Chapter 234

Chapter 234

After closing the glass door, Lorant realized that the *Lightwing Butterfly*, with wings like fireworks, had clung onto his back and followed him out.

The *Lightwing Butterfly* was almost weightless, clinging so lightly that it escaped unnoticed.

Lorant shook his head, chuckling softly, and gently removed the disobedient Little Qing and Little Black from his back. Seeing the curious baby peeking from the side, he casually placed the *Lightwing Butterfly* onto the baby's back with his finger.

The baby's body stiffened immediately.

The fluffy little white ball with two black eyes tried hard to look up and see what was standing on its back. However, being spherical, the back, or rather the top of its head, was clearly a blind spot. No matter how hard it tried, it couldn't see what was above it without going cross-eyed.

The *Lightwing Butterfly* was also stunned.

As a B-grade beast, and a creature even more delicate and fragile than the Dream Weaver, it was momentarily panicked by the powerful presence of the strong combat beast beneath it.

Its golden crystal-like legs shifted uneasily on the baby's furry body.

Realizing it was standing on the baby's soft fur, the *Lightwing Butterfly* froze in place.

Lorant encouragingly nudged the *Lightwing Butterfly*'s body with his finger, trying to get it to approach and interact with the baby.

The *Lightwing Butterfly* was so stiff that it nearly toppled over from Lorant's carefully controlled push.

Seeing that the little one seemed quite shy, Lorant had no choice but to poke the baby's bottom.

"Hey, Baby, be gentle with the little guy! He's just a baby and still pretty shy."

Fortunately, the baby had strong soul communication abilities and could smoothly interact with the *Lightwing Butterfly*, a relatively intelligent beast.

In no time, the two got along well, and the *Lightwing Butterfly* grew bolder, beginning to fly around the beast storage, guided by a section of the baby's silk that was glowing.

The stunning *Lightwing Butterfly* left a shimmering trail of light as it flew gracefully through the air, elegantly showing off its splendid wings.

Lorant, while instructing Kong Yi to spray the pre-prepared nutrient solution into the glass room for the *Lightwing Butterfly*, sat down and poured himself a cup of hot tea. He then opened the ability chart in his mind.

With this click, the chart opened two pages at once, something that had never happened before.

The two pages of the chart lingered in the air for a moment before splitting and appearing side by side in front of Lorant.

In the next second, from the gap between the two pages of the chart, a *Lightwing Butterfly* with magnificent, splendid wings fluttered out, leaving a faint trail of light behind it.

This *Lightwing Butterfly*'s wings were enormous, almost filling Lorant's entire field of vision.

Its wings, a light golden color, resembled some kind of flowing liquid, constantly surging towards the edges from its crystal-like body at the center.

Eventually, droplet-shaped light shadows fell from the edges of the wings, becoming pieces of falling light fragments.

The elegant and graceful *Lightwing Butterfly* lightly circled the two pages of the chart, displaying its wonderful dance and beautiful, dreamy wings before landing in the middle of the two pages and slowly folding its wings.

After retracting its huge wings, it transformed into a glowing spine between the pages, which was also quite beautiful in its own way.

Lorant once again marveled at the beauty and elegance of the *Lightwing Butterfly* in his heart, then shifted his attention back to the chart.

The left page of the chart contained the introduction of the B-grade *Lightwing Butterfly*, while the right page was for the A-grade.

Lorant first looked at the left chart.

"Lightwing Butterfly": Lightwing Butterflies are rare non-aggressive beast companions. These companions have a slender and fragile body, with almost no defensive or offensive capabilities. However, their relatively weak body is offset by powerful support abilities. Lightwing Butterflies may possess various enhancement abilities, and a single creature can benefit from up to five different abilities at once. Stacking more than five abilities will cause one of them to randomly become ineffective.

Lightwing Butterflies thrive in bright environments. When they are unable to receive sufficient sunlight for an extended period, their abilities become temporarily weakened. After absorbing enough solar energy, they can return to their normal state.

Skill:

"Butterfly's Blessing": Each Lightwing Butterfly has only one specific blessing ability, which it can provide to creatures it comes into contact with. By flapping its wings, a Lightwing Butterfly can convey its blessing ability to others within a certain period of time.

Butterfly's Blessing offers a wide range of effects, with blessings related to strength, speed, defensive ability, offensive ability, mental strength, and more, all potentially appearing.

This is one of the shortest descriptions of a beast companion's skills Lorant has encountered.

Even an E-grade companion, such as the Fluffy Slime, typically has multiple skills.

Until now, the simplest abilities Lorant has seen were from a few F-grade companions. However, they were only F-grade companions, with a straightforward breeding path, and Lorant's expectations for them were very low. Even if they had no skills and were not particularly intelligent or affectionate, Lorant would not be too disappointed.

After all, as long as they don’t attack people randomly, possessing the most important quality of a beast companion is enough to be acceptable.

Even as the simplest pet, they are still acceptable.

However, this B-grade companion also has only one ability.

Moreover, the ability chart's description of this skill is vague, making it hard to discern any specific information at a glance.

Nevertheless, Lorant is not in a hurry. He trusts the grading ability of the ability chart.

The fact that "Butterfly's Blessing" occupies all of a B-grade companion's skill slots indicates its strength.

Lorant glanced at the little Lightwing Butterfly that had started to feel sleepy after playing with Baby for a short while. It had settled on the table, curling itself up on a small soft cushion, wrapping its body with its beautiful wings. Lorant became curious about the full extent of this little creature's abilities.

According to the compendium, it can be simply described as a blessing ability that can specifically enhance a certain capability.

For instance, if a Lightwing Butterfly's ability is to enhance speed, what might originally take one minute to run could now be completed in fifty or even forty seconds.

Just from the perspective of its ability, Lorant found it quite intriguing, somewhat akin to the Devouring Frog.

However, while the Devouring Frog empowers weapons, the Lightwing Butterfly enhances humans or other combat entities.

In any case, Lorant hoped their amplification abilities would not disappoint.

He then shifted his gaze to the page detailing A-rank beast companions.

A-rank beast companions, Lorant took each one very seriously, from the Specter Spider to the Holy Light Peacock; these little creatures had indeed lived up to his expectations, giving him ample surprises.

To Lorant, each A-rank beast companion represented the pinnacle of their respective fields.

Their capabilities were enough to make jaws drop.

They were beings capable of arousing the covetousness of large organizations.

The general compendium entry for the A-rank Lightwing Butterfly did not differ much from the previous B-rank Lightwing Butterfly, except for the final section summarizing the scope of the Butterfly's Blessing, which had been revised.

"Significantly enhances the relevant abilities of the blessed subject, while also possessing a broader range of blessings."

The introductions of the two beast companions appeared almost identical, despite their different ranks. The requirements for feeding and daily care were exactly the same.

This was quite convenient for Lorant.

At least he wouldn't need to expend extra effort preparing a special diet for the A-rank beast companion, thus lightening his burden considerably.

Lorant carefully studied the two ability charts, his eyes gleaming as he looked at the light-winged butterflies inside the glass enclosure. They had now all fallen asleep, curling themselves into fist-sized lumps of light or floating in the air. Lorant's heart was filled with anticipation.

At noon five days later, Jacqueline made a rare appearance at the Animal Pet Shop.

She had come for the Curry Monster.

After Lorant had agreed to conduct research on beast pet breeding with her last time, he had gone silent. Jacqueline had no complaints about this.

As a mage who preferred to conduct research in familiar environments, Lorant was one of many she had encountered. Some needed a specific scent, some insisted on wearing skirts, and others required candy in their mouths or had all their tools perfectly aligned.

In the world of research-oriented mages, such behaviors were normal, even mundane.

In her long life, Jacqueline had seen even stranger mages and more peculiar demands.

Originally, she had no plan to disturb Lorant until he reached out to her. Even if it took a year or two, Jacqueline was prepared to wait.

However, after returning to the Animal Pet Shop, the shop owner suddenly remembered that he hadn't told Jacqueline about the newly bred Curry Monster.

As a member of the Beast Tower, enjoying all its resources and holding permissions second only to Jacqueline, the 'Tower Master,' Lorant knew that Jacqueline had never hesitated to support him, even when she knew she was being used as a shield.

Because of these reasons, whenever Lorant bred a new beast pet, whether for personal or official reasons, he would always bring his findings to Jacqueline for inspection.

While he wouldn’t share the breeding methods with her, he felt it was respectful to keep her informed.

After all, aside from this, he had no other means to repay Jacqueline's kindness.

Upon realizing he had forgotten, Lorant immediately had someone call Tang En and stuffed a Curry Monster into Tang En's arms, sending him to the Beast Tower for Jacqueline's inspection.

Naturally, the Beast Tower members couldn’t help but be amazed by Lorant’s incredible talent, which was unmatched, almost like a bug in the system. Beast pets seemed to flow from him effortlessly, as if they were endless.

Compared to what they had accomplished in centuries, it made them question what they had been doing all this time. Fortunately, after receiving so many blows, everyone had grown accustomed and quickly calmed down. Under Tang En's meticulous explanation, they understood the abilities of the Curry Monster.

After tasting the curry, the Beast Tower members, who weren’t exactly foodies like Lorant, still enjoyed the unique flavor. Their first instinct was to see if this unusual seasoning had any hidden potential beyond just flavor.

After all, the candy ears of the candy rabbit, another food-producing beast pet, were not simple candies. They actually contained a toxin strong enough for hunting, capable of anesthetizing beasts. It was only after Lorant processed the toxin separately and sold it that it became safe to consume.

As for the Curry Monster, since the ability chart did not provide clear information, after Kimberly and others verified that the curry was an edible material, Lorant couldn’t wait to start eating it without considering other potential uses.

He completely regarded this C-grade beast pet, which was considered relatively common, as a curry production machine.

However, the research enthusiasts at the Beast Tower weren’t about to overlook anything. They had a terrifying obsession with beast pets and were highly enthusiastic about their abilities.

So, upon seeing the Curry Monster, they were eager to begin their experiments.

Their experiments actually yielded some results.

A tenth-level mage in the Beast Tower discovered that the 'curry' produced by this beast pet had a very weak 'toxin resistance.' Although it was faint, and the body would gradually lose this resistance over time if one stopped consuming the curry, this unique ability was indeed real.

This discovery was enough to surprise and satisfy the Beast Tower members. Toxin resistance was an extremely rare ability to extract from plants, beasts, or other creatures.

While many beasts had good resistance to toxins, the ability to extract and utilize this resistance was scarce. So, up until now, the most reliable source of toxin resistance that could be absorbed by humans, as discovered by the Congress of Magic, was a potion extracted from a ninth-grade plant beast, the 'Ghost Eggplant Fruit.'

After taking the potion, one would be immune to most toxins for about a week.

However, after a week, the effects of the potion will completely wear off, and there must be a gap of more than a month before it can be taken again. Otherwise, the potion will not only lose its effectiveness but also cause harm to the body.

This potion is already a very high-level one with a considerably high cost.

On the other hand, curry is a different story. Although curry's ability to resist toxins is very mild and can only resist toxins that are ingested orally, its effects can stack over time.

As long as you eat curry once a week, this toxin resistance will remain in the body, almost like a natural immunity.

While it can only resist lower-level toxins, that’s more than enough for most situations.

After all, most toxins that need to be ingested to take effect are not of a high level. High-level toxins usually have a noticeable smell or a unique color, making them difficult to secretly add to food.

Therefore, curry's ability to resist toxins, combined with the fact that it only immunizes against ingested toxins, is more than adequate.

At the very least, this means that as long as you eat curry regularly, you won't have to worry about most ingested toxins. This is especially handy for adventurers who often have to whip up meals in the wild. Not every one of them is a cooking expert.

According to incomplete statistics, a significant number of adventurers end up poisoning themselves with their own cooking each year.

After confirming the reliability of this toxin resistance through repeated tests, Jacqueline went to the Animal Pet Shop to share the good news with Lorant.

She was sure Little Lorant had no idea about Curry's special ability.

Otherwise, Lorant would have immediately announced this to the world and tried to 'gild' his curry.

That boy is a bit of a miser, so anything that could help him sell his products at a higher price and earn more money, he would be very enthusiastic about.

However, when Jacqueline found Lorant, she completely forgot about the matter.

At that moment, Lorant was in the sunroom.

He was holding a large bowl of carefully prepared nutrient solution and, with Baby's help, carefully placed it on the stone table in the center of the sunroom.

This was food for the Lightwing Butterflies.

These small-sized pet beasts have very high requirements for their food. They can only eat a limited amount in each meal, but as B- and A-level pet beasts, they require a large amount of energy.

At the same time, they have considerable needs for sunlight, so Lorant improved the original formula given by the ability chart and tried adding some Moonlight Grass juice.

Yes, the juice of Moonlight Grass, a specialty from Lorant's estate in the orc territory.

After countless failures, Lorant finally found the right proportion to perfectly integrate Moonlight Grass into the nutrient solution.

He had to admit that even without the help of the ability chart, he had an indescribable intuition when it came to potions.

This intuitive ability had indeed helped Lorant a lot.

With the help of this plant that could store sunlight and give it back, these Lightwing Butterflies would not easily become uncomfortable even if they encountered consecutive rainy days.

They didn’t like sunbathing; they just needed a certain kind of strange energy from sunlight. The Moonlight Grass was evidently a wonderful plant that could store sunlight energy.

Lorant had been researching this issue for some time, and yesterday evening, the ability chart finally recognized his improvement.

Today, he couldn’t wait to let the little ones try this improved food to see if they liked it.

To make it easier for the Lightwing Butterflies to eat, Lorant had prepared containers similar to shallow dishes. These little guys could perch on the edge of the dish and stretch to drink.

"No need to rush!" Lorant carefully moved forward, needing to watch every step to ensure there were no hidden little ones underfoot that he couldn’t see, afraid of stepping on them. "There's a whole basin here, enough for all of you."

A few impatient butterflies didn’t wait for Lorant to set down the shallow basin before they started sipping from the edge.

Little Qing and Little Black used the silk to gently push a deeply sleeping lightwing butterfly off the stone platform, clearing space for the water basin.

Lorant reached out and grabbed a mischievous little butterfly that had landed on his ear, placing it by the basin. "Alright, everyone, come and try it. Here's something new I made for you guys. See if you like it!"

As soon as he finished speaking, the lightwing butterflies resting on the dried, fragrant moon vines fluttered their wings. Instantly, the glass house was bathed in a light brighter than the sun.

These little guys were always full of energy, sometimes almost too much. It often felt like Lorant was dealing with a swarm of tiny, flying versions of young Glassy Ice Flame Dogs.

Fortunately, they didn’t run wild or whine nonstop like some pets might. They also didn’t try to chew on Lorant’s furniture, making them relatively easy to handle as pets.

The pranks of fluttering around, hiding in places Lorant couldn’t see, and trying to surprise him when they finally came out were nothing much.

Lorant had dealt with Glassy Ice Flame Dogs for so long that he was well-prepared for these mischievous but harmless pets.

He pulled two lightwing butterflies out of his pockets, who were trying to hide, and placed them next to the basin. At the same time, he stopped another little rascal that had nearly shoved its companion into the basin with a sudden lunge.

He also managed to thwart the prank of two butterflies trying to toss another butterfly, curled up in a ball of light, into the basin.

Lorant caught the butterfly mid-air and calmly adjusted the basin’s position on the stone platform.