Chapter 463: Incubation Room [Bonus - ]

Chapter 463: Incubation Room [Bonus Chapter]

Silas reached into his inventory and with a blue flash of mana, a map materialized in his hand.

He unrolled it against the control console, smoothing out the edges.

"Well you can get those around here..." Silas said, tapping a thick circled coordinate on the western edge of the Umbral Basin map. "This is Mine KB-22, the one we mentioned already. The entire entrance corridor is littered with massive limestone blocks and heavy shale that the goblins used for fortifications... It’s perfect raw material."

He moved his finger slightly north, tapping a second red circle.

"And this is the place where we encountered the spider monsters this morning. If you can harvest the stone from that place, your next batch of golems will be nearly indestructible, after all, they survived Aurelia’s Argent Flames."

Thora leaned over the map, her dwarven eyes scanning the topographical lines with intense focus.

"Dense bedrock, eh? That’s prime material. I’ll add both of these coordinates to the main industrial survey maps immediately... We can send a heavy transport unit out to harvest the stone before nightfall."

"Thank you, Thora," Silas said warmly, rolling the map back up and handing it to the forge master. "And thank you, Rowenna. The work you two are doing in this forge is the backbone of Blessed Land’s expansion."

Rowenna smiled, her cheeks flushing slightly from the sweltering heat of the forge and the heavy praise of her Lord.

"We serve at your pleasure, Lord Silas. It is our honor to build your empire."

Silas smiled. He stepped forward, placing his broad hands gently on the shoulders of both women.

He leaned down, pressing a soft affectionate kiss directly onto the center of Rowenna’s sweaty forehead.

"Hm?"

Rowenna gasped softly, her bright blue eyes widening as a brilliant crimson blush instantly exploded across her cheeks.

She lowered her gaze, her fingers nervously twisting the fabric of her casual singlet as a small blissful smile touched her lips.

Silas turned his head, planting an equally affectionate kiss onto Thora’s soot-stained forehead.

Thora didn’t blush. Instead, the dwarven forge master let out a raucous perverted cackle, looking up at him with a teasing glint in her eye.

"Oh, a forehead kiss?" Thora teased loudly, elbowing him lightly in the ribs. "Come on now, Lord Silas! We just built you three autonomous heavy-lifting magical golems! Surely a reward of that magnitude warrants going a little further beyond the forehead, eh? The forge is hot, but I can certainly turn up the heat!"

Silas rolled his eyes. Without a moment’s hesitation, he raised his right hand and delivered a sharp perfectly executed flick directly to the center of Thora’s forehead.

THWACK!

"OW!" Thora yelped, stumbling backward and rubbing her forehead with a dramatic scowl. "Gods above, you hit like a ballista!"

"That’s for being too bold in the workplace," Silas chuckled, waving a hand dismissively as he turned toward the heavy vault door. "I wish you both luck with the next batch of golems. I’ll see you at the feast tonight."

"We’ll be there!" Thora grumbled, still rubbing her forehead. "And I’m drinking your finest ale as compensation for this assault!"

Silas thanked the dwarven workers on the main floor as he walked past the blazing anvils with the heat of the Foundry baking into his dark robes.

He reached the massive front doors, grabbing the heavy iron ring and hauling it open.

FWOOOOOOSH!

The instantaneous transition from the volcanic, sweltering heat of the forge to the freezing howling blizzard outside was staggering.

The snow was beating down significantly harder now, the thick white flakes completely obscuring the sky and burying the cobblestone paths beneath heavy knee-deep drifts.

The wind shrieked through the Spirit Trees, ripping at Silas’s dark robes the moment he stepped outside.

"Gods, this storm is relentless... Is it really coming from Asgard?" Silas sighed, pulling the collar of his robes tight against his neck as the heavy iron door of the Foundry slammed shut behind him.

He didn’t bother summoning a mount for the short distance.

Lowering his head against the biting wind, Silas jogged across the snow-choked central plaza, his boots crunching heavily through the fresh powder.

He navigated past the towering glowing Spirit Trees that Eluned planted in this area, letting their ambient life-mana push back the worst of the freezing chill, until he finally reached a specific sector of the territory.

Rising from the snow was the Mythic Pack-Lord’s Sanctuary.

Though Silas personally preferred to call it the Beast Pavilion, the structure was nothing short of an architectural masterpiece.

The massive sprawling stables were constructed from dense, dark obsidian masonry that perfectly matched the commanding aesthetic of the main Keep.

Sloped ironwood roofs extended outward into deep, heavy overhangs, completely shielding the massive open-air paddock from the howling blizzard above.

Silas jogged under the safety of the ironwood overhang, stamping the heavy snow from his boots.

The moment he crossed the threshold of the Sanctuary, the chaotic freezing tension of the storm completely vanished.

The floor tiles beneath his boots radiated a deep soothing heat that kept the entire paddock comfortably warm year-round.

Etched along the top parapets and the center support pillars were glowing green nature runes and silver starlight symbols.

It was the [Nature’s Calm] rune.

The air inside the Sanctuary didn’t smell like wet fur, mud, or beasts. It smelled incredibly clean, filled with the crisp invigorating scent of a deep pine forest after a fresh rain.

The mana hummed with a soothing frequency designed specifically to completely eliminate beast aggression and panic.

"Lord Silas!"

Silas looked toward the center of the massive open-air yard.

Sitting in the middle of the paddock was a beautiful automated freshwater fountain drawing clean, crystal-clear spring water directly from the territory’s underground aquifer.

And standing near the edge of the fountain was Reina.

The Beast Tamer had changed out of her heavy winter cloak and was currently wearing a simple waterproof leather apron over her tunic, her sleeves rolled up to her elbows.

Silas smiled, walking deeper into the Sanctuary as he greeted her.

"Reina. The pavilion looks incredibly lively today."

It was an understatement... The Sanctuary was bustling with chaotic joyous activity.

Not only were the newly acquired Umbral Wolves resting comfortably on the geothermally heated floors, completely pacified by the [Nature’s Calm] runes, but the original Blessed Wolves were also present.

Dozens of women from the Blessed Land Vanguard were scattered throughout the massive paddock, armed with heavy wooden buckets, thick scrub brushes, and massive bars of lavender-scented soap.

"Hehe~ You all are too cute!"

"I’ll never get tired of this!"

They were currently in the process of thoroughly bathing the massive, feral beasts, scrubbing the blood, mud, and grime of the Umbral Basin from their thick coats.

Near the back of the stable, Silas spotted Vala.

The terrifying raven-haired woman was currently holding a massive wooden scrub brush, violently scrubbing the back of the massive, one-eyed gray alpha wolf that Aurelia had subdued earlier that day.

The arrogant beast was currently sitting perfectly still, its tongue lolling out of its mouth as it let out soft submissive pants, completely subdued by the soothing atmosphere of the pavilion and Vala’s surprisingly firm hands.

"It’s a full house, my Lord," Reina smiled proudly, wiping the suds from her hands with a clean towel as she walked over to him. "I’ve completed the head count and the logistics too. Even with the original Blessed Wolves residing here, the Sanctuary’s scalable infrastructure has more than enough space to comfortably house the forty-six new additions."

Reina looked back at the massive gray wolves resting peacefully on the warm stone tiles.

"The anti-aggression runes are working flawlessly. There hasn’t been a single territorial dispute or snarl since we brought them inside... They are very docile."

She turned her bright eyes back to Silas, her Beast Tamer mana humming with eager anticipation.

"They are fed, watered, and currently being cleaned. All that remains is for you to establish the Contract, bind them to your authority, and trigger their golden-furred evolutions to make them official members of Blessed Land’s cavalry!"

Silas looked at the forty-six wolves.

He could feel the latent potential radiating from their massive frames.

With a single tab, he could elevate them from feral anomalies into beasts of war.

But as Reina stepped back, expecting him to walk forward and begin the bonding ritual, Silas simply smiled.

"Before we get to that, Reina..." Silas murmured, his voice dropping slightly as he raised his right hand.

FWOOOOOOSH!

With a brilliant, blinding flash of condensed blue spatial mana, an object materialized directly into Silas’s palm.

He gripped it firmly, lowering his arm to present the object to the Beast Tamer.

It was the Royal Spider Egg.

The egg was massive, roughly the size of a small boulder, completely encased in a hardened translucent sapphire-blue shell that pulsed with a faint internal light.

The aura of the egg radiated from the unhatched creature within, completely contrasting with the soothing natural mana of the wolf pavilion.

Reina gasped, her eyes widening in shock as she stared at the glowing blue egg, instinctively taking a half-step backward.

Silas looked up from the heavy egg, his blue eyes locking onto the stunned Beast Tamer with a calm look.

"Do we have anywhere in this territory," Silas asked smoothly, the pulsing blue light reflecting against his dark robes. "to properly incubate an apex predator’s egg?"

Reina blinked.

...Once.

...Twice.

She stared at the pulsing, translucent sapphire shell resting in Silas’s palm, her Beast Tamer instincts warring between professional awe and a deep-seated apprehension.

The aura radiating from the colossal egg was quite murderous.

"An egg..." Reina murmured, finally finding her voice over the chaotic splashing of the Blessed Wolves behind her.

She gave her head a quick shake, her professional demeanor snapping back into place. "Yes, Lord Silas! The Sanctuary is fully equipped for this. Please, follow me."

She turned on her heel, leading him away from the open-air paddock and down a quiet, obsidian-lined corridor at the rear of the pavilion.

At the very end of the hall, Reina pushed open a reinforced ironwood door.

Instantly, a wave of almost tropical humidity washed over them.

The incubator room was entirely different from the crisp pine-scented air of the main stables.

The walls were lined with smooth dark basalt, and the floor was constructed from a porous heat-retaining ceramic.

Arranged in a perfect semi-circle across the center of the room were several wide, bowl-shaped nesting slots.

Beneath each slot rested a complex, dormant magic circle carved directly into the stone, waiting to be fueled.

"This room..." Reina whispered, a nostalgic bittersweet smile touching her lips as she trailed her fingers over the edge of a nesting slot. "It is incredibly similar to the nursery my father managed back in my home world, long before I was ever summoned... He bred scaled drakes for the royal guard. This is a dedicated incubation chamber so you just need to place the egg onto one of the pedestal slots to link it to the grid."

She stepped back, gesturing toward the center pedestal. "What exactly kind of beast is inside that shell, my Lord?"

Silas stepped forward, carefully lowering the egg into the primary slot.

"It’s a Royal Spider, give or take."

Reina completely froze.

The blood drained from her face, her shoulders instantly stiffening.

"A... a spider?" she squeaked, her voice pitching up a bit. "An eight-legged... venomous... giant spider?"

"Terrifying, isn’t it?" Silas chuckled, his golden ringed blue eyes glinting with a wicked, teasing amusement as he watched the Beast Tamer visibly shudder. "Don’t worry, Reina. As the Beast Tamer, you’ll only have to feed it, groom it, and handle it every single day once it hatches."

Reina let out a small miserable whimper, her hands instinctively wrapping around her own arms as a phantom itch crawled up her spine.

She swallowed hard, forcing her professional pride to override her crippling arachnophobia.

"I... I can handle it," Reina stammered, puffing out her chest in a desperate attempt to look brave. "It is my duty to Blessed Land! I will raise this spider into a fine, disciplined mount!"

"That’s the spirit," Silas grinned, tapping his dimensional ring. "Because there isn’t just one... There are six."

FWOOSH! FWOOSH! FWOOSH!

With rapid flashes of blue spatial mana, Silas manifested the remaining five sapphire eggs, hovering them gently in the humid air.

Reina violently flinched, letting out a strangled gasp as her knees nearly buckled.

She looked at the six spider eggs, doing the terrifying mental math of exactly how many hairy legs that equated to.

But she dug her fingernails into her palms, steadied her breathing, and pointed a trembling finger toward the remaining empty slots.

"R-right this way, Lord Silas," Reina choked out with her face turning pale. "Place them right there."

’I’ll do them for you because I like you...’

Silas easily guided the remaining five eggs into the dormant circular pedestals.

The heavy sapphire shells clicked softly against the stone, settling perfectly into the grooves.

"Now," Reina explained, taking a deep breath and stepping up to the master control pedestal at the front of the array. "We just need to manually jump-start the primary magic circle to link the heat to the eggs. It just requires a pulse of raw mana..."

"Understood," Silas nodded.

They both reached forward to press their palms against the central runic plate.

Because they moved at the exact same time, Silas’s broad calloused hand clamped firmly over the top of Reina’s delicate fingers just as she touched the stone.

Reina gasped softly.

VUUUUUUUM!