New Workspace

'So are you gonna come with me or...' Osho let the question hang as he watched Gale zip through the sky without end, the massive attack he unleashed a few minutes prior seeming to cause no strain on him as he just continued to fly to his heart's content.

'Nah. You can go ahead. I'll be here for a while.' Gale replied immediately, his bristle at being able to fly freely palpable.

Osho smiled.

'Alright. Just don't tire yourself out.' He shook his head and Gale just hummed, clearly intending to tire himself out.

Deciding not to dally, Osho left the habitat and briefly returned to the living room where the egg he got still sat on his sofa. Its surface was dark brown, reminiscent of dirt, and it looked more like a rock with a vague oval shape than an egg, but the ribbons, cracked or not, didn't lie.

As for what Osho wanted to do?

'How do I even get to the lab anyway?' He mused as he started exploring the building. Thankfully, he didn't need to wander for long before he found what he was looking for.

There was a switch under the staircase that led to the first floor, and when he flipped it, the floor beneath the staircase sank downwards to creating stairs that descended.

'Cool.' He nodded with appreciation as he descended while using his Mana sense, and was pleasantly surprised to note that no matter what he did, his senses couldn't advance in any way, and as he got lower, this became more prominent as the place had been made with some material that totally blocked one's Mana sense, which suited him fine as the lab wouldn't be very secret if soneone could just observe him through the floor.

At the bottom of the staircase, a set of heavy metal doors sat, both lacking any windows to let him see through.

When he reached them, a small device appeared in the ceiling, and a ray of light flashed over his body, scanning him. Osho let it happen, and a few seconds later, there was a chime as the doors slid open. Osho stepped in, and he was immediately taken aback.

'It's huge!' He exclaimed as he took in the lab, the first thing he noticed naturally being the sheer space. It wasn't some cramped classroom lab with a few benches. Instead, there was a tall ceiling with gentle but potent lights that eradicated most shadows, and Osho was certain that the sheer width of it all was more than his residence, making him certain that it was also spatially expanded. Or compressed, depending on how one wanted to look at it.

Counters and workstations filled the floor neatly, each one loaded with tools that looked both familiar and foreign. There were racks with beakers, flasks, tubes, and conventional glassware one would find in most labs, and there were other instruments that hummed with Mana, some having screens depicting various diagrams or were simply dormant.

On the left side, an entire wall had been used as a preservation area. Transparent cases held rows of labeled jars, boxes with seals, strange pods keeping herbs and rare resources fresh, and more. Osho could also feel and see a few runes there, and he guessed they aided in keeping the things preserved and protected.

On the far side, Osho spotted something less neat. A series of metal tables made from reinforced materials were covered in trays, vials with viscous fluids, and even the occasional beast horn, claw, or bone. The trays also had some enchantment on them that seemed to prevent these items from going bad, so Osho guessed they had been prepared in advance for his arrival.

How thoughtful..

There was even a secure section with padded cradles that housed beast eggs, their weirdly durable nature meaning they didn't require any over-the-top means to keep them safe.

On the ceiling, mechanical arms hung from rails, on standby in case they were needed to move equipment around or hold heavy objects in place. Which seemed fitting as there was a section of the lab that was a series of large platforms with what looked like drainage pipes, making Osho guess it was needed for dissecting beast corpses.

Every surface was virtually spotless, and Osho was certain there was a function somewhere that made it capable of self-cleaning.

Despite the sheer amount of stuff available, there was no chaos, just abundance. It was a place where someone could create tonics, potions, observe the growth curve of a beast, or dismantle one to study intensely.

Osho grinned.

'Now aren't you guys just spoiling me rotten?' He giggled like a child in a candy store before clearing his throat to regain his composure.

There was a lot to unpack and many things to explore, with this place containing everything he'd need in the short term, and right now, there was a particularly interesting subject he wanted to study in his hands.

Osho used his magic to create a bit of wind beneath his feet, essentially allowing him to glide forward as the lab was truly large, and walking around normally would be too annoying.

He moved near where all the rare resources were being preserved and placed the egg on the table closest to them. There was still a sizeable distance, though.

He looked under the table and saw the usual set of a lab coat, gloves, and a mask, all of which were enchanted to serve their purposes better than conventional attire.

Osho had no desire to waste time as his attention had been well and truly occupied by the strange thing going on with the egg.

Once he was prepared, he took a stool and sat in front of the egg before staring at it as he allowed his ability to let loose a bit.

The cracked ribbons became even more prominent, and Osho grabbed a tablet from under the table. There was a lot of stuff under the table.

[Initial observations show that Evolution Ribbons, as I have dubbed them, display clear signs of fractures that seemed to have occurred as a result of stress. My initial guess is that they were caused by whatever operation Stellaris used to ensure that their potential wouldn't be too low. The implications of this aren't clear to me yet, which is what I intend to find out before carrying out evolution.] He noted his findings before placing the tablet down and scooted closer to the egg.

He reached out and grabbed one of the ribbons. Yes, grabbed, and inspected it closer.

'The fractures seem more prominent the closer they are to the egg, or rather, the creature inside.' He thought as he slowly stood up and followed the ribbon towards where it led, and as he thought, the fractures became less prominent the closer he got to whatever was required for the evolution, making him aware that the issue didn't lie there.

He returned to his seat and recorded this finding before exhaling.

He focused on the ribbon again, and this time, his ability gave him some more feedback as he somewhat forced the matter.

The information that slipped into his brain then enlightened him on a few more things.

'I see, so the ribbons, which act as indicators of what the beast within the egg needs to evolve, were almost forcefully altered. The cracks are formed due to pressure acting on the nature of the beast, which consequently strains the ribbons, as too much damage would mean the path of evolution for the beast may be damaged, or perhaps permanently broken.' He frowned.

The implications of that were... worrying. Essentially, the original path of evolution for the beast was being put under pressure, and when said pressure became too much, the path would shatter. The result being that such a beast would no longer be able to evolve as the path forward was broken.

He recalled the other eggs he had inspected and remembered that some had worse cracks than others, still intact, but only barely, and he guessed that subjecting them to any further stress would make the ribbons break.

Moreover, even without the ribbons breaking, there were still consequences to the fractures being there.

Whenever Osho looked at the ribbons for pretty much any beast or egg he handled, he more or less had the feeling that he could just keep evolving them as long as he had the appropriate materials. It was an instinctual feeling he associated with his ability, as he felt that even if he evolved a beast like Gale to possess Mythical Rank Potential, he could still evolve it further, as long as he had the necessary materials.

However, as he stared at this egg, he had a feeling again, and he somehow knew that if he consistently evolved it, he would reach a cap pretty quickly. He didn't know what the cap was, he just knew that one existed.

Which begged the question, were all eggs with these fractures lost causes?

Well...

Osho looked at the fractures, forgetting about the ribbons as he focused on each individual crack intently, and he felt a faint throbbing starting to hit him, but he didn't stop, and his concentration paid off.

From within the cracks, faint lines resembling threads became visible to him, and just like how each ribbon spread out to show him where materials needed for evolution were, each thread spread out to show him what was needed to fix them.

Osho wiped a bit of blood from his nose and smiled.

'This should be fun.'