A Zoologist’s Guide to Surviving Magical Creatures

I didn't know why, but every instinct in me screamed to back away. My body moved before my mind could catch up, putting distance between myself and the man who was supposed to be my father.

But could I still call him that?

A cold knot of fear coiled in my stomach.

Because the next thing I knew, my father pulled out something—a dark crystal orb, swirling with an eerie, shifting mist inside. The Soulless Orb.

My breath hitched.

I recognized it instantly.

A powerful artifact tied to spirit and soul, capable of stripping beings of their essence. I'd seen it before—Agnos had once used it to drain Huur, one of the Guardians, of his powers.

Why the hell did my father have one?

Theos. Zealots. There's a connection. I could feel it—an itch at the back of my mind, just out of reach. But what?

Then it hit me—Theos of Agnos!

A horrific realization slammed into me like a tidal wave. Don't tell me Agnos… was he the traitor of the Unknown God?

Agnos, the eccentric tea addict? The same guy who always seemed too unfazed to care about anything? I thought back to our travels, his exasperating banter, the way he always brushed off danger with a nonchalant wave.

But… he had protected me.

Every. Single. Time.

Even when he acted like he didn't care, he was always there.

That couldn't be a lie.

No. No, that couldn't—

A sudden shift in the air snapped me back. Danger.

Before I could fully process what was happening, Naga was gone from his seat. A blur of movement—then, in the blink of an eye, he was standing in front of me, fast enough that it might as well have been teleportation.

Shielding me.

From my own father.

The Soulless Orb pulsed in my father's grip, its dark surface swirling with an ominous energy.

"Dad?" My voice came out hoarse, unsteady. "Why are you doing this?" I was grasping at anything—any scrap of reason that could make sense of this. Is blood not thicker than water?

But my father's expression remained indifferent. Cold.

"Don't tell me…" My throat tightened. "You're one of the Theos of Agnos? The cult that worships him? The one that wants to weaponize his powers?"

My father scoffed. "Carl, you're only useful to me at this moment." He barely spared me a glance before his gaze slid to Naga.

"Dragon, don't interfere. We have no quarrel with the Unknown Gods. We only need the essence inside him."

Essence?

Naga's long hair whipped behind him as he shifted into a stance poised for battle—fluid, lethal. His lean muscles coiled like a predator ready to strike.

"Carl, stay behind me." His voice was steady, but beneath it lurked a low, dangerous growl, like a storm waiting to break.

My father smiled. A slow, wicked thing.

"It's useless, dragon. This orb has been modified to work on the Unknown Gods whose powers have weakened."

"Oh? What makes you think my powers have weakened?" Naga smirked.

My dad's face grim. His grip on the orb tightened. "Now, Carl—be a good boy and let it absorb the essence inside you."

What?

The moment my dad unleashed the orb's power, an intricate symbol flared to life, flooding the room with an ominous glow. A crushing force slammed into me—I felt both weightless and unbearably heavy, as if my very essence was being pulled apart.

My vision blurred. My limbs turned sluggish. The world tilted.

I was on the brink of unconsciousness when—

"Not on my watch, you don't." Naga's voice cut through the haze, sharp and furious.

A surge of power erupted from him, his aura crackling like a wildfire. The oppressive force gripping me shuddered—then, as suddenly as it came, it vanished.

My father's smirk vanished, replaced by a look of shock. "H-How?"

A sharp chill crawled up my spine. "Why? Why are you doing this?" My voice cracked despite myself. "Is it because of Agnos?"

"Agnos?" My father laughed. A low, mocking sound. "That powerless god? He's been locked away for ages. No, we're not doing this for Agnos."

Oh.

Oh, thank the gods.

For a second, I had been on the verge of a full-blown existential crisis. But if Agnos really was the traitor, I would have needed to rethink everything. Question everything.

But this?

This meant that the Theos were just clueless zealots still clinging to outdated beliefs.

And then—a thought hit me.

Wait.

My father… didn't know that Agnos was already free.

That his powers had been restored.

A stunned silence filled the room as I processed this revelation.

They were that behind on information? Did none of them check the news? They could have at least downloaded Mythigram. I had so many posts with Agnos in them!

Somewhere in the back of my mind, I had the overwhelming urge to slap my forehead. Maybe even give my dad a deadpan stare. But unfortunately, logic (and my survival instincts) told me this was not the time for sarcasm.

Because right now, my father had every intention of taking over my very soul (and Kaleon's essence too).

"Dad, you're not thinking straight. Let's just put the orb away and talk, okay?" I said carefully, trying to ease the tension.

My father scoffed. "Don't patronize me like I'm one of your little magical creatures, Carl. I'm not as gullible as you."

Excuse me? I'm gullible?

Oh, if he only knew how many magical creatures I've tamed with this so-called gullible face, he'd be eating those words.

Then, as if the situation wasn't bad enough, he reached into his satchel and pulled out another item.

How many artifacts did he pack in there? Was he running a black-market shop out of that bag? For someone so out of the loop, he sure came disturbingly prepared.

What he pulled out made my blood run cold.

A gun?!

My own father—was he actually trying to kill me? Am I not his son? Does patricide just run in the family now?!

Instinctively, I raised my hands in surrender, completely forgetting that Naga was a literal Iron Dragon who could tank an explosion without breaking a sweat.

That was when Naga finally snapped. His usual smug restraint cracked, and his voice dropped into something dangerously low.

"Carl, what I'm about to do might hurt your feelings a little. But trust me—this man is not your family. We are."

Before I could even react, Naga blurred into motion.

In a flash, he flicked the soulless orb from my father's grip like it was nothing. In the same breath, he grabbed the gun and effortlessly bent the nozzle like it was made of soft clay. Then, without hesitation, he delivered a clean strike to my father's head, knocking him out cold.

And as if that wasn't enough—he kicked him.

In the gut. Three times.

With force.

Like he was working out some deeply personal frustrations.

"Ahhh, that felt good." Naga exhaled in satisfaction, rolling his shoulders like he'd just finished a light workout. "I was itching to do that the second he opened his mouth."

Then he turned to me, grinning ear to ear.

"Problem solved! Now, let's lock this guy up, shall we?"

I stared at my father's unconscious body. At Naga, still flexing his shoulders like this was just another Tuesday. At the Soulless Orb, now rolling uselessly across the floor.

For once in my life, I had absolutely nothing to say.

I should've been relieved. But something told me this wasn't over. Not by a long shot.