Meanwhile, turning the clock back a bit—
Let's introduce everyone to 'Giflin Gallon!'
This was a middle-aged man who was a bit on the younger side, wearing the traditional green-pattered long robes of the Gallon Family, and he had arrived at the Beast Garden shortly after Petra entered with a simple mission!
As for what that mission was—
"'Just observe,' they said! 'Stay unnoticed,' they said! Ha! Ha-ha-ha! Ha-ha-ha-ha-ha! Who else but me, the great Giflin Gallon, master of the Skyless Cloud Technique, could take on such a mission!"
This was what he screamed out loud while standing a meter before the ticket booth.
He was dressed in muted colors, and he had an almost uncanny way of walking. This was the kind of man who had always dreamed about being a spy! When he could, he would even rehearse leaning against trees in the mirror while smiling like a 'normal person'...
Of course, this mirror was a full-length mirror!
Oh, and of course, it also had to be dragged outside with at least two people to help…
He had, in short, prepared thoroughly! Unfortunately, preparation did not equate to success…
Mm, so, what exactly was the Skyless Cloud Technique?
Well—! It was a derivative of the Gallon Family's State Magic! It was a self-created spell that allowed the user to disguise themselves as a literal cloud!
Yes, a cloud!!
A semi-transparent, faintly drifting cloud that vaguely took the shape of a human! It was, in theory, an advanced concealment technique that blurred the surrounding people's perception and masked his identity, and in practice, it was exactly as ridiculous as it sounded… but with that said, despite the huge glaring flaw that you may or may not have already guessed… Giflin remained confident! After all, His identity was hidden, his form was obscured, and his presence… was technically disguised!
Mm, so, the screaming cloud entered the beast garden after receiving its ticket!
Soon, it spotted its target, then it shuffled its way towards a nearby coat rack in an attempt to remain even more hidden.
Now, one might ask—
Isn't a cloud a rather conspicuous thing? Especially indoors? On the ground? And vaguely shaped like a man attempting to crouch down behind a coat rack to hide? The answer to that would naturally be yes, but his identity was still concealed, so—success…!
Anyways…
Giflin Gallon followed Petra at what he believed was a relatively safe distance.
Mm, it was not…
Fortunately, Petra possessed an almost supernatural lack of situational awareness!
The cloud ducked behind a decorative pillar, but the pillar was thin, and the cloud was not! Quickly, a passing staff member paused, turning her head just enough to stare directly at the cloud. After a painfully long second to process, she slowly continued walking, internally thinking that she wanted nothing to do with whatever that thing was.
The cloud coughed awkwardly.
It produced a pamphlet and pretended to examine it.
Unfortunately, he was holding the pamphlet upside down…
Realizing this, he tossed it away, striking a child, then pressed forward!
-
Giflin was painfully slow.
By the time he reached the first enclosure, Petra was already leaving.
He clicked his tongue and cursed his bad luck. Like everything in his life, when something went wrong, he blamed his terrible luck!
As he quickly passed the enclosure, he glanced inside.
Three massive wolves paced back and forth, each possessing two heads. Their jaws were plated with a dark metallic sheen, and their fangs were so sharp that they seemed to shine in the sunlight.
The moment the cloud drifted into view—
Four eyes snapped towards him!
As Giflin looked over, he saw six lips peel back and release a guttural growl that rolled through the enclosure, creating a deep and metallic vibration that ran through the floor with an unnecessary level of reverberating intensity.
This naturally drew attention, 'causing the cloud to stiffen'.
Giflin could hear iron-like teeth grinding together as their eyes pierced through his perfect disguise.
The sound scraped against his nerves, giving him goose bumps.
He swallowed hard, "G-good… doggies!"
His voice trembled inside the cloud, and as he hurried past, one head lunged violently, smashing against the barrier, causing the runes to flash with a bright blue light.
The impact rang out like a struck anvil, turning even more heads!
Giflin jumped so high that he tripped over his own foot and collided shoulder-first with a railing.
Have you ever seen a cloud trip? No? Well—! Now several of the nearby visitors had!
He scrambled up and rushed after Petra, too embarrassed to stay any longer…
-
Soon after that, Giflin found himself asking for directions.
Mm, he had already lost Petra…
-
The next habitat was serene by comparison.
Looking around, he found…
Soft moss, silver birch trees, and a shallow stream that ran through the center of the floor. Several large, elegant elk grazed peacefully together, each crowned with branching horns that rippled faintly with an azure light.
He ran past, glancing only once.
He was clearly in a hurry, already too far behind...
They looked harmless, and from what he knew, this was the only exhibit that had never experienced an 'incident' in the Beast Garden's long history. It had been so peaceful that people began to question the legends of these luck-seeking elk entirely!
Some even believed the creatures should be released back into the wild.
The elk themselves did not care either way….
As the man-shaped cloud passed, one of the elk slowly lifted its head. Its blue antlers faintly rippled with light as it watched him leave. If one looked closely, they would be shocked to find a mischievous glint in its big black eyes.
Giflin stepped forward—
Swoosh!
He slipped on nothing!
Bang!
The cloud crashed down, smacking face-first into the ground! He jumped up, failed, falling back down, then he windmilled, regained balance with a second jump, recovered—
Only for a small decorative sign to detach from its post and bonk him cleanly on the forehead!
Bang!
He staggered backwards—
Crashing directly into a low-built shelf!
Crack!
At that exact moment, a comically familiar child tossed his drink cup. It bounced off a trash can, ricocheted off the wall, then landed perfectly inside the collar of his shirt.
Cold liquid poured down his back!
"Ah!" Giflin shrieked!
Have you ever seen a cloud shriek before? No? Well—! Now several of the nearby visitors had!
He slapped at his back frantically, hopping in place while 'trying' very, very hard not to draw attention.
Behind him, the elk resumed grazing. It flicked its ear, causing a faint ripple to pass through the air. If a master were here, they would likely have misheard it as a satisfied sigh…
Giflin limped forward, red-faced, and drenched in something sticky.
He could not fall behind, after all, his mission came first!
Despite a growing unease, he broke into an awkward jog, desperately trying to chase after Petra before he lost her completely!
-
After some more time passed, Giflin found his way past yet another enclosure.
He looked around, but for the fifth time, no Petra…
He deflated. "…Lost again, damn it!"
He found a place to sit and sighed.
He suddenly felt dejected!
He had been wandering in circles, trying to appear as casual as possible. Unfortunately, a cloud wandering aimlessly inside the Beast Garden was about as natural as it sounded. Just a few minutes earlier, the enclosure's resident, the Crystal-back Basilisk, had indirectly received an enthusiastic on-the-spot lecture from Levy about 'precision' and 'optimizing directional petrification'.
It just so happened that it was also looking for a test subject…
It also just so happened that the place where Giflin chose to sit down was directly in front of it…
-
As the strange cloud drifted past the glass, the female basilisk blinked.
As the strange cloud sat down with its 'back' facing the glass wall, the basilisk narrowed its eyes.
What… was that?
It moved closer, its huge body shaking the earth as it slowly leaned in.
Was it a human?
No, it did not look like one…
It certainly did not smell like one either!
Not that it could smell anything through the glass…
The basilisk thoughtfully hummed.
If something happened to this strange cloud… nobody would care, right?
It continued observing as the cloud shuffled on the spot, trying very hard to look natural. The cloud eventually leaned against the glass of the enclosure in what it seemed to believe was a casual, almost stylish pose.
The basilisk's golden eyes rippled.
Focus!
Condense…!
Refine!!
Huuung!!!
Its crystalline spine began to faintly hum as the surrounding energy was slowly pulled towards it.
Giflin, sadly unaware, suddenly felt very, very cold…
"…Hm?"
Still leaning against the glass, he slowly turned his head to follow the flow of this strange feeling.
"Ah…?"
When he finally turned around, he was…. Mm, a massive scale-filled face was now pressed against the other side of the glass, its enormous eye staring directly at him from only a few centimeters away!
Giflin froze—
Quite literally!
He looked down to discover that a strange stone layer was spreading through his legs!
Success!
The female basilisk's eyes rippled with delight as it watched him turn to stone. Despite the barrier, the focused petrification beam was threading through the many containment measures with ease!
It adjusted its gaze slightly, its eyes rotating like a focus, and the petrification continued to climb.
Giflin panicked!
He tried to shift away, but he could not!
He tried to stand up, but he could not!
He tried to call for help, but he could not!
"Ah! Ah? Ah?!"
Wang!
The enclosure's alarm systems detected the anomaly a moment too late!
Random runes flared to life, igniting along the walls as a deafening metallic clang quickly echoed, the emergency shutter plates slamming down around the habitat!
Clang-clang-clang-clang-clang!
Layer after layer of reinforced metal sealed the enclosure within seconds!
When the dust settled—
Everything was over…
The female basilisk blinked shyly. It glanced around at the heavy metal walls now sealing its habitat from every direction. With a somewhat embarrassed expression, it slowly, very slowly, shrank back behind a large crystal and pretended it had nothing to do with it...
-
While the big ass female snake was acting coy—
Outside the enclosure, the surrounding staff immediately descended into chaos!
"The warning was triggered by the basilisk enclosure!"
"How is that possible? I thought these systems were foolproof! Didn't the Gallon Family say…"
"Idiot, it must've mutated!"
"Focus! Check for casualties and make sure the guests are safe. I'll go get the inspector!"
"Casualties? How is that pos—oh no! Look!"
They all turned towards the glass. There, a strange, half-transparent cloud-shaped human stone statue sat alone on one of the benches...
"…What is that thing?"
"I don't know. Is it some kind of fog?"
"No… I think it's a cloud, but… It's solid, like a crystal?"
"Is that part of the exhibit?"
"It's on the outside…"
"…Could that be the cause of the breach?"
"Was it a false alarm?"
"Who knows…. Back away from it anyway! Who knows who left it here!"
"Sir, I can't touch it!" The idiot who instantly ignored his superior's order said as his hand went right through the great Giflin Gallons' petrified body.
"Damn it! Seal off the wing and call for containment support. We need to figure out what's going on!"
One of the senior staff members rubbed his temples, feeling a headache.
"…What in the hell is going on today? Just what kind of cursed star is looming overhead?" He sighed…
* * *
The perspective shifts—
Far from the noise and shouting staff of the 'Ancient Predators' section of the Beast Garden, another less chaotic wing was buried beneath layers of dirt and grass.
This was a massive underground aquarium!
Here, the air was cool, and the lighting was dim, filtered through tinted glass and the slow, twisting currents that flowed through a series of glass ceilings that opened up overhead. This was a vast hall, connecting multiple viewing chambers, all of which were surrounded by massive bodies of water on all sides. These vast channels of water moved around the walls and ceilings, held back by thick reinforced archways that led into massive viewing chambers. Pale blue light rippled across the floor like a drifting aurora, while enormous silhouettes passed silently through the dark water beyond just the glass.
It was both breathtaking and refreshing!
Dilan and Oxin walked side by side along the observation path, their footsteps muted by the silver stone.