Chapter 9: Chapter 9

Gao Peng found it hard to bear, seeing Da Zi’s pleading look. But in order for Da Zi to evolve and increase its grade, it needed meat and attributes of precious materials. This Brown Crag Snake carcass was merely a more-nutritious-than-normal meal to Da Zi. It was more worthwhile to sell this complete snake carcass and use the money to buy materials specific for nurturing Da Zi.

Meanwhile, Gao Peng did not notice that on a tree, roughly a hundred meters behind him, was a man wearing a blue security uniform watching him closely. “This kid is rather prudent, it seems. A Brown Crag Snake like that could probably earn him half an Alliance Credit,” said the man to himself.

He was one of the security personnel from Blue Shield Protection Agency who was in charge of the security of the students. They were there to make sure the students’ lives were not in danger, but not there to be babysitters. The safety of the students was their responsibility, but not the safety of their Familiars. If a Familiar died, then that was it. These students were already high schoolers. In this new era, those sixteen and above were considered legal adults, and adults had to be responsible for their own actions.

At the same time, at another location:

Hai Lanyu was running excitedly around the nearby forests with his Familiar, a Black Raging Kong. The earlier conflict with Gao Peng had already been tossed to the back of his mind. After all, that was just some friction between high schoolers; nothing worth bearing a real grudge over.

The area he chose to explore was a different patch of forest from Gao Peng’s. Gao Peng’s area was a forest next to the lake that was exposed to sunlight. It had large trees scattered across the place. Hai Lanyu, however, was at a forest on the inner side of the lake that was in between the lake and a mountain. This was an area with low sunlight, and the plants here were lush.

The Black Raging Kong seemed as though it had not been out in the wild for a long time, and was evidently very excited as well.

It beat its chest with its two arms, giving off a dull “dong dong dong” sound.

It raised its head, formed an ‘O’ with its mouth and made happy Ao-ao sounds.

The Black Raging Kong happily jumped about. With a flex of its leg muscles, it became a black afterimage, jumping a few meters high. It swung around the tree branches in the forest and within moments, went out of Hai Lanyu’s line of sight.

Forget it, I’ll just let him go; thought Hai Lanyu.

He had initially wanted to try and control it, but then he thought of his Black Raging Kong’s large, strong build. Even ten of him would not be able to hold it back from doing anything it really wanted to.

Although it was his own familiar, he did remember the teacher saying something in class along the lines of… occasionally allowing the Familiar free to do what it wanted? Hai Lanyu’s grades were bad because he was always absent minded during class, and missed out on the most crucial details.

Actually, what the teacher meant was to balance work and play. While training one’s familiar, one needed to also remember to take some time to have fun with it, to promote bonding. With increased closeness between Trainer and Familiar, certain exclusive abilities unique to the Trainer and Familiar would be unlocked. These abilities were vital for the survival of the Trainer.

As the day came to a close, a campfire was set up next to the crystal clear lake. Murong Qiuye took out a bunch of tents from the storage compartment under the bus and gave a step by step demonstration on how to set up the tents. Very quickly, all the students finished pitching their tents. Each tent fit two students of the same gender.

Sharing the tent with Gao Peng was the class monitor Tan Qianjin. After finding out about this grouping, Tan Qianjin smiled brightly, his eyes squinting. He rubbed his head as he stuck out his right hand and said, “It’s a pleasure, top student.”

Gao Peng was not used to shaking other people’s hands, but it would have been rude to refuse. Gao Peng gingerly grabbed hold of Tan Qianjin’s hand for a brief handshake.

Entering the tent, Gao Peng took out two tightly sealed packets of pickled mustard from his school bag. He tossed one to Tan Qianjin and kept the other in the pocket of his pants.

Tonight’s dinner was roasted fish. The fish were wild, fished from the lake.

Gao Peng knew very well the standard of this cooking; so he had brought along a few packets of Spring Fish pickled mustard as condiments.

Tan Qianjin caught the Spring Fish pickled mustard reflexively, looking stunned at the packet of pickled mustard in his hands. He then looked at Gao Peng and smiled while putting the packet of pickled mustard in his pocket.

He went up and placed a hand on Gao Peng’s shoulder. “Let’s go, time for some roasted fish,” Tan Qianjin said with a smile, revealing the dimples on his face.

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By the edge of the lake was a pile of fish caught from the lake. Something flew past the lake surface in a blur before flying up in the sky. With a twist and a dive, it flew straight down and stopped by the edge of the lake. The blur from before revealed itself to be a giant silver bird, roughly a meter and a half tall. Its sharp claws, that were shaped like giant hooks, were holding a fish that was half a meter long. Putting the fish down, it made its way over, using its long slender legs, to Murong Qiuye’s side. It then rubbed its head on Murong Qiuye, with a reliant look in its eyes.

This was a Silver Winged Bird, a very commonly raised bird-type monster. Silver Winged Birds had strong reproductive capabilities, a large range of foods that it could eat, making it easy to raise, and moderate strength. Because of this, many who chose to raise bird-type monsters owned Silver Winged Birds.

According to the books that Gao Peng read, Silver Winged Birds only grew to be about a meter tall at full maturity. This Silver Winged Bird was a full meter and a half. Compared to others of its kind, this bird would be a giant.

[Monster Name]: Silver Winged Bird (Giant variant)

[Monster Grade]: Excellent

[Monster Level]: Level 12

…

So, it was an individual that underwent a gigantism mutation. Mutated variants often had a larger size than their ordinary counterparts, and were often of a higher grade too. In this part of the outskirts, excellent grade monsters were apex predators on the top of the food chain. Being level 12 and of an excellent grade, this giant Silver Winged Bird would encounter no natural enemies in the vicinity of the lake.

Bird-type monsters also had a large, efficient range of movement, allowing them to provide support speedily. This one was probably arranged by the school as a second layer of protection for the safety of the students.

“Wow, Ms. Murong, you have such a huge bird,” said Li Zigong excitedly.

Everyone around them suddenly fell silent.

“Pa!” Li Hongdou gave Li Zigong a loud slap on the back of his head. “Do you know how to speak properly?!”

Li Zigong gave his sister a frustrated look. “Sis! Stop hitting me at the back of my head! I suspect that my IQ is this low because you keep hitting me there.”

“Oh,” said Li Hongdou as she glanced at him, while rubbing her wrist. “I was getting sore from hitting you anyway.”

No one had never seen such a large Silver Winged Bird before. Soon, there was a crowd surrounding the Silver Winged Bird.

If not for the fear of being pecked by the Silver Winged Bird, some of them would have definitely reached out their hands to pet it.

Murong Qiuye’s plump face was all smiles. “Students, please approach slowly. Ling Que’s character isn’t very sociable. You all can look, but please don’t touch.”

“Hi, Silver Winged Bird; If I call, will you respond?” said Tan Qianjin while smiling from ear to ear.

The Silver Winged Bird simply turned its head, its eyes filled with a look of spite.

Tan Qianjin choked back some tears. To think that he would be despised by a bird.

“…”

In the end, seemingly losing its patience, the Silver Winged Bird flapped its wings and flew off, leaving behind a few silvery feathers which slowly fell to the ground.

“Ms. Murong, my Kong has gone missing! I’ve tried to summon it using the Blood Contract but there was no response; could something have happened to it?” Hai Lanyu suddenly rushed over from the side. There were tears streaming down his face; he was crying like a 400 pound kid.