This Beast-Tamer is a Little Strange

He first began with throwing a pinch of salt, taken from the seasoning rack in his space ring, over his shoulder. Then he lit 4 candles in each cardinal direction of the room.

Then he meticulously washed his body to scrub off any bad luck. He knocked on his wooden bedpost 3 times, and finally placed a dried four-leaf clover he\'d found at the orphanage years ago on his chest before lying down and re-entering the Laboratory.

"Okay! I\'m ready!"

He pressed the button to spin the wheel while crossing his fingers for good measure.

Kain watched the wheel spin around and around with anticipation until it finally stopped upon a silver section.

"Yes!" Kain screamed while pumping his fist after seeing it land on one of the only four silver sections.

From this day forward, Kain also unintentionally developed a more superstitious attitude and would even spend a great deal of time and money collecting items and spiritual creatures related to improving luck.

Suddenly, in a previously empty corner of the room appeared a new set of laboratory equipment.

It has a sleek, cylindrical base constructed from polished, dark metal with many finely calibrated dials and glowing sigils embedded into its surface.

Atop the base is a transparent, dome-shaped chamber made of high-quality glass, within which a large, translucent sphere that radiated shifting, multicoloured lights resembling the aurora borealis, was floating high above.

The rest of the machine included several adjustable mechanical arms, each equipped with sharp tips and needles, that extended into the glass chamber.

At the base of each arm was a network of intricate, gleaming tubes and carved with sigils that pulsed with faint spiritual power.

Finally, similar to the Simulator next to the machine was a large screen, where Kain assumed he could control the lab equipment or receive information.

"So what does this thing do?"

*This is a Genetic Reconstructor. It allows for the targeted manipulation of genes to cause a mutation without undergoing evolution or changing its species*

*However, please note that genetic material cannot appear out of nowhere. The Host must work hard to collect a large genetic library to make the full use of this equipment.*

Kain tried to think about what the implications of this piece of machinery would be.

Using this machinery, Kain could mass produce mutants.

Spiritual creatures with mutations may have beneficial mutations, like a stronger than average body for its species. Or it may just be a cosmetic mutation, like a different hair or eye colour. However, they could also be disadvantageous mutations, like the mutant Protean that could not upgrade to a higher-level and eventually became Kain\'s armor.

However, although not as profound a change as actually undergoing an evolution, changing the genes of a spiritual creature could have a profound impact on its evolution.

For example, the evolution of a Frostreave is determined by its fur colour, with blue fur being the most common, and black and white fur being much less common. With this piece of machinery, Kain could in theory mass produce the uncommon black and white Frostreaves able to evolve into Gloomfrosts and Glacierflares, respectively.

However, the note about a genetic library put a damper on his plans. He couldn\'t just let his imagination run wild and begin manipulating genes as he wished, all genes he wished to transfer to another spiritual creature must first be found and extracted from a spiritual creature that already exists.

Kain decided to put off testing this piece of equipment for now, he had a bronze lab equipment he could still exchange for. Who knows, maybe there will be something that compliments the Genetic Reconstructor\'s abilities.

After activating the voucher, descriptions of laboratory equipment didn\'t appear in front of him as he\'d expected. Instead, Kain was transported to a dark room that had dozens of pieces of lab equipment under a spotlight.

*Welcome to the Interstellar Lab Emporium, where the collective scientific wisdom of a myriad of galaxies is available for exchange here*

*Currently being shown to you are what would be considered Bronze level lab equipment.*

Kain walked to the nearest piece of lab equipment for exchange. It appeared like a normal flask, but the descriptions said otherwise.

"Essence Distillation Flask. A common specialty of the X Nation on planet X. The flask is designed to distill and purify magical essences and fluids to give a modest boost to its magical properties."

This was the first time Kain had heard anything about other magical worlds. He wished that they hadn\'t been censored by the System.

"Aura Calibration Beaker… No thanks"

"Elemental Infusion Vial…don\'t want it either…Is this the section for Alchemists?"

"Ah…finally something different. A Sigil Etching Set. This seems more so like it\'d be useful for blacksmiths…"

"Bronze level equipment really has a huge gap with Silver level equipment huh…I wonder what Gold level lab equipment would be like? Could I destroy worlds with the press of a button?"

Kain continued to move down each aisle, making sure to read every description. After all, he doesn\'t know when he\'ll get another chance like this and wants to make sure that he makes the best choice.

Like the first description, all of them had their original nations and worlds blurred out, unless the equipment originated from the planet he currently resided on: Blue Star.

Likely, equipment from Earth also wouldn\'t have been censored, but there was no magical equipment on Earth that would meet even the lowest standards of being considered Bronze level equipment.

Finally, after spending what felt like hours combing through each description, Kain finally narrowed his selection down to three choices that he felt would best meet his needs.