Chen Mian got up, opened his door, and walked out.
Since he couldn't sleep for the time being, he decided to check out the forest.
He changed into dark clothes, tucked the scroll into his chest pocket, and pushed open the apartment door.
The night wind rushed toward him.
The roars of beasts from the distant forest drifted in from all directions, one after another.
Chen Mian stepped onto the fallen leaves, which crunched softly under his feet.
Before he had walked a hundred paces, a dark shadow lunged out from the bushes ahead.
A shadow leopard, Diamond Rank, a magical beast known for its speed.
It crouched low, a deep, threatening growl rolling in its throat.
Chen Mian glanced at it and continued walking.
The shadow leopard let out a short whimper, turned, and vanished into the undergrowth.
Wherever he walked, the forest became silent.
In the bushes, a pack of gale wolves pressed their bodies extremely low, even keeping their breathing to a minimum.
When he reached an open clearing, Chen Mian noticed several giant footprints on the ground.
Each was as large as a washbasin, sunk deep into the soil with scorched marks around the edges. The earth was still steaming.
From deep within the dense forest, a pair of dark red eyes was staring at him.
A flame demon bear, an Epic Rank 8 magical beast and one of the overlords of the Forest of Death.
The pupils of those eyes were vertical slits. With every breath, tiny sparks puffed from its nostrils, illuminating its dark red fur.
Chen Mian stopped and walked toward it. The sound of dry branches snapping under his feet was exceptionally clear in the silent night.
The flame demon bear deep in the thicket didn't move.
It was crouched on a patch of scorched ground; the trees within a hundred-meter radius had been reduced to nothing but blackened trunks.
The moonlight shone on its fiery red fur, making it look like a massive, burning flame.
The flame demon bear was more than twenty times larger than an ordinary bear, looming there like a small hill.
Chen Mian stopped three meters in front of it.
A low roar rumbled in the bear's throat, and sparks from its nostrils danced between them, but they halted as they approached Chen Mian's body.
Seeing this, it slowly stood up. Its dark red fur glowed like burning charcoal under the moonlight, every muscle tensed and ready to pounce. Yet it just stood there, its low growls intermittent.
Chen Mian withdrew his gaze and continued walking. The flame demon bear didn't make any aggressive moves.
He passed through a dense thicket and arrived at an area he hadn't visited much before. The trees here were older, their trunks so thick that several people couldn't encircle them. Their roots were gnarled and twisted, forming natural caves in the ground.
The air smelled of damp earth mixed with a faint, sweet fragrance.
Chen Mian's footsteps paused for a moment.
He caught a faint scent and followed it.
A massive ancient tree appeared before him, its trunk so thick it would take ten people to encircle it.
Among the gnarled roots was a cave almost entirely concealed by vines, with mana seeping out from within.
Chen Mian crouched down and brushed the vines aside.
The cave wasn't deep. By the moonlight, he could see something glowing at the bottom.
It was a fist-sized, pale silver seed, half-buried in the soil.
This is...
Chen Mian reached out to take it.
Just as his fingers touched the seed, a white object shot out from the shadows behind some rocks, aimed straight for his face.
It was incredibly fast—so fast that most adventurers wouldn't have been able to react.
At the same moment his fingers touched the seed, Chen Mian flipped his hand and precisely pinched the scruff of the creature's neck.
It was a palm-sized rabbit, white as snow. Its four legs were now flailing wildly in the air, its pink eyes filled with terror.
A treasure-hunting rabbit. A Black Iron Rank 3 magical beast with almost zero combat power, but it possessed a talent that no high-level magical beast could match: an extremely high sensitivity to mana fluctuations and life force.
It could sniff out magic ores, rare herbs, and mana crystals within a three-mile radius, and it would stay to guard them.
There was a saying in adventurer circles: finding a treasure-hunting rabbit's nest is as good as finding a treasure hoard.
Chen Mian had once really wanted a treasure-hunting rabbit.
However, they were rare and difficult to catch. They were highly alert, their speed was comparable to Red Jade Rank agility-type magical beasts, and they could burrow into the ground.
Furthermore, they were almost impossible to tame. Even if one was tamed, it would often run away once released—a total rebel.
Chen Mian unfurled the Taming Contract scroll, and a pale gold magic circle lit up.
The rabbit's body was enveloped in light. After a few struggles, it gradually calmed down.
【Taming Contract in effect! Current contracted magical beasts: 1/3.】
【Treasure-Hunting Rabbit (Level 13). Talent: Mana Perception (Automatically marks the locations of magic ores, rare herbs, and mana crystals within a three-mile radius).】
With this little fellow, it would be much easier to find rare crops once the Mana Garden was established.
Chen Mian picked it up and tucked it into his pocket.
He looked at the seed in his hand.
He couldn't tell what it was for the time being.
The rabbit poked its head out of his pocket, its front paws gripping the edge as it looked around.
“Let's go.”
He stood up and brushed the fallen leaves off his clothes. The way back was even quieter.
Halfway there, he paused.
In the middle of the path ahead sat a young flame demon bear, Level 42.
It tilted its head, looking at Chen Mian curiously, with tiny sparks puffing from its nostrils every now and then.
Chen Mian glanced at it, then looked past the cub to the shadows behind it.
An adult flame demon bear was standing at the edge of the thicket.
Those dark red eyes were fixed on him, but they held none of the ferocity typical of an overlord of the Forest of Death.
Chen Mian locked eyes with it for two seconds, patted the cub's head, and continued on his way.
The cub's whimpers drifted from behind him, followed by the heavy and light thuds of two bears' footsteps as they moved further away.
Light from the apartment windows shone through.
Chen Mian pushed open the door.
Flora was curled up in the corner of the sofa with a coat draped over her shoulders, holding a cup of water that had already gone cold. She looked up when she heard the door.
Chen Mian changed his shoes and walked in.
The treasure-hunting rabbit poked its head out of his pocket and looked around.
Flora's gaze fell on the white fluff.
“...A rabbit?”
“Yeah. I found it.”
Chen Mian lifted the rabbit out of his pocket and placed it on the coffee table. The rabbit sat there, its ears twitching and its pink eyes scanning its surroundings before curling into a ball of white fur.
“Found it?” Flora looked at the fluffball and asked curiously, “Where did you find it?”
“In the forest.” Chen Mian didn't explain further. He poured a glass of water, finished it, and headed upstairs.
After a couple of steps, he added without looking back, “If you need to find magical ingredients in the future, you can ask it.”
Flora looked down at the white fluff on the table. The rabbit yawned, revealing two tiny front teeth.
She reached out and gently touched the rabbit's ear with her fingertip, a slight smile touching the corners of her mouth.
Lying in bed, Chen Mian checked the system panel and then closed it.
He had only intended to go for a walk.
He hadn't expected to pick up a treasure-hunting rabbit and get a seed as a bonus.
It could be considered fulfilling an old dream.
He rolled over and closed his eyes.
A soft sound of a door closing came from the other end of the hallway.
【Current Points: 830】
【Landlord's Diary: Today I picked up a tenant named Flora. She's very shy and is a great cook. There's a game console in the shop for fifteen hundred points—it must be that eccentric goddess's twisted sense of humor. Couldn't sleep tonight, so I went for a stroll in the forest. Picked up a seed and happened to find a treasure-hunting rabbit—the very thing I used to clamor about catching with Louise all those years ago. Flora seems to like the rabbit quite a bit too. Tsk.】
Rate on N.U.
