"Oh? You want our opinions too?", Tatterhood asked in a pleasantly surprised tone.
"Well, you guys are going to be living here most of the time...I think. It wouldn't be right of me to just pick something y'all would dislike", RJ said sincerely.
[Familiar interaction has been approved], the voice added onto to RJ's claim.
"Huh...okay then, let's take a look".
Manipulating the interface like a touchpad, RJ scanned through the hundreds of world eggs available and familiarised himself with the filters.
"Okay, so we can order it alphabetically, numerically, elemental affinity, magic types, origins...damn that's a lot of filter options", RJ mumbled as he looked through the list.
While browsing, the Zouyu suddenly began to paw at RJ's head.
"Hmm? What's up"?
Answering his query, the Zouyu pointed at a particular World Egg in the upper right corner of the screen.
"Meow".
"That one? Alright, let's do a preview", RJ replied as he poked at an egg that had a paw print like pattern.
[Previewing: The Cat Kingdom]
The space around them began to distort as it took own the properties of the selected World Egg.
The formless platform they were standing on bursted into a field of cat tails as cloudy blue sky formed above them. In the distance, a lake began to form alongside several pyramids that had the distinctive asthetics of Egyptian and Aztec culture, a small hut and a pagoda. Taking all this together, the buildings and lake mimicked the shape of a cat paw.
Behind the group, a series of rocks manifested before taking on the shape of a lucky cat statue.
"Cats...", the ogress grunted in a mildly annoyed manner. The sudden growth of the cat tail field had forced her to sit up, while the statue's formation had happened right next to her. The sound of giant chunks of rock slamming into each other is not a pleasant thing to hear.
As RJ took in the sight of the World Egg in action, a transparent screen took form in front of him. Text began to appear on the screen alongside narration from the system's voice.
[Cats have been a part of panhuman mythology since the dawn of it. From the fierce Jaguar gods of Mesoamerica,the feline goddesses of ancient Egypt, to thought experiments and their various roles of bringing fortune and misfortune globally, cats have been everywhere and done everything. This World Egg is an accumulation of the global culture and myths regarding cats and serve as an excellent basis for nurturing cat familiars as well as exposing young mages to the various styles of magic].
Following the narration, another screen opened up listing the pros and cons to the World Egg.
[Pros:
50% Improvement rate to feline related familiars.
Access to global magical schools.
Stable growth environment for natural treasures.
Expandable
Occasional encounter with feline spirits].
[Cons:
Non-feline, bestial familiars only improve at a 70% rate.
Specialization options are limited unless cats from certain origins are incorporated.
Occasional encounter with feline spirits].
"Why are the last points on the pro and con lists the same thing?", RJ asked Tatterhood.
"Think about it for a second", Tatterhood said as she lazily leaned on her spoon.
"...oh. Ohhhhhhh. Oh.", RJ went as he realized that due to the flighty nature of cats and their role in mythology, he could easily have something as friendly as the Zouyu show up, or something absolutely devastating like an old cat god that wants blood, guys and headpats. And not in that order.
"Alright, my turn to pick", Tatterhood said as she walked closer to the catalogue screen.
"Meow!", the Zouyu cried in protest. Apparently, he thought that his choice was the best already and didn't want to look at others.
"Oh hush you, ain't no harming in looking...oooh, this one looks fun!", Tatterhood proclaimed as she tapped an egg that had a skull pattern on it.
[Previewing: The Crossroad Graveyard]
Immediately after the announcement was made, the sky quickly darkened to twilight and a harsh, cold wind blew through the area.
The cat tails alongside the luck cat statue rapidly shrank into the ground until they turned into crab grass, as scattered tombstones of various makes and styles took their place.
The distant lake took on a reddish hue like that of blood, while the buildings were replaced with gnarly black trees, mausoleums and fields of bone. Visible streams of a strange blueish vapors began to rise from the ground, the cries of otherworldy beings filling the air.
"Creepy", the ogress grumbled.
"Well...this is horrifying", RJ commented as he put two and two together to realize the creepy vapor trails were full of twisted faces.
"You did mention wanting to see the dead walk", Tatterhood replied with a chuckle.
"Not helpin-"[Death]"Gya! magic voice"!
[Death. Many cultures argue what universal force is the supreme one. Some say it's the Earth that provides protection and sustenance, others say that it's the heavens that play with the elements and some say it is the waters that provide life. But all of them understand/recognize/fear/respect the domain of death. The Crossroad Graveyard world egg is concentrated yin essence and undead energy given form. The dead hides dozens, if not hundreds, if not millions of secrets. Tread lightly].
[Pros:
Yin-attributed, undead and/or demonic familiars receive a 30% growth and recovery boost.
Rich yin-attribute and death energy makes it ideal to develop necromantic abilities, learn dark martial arts and grow certain natural treasures.
The dead hide many secrets.
Fostering powerful undead familiars increases the
power of the Spirit Garden].
[Cons:
Spooky Scary.
Light, celestial and yang-attributed familiars receive a 25% penalty to their growth and recovery rate.
The dead like to keep their secrets and the undead are jealous of the living, they will attack.
Fostering powerful celestial familiars will weaken the Spirit Garden].
"Undead sparring partners sound great!", Tatterhood said excitedly.
"Pass! This entire place is a balancing act at best and I'm pretty sure Ember would get crippled by this place or destroy it", RJ refuted.
"Ember"?
"This little guy's name", RJ said as he pointed to the Zouyu on his head, "like it"?
"Meow"!
"Alright, fine", Tatterhood said with a huff, "I wanted to wrestle a vampire at least".
RJ pulled up the catalogue and browsed the list once more. After a moment, he paused on a strange looking egg that was a wild mix of colors and shapes.
"This one looks promising", he said as he tapped it.
[Previewing: Protean Chaos Canvas]
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{The following has been removed from the story due to erratic and absurd nature of the World Egg. If you want a mental image as to why...what does a Jackson Pollack painting, M.C. Escher painting, Salvador Dali painting orgy taste like?}
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A moment later, RJ and the gang had rematerialized in the original empty Spirit Garden setting.