The realm of Pangea was far more vibrant now than when Darius had undergone the ritual. The planet was stronger, more resonant, more… alive. It was evolving and growing in response to Kain’s own strength and the Source energy he absorbed (stole) from another planet.

Usually by now, more than enough time had passed to form a contract—and all the other souls had. Their presences, along with that of their new contracts, fading from Pangea.

However, one translucent figure, now much less solid than when it had first entered Pangea, was anxiously drifting back and forth and smacking into a transparent barrier—the one surrounding what many creatures on Pangea think of as an almost ‘holy’ mountain, but is really the physical manifestation of the System.

The soul—Malzahir’s, Kain knew—twitched like a leaf caught in a breeze. It wavered and darted in tiny, erratic motions, circling the same small space over and over. Even without a face, it somehow looked distressed. It slammed against the barrier like a fly banging against a window, over and over again, as if trying to find a crack, an opening, a way through.

Thud

The soul smacked into it again, with slightly less force than before. It’s form dimming.

“…Huh.”

Kain, curious about the never before seen action, granted the soul access and followed it as it sped toward the peak of the massive mountain. At the end of its speedy ascent was the palace-like structure that now houses the System Laboratory, Storage Hall, and ‘the Cradle’ (which Kain still wasn’t quite sure about).

Thud

Seeing it stopped by another barrier, Kain was slightly in admiration of the System’s diligent security measures, but still granted it access. It was good to know that even if someone or something was granted access to the mountain, they couldn’t enter any building they wished without his express permission.

Free to continue, the soul sped forward as though in a race against time—and it might just be considering that it had faded quite a bit since it had first entered Pangea.

The soul didn’t hesitate, seemingly more familiar with the building than Kain was and sped assuredly towards the direction of the Cradle—the one area Kain was unfamiliar with.

Following closely behind, he stepped into the Cradle for the first time.

And stopped.

Rows upon rows of clear, palm-sized crystals floated in the air, suspended in mid-air like floating collection jars. Inside each one, a perfectly preserved creature—miniature versions of the ancient frozen beasts they’d found near the relic core—all held in stasis.

Hundreds of them. Maybe even thousands.

Kain barely had time to take in the enormity of it when the soul swept past him, weaving urgently through the glittering maze. It passed dozens without a glance. Without slowing.

It knew where it was going.

Kain’s brows furrowed.

He followed.

Finally, the soul stopped in front of one crystal that didn’t appear significantly different from the rest.

Inside was a long, serpentine creature. Thin, feather-like fins ran down either side of its body, but Kain could tell they were extremely sharp despite their delicate appearance, and its flat, forward-facing eyes were the color of tarnished bronze. It looked halfway between a black dragon and snake—’a wyrm,’ Kain recognized.

The soul flung itself against the crystal.

Nothing happened.

It did it again. A faint ringing sound echoed out, like tapping on glass. But the crystal didn’t react.

“What is it doing?” Kain muttered, floating up beside the soul with a thought.

Before he could examine it further, the air in the Cradle hummed.

Ding

*SYSTEM ALERT: First-time user detected.*

*Tutorial: ‘Welcome to the Cradle’ initiated.*

A glowing diagram materialized midair. A cartoonishly simplified Kain gave a thumbs up, while an arrow pointed to a box labelled “Genetic Archive.” A disembodied voice began its seemingly scripted speech.

*Welcome, Host, to the Cradle—the future of spiritual contract diversification. Here, your journey—*

“Skip,” Kain said.

*—will begin with a basic understanding of how lifeforms—*

“Skip. I said skip. Come on, chop chop, System.”

The voice paused.

Then said in a robotic voice that Kain could swear sounded vaguely annoyed:

*Skipping. Not because I respect your opinion—but because I respect the universal tradition of ignoring tutorials and regretting it later.*

He turned his attention back to the soul. It was definitely dimmer now. Wisps of light were fraying off like smoke. “Just tell me what it’s trying to do.”

*It’s attempting to contract a creature. Problem: that is not a creature. That is an Archive Sample. Specifically, a Genetic Archive—a record of the genome and spiritual pattern of a creature. It is not alive. It cannot be contracted directly.*

Kain’s gaze sharpened. “So how do I make it… not not alive?”

*That answer can be revealed in the Tutorial: ‘The Cradle is the source of non-native creatures to enrich the biodiversity—’*

“The short answer please!”

*…You pay for it. With Source Energy. The Cradle then uses the Source energy to synthesize a viable egg based on the sample’s data and birth it into Pangea as a native. No memory, but all instincts and power included.*

Kain looked around the Archive, imagining all of these long extinct creatures coming to life on Pangea in the near future. “What’s the cost?”

A number appeared in front of him.

He winced. “You’re joking.”

*If I was joking, you would know. I am hilarious.*

*That is the true cost to birth one viable specimen of this specific creature. Many of the other more powerful creatures here will be several times this cost. You’d need two for reproduction purposes. Male and female, in order to introduce a new self-producing species on Pangea.”

“God…” All of Kain’s dreams of introducing hundreds of powerful, long-extinct creatures to Pangea in the short term were dashed. “Barely enough for one, huh,” Kain muttered.

Kain stared at the soul. It banged one last time against the crystal, but weaker now. Less urgent. But even more desperate.

“Damn it.”

He looked back at the price.

Then sighed.

“Back to being poor again…”