We Lease The Kraken! - A LitRPG Pet Shop System Story.

Mero's grin stretched wider, sharp and knowing.

"Couldn't tell ya if I'm honest," he said with an easy shrug.

Jeremiah's expression flattened. He folded his arms, frowning. "Mero, I thought I asked you not to play these games."

Mero held up his hands, chuckling. "Cool ya jets, kid. I ain't twistin' words here, I'm bein' straight with ya."

Jeremiah arched a skeptical brow.

"Look, ya gotta remember," Mero went on, his wings buzzing lightly as he leaned forward. "The System is the first of its kind. Even we're still figurin' out what Wyrdtech can do. If ya ask me, not even Sarah really knew."

Jeremiah's frown deepened. "How do you create something if you don't even know how it works?"

Mero's grin turned almost mischievous. "That's the genius of what yer sister built, Jerry-boy. We call it Wyrd Technology, sure… but it ain't like anythin' that's come before."

He leapt from Billy's ledge, his dragonfly-like wings buzzing as he drifted down to perch cross-legged on the coffee table, facing Jeremiah. His golden eyes gleamed with amusement.

"It's not a perfect analogy," he admitted, "but think of it like this," Mero continued, tapping the table for emphasis. "Sarah didn't just build a tool, or a device. She planted a seed. And until that seed sprouts, there's no telling what it'll grow into."

He pointed toward Jeremiah's chest, where the amulet was fused into his sternum. Its presence had long since become familiar, yet at that moment, it felt heavier.

"Yer sprout — yer 'iteration' — the [Mystical Menagerie]? That's crystallized potential," Mero said, voice laced with something between reverence and mischief. "The System will take that potential and shapes it over time. How? Into what?" He shrugged.

Jeremiah exhaled sharply. "So what you're telling me is, I'm driving blind."

Mero chuckled, wings flicking in amusement. "That's what it means to be a pioneer, kid. Excitin', ain't it?" He didn't wait for a response. "But to answer yer question — Nah, not entirely."

He flicked his fingers, and several translucent screens blinked into existence before Jeremiah's eyes. The now-familiar glow of System interfaces washed over him, the arcane symbols and shifting text hovering just within reach.

"Given its Wyrd nature, what the System might become is anyone's guess," Mero explained. "But Law — it's ordered half — gives us one critical advantage." His smirk deepened. "We can ask."

Jeremiah blinked. "Ask? Wait… are you saying the System is actually alive?"

Mero snorted, shaking his head. "Nah, kid — not like yer thinkin', at least. We made damn sure of that." He snapped, summoning another screen. This one was packed with scrolling data, cryptic charts, and shifting geometric shapes that made Jeremiah's eyes ache just looking at them.

"We don't need somethin' like that running around." Mero explained. "When I say 'ask,' think of it more like runnin' diagnostics on a computer. The System is constantly analyzin' itself, figurin' out what it can do — just like it took Billy's rough magic, analyzed it, refined it, and transformed it into somethin' quantifiable," Mero said. "It's learnin' right alongside ya."

"So if ya wanna know what the System can do for ya in the long run…" He leaned back with an infuriating smirk. "All I can tell you is… we don't know yet. That's something you gotta figure out for yourself."

Jeremiah exhaled through his nose, dragging a hand down his face. "Then what about the 'now'? If we go with your computer analogy, how do I search for a program I don't even know exists? Sure, I could dig through 'files' at random, but I don't have that kind of time."

Mero chuckled. "Same way you did yesterday."

Jeremiah's hand lowered, eyes narrowing. "What are you—" Then it hit him. His breath caught, his spine straightened, and his eyes widened.

Mero's grin stretched from ear to ear. He raised a hand, and a new window appeared.

——————✴——————

Tutorial Menu

1: Menu Tutorial [Complete]

2: Menagerie Tutorial [In Progress]

3: Beast Bond Tutorial [Start]

4: Skill Tutorial [Locked]

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This story is posted elsewhere by the author. Help them out by reading the authentic version.

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——————✴——————

Jeremiah studied the menu, his brows knitting together. His eyes lingered on the rows of question marks before he let out a slow breath.

"Is that it?" he asked, unimpressed.

Mero buzzed through the air and landed lightly on Jeremiah's shoulder. "'Fraid so, kid. Ya gotta learn to crawl before ya can sprint."

Jeremiah exhaled, shoulders sagging. He hadn't expected an instant solution, but some kind of shortcut wouldn't have hurt. Cracking his neck, he refocused on the screen. Not that there was much to consider. The Menu Tutorial was already marked complete, and the Menagerie Tutorial was in progress, leaving only two other available options. Everything else remained locked behind cryptic placeholders.

His gaze snapped to the Skill Tutorial. If Tempered by the Waves had been any indication, skills were what he needed most. But when he reached for it, the button remained greyed out, LOCKED emblazoned beside it.

Still, he tapped it, just in case.

A smaller window flickered into view.

——————✴——————

Skill Tutorial is currently locked.

Please complete the Beast Bond Tutorial before continuing.

——————✴——————

Jeremiah frowned. "Well, that answers that."

Mero chuckled. "Nice try, kid."

Jeremiah rolled his eyes and shifted his attention to the Beast Bond Tutorial. He vaguely recalled it from the first tutorial, though it had barely been mentioned.

Taking a steadying breath, he reached for the button—

"Wait," Mero interrupted.

Jeremiah froze, eyeing the fairy guide warily.

"Just a warning," Mero said, his usual mischief absent. His expression was strangely serious. "Jumpin' ahead like this might have some… unintended consequences."

Jeremiah narrowed his eyes. "Like what?"

Mero shrugged, his smirk returning, though it didn't quite reach his eyes. "Hard to say. The System was built to mostly hard counter anythin' that'd really screw ya over. Even if ya messed up horribly and failed the current Menagerie mission, desynchronization isn't likely to kill you…" softer, he said coughing into his hand, "we think…" before switching back to his cheery tone "But…" He spread his hands. "We're all still learnin' here."

Jeremiah hesitated, his finger hovering over the selection. He didn't like the sound of that. Yet...

"…Not like I have much of a choice," he muttered, pressing the button.

Mero's voice was quieter this time. "We always have a choice, kid."

Jeremiah turned to reply — but before the words could leave his mouth, the floor vanished beneath him.

His stomach lurched as gravity betrayed him, his body plunging backward into darkness. His last glimpse of the world above was Mero, hovering at the edge of the glowing void, watching him fall.

"Good luck, Jerry," Mero murmured, voice heavy with something Jeremiah couldn't quite place. "For what it's worth… I'm sorry for this."

Then the void swallowed him whole.

——————————————————

Jeremiah had no idea how long he had been falling.

Part of him counted every second with agonizing clarity, watching as the hole he'd fallen through shrank to a distant pinprick. Another part barely remembered anything beyond the sensation of tumbling through endless nothingness. Had he ever known anything else? Had there ever been anything else?

Time and distance blurred into something paradoxical — both abstract, mere illusions conjured by whatever still clung to the name Jeremiah, and tangible forces so real he could feel space-time sliding over his skin like water. Whenever he had skin to feel.

Sometimes, they were both at once. Sometimes, neither.

The void stretched, coiled, unraveled.

And just when he feared it would never end… it did.

Between one breath and the next, he was again.

A rift yawned open in the void, and Jeremiah tumbled through. The shift from nothingness to sensation was so abrupt that his mind reeled, struggling to keep up. One moment, there was only the void; the next, bright blue skies, the rush of wind, gravity.

And then —,

THUMP!

He hit the ground hard, belly-flopping onto a soft mat of grass. The impact drove the breath from his lungs, leaving him gasping.

Distantly, he realized the grass smelled sweet, the sun was warm against his back, and — most importantly — he was somewhere.

Jeremiah rolled onto his back, eyes locking onto the sky above. His breath still came in ragged gulps, cold sweat prickling his skin. Damp blades of grass curled between his fingers, the moisture seeping into his palms, tethering him to the present.

Above him, the hole in reality shrank with each pounding beat of his heart. Smaller and smaller it became, folding into itself until it vanished entirely.

Yet… Jeremiah knew it wasn't truly closed.

That it wouldn't ever really close.

It had merely collapsed inward, shrinking forever, spiraling toward some infinitesimal point that would never quite disappear. That understanding flickered through his mind, vast and impossible to hold onto — like a dream dissolving in the morning light, like a drawing in the sand claimed by the tide.

And then, there was only Jeremiah.

When his heart finally steadied, he drew in a deep breath, braced himself. He then pushed up onto unsteady legs, his body still adjusting, still remembering what it meant to have limbs again.

Moments ago — or had it been a lifetime? — Jeremiah had been sitting on his worn-out couch, the sunset casting long shadows over a sea of concrete and steel. Now, he stood in a sunlit forest clearing, golden light filtering through a sky so blue it almost hurt to look at.

His breath hitched.

"What the hell…" he muttered, brow furrowing as he planted his feet more firmly beneath him. He swallowed hard, then cupped his hands around his mouth.

"MERO!" His voice rang through the clearing. "Where did you send me, you tiny bastard? Get out here!"

A voice answered.

"Jeremiah! Welcome," a soft, familiar voice — not Mero's gravely drawl — called from behind him, light with amusement. "To the Testing Grounds."

."

His heart lurched.

He whirled around, nearly stumbling.

And froze.

The blood drained from his face as the world tilted. His breath caught somewhere between his lungs and his throat.

There, standing at the edge of the clearing, was a woman.

She wasn't particularly short — 5'9", maybe — but the oversized sweater, baggy cargo pants, and long white lab coat swallowed her frame, making her seem smaller than she was. Her dark brown hair was pulled into a messy bun, strands forever slipping free as if she'd put it up in a hurry and forgotten about it.

The dark circles under her eyes never seemed to fade, no matter what new product she tried, but the bright smile stretching across her face told of boundless energy.

And her eyes — their eyes — were the same as he remembered. That vibrant, almost luminescent green, a gift they had both inherited from their mother. They sparkled with something wild, something teasing, like barely contained mischief.

Jeremiah took a shaky step forward.

Then another.

His heart pounded, so loud it drowned out the world.

A trembling hand reached out, fingers curling slightly, as if afraid to touch something that wasn't real.

A single tear traced a slow path down his cheek. His lips parted, but his voice faltered, cracking on a name that felt too fragile, too impossible to speak.

And yet, the word slipped free, barely more than a breath.

"…Sarah?"