Chapter 539

Chapter 539

Normally, when a monster egg reaches the final stage of incubation, Lorant would need to use some special methods to handle it to ensure a smooth birth.

But when it came to the Nightmare, these options were unnecessary.

Lorant only needed to wait for it to hatch.

After a comfortable night's sleep, Lorant headed to the laboratory early the next morning to check on Little Black, which had been left overnight. Unfortunately, Little Black still hadn’t emerged.

Fa Meng had been monitoring it closely all night. Since she hadn’t woken him up, it meant the monster egg hadn’t hatched yet.

Lorant wasn’t particularly surprised by this.

After waiting until Lorant grew so restless that he considered bringing down his easel from upstairs to paint a few strokes, the inky-black monster egg suddenly cracked open with an extremely fine fissure.

The reason Lorant could spot such a subtle crack on the egg’s velvety surface was that a blinding light seeped through the fissure.

The eggshell itself was a black so pure it swallowed all light, darker than the thick black liquid Lorant had once brewed. It was the darkest shade he had ever seen—its smooth surface took on a velvety sheen from the depth of its darkness.

Against such darkness, the faint light grew piercing.

The eggshell, dense and light-absorbing like black velvet, now bore cracks that blazed like the sun. Even as the surrounding darkness tried to smother the radiance, the light remained searingly bright.

The glow intensified, growing blinding within minutes.

Lorant put on the sunglasses Fa Meng thoughtfully handed him, though even these specially made lenses did little to shield his eyes from the brilliance.

This wasn’t mere light—it was light incarnate, something no pair of glasses could block out.

"Fa Meng, block that light a bit more!" Lorant had to turn away to avoid hurting his eyes from the overwhelming glare.

Fa Meng immediately reshaped the sunglasses into a dark sphere, enveloping Lorant completely.

An instant later, Lorant heard a faint, crisp cracking sound.

The next second, all the brilliance vanished in an instant. The afterimage lingered on his retinas, but the room drowned in darkness. The room’s air became a murk as thick as smoke.

Lorant ripped away the flimsy protective shell in front of him and stretched out his hands. His fingers brushed his nose, yet he saw nothing.

"Did Little Black rob my sight," Lorant asked skeptically, waving his hands in vain, "or did it smother the room in darkness?"

Though his senses told him the room had darkened, after encountering so many peculiar monsters, Lorant knew it was possible for his vision alone to be affected—or even taken away entirely.

His mind raced with possibilities.

Fa Meng latched onto Lorant’s arm, her furry paws gripping him tightly.

"Don’t worry, Lorant. The room really did go dark—it’s not your body," Fa Meng reassured him. "There’s nothing to fear, Lorant. I’m here."

Little Qing even flexed, as if shouting, 'I’ve got you!'

Where she’d learned such a gesture was anyone’s guess...

However, it must be said that with Little Qing and Little Black around, Lorant immediately felt reassured and no longer panicked. First, he knew he was facing a Beast Pet—even if it was a newly born one just meeting him, this little fellow most likely wouldn’t actively harm him.

This was the innate nature of Beast Pets, unlikely to change easily.

Secondly, with Fa Meng and Xiao Lan by his side, the number of people or other beasts in this world capable of harming him could be counted on one hand.

The dense, suffocating darkness lasted for a long time—so long that Lorant even began to feel a bit drowsy.

Just as he gave a huge yawn, the brightness in front of him suddenly returned to normal.

Lorant blinked uncomfortably at the sudden flood of light. Even the gentle lighting of the laboratory made his vision momentarily blurry.

After taking a moment to adjust, Lorant finally noticed the changes in his laboratory that differed from before.

In the corner near the entrance, a mass of black mist hovered near the ceiling.

When Lorant’s gaze swept over it, the mist seemed almost shy, wriggling awkwardly. As it moved, the entire mass of mist became fluffier, appearing almost furry.

Earlier, it had looked like a perfect sphere, but now it resembled a fluffed-up, staticky puffball.

The similarity, however, was that Lorant couldn’t discern anything within the mist other than the black smoke—no facial features or limbs whatsoever.

Yet, Lorant was certain this was the Beast Pet he had just bred.

Lorant’s lips twitched. This little thing must be the "Nightmare" mentioned in the Ability Chart. Its form was truly something he hadn’t expected.

"Come here, little one," Lorant said after a brief moment of surprise, raising his hand and beckoning toward the black mist.

The mist seemed to hesitate slightly before shifting its form, stretching from a round mass into a thin, straight line. It then slithered along the ceiling’s seam, moving toward Lorant in a twisting motion.

The little thing didn’t seem to realize it could float freely—or perhaps it felt insecure floating in midair—so it stuck stubbornly to the wall no matter what it did.

After Lorant beckoned to it, it zipped down the wall.

This creature’s body seemed quite peculiar, seemingly made entirely of intangible mist.

It coiled around Lorant’s outstretched finger, starting from the tip and winding upward. Throughout the entire process, Lorant didn’t feel the slightest touch.

This little thing appeared to be entirely composed of mist. Even when Lorant tried sticking his hand straight into the gray smoke, he still felt nothing.

For context, even small Beast Pets like little ghosts—which could phase through solid objects—would give a chilly, liquid-like tinge upon contact, as if dipping fingers into a cold substance that didn’t wet the skin. Despite their seemingly transparent bodies, they still had a physical presence.

But the Nightmare had none of that. Were it not for Lorant seeing it with his own eyes, relying solely on perception, he might have thought it didn’t exist at all.

Of course, another thing confirming this little one’s existence in this world was the Ability Chart in his mind.

The moment the black mist coiled around Lorant’s wrist like a rope, attempting to disguise itself as a bracelet, the Ability Chart in his mind immediately responded.

The heavy book flipped open before Lorant once more with a soothing rustle.

The Grade A Beast Pet’s page was soon displayed before Lorant.

*Nightmare*...A-0005.

*Skills*:

1. *Dark Night*: The Nightmare can fully merge itself into darkness and shadows, becoming indistinguishable from darkness. It can move freely within any darkness unbound by distance. Its control over darkness scales with its growth in power.

2. "Dreamwalk": The Nightmare can enter the dreams of sleeping creatures without being detected by the dreamer.

3. "Dreamweaving": Once the Nightmare enters a creature's dream through "Dreamwalk," it can alter and reshape the dream according to its will using its own power.

4. "Dreamkill": Within a dream it controls, the Nightmare can inflict harm on the dreamer. If the dreamer is killed within the dream, they will lose all consciousness—their body will not die, but their mind will completely dissolve.

5. "Symbiosis": The Nightmare's physical constitution is quite weak, but it can merge with other creatures. In this symbiotic state, the Nightmare can utilize the host's physical attributes and strength to manifest its own abilities without affecting the host. The merging does not influence the host's will, and the longer the symbiosis lasts, the greater the synergy between the two, allowing the Nightmare's abilities to be utilized more effectively. During this process, their abilities are shared and can be fused and enhanced.

From the ability chart's description, Lorant could easily tell that this newly bred young creature didn't seem like one suited to standing alone.

Though its innate abilities were already formidable, as a Grade A Beast Pet, the Nightmare clearly revealed its true potential when merged with another lifeform, far beyond what it could achieve alone.