Shades of the New World

Chapter 14: Cosmic Feline

A friendly tone. And a voice so clear and so smooth. Evin was sure that these Felines hired a voice coach from somewhere, teaching them proper postures and whatnot just to help them close business deals more successfully.

"Yes, as you can see, I'm only a newborn child. Today's my first day learning about Worlds"

Evin decided to not hide the obvious and try to get on the Feline's good side. They were the ones who ran the biggest business in the World, anyway.

"You must be a Child of the Empress then, congratulations!"

"I suppose so," Evin heard the familiar word again.

Evin supposed cases like him weren't so rare.

'Perhaps they were all reincarnators like himself? Or maybe there are some children who are actually much smarter than others?'

Evin didn't really care much, to be honest. He understood that even if one thought themselves special there could be a dozen other people who experienced the exact same things as you.

The Feline cocked her head and asked, "What are you thinking so deeply about?"

"Nothing," Evin said in a perfunctory way.

The Cosmic took the Child's attitude as being wary, as she playfully cocked her head and said:

"Ah, the children and their paranoia. No wonder most of you become so talented at Lady Helain's Dark World"

The feline's words double-confirmed Evin's suspicion about other reincarnators in this World. Normal children, even if they were born with adult minds, will think their level of intelligence is normal. Maybe at most, their parents will confuse them greatly, for they would talk to their child like it was an idiot.

But only reincarnators will constantly worry about their origins, making them naturally paranoid of everything.

"Can I ask what your name is and why you came here? I'm Evin, by the way"

"My name is Solraheeth Rithlaven, but you can call me Rith, I'm but a humble Cosmic searching for potential customers for my services. I can offer you my services, but you must pay for the lodestones I require for casting whatever magic you require of me, plus 12% for the service. Or you could also make a contract with me, stating that you will only ask me when using the services of the Elmes Group, plus you will owe me a favor. My share for a contracted customer will be only 7%"

Evin could notice the feline's increasing excitement as she talked. He found the whole matter a tad bit weird, but he couldn't really put a finger on what exactly was weird.

"What kind of favor?"

"It could be anything, but it will be something that you can accomplish. Most of the time, I will request you to find a certain material"

As long as it wasn't too hard, Evin didn't mind owing a favor for benefits.

"What services do you offer?"

"I can store your various objects in his personal Storage. Different objects will be stored in various environments suited for the object. For example, I can store weapons and books in the normal wares, but you could store your edibles in a colder temperature. If you need to store animals, I will do my best to create the best environments to store them as well. Currently, I have access to pastures for horses and sheep, and also a jungle for some exotic animals,"

The Feline's eyes glittered when she spoke of her business. She continued.

"I could also offer you teleportation services. I can send you to any notable city in the Kingdom. If you wish to travel to the other countries, I can talk to my superiors about it. Though you would most likely have to pay an astronomical price, since there are extra fees like taxes and whatnot attached to teleportations of that scale,"

"I could also make you accessories imbued with the World of Space, that can either store items inside it, or something that could return you to a place you have marked with the accessory. If you think of something that could be done in the World of Space, I can try it out for you as well. Oh, also, we can also help you deliver objects from one place to another"

The felines were much more hospitable and easygoing than Evin imagined. He thought they would be more prideful and arrogant, but they were even willing to try out a one-year-old's experimental magic.

"Sadly, the only thing I have now is the mana of the air. I'm afraid you will have to wait until I am older to do business with me. But I'll be happy to make a contract with you when I'm older"

The feline seemed sincere to Evin, so he didn't mind promising a contract. He also didn't wish to offend her, lest she badmouthed him to her colleagues.

'Never underestimate workplace gossip. That shit kills you'

Rith just nodded and took out a necklace.

The Feline floated a little and put the necklace around the child's neck.

It was a small, orange, moon shaped pendant, made with something akin to a lodestone, but not quite.

"It's fine, I can wait. But make sure you tell that I already contacted you if any of my kind asks for a contract with you. When you wish to, you can insert the energy of this World into the necklace and I will come find you. Do it inside the World of Space. Take care now, little one," Rith said and floated away soon after.

Evin promptly left the World and thought about the two things he found out.

'First, I suppose I should look out for these Children of the Empress,' Something told him that the Children served a huge role in this World.

Second, perhaps he could do business with the Felines. The way Rith talked about her services was very weird to Evin. Like some kind of addict.

'Perhaps these Felines get off of getting rich? Who knows?' Evin shrugged.

Evin also knew a few ideas that went well with the World of Space. He could sell them the idea, but he would need to ensure he doesn't get scammed or taken advantage of. He would need to ask Aran for some advice.

Throwing the various ideas to the back of his head, Evin entered the World of Life.

Instantly, Evin could feel all the nitty-gritty details in his body. He could instinctively tell how healthy he was and whether he needed something fixed. The downside of this World was the feeling of OCD concerning his body. He badly wanted to fix whatever that was wrong with his body. He debated trying to actually work on his body but ultimately gave up, in fear of doing something wrong.

Before leaving the World, Evin slammed his hand at the edge of a chair. He only hoped to bruise himself lightly, doing nothing extreme. As expected, the urge to heal his body increased by many times, forcing him to promptly leave the World.

Leaving the World seemed much harder than the other times for Evin. He figured that the stronger your emotions, the harder it was to leave.

The nagging feeling of OCD lingered for a bit before vanishing completely, leaving only the slightly annoying pain.

The next World was owned by Librack, queen of the Griffins, the World of Emotions.

Evin was wondering what kind of effect would a World such as this one would have, but it was just an amplification of the emotion one was currently feeling.

Right after he entered the World, his anticipation and wariness meters were off the charts, but after he realized what exactly was happening, a mix of disappointment and relief washed over him.

He tried to cycle through different emotions while he was in the World. He found that freely changing his emotions took quite a bit of time. But thanks to his rich life experience, he had many memories to draw emotions from.

Playing around in the World for some time, he soon got bored and left.

Next, he entered the World of Time.

Surprisingly, nothing happened to his emotions in this World. He gave up on trying to work with the magic in this World, even though the World had no emotional influences. He wasn't conceited enough to think he could nonchalantly succeed at what every other mage attempted for the past millennia. But he still screamed "THE WORLD" as loud as he could, making a cool pose. Promptly, after which he made some dumb comments like: "Was that a **** Reference?!"

Satisfied with his fill of fun, he was about to leave the World, but a girl's giggling stopped him from doing so.

As Evin looked around himself, he found that the World had nothing different. He then realized that the World of Time was quite creepy. Everything was still, and it gave Evin a sense of terror and dread. Even the silhouette of Arza lying down next to him seemed more unsettling to him.

'Is this the World of Horrors or what. Wait, Evin, you were a ghost yourself. How can you get scared from small stuff like this? Or maybe it's just my insanity producing hallucinations now'

That last thought worried Evin a bit, like someone suddenly started to talk about that one banned topic that no one likes to think about in a family gathering.

After finding nothing out of the ordinary, he resolved to leave the World.

Thankfully, nothing else happened. But just as Evin was about to release a sigh of relief, the child's high-pitched voice rang in his head again.

"I hope you come back to play again~"

'What the hell was that, man?'

He warily looked around himself, half expecting some cursed doll to jump at him, but to his relief, he found nothing like it.

You know, I'll just ask Aran later. He should know about these World things more than I do. I feel like I have so many things to ask him now.

'But it's so creepy, though'

Trying to get the matter off his head, Evin decided to visit the last World.

Even though he hadn't really tried to perform any magic, except in the World of Storms, he still felt tired and spent after this mini world tour he just performed.

'If I have to fight with this core, I'll most likely end up dead from fatigue, rather than because of the enemy,' Evin joked.

As Evin chanted Two Tales' name and accessed the Heavy World, an immense pressure fell upon him all at once!