Chapter 248: 248 : Opening Shop and Increasing Harem Members XXV
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Fizz floated closer, peering at John’s face. "Why are you panicking?"
John stared back. "It’s inside the void."
Fizz blinked. "Yes."
John’s voice went tighter. "If my mana drops to zero while it hatches, it can drift."
Fizz’s ears slowly lowered.
His humor drained away like water leaving a cracked cup.
He understood.
"Well," Fizz said carefully, "that is... not ideal."
John’s mouth flattened. "No."
Fizz tapped his chin with a paw like he was thinking very hard, which was always funny because he looked like a small orange ball trying to imitate a scholar.
Then he snapped his paw up. "Snacks."
John stared. "What."
Fizz’s eyes went wide and serious. "We need snacks."
John’s voice sharpened, despite himself. "Fizz."
Fizz lifted both paws. "No, listen. This is important. Snacks calm the mother."
John’s eyes narrowed. "I am not the mother."
Fizz’s ears flicked. "You are the emotional mother. You are panicking. Panic burns mana. Snacks stabilize the spirit. It is science."
John exhaled through his nose, almost a laugh and almost a curse. "This is not the time."
"It is exactly the time," Fizz insisted. "A baby is about to be born in the void. That requires ceremony. It requires snacks. It requires me to give a speech."
"No speeches," John said immediately.
Fizz looked offended. "This is oppression."
John stood, pushing his chair back slowly so it would not scrape loud. He moved to the door and checked the latch. He checked the hall crack. Quiet. No one was walking. No warden. No proctors.
Ray snored again, unbothered.
John turned back to Fizz. "We need privacy."
Fizz nodded as if he were a responsible adult, which was a lie. "Yes."
John went to the washroom corner, pulled the curtain, and sat on the floor again. It wasn’t comfortable. It wasn’t dignified. But it was hidden, and hiding mattered.
Fizz slipped in after him, hovering over his shoulder like a tiny anxious lantern.
John closed his eyes and reached into the void. He felt the void-space open like a cold mouth. He felt the controlled mana layer holding a small platform steady. He felt the egg.
And he felt something else now.
A pulse.
Not from John.
From the egg.
Like a heart that had just decided it was time to be a heart.
The system spoke again.
[Ding! SYSTEM Notification-
Hatching Sequence: Initiated.
Void Pressure Intake: Active.
Egg Shell Integrity: Lowering.
Stabilization Requirement: Maintain mana layer above minimum threshold.
Estimated Stabilization Window: Unknown. Variable by void exposure.]
John’s stomach tightened.
Unknown time windows were dangerous. Unknown windows meant mistakes. Unknown windows meant he could not plan perfectly.
And John hated imperfect plans.
Fizz hovered closer. "Can I see?"
John’s eyes opened in the void-space.
Fizz’s presence came with him, tugged by their bond.
Fizz appeared on the dark plain, staring at the egg like a child staring at a present they were not allowed to open.
The egg sat on the small mana platform.
It looked like a black stone.
But it was breathing now.
Not air breathing. Void breathing.
Every pulse, the darkness around it bent a fraction.
Like the void itself was being drawn into it.
Fizz whispered, awed. "It is drinking the void."
John swallowed.
He could feel his mana drain increasing. Not huge yet. But heavier. Like a bucket with a small leak suddenly turning into a steady drip.
He checked his inner reserve by instinct. He could feel the two circles inside him, now three, stacked like rings of calm fire. His mana was decent.
But not endless.
Do not drop to zero.
He remembered the system’s warning with cold clarity.
Fizz floated closer to the egg and then stopped, as if afraid his breath might break it.
He spoke softly, with unusual gentleness. "Hello."
The egg did not respond.
Fizz continued anyway. "I am Lord Fizz. I am your older sibling assistant. You will respect me. You will not steal snacks. You will not steal attention. You will not make John cry."
John’s eyes flicked. "Fizz."
Fizz waved a paw. "Shh. I am imprinting authority."
John did not have time for this. He focused inward. He fed more mana into the layer, reinforcing the platform. He could feel the void pressing, curious, hungry, trying to pull the egg deeper.
The mana layer held it like a rope holding a boat. But ropes strained when storms grew.
The egg pulsed again. A faint line appeared on its shell. Not a crack yet. It was a seam.
John’s breath caught.
Fizz’s eyes widened. "It is opening."
John forced himself to stay calm.
"Calm saves mana."
Fizz, unfortunately, did not know how to be calm when something interesting happened.
He began whispering like a gossip aunt at a wedding.
"Oh wow. Look at that seam. That is a very dramatic seam. That seam has personality."
John tried to ignore him. The seam widened by a hair. A faint glow leaked out.
Not fire. Not light. A deep violet-black shimmer that made the edges of the void look softer.
John felt the egg’s presence sharpen. A new presence forming inside. A mind that was not yet awake, but close.
Fizz leaned in, voice trembling with excitement. "Do you think it will be cute?"
John said quietly, "It is an ant egg."
Fizz blinked. "Ants can be cute."
John did not answer.
The egg pulsed again. The seam opened further. A tiny claw pushed out, glossy black.
Fizz gasped so hard his glow flared. "A hand."
John’s voice stayed flat. "A claw."
Fizz corrected himself instantly. "A claw hand."
The claw withdrew, then pushed again with more force. The shell flexed. The seam split wider.
John’s mana layer trembled under the strain. He felt the egg pulling void pressure in like it was breathing. He fed more mana into the stabilizer. His reserves dropped by a noticeable amount. He clenched his jaw.
"Hold." He advised himself.
Fizz hovered, bouncing in place like he wanted to cheer but didn’t want to disturb the moment.
Then he whispered, "Snacks would help."
John ignored him so hard it was a skill.
The egg opened again. Two claws appeared now. Then a small head pushed through.
The creature emerging was ant-shaped, but wrong in a way that made John’s instincts go quiet.
Its body was pitch-black. Not dull black. A black that looked like void depth. Faint specks shimmered along its carapace like tiny stars trapped under glass.
Its eyes were not normal eyes.
They looked like two small holes in the night, as if the void itself had been punctured and left windows.
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