A ball of fur which had the size comparable to that of a basketball and fur that can be mistaken for cotton, calling it a cotton ball may not be that big of a stretch, with 8 small segmented legs on each side and a small tail pointing towards the sky it walked with quick steps on grass and slowed down a bit whenever in mud. A huge eye of a size of a tennis ball in the dead center of the face with two long antennas sticking out from above. It chewed on branches fallen from tree with his small mouth hidden behind the fur.
I took out the handbook to find out if there is any information regarding this ball of fur. I flipped through pages noticing many types of plants and creature documented in the handbook.
No wonder the organization doesn't branch out much, the amount of things to look out for just around here in itself is a huge task, and we aren't even anywhere near a piller.
"FOUND IT!" I yelled finally after coming across the page that matched the description of the creature infront of me but the illustration besides the description was... ummm... helpful? The illustration was just a spot of white paint with lines for legs, a swirly tail, 2 lines for antennas and for some reason an extremely detailed eye.
I mean anyone who drew this, atleast they got the vibe right
I proceeded to read the information related to the creature
[ This creature is called『ShutDown』, an creature with the average rank of angel and is often found in grassy field near human settlements, it has no way to cause harm to human in any physical way, it's primary diet consists of tree branches and bugs. ]
Does that mean it is not harmful to me? Can I just ignore it and move on? I mean it had no way to attack me from what I've read so far.
There was still a bit of text left for me to read so I proceeded to read the rest.
[ Despite everything pointing towards this creature not being harmful make sure to be careful around it, it is still a creature born from the piller therefore caution is needed, an angel rank ShutDown is not harmful but if it is a higher rank one, upon sensing danger it can pass out and cause anyone near it to pass out as well hence the name ShutDown. Even if it can't hurt you, passing out in the open would easily be the end for you, therfore PROCEED WITH CAUTION! ]
Reading it made me extremely scared and I took cover behind a bush near by.
So nothing will happen if it's angle rank but if its a higher rank I have to make sure I don't scare it. What are these ranks anyway?
I kept observing from the bush, no sudden moment nor any sound. I kept my distance but I had to move at somepoint or I might just make my camp there in the bush in order to not pass out just few meters away from the gate.
How embarrassing would it be to return to the doctor right after leaving and being found passed out right besides the gate, he will laugh so hard and make sure to never let me forget it.
As I was thinking about the embarrassment it would cause me, a small butterfly flew from besides me and towards ShutDown who has now walked a bit and is infront of the tree, the branch it chewed had a flower on it which enticed the butterfly, ShutDown unaware kept chewing on the branch as if there was no tomorrow. The butterfly kept going steady towards it's food.
On first glance it was nothing special but from my point of view it seemed like I am witnessing a legendary scene right out of a story, the butterfly approaching ShutDown menacingly, the battle between the old species and the new one.
By some pure miracle ShutDown looked up, it looked right into butterfly's two eyes filled with thousands of lenses, upon noticing the butterfly the ShutDown passed out.
Well that was anticlimactic.
The butterfly totally ignoring the passed out ShutDown went for the flower on the branch. Tieing the hankerchief around it's neck, the butterfly started it's meal.
If it passed out alone that means it was a angel ranked one right?
I approached it with soft feet unsure of long it stays passed out for. I grabbed it with my right hand with handbook in my left hand as I read what to do with it.
[ It's a exoskeleton type of creature with inside purely being sustained by downing in a gelatin like liquid substance comparable to blood, to make use of it, follow the instructions given below:
1. make a small cut on the back right above the tail. The cut should be small in length but deep.
2. now hang the body on some thing using a dagger or anything available.
3. let it hang for 30 minutes or more to let all of it's insides out through the cut you made.
4. (optional) collect the gelatin like liquid flowing through the body but make sure to not let any organs in it. That gelatin like liquid can be used as a substitute for anesthesia or making a paralyzing drug that can be applied to weapons such as arrows and sword.
5. For eating options- ]
"I Don't wanna read any futher!!!"
Who even thought of all of this!!? And how!!?
I let ShutDown lay on the grass as it was having the best dream of his life, probably eating a whole tree all by himself in his dreams, despite letting it go I knew deep in my mind that I'll need to kill these creature on the way and do what is written in the handbook because that is the only way we could survive.
Even though we got canned food from all the expeditions done, it's not like this food will last us forever. I've got to make sure to learn all about these creature but first I'll need to learn about this ranking system issued by the guild.