In addition to Gabriel’s fondness for Serena, there was another reason that Kain allowed her to be so involved—the connections that she had through her family, and the wealth of information and resources she had access to because of it.
With his business now booming, and the income provided through his patent and work as an evolutionary planner, Kain had quite a lot of money—but there were many things that one couldn’t buy just because they had the funds.
However, with the help of Serena, Kain was able to obtain quite a number of rare and expensive spiritual materials that he felt would be useful in more quickly promoting the “planet” in his star space, the golden dragon, and the tree of life.
Thanks to emptying out over 90% of his personal funds, the environment of the planet looked very different from the previous time he had entered.
Leaving, Serena to care for Gabriel, Kain’s consciousness returned to his personal planet, that he’d now decided to call Pangaea, as a nod it resembling Earth when it only had the one supercontinent.
The changes to Pangaea were apparent compared to when Aurem, they name he had decided for the golden dragon, had first hatched.
The barren, rocky world he had first encountered was almost unrecognizable. Blades of grass now blanketed the once lifeless landscape, their vibrant green hue stretching as far as the eye could see. Interspersed among the grasses were clusters of trees, most not much taller than Kain, but he could already anticipate the towering heights they’d grow to in time.
In addition to the grass, there were also now delicate flowers in a spectrum of colours that added life to the environment, though all the plants were ordinary, lacking any trace of spiritual power.
Near the basin where Kain had planted the Tree of Life, the transformation was even more pronounced. The sapling he had left behind had grown taller, its trunk now as thick as his waist and green leaves had golden veins that glowed faintly.
Around it, the soil was rich and dark, supporting an even greater variety of vegetation—including several varieties of fruits that Kain had never seen before, but had to admit tasted delicious.
Originally, he was ecstatic at the prospect of practically having a limitless supply of food for himself. Or, more epically, an army of spiritual creatures born on this planet that he could summon with a thought. But after several experiments, he confirmed that while he could bring objects onto the Pangaea, nothing born on this planet, whether it’s the dragon, or even a single berry, could leave this space.
Moreover, it appears that the dragon egg and seed of the tree of life were rare exceptions to whatever rules governed this place, since the average living creature, plant, or seed, could not enter—greatly hampering many of the plans Kain had for the space.
This also further complicated his plan of potentially having Gabriel form a contract with a spiritual creature eventually born on Pangaea since he had no method of Gabriel and a creature born in Pangaea being able to establish contact.
However, although the planet was devoid of any advanced forms of life aside from Aurem, Kain had full confidence that spiritual creatures and spiritual plants would eventually be born here. And although he won’t be able to bring any of them out, he was sure that the rich resources of an entire planet will prove useful to him in some manner in the future…
Curled around the base of the juvenile tree of life, was the golden dragon Aurem, lounging lazily.
The once tiny and fragile creature now dwarfed Kain. freeweɓnovel.cѳm
Kain frowned slightly as he observed the dragon. Contrary to the myth of Huanglong, Aurem seemed entirely uninterested in creating new life or influencing the planet’s development. It appeared content to merely exist, radiating the spiritual energy that nurtured the environment but doing little else.
“Guess the legends were just that—legends,” Kain muttered to himself, crossing his arms as he surveyed the landscape. “Looks like I’ll have to provide a catalyst myself if I want to see the first spiritual creature born sooner.”
A long time ago, Kain had managed to obtain the Bloom of Ascension, a flower that Kain had never heard existed outside of the System. The function of the flower was that, when consumed in its entirety, it can cause ordinary animals to become the lowest quality black-iron quality spiritual creature.
Finally, after a long period of waiting, another one of these had appeared in the newly refreshed System Shop.
However, given that the flower needed to be consumed, he wasn’t sure how he could make the plants growing around the tree of life consume the flower, therefore he had been waiting until something resembling a sentient creature was born—and finally that time had come.
Thankfully, Kain had absolute control over the planet, and was able to sense any and all changes that occurred on it. Therefore, not long after something other than a plant had been born, Kain had immediately sensed it—although he wasn’t yet sure on what it was.
However, drawing on that faint connection, one substantially weaker than the one he had to Aurem and the tree of life but stronger than to the various ordinary plants around him, a creature shimmered into existence in front of Kain—a jellyfish.
The comb jellyfish was only about the length of Kain’s finger, hovered delicately in the air, its translucent body refracting light into a mesmerizing spectrum of colors. It pulsed rhythmically, its tentacles rippling like tiny rainbows as it struggled to orient itself in this strange environment. Despite its simple structure, the jellyfish’s shimmering appearance lent it an otherworldly beauty, as though it had been crafted from liquid starlight.
Although it was a relatively simple organism, unable to express itself, Kain could faintly sense its anxiety at being pulled from its native habitat to appear somewhere strange next to two large and powerful creatures.
Aurem watched Kain’s actions lazily through half-lowered lids, its eyes following his movements. Seeing that a small creature, sentient life other than itself, appeared in the palm of Kain’s hand, the dragon stirred from its coiled position at the base of the Tree of Life.
Kain felt a strange tension in the jellyfish, and it even seemed to be shivering slightly as Aurem’s presence loomed over it.
Yet, after a moment, the dragon snorted softly, a wisp of golden mist escaping its nostrils, before resting its head back on its forepaws. It appeared uninterested, perhaps deeming the jellyfish too insignificant to warrant its attention.
Kain used his other hand to pet and sooth the jellyfish. “Don’t worry,” he murmured. “I’m not going to hurt you.” Thankfully, due to their connection, it seemed to vaguely understand that Kain was not a threat, and the slight shaking in his palm stopped.
From his inventory, he retrieved the crushed body of the bloom of ascension. Since he was unable to bring in living plants to the planet, Kain had had to crush the plant and ensure that it was no longer alive, before he could bring its body in to be consumed. Thankfully, although it being fresh was the best, it wasn’t a requirement for the flower to work.
The jellyfish’s tentacles gripped the body of the flower and drew it towards an opening at the bottom of its body.
Knowing that the process would take some time, once he saw that the flower was wholly consumed, Kain willed the jellyfish back to its native habitat.
After a quick glance around, with a faint smirk on his lips at the planet finally taking shape. Kain’s consciousness left the star space.