"Welcome… to the home of the Black Steel Gryphon Warden." Jarvis added.
A single enclosure filled up this fourth of the floor. "The skills of this beast are perfect for police action. The [Legend] Skill, [Black Steel Prison Binding] is only dwarfed by the [Myth] skills [Cursed Prison Bindings] and [Tyrannical Reinforcement]."
"Dual Mythical skills?!" Il Ji responded.
"Yep, it's why, even though we've been trying to replicate a female through both breeding and research, this guy has been a standalone research project for over 15 years."
"If only one would magically appear on our doorstep, we could breed them together and have ten, but it just isn't our luck so far."
Il Ji looked through the skill list. "This list of skills is truly impressive. It makes me have to ask: What is the last beast that takes an entire half of the floor?"
Jarvis snickered. "Don't say I didn't warn you. It's a bit graphic. Luckily, Master Santers gave me feeding rights for today only. Hehe. Watch."
He brought Il Ji to an enclosure. It was filled with grass that came up to his knees.
Jarvis held his datapad out in front of him. "Aaaaaand: Food."
An elephant carcass was brought down from the ceiling. In an instant, a swarm of rats tore it apart. Within seconds, it was a skeleton. Then, they immediately de-coalesced and returned to the grass.
"So, where do you think all the rats went?"
"They seem to have disappeared into thin air."
"Here." Jarvis said, handing over the datapad. "Look through this.
As Il Ji held up the datapad, he looked through the grass until he spotted five rats.
"Is that them?"
"Close enough. The one with black stripes on its face is the important one. It is the [Myth] beast, [Heaven Devouring Rat King]. The ones with brown stripes we refer to as the [Heaven Devouring Rat Queens]."
"The [Heaven Devouring Rat King] has the ability to split itself into an entire rat horde. This both increases his survivability and also his form of attack. The duplicate bodies only pass the nutrients back to the original, which uses it to condense his form. As for the excess products he can't use, they are simply passed into the void."
"Other than the duplication ability and their stripes, the females are identical to the Rat King. The difference in sexual genetic structure is an anomaly that, while fairly rare, still causes major issues for us as researchers every now and again."
"Since they don't look perfectly alike, we can't help but to think they're different beasts altogether."
"Makes sense." Il Ji replied. "It's cool to see the results of this lab's research, but I also enjoy seeing the problems you all face as scientists- and their solutions."
"Happy to hear it. …The Queens have actually already given rise to an entire litter of babies each. The males are Rat Kings, while the females take after their mothers. However, since our head of research is planning to take this project to the [Archaic] level, we are raising more we usually would- that way we'll have a stable batch."
"I'm glad to hear you're enjoying the tour. That being said, the [Heaven Devouring Rat King] is the last beast I have to show you. Is there anything else you'd like to do while you're here?"
"Well, since I have an all access pass, I might as well walk around for a bit. If you need to get back to work, I figure I'll be able to get around for a bit based on what you've shown me."
"It's been my pleasure." Jarvis replied. "If you need anything or have any questions, feel free to message me. Here, let me sync my datapad to your phone."
After a short moment, the two synced.
"Thanks, Jarvis. I'll see you around." The two waved, and Jarvis left.
Il Ji went back and watched the gryphon for a bit before heading towards the elevator. Tapping the panel, he selected subfloor 1. It was time to see the researchers at work.
As the doors opened, he saw mostly what he expected. White walls, white lab coats, black chairs and silver desks took over the entire floor. As he walked around, he looked over their shoulders and listened in on the scientists' conversations.
There were about 50 projects on this floor, and they all tied in together. Il Ji quickly realized that everything here was a small part of the whole, but small enough not to matter to him yet. Once he had walked around the entire floor twice, he moved up.
On subfloor 2, it was much of the same. Il Ji made sure to show attention and not annoy the researchers.
The biggest difference on subfloor 2 was a small raised area on the corner of the floor. Once he arrived, he noticed a researcher eating chips at his desk.
He took the moment to ask. "I noticed this area is different from subfloor 1. Might you enlighten me as to the purpose of this raised portion of the floor?"
The man looked back at him. Between mouthfuls, he spoke. "This is the control area for subfloors 1 and 2. We coordinate the research and send it down below to the project teams. If the project teams have any tasks for us, we also assign those to our various colleagues on subfloors 1 and 2."
"That's pretty nifty. Even the greatest of researchers doesn't know everything, right?"
The worker laughed. "Just so, just so."
"Well, have a great rest of the afternoon."
"You too."
Il Ji walked on to the next floor. Taking the elevator down, he made it to subfloor 3. Once he arrived, he found himself once again around enclosures and halls. However, the rooms were a pristine white.
He noticed that the main hall was wider, and that the doors that were adjacent to it were wider as well.
Once he walked around long enough, he stumbled onto an occupied room, and the floor made sense. He was on the training floor.
On this floor, beasts could train and learn new skills. On the inverse, they could also be tested for skills they had already learned.
Il Ji would have stayed all day and watched, but he still needed to hit the other floors.
Taking the elevator once again, he quickly realized that subfloor 4 was the skill research floor.
Spaced apart from subfloors 1 and 2, subfloor 4 dealt strictly in the research of skills, whereas the other two dealt in compiling research from other locations.
As Il Ji looked around, he was amazed. Unfortunately, he didn't find anything he could use- yet- but he did find some nuggets for the future.
Taking the elevator once again, he landed on subfloor 5. He wasn't surprised to find out it was another research floor lined with computers and desks.
This one specifically was the Evolution Research floor. It compiled information from 1 and 2 and the information from the projects themselves to send evolution plans to the researchers above them.
As he looked around, Il Ji began to learn more about evolutionary paths. He took the opportunity to soak up as much information as he could.
Of all the floors in the building, this one had the most profound impact on him. If he could learn everything here- albeit quickly, he could move forward much faster on his chosen path.
This time, he began asking questions of each worker on the floor. Some seemed somewhat annoyed, so he passed through them fairly quickly; some rambled on and on, so he politely excused himself.
But as for those who spoke quickly, concisely, and gave him the information he needed: he thanked them profusely and listened with an attentive ear.