Ban could not endure it anymore so he reached out his hands to carry the little creature.

The creature was small and chubby. It perfectly fits Ban’s two palms, it’s as if his palms were made entirely for the sake of the creature.

The creature has a large head compared to its body. Its eyes that stared at Ban were also bigger than usual. There were two small antennae protruding just above its eyes, twitching from time to time.

A small yellowish crown could be seen in the middle of the creature’s forehead. When one looked close enough, they might even notice the resemblance it had towards the Demon Ant’s Queen earlier.

The creature keeps on pointing towards Ban with its two small front legs. Ban could somehow understand what the creature was implying so he pulled his palm towards his face in a slow manner.

And just as his palms reached his chin, the creature suddenly stood up from his palm before giving him a peck on the tip of his nose.

After the successful peck, the creature suddenly turns and hops around his palm happily.

Ban could not help but chuckle from the creature’s display.

He took one of his hands away and poked the creature’s small face before rubbing it softly.

The creature seems to be happy with that as it cuddled and even hugged Ban’s finger tightly.

“Jeez… How could a Demon Ant be so cute?” Ban giggled lightly.

The creature was busy playing with his fingers so Ban took this moment to inspect the changes of the words shown by the System.

[Mission: Hatch and train the Demon Ant Egg partially completed!

[46 hours left before deadline!]

Hatch the Demon Ant Egg: Completed!

Train the creature inside the Egg and let it ascend one rank higher: Pending!

Reward: Unknown!

]

Ban focused his gaze again on the little creature that was playing with his fingers happily. A smile then appeared on his face, seeing its cuteness.

“I’m sorry for killing your mother, little one! However, I won’t feel guilty about it as your kind are known for their ruthlessness towards mine.” Ban rubbed the little creature’s head softly which the latter received with full smiles.

“However, you are different from them, you’re still untainted. Don’t worry, I will take care of you!” A resolute expression appeared on Ban’s face as he uttered those words.

The creature seems to have understood him as after hearing his words, the creature suddenly stood up in four legs before breaking into a cute cheer.

Krrrr! Krrrr! Krrrr!

Ban chuckled before poking the creature’s stomach lightly.

“However, we still need to get stronger, little one. I have already experienced the way of the weak…”

“When your family member gets taken in front of you, and you could not do anything other than to watch them flee…”

“I don’t want to experience it again, and I don’t want you to experience it ever. That’s why we must work hard to become stronger.”

“Welp… We have the System, so I guess that’s a given already? Sigh… what am I even saying, I still have to work hard regardless.”

“Come on now, you’re still full of energy so I guess we can train for a bit?” Ban thought.

“Oh wait, I need to inspect your status screen first!” Ban added as he stared at the little creature while saying,

“Show my beast status!”

From the knowledge he gained from the System, he should be able to see the status of his beasts upon saying those words.

It seems that the System really doesn’t lie as the next instant, a row of words suddenly materialize in front of his eyes.

[Contracted Beast:

Name: N/A

Race: Demon Ant(Queen)

Title: First Mate(Sky)

Rank: X-Mortal

[Skills]

Enrage:

-Gain strength that could topple opponents multiple times bigger than you!

-Strength is increased a hundred times upon activation.

-Will enter a weakened state after using the skill!

Duration: 5 minutes!

Cooldown: 5 hours!

]

“Well, it’s already a given seeing the little crown on its head, but confirming that she is indeed a Demon Ant Queen still took me by surprise,” Ban stated after seeing the status of the little Demon Ant Queen.

However, he was bothered by the parentheses that separated the word ‘Queen’ and the Demon Ant so he asked the System directly.

[The parentheses imply that the beast has the blood of a Queen and has the potential to become if taken care of properly.

She’s still a child and will become one in the future if nothing bad happens.

Host, I suggest taking care of this Demon Ant (Queen) carefully as she might become one of your greatest strengths in the future!]

“Alright, understood!” Ban nodded his head in understanding. However, even without the System telling him to take care of the Demon Ant(Queen), he will still do it.

He was not able to contract a monster and failed to become a summoner. He was depressed about it before, but it was different now.

Although it was not a monster but a beast, a successful contract was still a contract, and he was now a summoner regardless of his summons.

The little Demon Ant Queen is his first summon, and he would not abandon her no matter what.

The book of techniques has already provided him the method on how to train this little Demon Ant, the only thing left was for him to execute it.

However, before that, he still needs to give the little Demon Ant Queen a name.

________

Thank you for reading everyone.