"What animal are you looking forward to meeting the most?" asked Rhamn with interest.
They had some time to waste before the others came.
While Cyril was petting the purring Tigris, he thought about his answer.
I would say a tiger. I am curious how a real one would behave.
Tigris lazily yawned within his grasp and looked around. He felt like someone called him.
"That would be interesting, yes. But aside from that, which animal are you genuinely curious about?" Rhamn didn't give up and asked again.
Cyril thought about it some more before. There is one animal he is really curious about.
That would be snakes. As a kid, he read a storybook in which a snake played the role of an antagonist.
At the time he thought they looked quite scary, but also a little cool.
Their smooth, wavy movements and cold, vertical pupils reminded one of dragons.
Hearing his answer, Rhamn went silent, nodding from time to time, clearly in thought.
Cyril frowned at the sight. Something about her gave him a bad feeling right now.
You are not planning on making another creature, are you? He thought with suspicion.
Rhamn froze with a surprised expression before smiling in a flattering manner.
"Wow! We are so close! You can easily guess what I am thinking; that's only to be expected from us," she tried to move away from the topic.
Cyril stared at her with a cold look, not knowing what to do with her.
In the end he sighed and massaged his temples. It's way too soon. Let's first get used to Tigris now.
Rhamn began waving her hand in denial. "No, no. I am not saying we should do it right away."
"Actually, I can't even do it if you agree. I can feel it—there is a limit on how many creatures we can create and connect to." Rhamn made a pensive expression.
This was the first time Cyril heard anything about that. It looks like making a personal army was out of the question.
Is there a way to increase this limit?
"Yes. If we further increase your physique and mana quality." Rhamn said with a convinced voice.
Myra should know more about this... Maybe that pill will also help.
Before, he tried telling Rhamn to stop thinking about making more creatures, but now he wanted to solve the issue of not being able to do so.
Not that Cyril was addicted to having his chest punctured, but with Morpho and now Tigris in his life, he felt the world was warmer than ever.
He quite liked having them around, and Cyril felt a bigger family would be even better.
"Hello, Cyril!" Suddenly his thoughts were interrupted by the voice of Myra.
She arrived with Rose in tow; they were both dressed in casual outfits, fit for a walk in a park.
With an optimistic expression, Rose gave Cyril a ticket. "Don't lose it."
It looked quite beautiful, with an intricate tiger engraving; there was a metallic sheen on it.
"Hi, Morpho, Tigris," Rose waved with a smile.
To which Morpho flapped her wings in return, and Tigris lazily meowed.
Cyril already introduced Tigris to his friends earlier in the morning. They were surprised but quickly accepted it.
Eventually Edmund also arrived at the scene, wearing an expensive-looking suit.
Having greeted each other, the group boarded the monorail and went towards the city center.
In their excitement, everyone was eagerly discussing what they might encounter there.
At least Rose and Cyril were. Among the group, they were the most interested in seeing the animals.
Myra was only a little interested but didn't consider it too special. Still, she liked to spend time like this for a bit without worrying about anything.
Edmund was even less curious than her; judging from his bored expression, there were plenty of other things he would rather do.
Back in the day Edmund was a person who couldn't go a day without a party.
But ever since he enrolled in Ailanthus, Cyril never saw him doing anything of the sort.
Is something actually happening to him? Or is it a natural change? I can't tell... Cyril was never the best when it came to this.
"It's good that he stopped being a waste; otherwise, how could he survive in this world?"
That's true...
"So Cyril, the thing about bears is..." Rose continued her story, capturing Cyril's attention again.
...
After a lengthy ride, they were finally in the city center.
After their zoo trip, the group plans to spend the night at a hotel nearby; they've already chosen which one.
Since the zoo was quite big and they might not be able to see it all in one day, they could also go there the next morning.
Edmund led the group through the busy street and entered one of the high-rise buildings.
The moment the clerk at the entrance who just came in got up from his chair, he greeted the group in a flattering manner.
"Mr. Morley, Mr. Cyril, Mrs. Briar, Mrs. Myra, welcome to the Yellow Jasmine Hotel." The attendant bowed at 45 degrees.
Rose and Myra felt a bit weird being addressed as such and awkwardly greeted him back.
Edmund already booked the rooms beforehand here.
Everyone received their keys and went to quickly check out the rooms before gathering back at the lobby.
"This place is really luxurious..." Rose weakly said.
"Are you sure it's alright for us to stay here?" asked Myra with a reluctant expression.
Edmund assured them he would take care of the hotel problem on his own, so they didn't even pay anything.
"Of course I am sure. Don't worry, my father owns this hotel," Edmund simply replied.
"I thought your father was a treasurer?" Cyril said, slightly surprised.
"This doesn't prevent him from buying a few businesses here and there," Edmund said with a shrug.
"Maybe it should prevent him."
With this out of the way, the group headed to the zoo itself. It wasn't too far from here.
...
The group arrived before the main gates of the zoo.
The high fence surrounding the place was filled with various banners, pictures, and sculptures of animals.
Beyond the fence in the distance was visible a tower with a tiger statue on top of it. This was the park's control center—the main staff building.
A large crowd was gathered in front of the ticket booth; it looked like a long wait.
Thankfully they had VIP tickets, allowing them to go through a different line without any hassle.
Inside, it appeared like a grand park with many separated areas. There was a forest, a lake and even a mountain.
This might be one of the only ways a citizen of the Empire can somewhat see the nature in person.
Cyril and Rose, with quick steps, approached the stand with a map to decide where they would go first.
When the rest of the group approached, they heard Rose saying her planned-out route of the zoo, starting with the forest.
Since no one else had a plan this detailed, they decided to follow it for now.
Unfortunately there was no convenient transportation around, so they had to cover all of this sizeable area on foot.
Passing by the many other crowds, they navigated the stone paths to reach the entrance of the small forest.
There was a sign above the gates that said 'Forest of Friends' and by the side there was also a stand with the information about the animals inside.
"'Look at the many animals that populate a forest in the wild of the world outside.' Here, we can find wolves, bears, foxes, deer, and more," Myra was reading the information.
"Oh, there is also a certain 'apex predator' in here as well? Something called a 'shadow wolf'?" She was slightly intrigued by this.
"That's what we came here for. Shadow wolves should be a magic creature with an interesting talent," replied Rose and went in.
The animals here weren't barred behind a cage or a barrier.
They walked freely on the territory, sometimes hiding from the crowds of visitors, sometimes approaching, planning to get any food from them.
While petting a deer that walked close, Cyril noticed the obvious presence of magic on their bodies.
"There must be some spell placed on them to prevent any accidents," guessed Rhamn.
Otherwise, how could the owner of the zoo allow these animals to walk freely? Some of them were more than capable of killing a human.
The group slowly walked in the forest, observing everything around them.
This place not only showcased many different animals one wouldn't see in a city but also emulated to a degree the environment as well.
As a result, even Edmund got more interested than expected. There was a whole new world outside that some of them had never even seen.
Eventually they've reached the shadow wolf as well. It was already surrounded by a crowd of other visitors.
Unlike regular wolves, who are pack animals, these ones are solitary creatures.
This shadow wolf was a few sizes bigger than a regular wolf as well, with big, frightening fangs visible.
Every part of its muscular body felt like it radiated power.
It must be quite strong. Cyril involuntarily thought when seeing it.
The beast lazily lay on a big stone, not paying attention to all the visitors around it.
Some people touched its fur, and some were even brave enough to open its mouth to fully see its jaw, but it didn't react at all.
Rose approached in front of it and pulled out a notebook from her bag, starting to scribble something on it in excitement.
The rest also began walking around it, observing with interest.
Morpho was flying around the forest, while Tigris was still hiding on Cyril's shoulder; he refused to go down.
"Can you scan it?" Rhamn asked with curiosity.
Cyril already expected such a request, so he calmly walked in front of the beast and touched its head.
He proficiently executed the spell, finding out everything Rhamn needed.
At this moment the giant wolf opened its eyes and turned to look at him.
Cyril was startled but didn't step away, staring back.
In these eyes was something that greatly surprised Cyril.
They possessed a clear level of intelligence. It was like staring another human in the eyes.
The more he looked, the more uncomfortable Cyril felt. There was a particular emotion coming from the beast—hopelessness; it gave up.
After a second it closed its eyes and lay back down, continuing to rest in silence.
Cyril moved back as well.
The people around exclaimed with interest and approached the wolf, eager to make it move as well.
Some even tried to scan it like Cyril did, but nothing happened.
"What a majestic beast..." Rose said in awe.
The rest agreed with her statement with a nod; only Cyril stood with a lowered head in contemplation.
"What's wrong, Cyril?" Myra asked with confusion.
"Did you not think there was something wrong with its eyes?" hesitantly said Cyril.
"What do you mean?" said Myra, still confused.
"...Nevermind," Cyril replied after a pause.
He didn't know why it unnerved him so, but he felt his enthusiasm about this place drop a little.
"I feel the same..."
Cyril quickly shook off this feeling, and the group went to see other places.
There was still a lot of the zoo left to explore.