Nyoi-Bo Studio

  Nyoi-Bo Studio

  “Is this our child?” asked the Adamantine Duck from the left.

  “Yes, it is. Look at how big its eyes are,” the Adamantine Duck on the right replied, nodding.

  Then their faces froze, as if they had just seen something horrifying.

  Even with his human eyes, Gao Peng could see the fear on their faces.

  “It has five toes! What a ghastly thing!” the Adamantine Duck on the left cried out.

  The duck on the right widened its eyes and began shouting angrily.

  The two then began quarrelling. The duck on the left wanted to dispose of their newborn, but the duck on the right stubbornly refused.

  Half a month later, the duckling’s siblings hatched from their eggs.

  The siblings, too, gave the first duckling no relief from the stress.

  It was, after all, a five-toed freak. It would usually be forced to eat the leftovers left by its brothers and sisters.

  Sometimes, it wouldn’t even get any food. It was normal for its parents to sometimes not be able to find enough food for everyone. The adult ducks needed to make sure they had enough sustenance in order to function as the backbone of the family.

  As a result, the five-toed duckling sometimes had to starve for days inside its den.

  Unlike the monsters at the top, low-level monsters like Adamantine Ducks had to worry about food all the time.

  They could only grow up strong and healthy with proper nutrition.

  One day, all eight Adamantine ducklings had to share a two-foot-long fish with each other.

  This wasn’t enough for all eight Adamantine ducklings, considering they were still growing.

  The deformed duckling was pushed out, forced to watch its siblings eat. Maybe they would be kind enough to leave a few fish bones for it when they were done.

  However, it had only had a bit of fish the day before. It was now extremely hungry.

  Cautiously, it approached its siblings, hoping that they would let it have a bite.

  “Don’t come any closer!” said the duckling closest to it while kicking it away.

  “Freak, back off.” Another duckling gave it a kick.

  Suddenly, a purple light flashed across its body.

  When the two adult Adamantine Ducks returned home, they saw duck feathers scattered across the ground and their children trembling in a corner. In the middle of the cave lay an Adamantine Duckling, seemingly pleased with itself after it had devoured the entire fish.

  It was the five-toed freak.

  The other ducklings began telling its parents about its cruelty and violence. Their parents’ faces darkened.

  The five-toed duckling was then chased out of its home. Its childhood ended at that point, before it could even begin.

  Abominations like it were usually disposed of by by their parents right after they were born.

  A minority of them were cast out and left to die. An even smaller number managed to survive in the harshness of the wild.

  It might have seemed as if this strange duckling’s childhood had ended right then and there.

  In truth, its childhood hadn’t ended. Thanks to its inherent ability, it would be able to overcome any danger it encountered.

  Gao Peng reckoned that in order to deal with the Adamantine Duck, it would be best not to trigger its passive ability multiple times. Otherwise, the duck would probably be out of his control.

  This would explain why its quack had sounded off. It probably hadn’t learned from its parents how to quack properly.

  It was also why it had begun following Gao Peng after he had taught it how to quack like an actual duck.

  Gao Peng didn’t know whether to laugh or cry about this.

  Being cast out by its own parents had also made it sensitive and somewhat unstable.

  As the memory faded away, a blood contract slowly burned and dissolved in the duck’s mental landscape.

  No one had ever had the patience to listen to its story until now.

  Gao Peng blinked and looked at the Adamantine Duck. He now felt a stronger connection with it.

  “I’ll call you Goldie, since your feathers are all yellow,” said Gao Peng.

  The duck didn’t object to this. Rather, it seemed to be too lazy to give him a proper response. Signing a blood contract with Gao Peng mustn’t have been such a big deal to it.

  The Adamantine duck then waddled out of the tent.

  Three days later, a slumbering consciousness abruptly woke up in Gao Peng’s mind.

  The earth beneath his feet suddenly shook, as if something was about to pop out of it.

  Gao Peng stepped out of his tent and saw that the soil beneath him had bulged upward. Huge cracks had also appeared beneath him. The cracks began spreading out, then a black shield-like fang burst out of the ground.

  The other fang came out moments later. Both fangs were attached to an oval-shaped shield. The two fangs were sharp on both ends and wide in the middle. They also seemed to be curving downwards.

  A huge spider emerged, following its fangs out of the ground.

  Its black and green exoskeleton glinted with a metallic light. It still looked almost the same as it had before, but its body had grown by a third.

  Sharp, tiny barbs had also appeared on the joints of its legs.

  Stripey excitedly snapped its pincers as it breathed in the fresh air.

  [Monster Name]: Earth Shield Spider

  [Monster Grade]: Epic

  [Monster Level]: Level 25 (Commander-tier)

  [Monster Attribute]: Earth

  [Special Characteristics]: Earth Spirit (The Earth Spirit Core has replaced its heart, increasing its affinity with the earth element and making it lose its ability to merge with other elements.)

  Passive effect 1: Earth Mastery Level +1

  Passive Effect 2: It is under the earth’s constant protection. As long as it is standing on solid ground, it will be able to absorb the earth’s power and form an earth-elemental armor around its body. The armor’s defensive power is determined by its Earth Mastery ability level.

  [Monster Ability]: Earth Mastery Level 2

  [Monster’s current state]: Healthy (Happy)

  Stripey had finally evolved and also gained a new ability. Gao Peng sighed in relief. The mission he had set out to complete in the mountains had been a success.

  “Come on, let’s go back.”