Owl Lake.
Several wild boars with butterfly wings huddled together at the water's edge, grunting as they drank.
Suddenly, streaks of golden light scattered down. In the blink of an eye, the boars fled in different directions, but more golden light wrapped around Insect Characters shot out. Soon the boars turned into golden light and flew toward the woods, landing atop Little Squirrel's head.
"No matter how many times I see it, that ability of yours is incredible," Xia Shu marveled.
Nameless smiled. "I think so too."
"When will your friends arrive?" Xia Shu asked, changing the subject.
Nameless shook his head. "I don't know. We only agreed to meet here, but something seems to have happened to them. I hope they're all right."
Just then, five otters crept furtively to the lakeside to drink. One peered around, while another took out a little stone and toyed with it.
"Huh. One of those otters has no obvious signs of Insectification. I wonder if it's an Exotic Beast or just lucky," Nameless said in surprise as he studied them.
Xia Shu looked over too.
The largest of the five otters was about the size of an adult house cat, while the smallest was no bigger than a kitten.
Some of the larger otters had grown ant antennae; another had a tail like a scorpion's. Only the smallest otter had no trace of Insectification, and its coloring was different too.
The other four were grayish-white, while it was creamy white and looked adorable.
"It's probably an Exotic Beast, but... are Exotic Beasts really that common?" Xia Shu frowned, puzzled.
In the past, people who wanted to study Exotic Beasts could search the whole world without finding a trace of one. Now they were popping up as though they cost nothing.
Nameless had