Death... and me

This time, the chick found a deer-like demon beast. However, that demon beast wasn't a carnivore, so even though the chick came running in its direction, it basically ignored the chick. Of course, if it was any other demon beast, the deer-like beast wouldn't be so calm. The reason behind it was because the chick didn't seem to offer any danger, to the point that it didn't care about the chick.

Hulian was the first one to notice it.

"Well, that's a pretty common one beast, a white-hoofed deer. From what I can feel with my Spiritual Sense, it is an Initial Stage Two one. Simply put, it is even weaker than the Hound."

*Chick! Chick!*

The chick arrived at the deer's side and called for its attention. The deer that was eating some leaves then looked at the chick, puzzled. After a few moments, it took some of the leaves it was eating and passed them to the chick.

The chick then looked at the leaves and felt somewhat disappointed. Of course, the demon deer didn't understand that and simply kept eating its leaves. Finally, the chick looked back at the deer. Or better, it looked at the deer's head with shining eyes. However, the chick seemed to be struggling as well, looking at the deer's head with a ravenous gaze.

Rean immediately understood what was happening and was quite surprised.

"This chick is a lot more intelligent than I thought."

Roan and Hulian looked at Rean, waiting for him to explain.

"Can't you see? The chick's initial target was to take the white-hoofed deer's demon core. However, the deer treated the chick well and even shared some of its food. Of course, that was only because the deer didn't see the chick as a threat. It most likely thought it was just another herbivore, just like itself. The chick is taking it as an act of kindness, so it can't bring itself to kill the deer for its demon core. If the chick didn't have high intelligence, it would never consider such a thing. The chick would have simply attacked the deer's head just like it did with the Hound."

Roan and Hulian had to admit that Rean was right.

"The chick is only a little over two months old, but it can already have such thoughts. Its scream can make one's head almost explode. Its attack power is definitely not something an ordinary Foundation Establishment Realm cultivator could take. It also has high intelligence even though it is only a Stage Two Demon Beast. Just what race did it come from?"

Finally, the chick closed its eyes and turned around, dashing into the forest once again. At the same time, its expression showed a lot of pain, as if it had made the most critical decision in its life. Rean looked at that and couldn't help but chuckle a little. He quite liked the chick. Roan, on the other hand, suddenly disappeared.

*Swich!*

Right after, Hulian and Rean noticed a white-hoofed deer's head falling on the ground. As one could imagine, Roan killed the deer with a single strike.

"Hm? Why did you kill the deer? After the poor chick suffered so much to let it live."

Roan looked at Rean as if he looked at an idiot.

"Obviously, to see if it has a Demon Core or not."

"Couldn't you have simply asked me? I could feel its presence."

"I only believe it if I see it with my own eyes."

"I think you simply didn't like the chick's benevolent attitude."

"I couldn't care less about the chick's attitude."

Finally, Hulian intervened in the twin's bickering.

"Ahem... if you take too long, the chick will leave my Spiritual Sense range."

Roan then performed another sword slash, cutting the deer's head open. Sure enough, a bloodied Demon Core came rolling from inside it.

"Seems like it confirms our suspicions. The chick is really aiming for the demon beasts that have demon cores."

Rean nodded.

"That's a good thing. As a demon beast itself, the demon core's energy is very compatible with it. It will be much better than eating my Spirit Stones. However, it is too young for me to leave it alone. What if it gets lost?"

It was then that Sister Orb's voice appeared.

[There is no need to worry. Since the chick suffered a mutation because of the Soul Gem Dimensional Realm Energy, there's a faint connection to it now. I can use this connection to find where the chick is. Of course, it is not as good as you two. If the chick goes too far away, then I won't be able to tell where it is.]

Rean was delighted to hear that. However, he quickly shook his head.

'Even so, this Demon Beast forest has a few Stage Three Demon Beasts. It will be too dangerous for the chick. I might let it wander around once it gets older or if it reaches Stage Three.'

Hulian noticed Rean and Roan's silence.

"Can we go already?"

Rean and Roan nodded, and they quickly followed the chick's trail. The chick ended up finding another demon beast at the Stage Two level with a core. Of course, the chick's coincidences didn't happen that easily. This time, the demon beast attack did not miss. However...

*Bang!*

The enemy's claws hit the chick's fat neck, sending the chick bounding back like a kicking ball. Rean and the others didn't know what to say. The chick approached the demon beast as if it was going to deliberately give up its demon core to the chick. It didn't try to defend or attack the demon beast at all. Obviously, the attack hit the chick perfectly.

Roan and Hulian then looked at Rean with weird expressions. They didn't say anything, but the meaning in their eyes was apparent for everyone to see.

'This chick doesn't seem intelligent at all.'

"Ahem... it's because the chick has no experience in battles. This is good though. It will soon understand that it needs to fight if it wants to survive."

Roan and Hulian then returned their attention to the kicking chick, much to Rean's relief.

'Well, at least it has a very high defense. The claws only messed up with a few of the plumes. Nonetheless, there was no injury left behind.'

Finally, the chick got up again. However, it showed the same teary eyes as before.

"Not good!"

Rean, Roan, and Hulian immediately used their Spiritual Energies to cover their ears once more. Sure enough...

*CREEEEEEEEEEEEEE!*

The demon beast that was coming after the chick stopped immediately in its tracks. It tried to use its own paws to cover its ears as the chick cried. Still, it felt quite dizzy since it didn't know how to use its Spiritual Energy to protect its ears.

Finally, the chick stopped crying. However, it looked somehow angry now. The demon beast, still somewhat dizzy, then slowly got up and looked at the chick with fear in its eyes. Its instincts told it that it should flee.

Unfortunately for the beast, Light Element gathered around the chick's body as it shot forward. Who said that fat means slow? At the very least, the chick was much faster than the demon beast that attacked it!

The demon beast was frightened as it turned around and tried to run away. Unfortunately, it was too late.

*Puchi!*

The chick's beak moved even faster than its body the moment it arrived beside the demon beast. Before the demon beast could even think about dodging, the chick already had a Demon Core between its beak. As for the demon beast, only a clean hole was left in the middle of its head.

This was the first time that Rean's group saw the chick actually making a proper attack. After all, the first Demon Core was obtained from an already dead Demon Beast.

"So strong..."

The chick then swallowed the demon core as it looked at the demon beast's corpse with an angry expression. Well, at least it tried... too bad that it didn't look scary at all. If anything, it looked quite funny to see the round chick doing that.

*Chick! Chick!*

The chick then turned around and dashed... in Rean's direction.

"Eh?"

From the looks of it, the chick knew that Rean had been following it all the time.

Once again, the chick jumped on Rean. Fortunately, Rean was prepared this time. Rean then held the fat chick in his arms, much to the chick's delight.

"You are still heavy, you know?"

However, the chick didn't hear. That's because as soon as it noticed that Rean could hold it, the chick fell asleep.

"Then again, it's just a hatchling in the end."

Hulian couldn't help but ask, though.

"By the way, shouldn't you at least give it a name? After all, it is quite annoying hearing chick all the time."

Rean then pondered a bit but couldn't come up with something good enough. He then looked at Roan to see if he had a good idea.

"What? I couldn't care less about its name. Just choose whatever."

Rean shook his head in response to his words.

"Come on, it's just a name. I'm sure you can think about something. I won't stop bothering you until you decide something."

Roan felt like a headache would come if he insisted on not choosing a name, so he simply selected the first thing that came to his mind.

"Alright. From now on, I'll call you Kentucky."

Rean's mouth twitched.

"Do you want to eat it that much?"

Roan nodded.

"You think?"