Villain transmigration: The doll maker.-Chapter 104: Entering

"Let the undead lead the way. Observe what’s inside."

Jeneviv nodded and summoned the dead barbarians. They slowly straightened and walked staggeringly into the castle.

Jeneviv closed her eyes and a small spell revolved before her.

We all turned to look at her while she observed through the corpses as we waited for her response. A few moments later she opened her eyes and nodded.

"There is nothing threatening inside, it’s just a normal castle but there is something off about it," she stopped as her face scruched up as though she was thinking about something difficult, " there is something in the main bedroom. "

Her face became hesitant as if trying to come up with a plausible explanation. She bit her lip in concentration.

"Stop dallying Jen just out with it."

Kianah said and patted Jeneviv on her back.

"It’s shaped like an egg but it’s not normal, I’m not really sure what it is."

She said hesitantly. I nodded.

"Let’s go in."

Her information was too little and vague. I walked through the door while circulating my mana ready for any fight.

We were welcomed into a pristine hallway filled with blurry drawings that resembled a large ball of exploding fire.

The paintings were painted so differently that despite all of them being the same drawings.

It felt as if I was watching some form of different fire family. That wouldn’t come as a shock to me with all the magma flowing outside.

Whatever had left this pocket world mainly practiced fire magic.

I hadn’t even noticed as we walked in but the air in the house was cooler than outside. An added relief.

"This place is bigger than I had imagined."

Kianah said breaking the comfortable silence. The hallway opened into a large sitting area which was still as pristine and looked unlived in but it had remained surprisingly clean.

I hadn’t come across any servants but the numerous cleaning spells around the house confirmed it.

"Where is the egg?"

I asked Jeneviv. She pointed at the stairs. One of her undead was quietly standing there waiting for us.

The egg, that Jeneviv had mentioned might just be the key to this place.

With how hot this place was, there was one thing that was going through my mind.

Incubation.

This place might just be an incubation centre and the only thing I could think of was a dragon.

The sacrifices and the hidden valley spell might have been preplanned by someone or we had just accidentally entered.

What made my suspicion more concrete was the beast tide.

This egg that just seemed to be incubating might be a dragon’s child.

The thought of it made me greedy. Dragons were fiercely protective of their children and always raised them until adulthood just like humans.

I wasn’t suicidal enough to take a child from its mother, that would be a death wish.

It wasn’t like there were any dragons on the continent anymore. Most of the people would have tried to kill one if it ever appeared.

"Its the third door down."

Jeneviv pointed at a black door. It was different from the others which were plain wooden brown.

I stopped at the door and activated my magic.

’Detection’

I pushed my mana inside but I couldn’t perceive anything. It was as if something was blocking me.

It seems I didn’t have a choice but to enter.

I pushed open the door and stepped inside. What was revealed was another abnormally large room with only one piece of furniture in the middle of the room. 𝑓𝑟ℯ𝘦𝓌𝘦𝘣𝑛𝑜𝓋𝑒𝓁.𝑐ℴ𝓂

A bed.

But that wasn’t the most outstanding part of the room.

"Look, it’s the magma it’s flowing under the bed."

Seraph said and squatted down.

The floors of the room were transparent and the magma rivers were all flowing towards the bed.

Whoever had built the room clearly needed to observe the magma rivers below.

What was even more fascinating was what was on the bed.

An egg.

A red egg with orange web-like veins.

A large one at that. It could reach my waist in height. Whatever was inside was bigger than a five-year-old child.

"What in the world!"

Nixie swore as she studied the room then the egg. I wondered who the egg’s parent was to put so much care into its incubation.

"Don’t step forward, my senses are being bounced off by the egg."

I said consciously. While the counterattack had been curious at best it was better to be cautious.

"The egg, it’s absorbing the flames."

Jeneviv said the obvious thing but no one said anything. I had expected Kianah to shoot back.

"Send one of the undead to touch the body."

I commanded. Jeneviv nodded and sent Baros’ body to the egg.

Baros had been a little bit strong so her choice was correct.

The dead reached the bed and paused befor tying to touch the egg.

"There is a pressure preventing contact, I think whatever is in the egg isn’t aggressive but it doesn’t want to be touched."

Jeneviv said. I could see the orange aura surrounding the egg. It looked like burning flames.

" I’ll go."

Greater power came with greater risk. It was a wide know fact that hatchlings took the first person they saw as their parent and whatever was inside that egg was already sentient.

This was a gamble I was willing to take. If I could manage to form a soul contract, that would be even better.

Sentient beasts can form a contract with other species as long as they come to a common agreement.

This was a beneficial thing for both parties since it led to a massive power boost if both of them are strong.

"Be careful!"

Seraph said behind me. I nodded. I took out the two orange gems I had gotten from the statue and held each in both hands.

I wasn’t really sure about their use but it wouldn’t hurt to try. Something in my mind was saying it would be useful somehow in the long run.

"If something happens to me, use mothers token."

I seriously said to Luna. While the other situations we had gone through might have turned out dangerous or fatal, they had not caused my heart to skip.

I had been very confident I would come out on top, but this, this was very different.

There was a mixture of excitement and an underlying uncertainty as I approached.

"Lucian, we can find another way to leave."

I stopped and turned my attention back to Seraph.

"How? This is a completely independent world that none of us know the basics and mechanisms of. Pray tell, how are we supposed to get out?"

I said harshly. Seraph flinched. I wanted to comfort her as her face fell but I couldn’t. She had to accept that this was the only way before she went ahead and did something stupid.

"We could...uhm.. "

She tried but couldn’t come up with something concrete. She squatted down and covered her face avoiding everyone’s gaze.

"You know that’s useless right?"

I said softly. Seraph nodded.

"I’m worried thats all. You’ve never acted this seriously before, it scares us. You seem to be predicting your doom before it even comes to you."

She whispered to herself but I still heard it.

"Don’t worry, I love myself too much to accept death. Death is what scares me the most, why would I throw myself into it?"

I reassured her and turned to look at the glowing egg.

I wasn’t sure if it was my imagination or not but the egg seemed to be glowing brighter.

I had no way to compare my findings.

My steps took me to the edge of the bed where the egg lay peacefully. I could feel the power radiating from it in a regular rhythm as though it were a heartbeat.

I swallowed and internally prayed to myself before touching the egg.

The reaction was immediate.

The two gems I had been holding suddenly slipped out of my light grip and floated into the air above the egg.

The aura around the egg extended up and wrapped around the gems.

I pulled my hand back the moment I felt my mana start to get absorbed.

"Is something wrong?"

Luna asked and stepped forward. I shook my head preventing her from stepping forward.

"It’s just absorbing my mana, nothing much."

I answered carelessly and placed both hands behind my back, my gaze on the two floating gems.

The two gems suddenly melted in mid-air and dripped down onto the egg which subsequently absorbed them.

I waited for the fascinating process to end then placed my hand again on the egg and started to push my mana inside in a regulated potion.

The egg absorbed it as though it were starved. I smiled. Getting whatever was inside to get used to my mana increased my chances rather than waiting for it to hatch on its own.

This was a form of pseudo-contractual stage.

Despite the fairly easy approach, I still couldn’t let my guard down on something that seemed ancient.