A notification from Hana's smartphone finally resounded in the middle of the night with a full volume 'Ting!', indicating that it finally received the message from the other side.

 

Papa: I believed you, Ayang. Love you to the moon and back.

 

However, the short and sweet message couldn't be read by Hana at the moment.

 

Hana was too occupied, as she was hiding behind Shiro timidly. Her beloved Kuro was rummaging the mountain-high sparkling pingpong-sized pearls placed at the back of their dwelling in search of unknown enemies. They were startled when the mountain of pearls started to shake, and partially collapsed all of a sudden.

 

Although Hana had shown courageousness in the face of thousands of Elemental Fiends, she was still afraid of apparitions and ghosts, besides her number one enemy, cockroaches.

 

She could recall a famous saying that Arash always jokingly quote when she asked him to check something out timidly. He would roll his eyes and quoted the same sentence again and again “The oldest and strongest emotion of mankind is fear, and the oldest and strongest kind of fear is fear of the unknown.”(1) Most of the time, he won the debate when the mysterious sound or thing which Hana feared so much turned out to be a plastic chicken or lizard’s tail, or even just a dead cockroach with tingling feet. However, at this moment, she couldn’t stop herself! What could she do if she’s scared?! Pretend not to be?! That’s just being in self-denial!

Hana could recall that her beloved Shiro came through the small tunnel behind their cave-dwelling, injured, and seemed to be on the run.  Since it was quite near to the small opening Hana sealed once upon a time ago, her trauma kicked in! What if something vicious came from the other side of the tunnel?! What if that vicious thing couldn't be hurt physically?!

 

"Ku-chan, what is it?! Mommy's so scared!" Hana inquired with a quivered voice while covering her face with Shiro's bushy tail in an attempt to block her view. Shiro wasn't bothered by Mom, as he stared at the lump of glowing spirit pearls with seriousness and vigilance. He could sense a powerful and dangerous aura from within the pearls. It was quite malicious that it was hiding its appearance but not its aura! He poised directly in front of Hana, attempting to shield her from any sudden attacks. He knew Mom wouldn't stand a chance if the unknown enemy decided to attack her first.

 

The sound of swishing and flurried movements could be heard from within the pile of spiritual pearls.

 

"A small thing is inside! I can't see clearly. It moves so fast, Mommy! Ah~"

 

"Are you okay, Ku-chan?! Is it a little animal?! If it's an animal, don't kill it. If it's a ghost, zap it immediately! The same with a cockroach! That is an order!" Hana blurted out a series of panicked instructions. She didn't care what it was. If it was an animal, she would spare it; if not, she'd rather let Kuro killed and ate the thing immediately. Besides a ghost and a cockroach, she also worried that it was the sworn enemy of Shiro's.

 

"It's coming out! Watch out, Mommy!"

 

A flash of yellowish gold, as big as a rugby ball, dashed out at an incredible speed! It was making a beeline towards Hana! In less than a second, it had bypassed Shiro before he could slap it away.

 

"Wahhh! Don't come here, don't come!" Hana yelped in panic. She inadvertently kicked the yellowish rugby thing away as it bounced to the nearest wall, ricocheted towards the mountainous pile of pearls, and in the process, making the whole pile crumbled down!

 

Hana, Shiro and Kuro felt like crying! TT____________TT

 

They had worked hard to clean up the whole place!

 

Hana's kick was so powerful, the golden rugby thingy bounced a couple of times around the cave-dwelling, turning the whole occasion into something comical rather than scary. By the time the inertia subsided, all three of them had loosened their nerves and looked at the small yellowish gold thing inquisitively.

 

Hana couldn't fathom why as it bounced around, it seemed like it was targeting her. After a series of evasion, finally, she just sighed and held out both of her hands in an attempt to catch the golden rugby thing. Both Kuro and Shiro were by her side after all. If it was something malicious, she could immediately pass the thing to them.

 

Once it stopped in her grasp, Hana realized it was just an egg! A familiar brownish egg which was a little bigger than an ostrich egg!

 

Hana automatically turned her gaze towards the redundant filter rack. She had not used the water filter at all after Ara's guardians came to replenish them with levitating water in a bubble around two weeks back. It only became something like an open rack where she kept all of her food, including her recent foraged items. True to her speculation, the giant egg which was supposed to be placed on the lowest tier was gone, and the same egg was within her grasp at the moment. The only difference was, it had two golden fat chicken-like feet with tiny talons extended out from the bottom of the egg, and there was a hairline zigzagged crack around the egg. Although the egg itself was brown, it had a golden glow around it.

 

Hana hesitantly knocked on the surface of the egg gently.

 

"Hello? Is someone there?"

 

Kuro and Shiro sweated. The aura of the egg fluctuated greatly. There were times that it was low, but there were times that it spiked to reach higher than their auras combined! If the thing made a move, Hana could be killed instantly!

 

Put it down, Mommy! It's dangerous! Kuro urged her telepathically.

 

Before Hana could put the 'egg' down, the crack opened up slightly, and Hana could see two big and round sparkling brown eyes staring at her.

 

"Piko! Pipipipi! Piko!" A crisp and light sound came from within the crack.

 

Looking at those adorable eyes made Hana instantly fell in love! Those were large anime eyes she loved most!

 

Ignoring the caution spoken by her other two pets, she instantly picked off the top part of the eggshell, revealing a super adorable brownish fluffy chick with traces of gold on its wings. Just below its neck were three golden bands. It was so chubby too!

 

"Aww... such a cutie!"

 

At the moment, Hana had already lost herself to the little thing cuteness. She started fawning and drooling at the same time, while stars sparkled in her eyes. Obviously, the aunty had lost the battle of will  (Mr. Mooncat: As if Hana has any will to resist cute things at all). This little one was a bird-shaped chubby plushie ❤️

 

Once the bottom part of the shell was removed from its body, the little chubby baby bird immediately squirmed and jumped towards Hana's bosom. It snuggled close to Hana while closing its eyes happily, making the two brothers speechless!

 

Isn't that a baby silver-banded eagle?! How come the band at the neck is gold? Kuro remembered eating the chick's parents a while back. They tasted so bad since they had been charred too much. He knew he had targeted the lowest tiered silver-banded eagle's nest to steal the egg for food. A series of incidents had prevented them from cooking it. Who knows the time for it to hatch had been so soon. If he knew, he would've chosen a different one. At his current level of strength, most probably, he could defeat the upper tiered nests' spirit eagles, but he knew he was still far off from the Silver-banded eagle Monarch.

 

Bro Ku, isn't this the egg you brought back a while ago? Is there something wrong? Seeing Kuro's ponderous looks, Shiro quickly inquired. He was afraid the little thing might harm their mistress.

 

There's definitely something wrong! The Silver-banded Eagle Monarch is a tyrant in his area and is a late-stage Lord-level spiritual avian. However, the peak aura coming from that brat is already entering the early-stage Lord! That brat is as strong as me! (2) D*mn it! I've never heard about a baby Silver-banded Eagle possessing such strength! Overall, they were low tiered beasts, the normal spirit eagles are only at the early to the mid-Noble stage. There was only a few at the late-Noble and half-step Lord stage within the nest I investigated before!

 

The atmosphere around the two boys was getting tenser. Kuro himself just barely entered the Lord level without stabilizing it. He had so much to do and couldn't find time to enter seclusion for a short while to stabilize his realm. He couldn't take it that the little chick in his mistress embrace had already step over his strength just by being born! He was pretty sure he didn't notice any aura leaking before they left their home prior to subjugating the Elemental Fiends. He inspected the hard shell placed in between the messed up cave-dwelling and saw that it had a masking effect! The brat might have been out some time ago but had been spying at them for god knows how long!

 

You’re thinking too much, Bro Ku! The little thing’s aura isn’t even stabilized yet. We can still kill it now!

 

Kuro rolled his eyes as he looked at how their Mommy hugged the little brat almost possessively with stars in her eyes. Do you think it’s possible now? The shameless thing had the most lethal weapon to defeat Mommy. Sigh~

 

Guys, this little bird is super attached to me, why-lah? It's quite ticklish. Despite the urgency and seriousness in Kuro and Shiro's exchanges, the aunty couldn't help herself from enjoying being snuggled by a fluffy, feathery little thing. It was super syiok!(3) It felt like snuggling with her fat cat at home, minus the extra feather and the occasional adorable 'pi-pi' sounds.

 

Every time it moved in Hana's embrace, the two brothers felt like a tremor going through their veins. One wrong swipe or one wrong peck could end Hana's life.

 

Kuro's eyes burned with conviction after he recalled what he had promised himself outside the Elemental Fiends' underground nest.

 

"Mommy! Take it in! Feed it with your blood now."

 

Hana's expression turned hard. Now she knew what it entails. "How could I did that to this precious little thing?"

 

"Pi?" The little chick tilted its head to the side in confusion when it saw the 'mama' it snuggled was suddenly gloomy. It flapped its wings towards Hana's face in an attempt to cheer her up. But the aunty was knocked back by the wind generated from the gentle flap until she fell. The gentle flap felt like a full-strength slap upon her face!

 

Hana, "..." O___O|||

 

The ever-ready Kuro was there protecting Hana's fall. He added once he saw Mommy's blank look, "See? I told you. If you want to keep the bird, you must own her first so that at least you could communicate and instruct it to control its power."

 

"But.. but... What if it felt betrayed once it knew what it meant?" Hana had a hard time deciding. But the temptation was oh so great.

 

"I don't think so.." He watched the shameless little thing clung to the aunty's bosom with both of its wings wrapped around her body again, as soon as the aunty landed on the cave floor. If only the little thing was older, Kuro would've strangled it there and then and barbecued it just the way he had done to its parents.

 

Hana and Shiro, "..." =______=;;;

 

Really! This thing was so shameless! It just hurt the person it coddled with but pretended nothing had happened and continued to fondle the aunty while making a happy "Pi, pi" sound!

 

Hana made a complicated look. Her expression changed a couple of times as she thought about future implications. Seeing how clingy this thing was to her, she felt like she couldn't even throw it out after this. It will definitely come crawling back while making an adorable expression again and again. Truthfully, Hana felt helpless and happy at the same time seeing how the little bird was attached to her for unknown reasons.

 

After contemplating for a while, she finally came to a decision and gave her finger to her beloved pet-snake. She closed her eyes in fear, but there was a glint of determination. Her intentions were clear as day, as all of them knew she was scared of blood. Kuro sighed and nipped her finger gently, being extra careful not to make it too painful.

 

This is just the first step. Must be patient.  Kuro closed his eyes and tried his best to hide his internal thoughts.

 

To the wise little black snake, his plan had just started. He observed Hana's frantic movements while she tried to feed blood to the shameless little thing, while his little brother busily tried to stop it from accidentally assaulting their mistress.

 

Bro-Ku! A little help here? Shiro made an unpleasant expression.

 

Coming!

 

...

 

Authors' Note:

 

1) a famous quote by H. P. Lovecraft

2) That brat is as strong as me! = remember that before advancement, Kuro was just a late-stage Noble (passed 1x tribulation). After advancement, he only becomes an early-stage Lord (passed 2x tribulation). The little bird is already an early-stage Lord in this chapter.

 

3) syiok = more fun than fun haha