh... I don't know. If it suddenly develops a mouth and tries to bite my arm off or something." He waved his hand dismissively.
"Hey... that's oddly specific..." Gale mumbled, but by then, Osho was already approaching the egg once more. Most of the floor had already been cleared of the blood from before, so it wasn't so filthy.
Reaching the egg that was no longer oozing, Osho stared at it for a few seconds before exhaling and placing his hand on it.
Without hesitation, he sent forth a string of Mana into the egg, reaching and searching for the lifeform within to establish a bond. However, what happened next was completely beyond his expectations.
One moment, he was standing in his room, and the next, he found himself in a completely different location.
The first thing that hit him was the stench.
A powerful, overwhelming smell of blood filled his senses, and Osho had to cover his nose to prevent himself from gagging.
He looked around, and his face turned dark.
Around him... was a world of blood and bones.
Crimson blood was everywhere for as far as the egg could see, resembling an ocean of the stuff, and within it, countless bones littered the surface.
Some bones resembled humanoids, but some were more ancient. More terrifying.
Large reptiles like dragons, massive behemoths, and a swatted of other creatures only found in myths coukd be found here. Their skeletal remains, anyway.
Osho himself was knee deep inside this ocean on blood, the red liquid staining his pants red, and after staring for a few seconds, he turned in a certain direction.
There, numerous bones seemed to have been ripped off their original owners and fashioned into an elaborate platform.
Stairs led up to the top, each one covered in the same crimson blood, and at the top, a throne of blood and bones could be seen with a figure sitting on it.
As soon as he laid his eyes on it, Osho's frown deepened.
The thing sat with an eerie stillness on the throne, it's shape vaguely humanoid, but far from human. Its limbs were too long, the joints intersecting wrongly, and wrapped in a taught, translucent skin through which thick red veins pulsed visibly.
It's chest rose and fell slowly. Each breath exhaled a mistake of blood vapor that resembled red smoke. Aboce its head, a long organ swirled into a halo above it, and within its hollow chest cavity, an organ pulsed faintly. Not quite a heart, but something far, far beyond.
Despite the pushes not being strong, the ocean of blood rippled with each one.
It had no facial features except a large Crimson eye that looked down on the world with an impossible indifference, and right now, that single crystal red pupils looked at Osho.
Then, in a voice that was both eerie, yet hauntingly beautiful, it spoke.
"We meet at last, architect."