Chapter 9
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 9
Chapter Title: Fateful Encounter
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The female Venom Mantis (8 months old, incomplete metamorphosis, still a virgin) was flustered.
She couldn't quite define the emotion surging through her.
She had ruthlessly rejected the advances of countless males, fattening her belly in an entirely different way.
To her, males were nothing more than dull kin ruled by their baser instincts.
It was utterly ridiculous how they approached her knowing full well it meant death, and she couldn't help but sneer.
Among mantises, she was exceptionally large—the object of every male's desire—but she had zero intention of making an egg sac with some scrawny twig of a suitor.
No male had ever dared climb atop her body, and every one that approached ended up in her belly.
For a Venom Mantis who had lived such a life, it was only natural that she couldn't pin down this new feeling.
It was just pheromones.
But these were the densest pheromones she'd ever sensed in her life.
Typically, during breeding season, it was the males who sought out the females.
Females released their pheromones in place, drawing in males enslaved by their lower halves to be devoured.
Male pheromones were inevitably weaker by comparison.
But these? They hit harder than any before, impossible to ignore.
She simply had to see what kind of mantis could emit such a potent scent.
And so, this queen-like figure led her massive body toward the source.
What she witnessed there was more shocking than anything in her life.
A male mercilessly crushing other male Venom Mantises beneath his feet while courting her—it was too stimulating.
Sure, he was a bit on the black side for a mantis, and oddly covered in fluffy down, but she paid it no mind.
What did looks matter?
With pheromones this strong, he had to be a male mantis—no question.
Besides, he looked strangely plump and delicious.
This one might actually fill the void inside her.
The Venom Mantis approached him slowly.
And in that moment...
"Chyaak!"
The male darted away.
After dousing her in pheromones like that, he was just going to abandon her?
It was the first treatment of its kind in her life—the first emotion of its kind, too.
A nonstop chain of shocks.
How dare he reject her.
How dare he spurn the one countless males had courted with their lives!
Humiliating.
She had to seize him right now and restore her honor.
"Kisaaak!"
Heart trembling, she gave chase, but pursuing that black mantis as it spread its wings and glided was impossible.
She'd lost him.
The noble queen had run barefoot in a most undignified manner—and still lost him.
The Venom Mantis couldn't comprehend it.
Not the rejection itself, but the emotion it stirred in her.
Was it anger? Regret? Hatred?
No—none of those words captured it.
The one who had shaken this pitiful 8-month-old mantis's heart was long gone.
Only then did she realize what she'd felt.
Back when she was still a young larva, the stories her mother told her.
This drooling, uncontrollable urge whenever she thought of him.
That was called love, wasn't it?
So, what exactly was love?
The Venom Mantis pondered briefly before answering her own question.
For her, love was something to seize for herself.
"Kereuk... Kisaaak!"
She vowed that someday, she would claim that strangely black mantis.
In truth, the mantis's emotion stemmed closer to hunger-driven appetite than love—but there was no one to tell her that.
Wait, does this even make sense?
Even if pheromones messed with her head, I just can't wrap my mind around it.
I'm a crow. She's a mantis, for crying out loud.
A lizard seducing a spider would sound more believable.
...Still, after all that chaos, I managed to shake her off.
Kind of a shame to leave the mantis meat behind, but at least I snagged the feather.
I proudly gazed at the iridescent green feather now adorning my chest.
[Venom Mantis's Green Feather]
A feather imbued with some of the Venom Mantis's traits.
Acquire Low Glide while equipped.
Low Glide isn't bad, but honestly, I was hoping for Minor Poison Generation.
Flying will come naturally with time, and once it does, mere gliding will be obsolete.
Poison, on the other hand, is a rare ability no ordinary bird could ever get—definitely worth holding onto.
Pair it with Pheromone Manipulation, and foraging becomes effortless.
Sprinkle pheromones on bait, inject poison, and boom—automated hunting.
But I've changed my mind.
Low Glide saved my life.
If I'd gotten Minor Poison Generation instead, I wouldn't have been able to use it and would've been caught flat-footed by that female.
As the status window showed, male Venom Mantises evolved Low Glide specifically to escape females.
Thanks to that, even I—a newbie to traits—ditched her without much trouble.
Without gliding, my life would've been in real jeopardy.
My chastity, too, for that matter.
I'm still shaking.
Got to be more careful with pheromones from now on.
If I run into another enemy who can't tell hunger from lust, things could go south fast.
So... where the heck am I?
I got so caught up running that I lost my way.
I grabbed my acorn helmet—my most prized possession—but losing the house I worked so hard on leaves a bitter taste.
Hunted that mantis so long, the sun's probably setting soon.
Night vision's improved, but outright prowling at night isn't smart.
Temps drop, and worst of all, that mystery predator's likely nocturnal.
Need a hideout, pronto.
And food if I can swing it.
Ate plenty of grubs, but that intense fight has me starving again.
Hideout first, though.
I won't die from skipping a meal, but no shelter means almost certain death through the long night.
With Low Glide, my options just exploded.
Smart terrain use, and I can climb trees.
Yeah, that shiny tree over there.
Scale that slightly tilted one, leap from there, and I can reach that decently high ledge on the tall tree.
The moment I got close to the tree...
"Gak?"
Something smells delicious.
Fresh and sweet.
First scent like this since arriving in this world.
....
That's a kiwi!
No wonder the tree's glowing—is it because it's a fruit tree?
This Crow's Eye isn't limited to feathers, huh.
The squirrel's acorns sparkled too, remember?
And this acorn of mine.
Especially how useful that lid's been.
So this kiwi tree must be something equally handy.
Already drooling at the thought of kiwi.
Tottered over and stared holes into the one near ground level.
Way bigger than the others.
And kinda glowing golden?
Gold kiwi or something?
Looks tastiest, so let's try it.
Pecked it once with my beak.
Texture's weird.
Super soft and plump, y'know?
Expected fuzzy, but nope.
So intriguing, I pecked a few more times.
Then the kiwi twitched.
Twitched?
"Kak?"
Did my pecking make it move?
Something's off.
Backed up a bit and focused my eyes.
What? Just a regular kiwi.
....
Wait, can my eyes read plant info too?
If so, I'd have ID'd whatever's been masquerading as my acorn helmet long ago.
Plus, a kiwi with a level?
"Chyaak...."
As I peered into the kiwi, it peered right back.
More precisely, two black dots on the kiwi were staring me down.
"Gak!"
I startled, flapping my wings.
At the same instant, the kiwi's body started spinning.
Shuk!
It traced a graceful arc and landed on the ground in one fluid motion.
Below those black dots, a beak had sprouted at some point, with short legs beneath it.
That's right.
The thing wasn't a kiwi—it was a kiwi bird!
Honestly, a little thrown off.
I've seen all sorts of weirdos, but a kiwi bird impersonating a kiwi hits different.
The kiwi gazed at me with deep, soulful eyes.
What? Why the intense stare?
Okay, yeah, I kinda pecked your butt, but it was an accident!
"Fate's wind has blown, sprouting a new seed."
...The kiwi bird's talking?
"Whether this be ill omen or fortune, none can say."
And why's the voice so unnecessarily deep and gravelly?
"Pleased to meet you, beast of dark hues like the sky's veil. First, let me offer a feast to sate your empty belly."
It's a gentleman, too!