Taming Bastet Daong and Building the Oasis Shelter
After all the shelter exploration teams returned, I gifted Bastet Daong—who had come with Squad 4—some food as thanks for her help in the desert. Fresh fish Ha Yu-mi bought from the fish market. Fish from the Lumina world that Rise sent. And even churu from Mysticism.
Luckily, all the gifts suited Bastet Daong's tastes perfectly.
It was the moment when Bastet Daong's favor toward us skyrocketed.
While Bastet was inhaling fish and churu like crazy, I pressed one severed arm against her red spot and tied it securely with thread.
No matter how friendly she seemed, taming an SS-grade still took quite a bit of time.
For reference, Snake Head and Mummy Skeleton were already tamed.
Pharaoh Devil and Anubis Dragon—their red spots got severed arms too. These guys would take way longer than Bastet Daong.
I turned my gaze from them back to Bastet Daong.
"Yaong-a."
"Stay here tonight. I'll hook you up with food tomorrow too."
Securing Bastet here was a success. Good thing she's surprisingly simple.
I gazed at her fondly, then asked something I'd been personally curious about.
"By the way, yaong-a."
"Right, daong-a."
"Can you tell me what your connection to Solorb is?"
"Friend? How'd you become friends?"
"What do you mean 'from Solorb'?"
Slurp slurp. As Bastet sucked the churu down to its soul, she began explaining in more detail.
To cut to the chase.
Bastet wasn't a newly born entity or one that had recently evolved. According to her, she'd existed for quite a while—nearly 5,000 years old.
'She said she came to this world recently...'
She wasn't even a monster born and raised in the Ancient Labyrinth.
Bastet's homeland was Solorb. More precisely, an independent world existing inside Solorb.
In other words, Solorb was a monster containing an entire world, and Bastet had lived there before coming here.
The reason Solorb helped Bastet was simply because she hailed from the world it harbored—like its own child, in a way.
My brain couldn't keep up with this story. Shwa.
Anyway. Bottom line: Bastet was a monster from another world. Yet she had a red spot and could be tamed, so... since Solorb was a labyrinth monster, monsters from the world inside it were recognized as Ancient Labyrinth monsters too.
The world inside Solorb was another world, but also a sub-world nested within—part of the labyrinth.
"Daong-a. So why'd you come to this world?"
A perfectly understandable reason. After 5,000 years in one world, anyone would get sick of it.
"Representative?"
Seems like only one monster—Bastet—emerged from the desert Solorb.
"What does the rep do? Go back to Solorb later and share stories from outside?"
Hearing more details: Bastet's current view was being broadcast on a screen floating in Solorb's world sky.
"How many are watching?"
"......100 million?"
"What makes it so crowded? Knowing random masses are watching me right now feels kinda burdensome all of a sudden..."
"Are there humans there... no, races that look like me?"
A world of cats... Not house cats, but mostly monsters. Probably some on Bastet's level too. Less a dreamland of cute kitties, more a death world prowled by vicious monster cats.
"More importantly, daong-a. Solorb's watching me right now too, right?"
My eyes went to the severed arm fixed to Bastet's body. Was taming her okay? If Solorb got pissed, that'd be trouble.
As I thought that, Bastet brought it up first.
"Huh? How'd you know?"
Unlike the oblivious Bastet, Solorb was pretty sharp.
"Sorry. I'll take it off."
Caught red-handed, I apologized. Turning Solorb hostile now would be dangerous. No need to risk pissing it off—I hurried to retrieve the arm, but then...
Bastet pulled away with a swish. Fortunately, neither Solorb nor Bastet seemed upset.
What about Solorb itself then?
......Close call.
A day passed, the next day.
Pharaoh Devil and Anubis Dragon were still in the midst of taming. They had history of being dominated, but no issues with taming. Unlike monsters tamed by a Helper before, dominated ones still showed red spots and could be tamed—like Melody Fox.
I left a few monsters to guard Para and Anu at the shelter, then took the rest straight into the desert.
And I tamed the Giant Caterpillar waiting at the entrance. Like Medical Mushroom or Melody Fox, it tamed in seconds.
No exploration today. Today was for building a shelter in this desert.
Me and my monsters rode the caterpillar's back, scouring the sands for a good spot.
Anywhere decent...?
"Oh."
Found one. A spring with grass and trees. An oasis.
I parked the caterpillar near the oasis and pulled out a signpost. Support item from Rise.
Kang Geon's Shelter #1
Installed the fairly large signpost. Then pulled a small orb from my pocket. Another support item from Rise.
"Slam it hard on the ground, right?"
I hurled the orb with all my might. Boom—energy burst out, and a crystal orb house popped up instantly.
If something like this existed, why not send it last time...? Nah, didn't think that. This orb was crazy expensive. Platinum-grade max fees too.
Anyway. The crystal orb house I just set up was lodging for visiting monsters overnight and residence for the shelter manager.
Too bad sub-manager Caterpillar was too huge to use it.
'Manager... no, shelter chief. Pick one from Para or Anu.'
I stationed one Iris too, for constant shelter comms. The new #6 Iris tamed yesterday with help from the others.
Also placed minor supplies around the crystal house. Wooden table. Wooden chairs. Parasols. All Rise support items.
"Hm."
With house and items set up at the oasis, it looked like a proper shelter. Slowly panning my head to survey it, I realized something was missing.
"Oh yeah, no barricade."
Forgot the most important part. No defensive wall against outside monsters.
Honestly, doubtful a mere barricade would stop labyrinth monsters, but... better than nothing. It'd buy a few moments if they invaded.
Plus, a barricade clearly marked this as someone's turf.
"Gotta ask Rise for a barricade later."
I muttered, stroking my chin—then.
"No need to worry."
A massive voice boomed from the sky.
"I'll protect that shelter myself."
......Oh, right. Solorb had been spying on me the whole time?
I'd momentarily forgotten Bastet meant Solorb and hordes of cats were watching me.
Maybe because the broadcast was off. No allies, so figured no one was watching.
Anyway, no reason to refuse an SSS-grade monster offering shelter protection.
"Uh... yeah, thanks..."
"Huhu."
Scored top-tier barricade on accident.
"......But didn't you just descend a bit? It's too hot—could you go back up?"
"Huhu..."
Solorb ascended back high in the sky. Surprisingly obedient.