FELIS

Yue stood on standby as Ivan withdrew a plethora of materials from 'Treasure Trove.' Oxygen, carbon, hydrogen, nitrogen, calcium, phosphorus, potassium, sulfur, sodium, chlorine, iron, fluorine, zinc, anything essential to the human body were carefully scaled and measured was set on the table. Though what Ivan intended to create today was not human, emphasized by the metals and mana crystal he brought out of his stash. The being he intended to create wouldn't be false to address as an 'incomplete human.'

Though technically from a normal human's viewpoint they may be the next step in the evolution of humanity. He rubbed the yellow mana crystal in his hand, rather than fabricate a soul he was going to use the monster of this crystal and their consciousness to be the platform for new life. While it was certain to have drawbacks it was probably a lot easier than if he were to use a human's soul. Not that he knew how to even capture one, monster souls were readily available as the crystallization of their mana crystals.

Aside from the murderous instinct each monster inherently possessed this being was going to be fabricated to learn and adapt. A free mind is what he wanted. If he failed to reason with it then he could only blame himself. Some countermeasures should be set in place but he hoped in his heart he wouldn't ever have to use them.

Four machines, four homunculi. He believed so long as he had four of these 'incomplete humans' they would possess the strength to survive and defend each other on the 101st floor. And for that reason, he's collected and saved the mana crystals of powerful monsters up until now.

A weretiger, a five-meter tall white Bengal tiger with rippling abs and claws that stretched out for three feet. It looked quite odd when it stood on its hind legs to attack. However, its speed was no joke, as expected of a monster on the 170th floor it was an absolute pain in the ass. As sadistic as most cats were, it found pleasure in attacking Yue and Ivan when they stopped to rest, never going for a full assault but to just disrupt their relaxation before bolting into some nearby shrubbery.

That day was one to remember, especially Yue's expression of annoyance as she bombarded the woods the weretiger inhabited with an array of spells despite knowing she wasn't going to hit it like that. Though that little game of theirs ended when the two realized they were going to have to kill it if they were going to proceed to the next floor. In the end, all that was left of the poor big cat was a bright yellow mana crystal, its brilliance so astounding that Ivan decided to pocket the thing.

It was the first and last day they spent with the weretiger, ever since then they've never seen another one. And despite potentially killing off an endangered species Yue seemed satisfied with her work. If Ivan had to guess, the thing probably had a lot of lingering resentment against Yue before it died. Sure it was likely pissed off at him as well but it was Yue who made sure it wouldn't live that day. He wouldn't be surprised if the moment it was brought into this world it would lunge straight for her.

A worry that made him reconsider calling her down first but in the end, she agreed despite knowing this so who was he to complain. He set the mana crystal and some metals on another table as he focused on the materials that were going to comprise the body. This was going to be different than the droids or Miledi's golems, it would be a life of its own Fully powered by the crystal it is intended to take control of the 'nodes' that acted as veins to course the mana in the crystal. Similar to his ice giant where he controls it with his blood.

What he was excited to see is if they responded to status plates, if it was possible for them to level up and work on their stats like other beings. If so then that left room for many possibilities but for now he knew it was likely that they were each already going to possess a unique racial skill relating to their former selves, the monster part.

This weretiger mana crystal was going to be his first homunculi, not because he had specific desires but because its former incarnation seemed weaker than any of the other monster crystals he planned on also using. His hands glowed a gray light as the transmutation circle he hadn't seen for quite some time appeared hovering in the air as well as one stamping itself on each of his palms.

BZZZZZT BZZZZZZT

The sparks in the air alerted Yue as she prepared a powerful offensive spell, though Ivan had yet to insert the mana crystal she wanted to be ready if the situation turned sour. Ivan ignored Yue's worried expression as focused on the task at hand.

Gray wisps of light shot out of his fingertips as they engulfed the table along with the items on it. The items merged together forcefully with Ivan's prying, but carefully at the same time as he was afraid of poisoning the body. Though he carefully measured each ingredient over and over there was always the off chance that he miscalculated. If that were the case that could lead to the body taking too much of what it needed and suffering greatly as a result.

As the process was going smoothly he decided to move on to the next step, a little add-on that he made sure wouldn't compromise the craft. A dash of Azantium, some Shtar Ore, and even spirit ore as an added bonus. This would enhance the strength of the body if he was wrong about it being able to attune with a status plate. If that were the case then he could only work up to its strength with artifacts and other materials as a compromise.

The table shone an array of blinding white light as the creation was coming near an end. Neither Yue nor Ivan were able to see behind the bright light, it's only quelling being that the creation is finished. As for Ivan, he had zero ideas how this body was going to turn out. Physical features such as height, skin tone, hair color, and eye color were completely left at random as he wished for the body to be naturally created according to whatever suited the consciousness of the weretiger the best.

Compatibility was key in this situation, and while it would've been safer to create a body similar to that of the original weretiger it would've been incapable of completing the tasks it was created for. Which meant that it was likely for the 'weretiger' to be completely clueless as to how to use its human-like body.

A tendril of his mana drifted to a nearby table as it picked up the weretiger's mana crystal. And just like before, it shone brightly before assimilation into Ivan's body. Ivan's flesh rippled like water as it entered seamlessly, deeper and deeper it fell within. The orb composed of the mana crystal struggled inside of his body as he assaulted it with his mana. Unlike the Rockmount the sentience this mana crystal possessed was far stronger.

It thrashed about inside of him before getting entangled by a tendril of his mana. The swelling is a familiar part of the process as Ivan sent out labored breaths much to Yue's concern. Seconds went by….. Then minutes… and finally an hour later the orb started calming down. He let out a sigh of relief as he slouched over in his chair, instantly perking up a second later as he remembered what he was doing.

The orb of golden light pushed itself out of his chest, resting half-submerged. Not wanting another repeat of what happened last time Ivan reached for it with both of his hands. Locking them firmly on it as he braced for the next step. Yue approached him with the greatest healing spell she could muster, not being much considering she never concerned herself with healing spells because of her immortality. So as an added precaution she uncorked the potion Ivan had left out sitting on one of the desks.

"Ready… Yue? One… Two… Three–!" And with all of his strength Ivan's face scrunched up as he pulled on the orb in his chest. A tearing noise resounded through the room as his face turned red. His mouth creaked open before he repressed the scream he was eager to let out. The orb struggled back as it attempted to swim back in him.

And then— *TEAR*

Blood squirted everywhere, even on the body he was forming. Something he wasn't concerned about as its creation process was already practically finished. He held the golden orb in his hands as Yue moved in and cast her healing spell as well as dousing the affected area with the healing potion. Ignoring his yelps as she hurried to fix up the hole in his chest.

Ivan held the manifestation of his hard work tenderly, reluctantly letting go as his tendrils of mana took the golden orb toward the body table. The white light enshrouding it all lessened as the orb joined the process, turning the white light into golden light.

Though his face was devoid of most color after his recent injury he still stared forward excitedly as he waited for a change in the situation. Yue, not so excited, stood next to him this time with an offensive spell at the ready. It wasn't that she wasn't proud of his recent venture but more so that protecting him from this potential threat in his weakened state was her current priority.

One of the rings on her fingers shone with yellow light as a shield projected of mana shot out of it and stood before the two, its transparency not at all hindering their vision. Ivan nodded gratefully to her before turning back to the scene.

PIT-PAT

The two listened to the sound of pittering bare feet slap against the cold floor as the light from the spectacle lessened. A lean silhouette appearing behind the light was made obvious to the two. The sound got louder as it inched closer to them.

Rather than any of a person's physical features, the two were astounded as the first thing to enter from the light was neither a hand nor foot, but a whitetail. As thick as a normal tiger's tail, only white with black patches prettily adorned with a nice pattern with the tip ending in black. It waved warily with strong motions before its master finally appeared from the light.

A naked girl with slightly tanned skin entered their view, her bust was not as impressive as Tio or Shea but existent nonetheless. An internal remark that somehow elicited a kick toward Ivan's leg. Her pupils are as sharp as daggers, very reminiscent of a cat's. The gold iris they possessed complemented finely. Her long fluffy white hair trailed into black as it made its way to her waist, which along with her black bangs made a nice contrast. And to top it all off, two cat-like ears sat atop her head.

Ivan got to admire her beauty for only a second before they locked eyes. The anger in hers all too visible for him to see, they trailed to Yue before that anger intensified tenfold. Just as expected, she charged at the two swiftly. In the blink of an eye, she appeared right in front of their shield, her fingernails elongating into sharp black claws.

"Shit…" Ivan muttered as the darkness of her claws made him come to quite the terrifying conclusion, in an instant the claws scratched at the shield of mana and sliced it up like butter. As he guessed the Azantium he imbued in her body served to strengthen her claws. Azantium claws that cut through anything, an even more terrifying prospect was that they could only be destroyed by Azantium or the magical flames of a dragonmen as tested from Tio.

A canteen of water appeared in his hands before he and Yue were enveloped by steam, the weretiger homunculus only appeared dazed for a second before her eyes started glowing a cruel gold. With another great leap, she appeared before the two with her claws out. Though unused to the new body she ended up using too much strength and missed her targets by a large margin.

"Yue, we need to capture her alive! Just don't aim at her heart and we should be good, the same goes for her head… probably." Ivan shouted over to Yue as the steam began dissipating, now that he realized it'd be useless against the homunculus' eyes he didn't bother pulling that trick again. Yue nodded according to his words and readied her wind spell.

"Wind Blades." She said aloud as a barrage of sharp wind blades was sent hurtling to the homunculus. The weretiger homunculus failed to respond in time and as a consequence could only stare in shock as her body was ripped apart by the wind.

She let out a scream as her arm was separated from her body, however that pain turned to amazement as only three seconds later a new one grew in place. She moved it around a bit curiously before refocusing on the fight at hand, an unintentional grin appearing on her face as she charged forward.

"Well, it's good to see that her functions are working. So long as that mana crystal stays full of power she should have no problems being ripped to pieces. Though I imagine regenerating takes up quite a bit of mana. If we can restrain her for even a second I can activate the safety features, and when I mean safety features I mean it for us."

Yue's eyes twitched at his nonchalant observations, a bit upset that he cared more for how his homunculus was operating rather than them potentially being torn by its claws. She readied an ice spell as Ivan ran forward with his left arm skidding across the metal floor.

BZZZZZZZT

Blue sparks flew as the ground around the Homunculus caved in like quicksand, her claws failing to get rid of the metal encasing her legs as new ones replaced it. Yue took that moment to release her spell as a gust of cold wind flew toward the homunculus.

"Crystal Coffin." She muttered, the ice encapsulated the weretiger homunculus as her movements came to a complete stop. Her eyes were the only thing left moving as she struggled helplessly to break free out of the ice.

"Great job, Yue~!" Ivan ruffled Yue's hair as he thanked her for the help. She basked under his hand for a few minutes before asking him what they were going to do with her from here on out.

"Hmm…? Well, I guess the only thing would be hoping that we could have a civil discussion. Not that she has any idea how to speak this world's language. So we're probably going to have to start with that. If she ends up refusing no matter what then I guess we'll cut her loose, I'd rather not have someone with Azantium claws unwillingly be in the same building as me."

Killing her had never entered his mind. It was strange to say but he felt a sort of intimacy with her, sure she wanted to kill him right now but if time went by and she was fine working together then that'd make him happy. Ivan pressed his left arm against the ice as the safety measure inscribed as a tattoo on her shoulder shone gold. A little imprint of a transmutation circle that served as a way to calm her down.

As intended her struggles eased up as she finally stopped moving. Her desperation dissipated as she felt a comfortable feeling envelop her body, and unbeknownst to her, the mana crystal that made up her being was slowly being charged back up. Ivan asked Yue to undo the ice coffin, much to her dismay.

But in the end, she did so reluctantly, preparing another spell in her unoccupied hand just in case. The weretiger homunculus fell to the ground as she curled up in a ball. Her purring eased the tension in the room as both Ivan and Yue made careful steps back, trying their best not to awaken her.

"...Well, now what do we do with her?" Yue's exasperated voice emanated from Ivan's side.

"Hmm… First of all, I plan to teach her this world's language. It'd be difficult to work together if we couldn't understand each other… I want your help with that in particular. Scratch that, Tio would be the better option if we're talking Azantium. I'll just assist her on the side, while I do have a language comprehension skill it'd be better to have a native teach her."

Ivan walked up to the curled up weretiger homunculus, and without a worry in the world rested his palm atop her fluffy hair. Her brows narrowed contently as her tail moved subconsciously. Ivan laughed at her constant nuzzling as he decided it'd be rather rude of him to continue calling her 'homunculi.'

"Felis." He said aloud. Only eliciting the shake of her ears before she continued her peaceful slumber. Ivan couldn't help but feel responsible for this new life, in a sense he was her creator, it perhaps wouldn't be an exaggeration for him to be called her father.

In his mind that'd bring him a bit of an understanding as to his intimacy with her, an intimacy not too dissimilar to the feeling he had when he first made the amulet.

"From here on out, you are Felis. My feline child."

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Went to the laundry mat today, there was some guy sitting inside near the entrance using a crackpipe. And here I thought it would be a good idea to go in early to beat the midday crowd. On the bright side I finished up my load in like fifty minutes so I hurried back here and now finished today's chapter. Gonna go watch the book of Boba Fett soon, i have three episodes left.

Thanks for reading today's chapter, tigers are cute. Have a great evening and see you soon~!

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