Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio
Gao Peng raised his head, and looked towards the back of the school bus. In the back row was a boy with a quiff haircut, wearing skinny jeans and a floral patterned shirt. He even had piercings on his ears. He was sitting arrogantly with his two arms resting on the two seats next to his. Next to him was a hulking back figure that looked like a dense dark cloud. Even while sitting down, it was a head taller than him.
This quiff-head’s name was Hai Lanyu.
Within the class, he and Gao Peng were polar opposites. While Gao Peng was quiet and low-key, Hai Lanyu was loud and flashy, and the most boisterous presence in class.
Most importantly, his results were amongst the worst in class. Because of this, he had an inexplicable dislike for students with good grades, to the extent that he could not stand the sight of them.
Hai Lanyu laughed slightly while petting his Black Raging Kong, who was sitting next to him, with a proud expression on his face.
This was the birthday present that he just gotten from his father this year! It was, in the true meaning of the word, his first Familiar. One could only establish a Blood Contract after turning eighteen. According to the research results published by the Allied Government, only after the age of eighteen would establishing a Blood Contract not harm the body in any way. Hence, with this knowledge, all the various schools were informed to prohibit any student from establishing Blood Contracts before they turned eighteen.
This year, just after turning eighteen, Hai Lanyu’s father had brought him to the Monster Trade Center within the city center to buy him this Black Raging Kong.
Although the Black Raging Kong was only a normal grade monster, it was still one of the highest ranking monsters within the normal grade. By properly training it and leveling it, there was a high possibility of it being promoted to an elite tier monster.
Monster tiers were classified as [Normal], [Elite], [Commander], and so on.
Within each tier, monsters could have different grades, classified as [Normal], [Excellent], [Perfect], and so on.
Other than the monster’s tier, its grade was also a factor that affected its combat ability.
A monster’s tier could be seen as the cultivation of a monster, whereas the grade could be seen as the difference in combat ability within monsters of the same species in the same tier. For instance, a legendary grade OP character could take on thousands of normal grade creeps of the same tier, or even take on opponents within higher tiers.
Gao Peng took a look at Hai Lanyu and the Black Raging Kong next to him and promptly sat down on a random seat.
Hai Lanyu took that as a sign of fear and could not help but laugh out loud, even whistling in delight.
Gao Peng gently comforted Da Zi who was sitting by his leg. He held Da Zi’s antennae from the base and stroked it all the way up to the tip, repeating this motion again and again.
Da Zi slowly began to calm down, its eyes squinting and its mandibles opening and closing. The yellow claws that ran across its body were also shaking slightly in delight.
While seemingly comforting Da Zi in a calm manner, Gao Peng was actually looking at the data that had appeared in his mind.
[Monster Name]: Black Raging Kong
[Monster Level]: Level 8
[Monster Grade]: Normal
[Monster Attribute]: Strength, Earth
[Monster Condition]: Healthy (Frustrated)
[Monster Weakness]: 1. Poison 2. Spines from the Needle Palm contain paralyzing toxin that can cause severe scurvy effects in Black Raging Kongs.
[Requirements for Promotion to Excellent Grade]: …
Gao Peng secretly committed the words “Needle Palm” to his memory, and at the same time began to think of where he could find those trees.
Needle Palms were newly evolved plants that appeared after the cataclysm; they originally belonged to the palm family. The palm family was a large group of plants that included plants like the hedge bamboo, Alexandra palm, and the Chinese fan palm.
Needle Palms were not rare. It was not possible to determine what species of palm the Needle Palm evolved from, but plants from the palm family had a wide distribution in the south. There were even some planted in the city, so they were not a rare type of plant.
However, Needle Palms had spines on their leaves, which contained a bit of paralyzing toxin. This is why all the Needle Palms within the city had been completely removed. In order to find one, one had to go out into the wild.
During this excursion, they would head into the wilderness, so it was highly likely they would find some Needle Palms along the way. Being the top student that he was, Gao Peng continued to think about which environmental conditions best suited the growth of Needle Palms and how to collect their leaves…
At the back row, the Black Raging Kong suddenly sneezed for no reason. It rubbed its nose with one of its thick muscular arms, and then simply wiped the mucus off onto Hai Lanyu’s body.
“A*shole! You…” Hai Lanyu started furiously. He turned to look at the Black Raging Kong’s pale yellow eyes, and then looked at its arms, which were thicker than his own thighs. Hai Lanyu could only reluctantly smile and pat his Black Raging Kong on the shoulders, saying, “Don’t do that next time, ok? Be good.”
The Black Raging Kong sneezed again in a very human-like manner, then glanced at Hai Lanyu with a look of disdain.
Hai Lanyu felt a little depressed. He turned his eyes back to the front of the bus and suddenly seemed to see something that was of great surprise to him.
“Fatty!” The bus was filled once again with the sound of Hai Lanyu making a ruckus. This new arrival on the bus was the not too tall, slightly plump fatty.
“Yup, this is the Familiar that my dad bought for me,” said the fatty. He was one of Hai Lanyu’s few good friends in high school. His name was Chen Hanqiao.
Before the cataclysm, the two were middle school classmates, sharing a pretty good relationship.
Quietly sitting on the left shoulder of Chen Hanqiao was a tiny pink baby monster the size of an adult’s palm. It looked as though there were tiny scales embedded right under its skin.
Its black eyes were vivid and energetic as it cautiously took in its surroundings. It even made the occasional gurgling sound.
But that was not all: the most attractive part about this little baby monster was the constantly crackling electricity, visible around its body. A juvenile monster that possessed elemental powers would be commander tier monster at the very least when it reached adulthood!
A commander tier monster! Hai Lanyu’s breath almost stopped. His family was wealthy, but only just a little wealthy, enough to buy a single Black Raging Kong as a Familiar. In order to level up his Familiar, he still needed to find ways to promote his Familiar to perfect grade before being able to advance it to a commander tier Familiar.
Finding a way to do so would be ideal. But in reality, a method to promote his Familiar to a perfect grade, and then advance it to commander tier, practically did not exist.
Getting one’s hands on a juvenile commander tier monster was not something money alone could buy. There was evidently someone in a considerable position of power involved.
Gao Peng turned to look at the pink baby monster on top of Chen Hanqiao’s shoulders, and figures began to appear in his mind again.
[Monster Name]: Electric Luster Bear (Juvenile phase)
[Monster Level]: Level 5
[Monster Grade]: Excellent (Current grade; upon maturing and entering commander tier, grade will drop to normal)
[Monster Attribute]: Electric
[Monster Condition]: Healthy (In a daze)
[Monster Weakness]: 1. Consumption of large amounts of water attribute ingredients during juvenile phase will lead to a probability of failure in advancing tier to commander tier. 2. During juvenile phase, the use of…
[Requirements for Promotion to Perfect Grade]: …
Gao Peng withdrew his gaze, with a feeling of shock in his heart. Not just because of how powerful this juvenile Electric Luster Bear could become, but because he realized that his own ability was more terrifying than he thought.
Da Zi was currently only a normal Purple-Backed Yellow-Clawed Centipede. If he were to keep promoting its grade and let it grow further and further, what kind of evolution would it achieve in the end?
Gao Peng looked down and gently caressed Da Zi’s head, his thoughts wandering. Many people choose their Familiars with the utmost care because the potential of their Familiar determined their own potential.
