A Zoologist’s Guide to Surviving Magical Creatures

The room plunged into silence so thick you could slice it with a dagger. My jaw hung open like a fish gasping for air.

Viracocha leaned back in his chair, crossing his arms as he studied me with an unnerving intensity, like he was examining a particularly strange specimen under a microscope.

Kaleon's son? Me? Shut up!

That had to be the biggest joke of the century—or of whatever eons these gods were measuring time by.

Agnos coughed awkwardly, his usual smugness replaced by something resembling unease. Jiuge's eyes darted between me and Viracocha, her hands gripping the edges of her chair like it might float away.

Then Viracocha hesitated, his expression tightening as if he were grappling with the weight of what he was about to say. Finally, he exhaled deeply and spoke, his tone heavy with reverence and caution.

"It's not entirely impossible, you know," he murmured. "Kaleon was known for his eccentric ways..."

"Whoa, hold on!" I finally found my voice, my hands shooting up defensively. "Let's backtrack a bit here. First of all, I don't even know who Kaleon is, aside from the fact that he's some big-shot creator god you all won't shut up about."

"Second, offspring? Look at me! I'm just a regular guy! I graduated from a regular college with a regular degree in zoology. I'm a powerless mortal! I'm not some mythical chosen one!"

"Carl," Jiuge said gently, her tone more serious than I'd ever heard it. "The fact that you've survived absorbing a core fragment—let alone revealed its memories—is not something 'regular guys' can do."

I turned to Agnos, practically begging him with my eyes to refute her. "Agnos? Help me out here, buddy?"

Agnos squirmed in his seat again, scratching the back of his neck. "Technically, she's right. You're a statistical anomaly. But hey, anomalies happen all the time in nature, right? Like... uh... albino alligators. Rare, but not unheard of."

"That's not helping!" I groaned, slumping in my seat.

"And about Hestia," Jiuge continued, her brow furrowed, "She can't be pregnant. Gods don't reproduce the way mortals do—it requires immense energy, and we would've sensed it. There's no way…"

"Unless," Viracocha interjected, his opal eyes narrowing, "Kaleon planted his essence in a mortal bloodline before he disappeared."

"Planted his essence?" I asked, horrified. "What does that even mean? Am I some kind of cosmic chia pet now?"

Jiuge stifled a laugh, but Viracocha remained stone-faced. "It means you might carry a fragment of his divinity in your bloodline, passed down through generations."

I slumped further into my seat, my brain struggling to process this cosmic soap opera I'd apparently been cast in. "So you're saying I could be... what? Some long-lost heir to a creator god? Does that come with a certificate or something?"

Agnos smirked faintly. "I wouldn't start printing business cards just yet, but yeah, that's the gist of it."

"Okay, but why me?" I asked, throwing my hands up. "Why not some heroic warrior or a brilliant scholar? I'm just a guy trying to save mythical animals and not get eaten in the process!"

"That's exactly why it's you," Viracocha said quietly. "Kaleon was first a creator, not just a destroyer. His essence would seek someone who values life in all its forms."

I blinked, momentarily speechless. That was... oddly profound.

Jiuge, however, looked like she was about to burst from frustration. "But it still doesn't explain why now. If Carl really is connected to Kaleon, why hasn't this manifested before?"

"Maybe because the fragments he absorbed acted as a catalyst," Viracocha replied, his tone thoughtful. "The fragments were meant for Kaleon. It recognized Carl as the next closest match."

The room fell silent again, the weight of their words pressing down on me like a boulder. My life had gone from zoology grad to mythical babysitter to potential descendant of a god. What was next? Finding out I was secretly the owner of Atlantis?

"Great," I muttered. "So what am I supposed to do with this revelation? Start wearing a crown and smiting people?"

Viracocha's lips twitched into a faint smile. "Not quite. But if you are tied to Kaleon, it changes everything. You might be the key to restoring balance—not just in Mythica, but probably in the realms beyond."

"Balance?" I muttered, rubbing my temples. "Can I at least get a coffee first?"

Jiuge laughed softly, and even Agnos managed a grin. But beneath their humor, I could see the tension in their eyes. Whatever this revelation meant, it was clear that things were about to get a lot more complicated.

And frankly, I wasn't sure I was ready for it.

********

"Why do you need to restore balance in Mythica?" I asked, frowning. "Isn't it fine now? The leylines are still there, and so is the core."

Viracocha sighed deeply, his shoulders slumping under an unseen weight. "To tell you the truth, ever since Kaleon chose eternal slumber, the leylines have become unstable. We used to have nine leylines, each controlled by one of the nine Unknown Gods."

The mention of nine leylines drew grim expressions from Agnos and Jiuge.

"If the Ancient Realm War hadn't happened, things would be different," Viracocha added, his tone heavy with regret.

"It's not the creator's fault!" Agnos snapped defensively, his golden eyes glowing with barely contained anger.

"I'm not blaming Kaleon," Viracocha replied, shaking his head, his sorrowful voice cutting through the tension. "I'm just saying he shouldn't stay in eternal slumber. He has the means to fix the leylines and restore the destroyed realm. He's one of the gods of creation, after all. And the most powerful one at that."

Something didn't sit right with me. I raised my hands to interrupt. "Wait, I feel like we're missing something here. Why did he put himself to sleep in the first place? I mean, Hestia—his wife—was still alive. Couldn't he have just… moved on?"

"That's what puzzled us all—the council," Viracocha admitted, his brows knitting together. "He left us instructions to manage Mythica. Everything was meticulously arranged by him."

Agnos scoffed, crossing his arms. "You weren't even by his side during the war. What right do you have to question his decision to enter eternal slumber?"