9 Hex

For the past seven days, Dango had been waiting for Jiraiya to finish his mission and return.

'Now that I think about it, high-ranked missions take a long time, right? Hm... I should've eaten the food sparingly...'

Due to his eagerness to leave, Dango had mistakenly eaten all the food that was available in the house. Well, he took the last bite on the sixth day.

Now with the new expectation that Jiraiya wouldn't be arriving any time soon, Dango had to find a solution to his food shortage problem. He was already feeling the effects of hunger.

'Will I starve to death before Jiraiya comes? Hm... Is this consider surviving on my own?'

Dango considered the possibility that the [Orphan] skill would help him survive due to the last part of the description.

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[Orphan]

Description: ...When you are surviving alone, death will find it hard to grasp onto you.

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He didn't know how exactly how the skill worked, but since he was technically 'surviving' alone, he shouldn't easily starve to death, right? Maybe he could last a few days before succumbing to death.

But even then, Dango wouldn't just sit around and do nothing about his hunger. He can probably embrace his inner omnivore and eat the plants in the backyard.

'Can I eat cursed spirits? Would I even get any nutrients for it?' Dango thought as he glanced at the pot he planted the cursed seed in.

The seed had been steadily absorbing the nearby negativity, just as the object's descriptions stated. Nearing the end of its seven-day period, the seed had grown into a budding flower. Dango expected the cursed plant to bloom today.

Excluding the flower's bud, the rest of the flower was the normal green color. The bud itself was ash black.

Nobody will be able to notice the flower's (or seed's) strangeness, at most, they will find its coloring odd. Only someone who can sense cursed energy will be able to notice how unique the flower is.

Filled with excitement, he sat in front of the plant and watched it, waiting for the blooming moment.

"Zzz..."

He quickly fell asleep out of boredom.

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A few hours later, Dango woke up and rubbed his eyes as he yawned. He remembered what he was doing before he fell asleep and scrambled to look at his prized possession.

Thankfully, it seemed that he woke up right before the gradeless cursed spirit was born. He watched as the bud finally bloomed in all its glory. There, he saw a strange creature just lying in the center of the flower.

'It kinda looks cute. Wakey wakey.' Dango said as he poked the spirit with his finger. He wanted to see it in all of its glory.

Annoyed at the poking, the spirit unwrapped itself and looked at Dango.

The first thought that appeared in Dango's mind was how fat it was.

It looked like a centipede with three bodily segments followings its head. On the side of each segment was a pair of bug legs. In the center of its body were two tiny transparent wings that were clearly too small to carry its body.

It had two antennas that sprouted from its head, only half the length of each segment. Unlike a normal bug, the hexapede had two, human-like eyes at the front of its head.

Dango grabbed the hexapede and placed it onto both of his hands. Comparing it to his own hands, the hexapede was clearly larger than both of his hands. At the same time, the cursed flower that created the hexapede turned to ash and dissipated away.

'Just as I thought, it was a one-time use item.'

He rubbed the top of the hexapede's head with his finger which annoyed it even more. In turn, it bit Dango's rubbing finger. Thankfully, he didn't feel any pain, instead, it was ticklish.

"You're very cute. Bite me again and I'll rip your head off. So cute."

It seemed that the hexapede understood the intent behind Dango's words and shuttered in fear. As Dango was busying himself with the spirit, a window popped up.

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[Basic Taming]

Description: Increases your proficiency in taming. All creatures you tamed are slightly more intelligent compared to others of the same species.

To advance the skill, tame several creatures of different species.

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"Huh, that's a neat surprise. Did I tame you, lil buddy? Guess I gotta give you a name. Mm... I'll call you Hex."

Hex merely looked at Dango and buzzed like a bee.

"I'll take care of you from now on. You'll become my emergency food supply if I really need to. I guess I can eat the toads and snakes. Hm..."

Dango placed Hex onto the floor and summoned another tiny toad. Like the last one, it looked around and decided to jump away. However, Dango was prepared this time as he trapped it inside a jar.

"Hex, do you eat toads?" Dango questioned as he brought Hex to the toad's cage. He opened it up and immediately, Hex used its tiny wings and snatched the toad. Dango watched it shred the toad into pieces, burping when it finished.

'Messy... Poor toad. Hmm... should I tame a toad, snake, and slug? Considering how I might eat them, I probably shouldn't...'

Immediately after, Hex closed its eyes and laid on the ground, snoring. As Dango watched it snore, he started thinking.

'Hex is the result of the seed absorbing the negative emotions near my home? If I planted another one right here and now, would I get a different Fly Head? I wonder what kind of negativity Hex was nurtured from.'

Dango took a look outside and was surprised that it was already night. He looked at Hex and ran to his room and came back with pillows and blankets.

He carefully placed Hex onto one of the pillows and covered it with a blanket. He also did the same for himself as he set up his new sleeping station near it.

Just before Dango fell asleep once more, he smiled at Hex sleeping soundly.

'I won't be lonely anymore!'