Chapter 266

Chapter 266

Lorant activated the grimoire that had been flashing persistently in his mind ever since the little fat dragon appeared, radiating a sense of urgency.

The moment he touched the grimoire, its virtual form immediately appeared before him and flipped open to the page dedicated to the S-rank beast pets.

This saved Lorant the trouble of navigating to the S-rank beast pets section in the directory.

Lorant wasn’t surprised by this reaction from the grimoire. It had done something similar when he discovered the breeding method for the grimoire.

The grimoire always treated S-rank beast pets with special importance.

As the grimoire unfolded, the little fat dragon, which had been engrossed in its meal, paused instinctively, as if sensing something, and turned to look at Lorant.

The grimoire in front of Lorant was a semi-virtual light screen, visible only to him. Even though his other baby beast pet was always by his side, it had never shown any reaction to the grimoire in front of him.

Thus, Lorant had always believed that the grimoire was a peculiar energy that only he could see, perhaps directly affecting his mind, and didn’t exist for others.

However, in that instant when Lorant made eye contact with the little fat dragon through the semi-illusory grimoire, he immediately understood that the little fat dragon could see the grimoire as well.

Before Lorant could express his surprise, the little fat dragon lost interest and turned away, resuming its meal with practiced ease, stirring its food with a small round spoon.

The grimoire in front of Lorant didn’t seem to hold as much appeal as the fragrant canned meat in its bowl.

"!" Lorant's mouth hung slightly open, his face blank, with countless thoughts flying around in his mind.

But then he realized that these doubts might be explained by the grimoire.

However, unlike the usual process where a virtual image of the beast pet would appear when opening the grimoire, this time, after the S-rank beast pet's page was opened, only a simple and crude interface remained.

Without the image of the beast pet, Lorant couldn’t shake the feeling that something was off.

He had always been curious about why certain beast pets were chosen to appear in the grimoire, such as the candy rabbit and the beast pet Slime. Lorant often wondered if the color of these beast pets had any significance, and whether the one shown in the grimoire differed from others of the same species.

To investigate this, Lorant had conducted numerous experiments.

Although Kimberly and others didn’t understand why their store manager was so fixated on the purple candy rabbit, they diligently carried out the research.

The final results were exactly as expected.

These differently colored beast pets were no different from others of the same species.

The Furious Ragdoll Bear, in a way, confirmed Lorant's hypothesis.

When the prototype of the doll shown in the grimoire was prepared, the second batch of Furious Ragdoll Bears, except for the customized one, all used that type of doll as their body.

But after all this time, based on the data and the daily performance of the beast pets, there was no difference between the doll form and the toy bear Lorant had purchased.

Whether it was numerical tests or the daily behavior of the Furious Ragdoll Bears, these beast pets were identical to the first batch.

Consequently, Lorant decided to revert the Furious Ragdoll Bears to their original plush bear forms, as they looked much more endearing.

After several scattered experiments, Lorant could only conclude that the beast pet images in the grimoire were entirely random and held no special significance.

However, it now seemed that the situation was more complex than he had initially thought.

The current appearance of the ability chart is as if it had never recorded the true form of this S-rank familiar, the "grimoire."

In other words, since the ability chart had never seen it, it couldn't generate a virtual image.

Lorant raised his eyebrows, his curiosity about this S-rank familiar growing even stronger.

When he shifted his gaze to the introduction page on the ability chart, Lorant's expression became even more peculiar, and that thought from earlier resurfaced in his mind.

The entire ability chart page was astonishingly rudimentary, with sections left blank. Apart from the simplest recipe, there was only a crude introduction. As for anything else, it was just empty space.

The ability chart doesn't know either!

If it hadn't seen the "grimoire's" true form and therefore couldn't create a virtual image, then naturally, it wouldn't be able to make any relevant speculations about the grimoire's abilities.

A strange thought crossed Lorant's mind, but he quickly refocused on the limited description available.

"Grimoire": A familiar formed from solidified laws, it appears to be shaped like a book on the surface, but in essence, the grimoire embodies rules and thoughts. Within the grimoire's domain, its rules are the laws of the world.

"Skills":

1. ...

2. ...

Lorant looked at the ability chart speechlessly.

Not only did the chart not record the grimoire's relevant skills, but the description of this familiar's abilities was also extremely vague.

Reading it only left Lorant more confused. With a helpless sigh, the frustrated teen could only resign himself to the fact that he would indeed have to explore this little one on his own.

As this thought crossed his mind, the ability chart happily flickered at the "skills" section. Though no words appeared, Lorant felt it was urging him to complete the chart.

The chubby little fat dragon beside him finished its first meal with great speed, its entire body bubbling with joy.

And by bubbling, it literally meant bubbling.

Seeing Lorant staring blankly at the ability chart, the little one wobbled over to his side, still perched on its book.

At this point, the grimoire's body shrank again, becoming roughly the size of an A5 notebook.

Correspondingly, the little fat dragon's body also proportionally became smaller.

It floated over to Lorant's side, still riding its book. Then, with a leap, a rainbow-colored cloud appeared in the air, catching the little one and allowing it to comfortably lie face down on the soft cloud as it floated to Lorant's side.

The little one then had the cloud dock at Lorant's shoulder, and with a few elegant steps, it climbed onto his shoulder and looked at the ability chart page together with him.

The little one's serious expression confirmed to Lorant that it wasn't a mistake earlier. It could indeed see the ability chart, which no one else could.

"What are my skills?" The little fat dragon asked curiously, still lying on Lorant's shoulder as it looked at the chart.

Lorant couldn't help but give it a puzzled look. This was the first time he had encountered a familiar that asked about its abilities directly. It felt a little off.

Also, why did all little ones like to lie on humans' shoulders? Was it because the view was better from there?

Lorant wondered, slightly distracted.

"Do you know what your skills are?" Shaking his head to clear his thoughts, Lorant turned to ask the little fat dragon.

The little fat dragon unexpectedly shook its head. "I can only vaguely sense some of my abilities, but I don't know the specific skills!"

"Specific skills?"

"Yes! Like this."

The little guy stretched out its chubby claw, much to Lorant's astonishment, and pawed at the ability chart.

The chart, which resembled a book, forcefully flipped several pages, landing on the page dedicated to the Dream Weaver.

Lorant was so stunned that he froze in place. The ability chart only looked like a book. Lorant had once tried to flip its pages but had never actually succeeded.

So, he had always viewed the shape of the chart as a mere image, like an animation frame, considering the book shape to be a meaningless graphic.

Who knew, this thing could actually be flipped!

"Their abilities can be marked, but I don't seem to have any!" The little guy, looking somewhat disappointed, tapped the section on the Dream Weaver's skills on the screen with its claw.

Lorant struggled to piece his shattered worldview back together. He decided to make do with it.

He opened his mouth, with countless questions, but in the end, he only asked, "So, what abilities do you think you have now?"

"I can't really say, but I always feel that as long as I want something, I can manifest it!" The little fat dragon scratched its head with its short claw, looking somewhat troubled. "However, delicious food seems to be useless even if I manifest it."

It had secretly tried to increase the amount of delicious canned food in its bowl when Lorant wasn't paying attention, and it did succeed in filling the bowl halfway and happily ate one and a half bowls.

But shortly after finishing, the little guy realized that what it had eaten was only the equivalent of one bowl. The food it had manifested, though tasting and smelling no different from normal food, couldn't truly satisfy its hunger.

This made the little guy feel a bit disappointed with its ability.

"Like this." The little fat dragon waved its claw, and a crystal-clear lily, shimmering with a moonlit glow, appeared from thin air.

It was a lily Lorant had never seen before, though he recognized it as the Moonlight Lily, a plant creature used for extracting fragrances. Lorant had never seen a Moonlight Lily that was transparent like crystal.

Lorant took the flower that the little guy happily handed over with both claws, and the unique fragrance of the Moonlight Lily reached his nose.

The little fat dragon then explained, "Like this, this is a plant that doesn't exist in this world. But if I want it, it can be created."

Lorant touched the Moonlight Lily, examining it carefully. Whether by touch or smell, the flower felt and smelled just like a normal Moonlight Lily.

Except that its appearance was somewhat unique.

"And this Moonlight Lily can be used just like any other!" The little fat dragon swung its chubby tail and said smugly with its eyes closed.

"Permanent?" Lorant asked pointedly.

The little fat dragon's tail drooped. "No, not permanent, it's just, well, it only lasts for half an hour when I create things while full..."

Lorant nodded in understanding. If it was time-limited, he could comprehend that. If it were permanent, it would be too powerful.

For him, that would mean he could get a dragon skeleton just by asking the little fat dragon to wave its claw, which seemed too good to be true.

Thinking about it, Lorant asked, "So, the cloud you made earlier works the same way, right?"

"Yes!" The little fat dragon perked up quickly. "If you want, Lorant, I can take you on a ride! The flying cloud can last a long time!"

Little Qing and Little Black gave Lorant a wink, trying to look cool. Lorant couldn't help but think of those wannabe tough guys from his past life, hanging around the school gates with their weird hairstyles, tossing motorcycle keys, and acting like they were the coolest kids in town.

Lorant’s lips twitched in amusement as he reached out to pick up Little Qing and Little Black, giving them a good rub until their cheeks puffed up.

"So, what else can you do?"

Little Fat Dragon allowed its body to be swayed left and right by Lorant, thinking hard for a moment.

Suddenly, a big exclamation mark appeared above its head with a soft 'pop.'

"That's right, I have another ability!" Little Fat Dragon's eyes lit up as it lightly jumped out of Lorant's hands and landed back on the book floating beside it, lying on it.

Its claws produced an exquisite quill pen, which looked oddly familiar to Lorant, reminding him of the one he had been using for the past two days.

Little Fat Dragon held the quill pen and started writing swiftly on the paper.

Lorant saw it write, 'In the laboratory, all fire spells cannot be used.'

It showed Lorant the words on the book while holding up a bright yellow flame in its claw.

"What’s that?" Lorant asked the grimoire in confusion.

"I meant using fire, not just taking out a flame," Little Fat Dragon said excitedly.

Lorant blinked innocently at Little Fat Dragon, and the two looked at each other for a moment.

Lorant reached out and took a glass lantern containing rootless fire from his spatial bracelet.

The flame crackled inside the glass bottle as he looked at Little Fat Dragon with a face full of question marks.

The little grimoire’s face was extremely helpless as it looked at Lorant, then very vividly displayed three black vertical lines on its forehead.

"I said use fire, Lorant! Not take out a flame magic."

Lorant was even more innocent; he was just an ordinary person, not a mage, how could he possibly create a flame with his bare hands?

Just pulling out the rootless fire was already a form of preparation.

The miniature dragon beast grimoire also noticed Lorant's expression and realized.

"Sorry, Lorant, I forgot." Little Fat Dragon said awkwardly, rubbing its claws together.

Then, the little creature lay on the book and quickly erased the words it had just written with its left claw.

Then it swiftly wrote another line.

'All spatial items are prohibited here.'

Lorant now understood what Little Fat Dragon meant, so he immediately began trying to put the rootless fire lantern back into his spatial bracelet.

But the spatial bracelet, which usually could be easily opened with a bit of mental energy, now seemed frozen, completely disappearing from Lorant's perception. With his weak mental energy, he couldn't even sense the existence of any spatial items on him, let alone use them.

Now, the spatial bracelet was just a plain gemstone bracelet, indistinguishable from any other trinket.

Lorant was astonished and opened his mouth wide again.

He couldn't remember how many times he had been rendered speechless by the grimoire.

A spatial bracelet has an inherent spatial storage ability. Once imbued with spatial magic, it becomes like a tree that has been cut down and carved into a bowl—impossible to return to its original, living state.

Once a spatial item has been created, it is impossible for it to lose its spatial abilities again.

Even the magic that can restrict the use of spatial items is extremely rare, and only very powerful mages can use such temporary arrays.

Many competitions restrict the use of spatial items, but the method actually used is not to seal the items. Instead, detection spells are cast on the participants. If the use of a spatial item is detected, the participant is disqualified.

Now, before Lorant's eyes, there appeared a capability that could truly and completely restrict spatial items. To any mage, this would be a groundbreaking existence.

If this ability could be manifested into a spell that mages could use, it would undoubtedly cause an uproar in the Congress of Magic.

In that moment, Lorant imagined how William, who specialized in spatial magic, would react when he learned about this.

"Do you feel it, Lorant?" The little fat dragon watched him eagerly, then flapped its wings happily and circled him, beaming, "Isn't it amazing?"

The grimoire indeed possessed extraordinary intelligence. If Baby was like a five or six-year-old child, Fa Meng might be more like a ten-year-old. Its thinking and communication abilities were more advanced, but despite this, because it had only recently been born, its mentality was still childlike. It depended on Lorant and eagerly awaited his praise.

"And as long as I don't erase it, this rule will remain in effect!" The little fat dragon twisted proudly, "Unless it's a creature stronger than me, everyone has to follow my rules!"

Lorant had raised many beast pets. He reached out to stroke the little fat dragon's head and smiled as he praised, "Very impressive, little one! You're really amazing!"

He truly meant it from the bottom of his heart.

By now, Lorant had a good idea of Fa Meng's abilities. Without a doubt, the powerful S-tier beast pet possessed a 'rule-based' ability.

This was manifested as 'imagination becoming reality,' and on the other hand, it had a formidable and fearsome 'domain rule.'

More importantly, this rule ability was permanent. Lorant had already envisioned the best use for Fa Meng.

But he wasn’t in a rush. Though the little fat dragon had been energetic, its eyes were starting to blink faster, and Lorant could tell it was getting sleepy.

"By the way, little one, how about I give you a name?"

The little fat dragon nodded seriously, its sparkling eyes reflecting Lorant's image. Although it didn’t show too much excitement, the faster wagging of its tail revealed the little one's happiness.

It was clearly looking forward to receiving a name from Lorant.

This little one seemed to have acquired some of Lorant's memories since birth. Lorant could sense that it knew a bit about him, such as the feather pen and spoon it had conjured, which were items he had been using in the lab recently.

So Lorant guessed that the grimoire might have been aware of its surroundings even while still in the soul beast egg state.

Or perhaps it was when it was playing around on that scroll.

Lorant wasn’t entirely sure.

Since this was the first time he was naming such a smart little one, Lorant felt somewhat uneasy.

Baby was also smart, but its name had been decided by a twist of fate, and Lorant couldn’t take much credit for it.

But given his track record with names, Lorant felt a bit insecure about choosing one that a sentient being would like. "Your species is indeed called 'Grimoire,' and your ability is essentially a dream-fulfillment power."

"So, what do you think of 'Fa Meng'? Little Fa Meng?"

The little one nodded happily, "Fa Meng! Great! From now on, I'll be called Fa Meng!"

It had already talked with Baby in secret, and compared to names like Maomao, Baby, Konger, and Bear Two, Fa Meng had been prepared to be called 'Dian Dian' or 'Fa Fa.'

This outcome was way beyond its expectations!