Chaos Was So Responsible!

After breathing out her dragon breath, Hera pushed off hard with her claws and leaped straight into the pool.

My pot!

Seeing the stone pot about to roll into the Underground River, Chaos no longer had time to settle the score with Hera.

He pushed off with his claws and raced after the stone pot.

He finally caught up with Stone Pot just a short distance before it reached the Underground River.

He grabbed the stone pot and inspected it.

Fortunately, its exterior was only slightly scuffed. Nothing was broken.

His eating gear was still intact.

Couldn't Hera be a little more careful?

Burble~!

The current in the Underground River was still swift.

Made it, made it. Holding the stone pot in both claws, he lowered it into the water and rinsed it.

He filled it to the brim and returned to the stove.

The flames in the stove blazed high, giving off fierce heat.

He set the pot back on the stove.

[Splash~]

At the mouth of the water channel, the corpse of a five-meter-long Kashi, its head already smashed, burst out of the water and sailed through the air.

Thud!

It landed squarely beside the stone pot.

Glancing at the Kashi corpse beside him, Chaos's Dragon Jaws curled into a slight smile.

The big little girl really was the best.

Now it was time to entertain his guest.

Yes, entertain his guest.

Although the Four-Ring Water Snake Formation he had chosen was well-rounded, it had a drawback: its offensive properties were too weak.

Severing and biting were both merely ordinary properties.

But he already had a solution.

Just like with the Perceptive Vines spell, all he needed was someone useful to optimize the flow of mana.

He wasn't asking for much. He only needed to upgrade severing into an advanced severing property.

He raised a claw and lightly touched the surface of the water in the stone pot.

Water spiraled upward around his claw, gradually condensing into a transparent ring in the air.

His claw moved gracefully, inscribing blue Magic Runes one after another into the casting ring.

It was all bloodline instinct. Even as his claw inscribed one Magic Rune, the next had already appeared in his mind.

Soon, Magic Runes completely filled the casting ring.

A faint blue glow gradually lit up the ring, spreading until it filled the entire thing.

The inscription of the first-ring spell, Water Blade Slash, was complete!

Chaos quietly watched the casting ring before him. Soon, the change he needed appeared.

Additional Magic Runes gradually surfaced on the casting ring.

[Hello there~ Amazing dragon, would you like to form a contract with a Water Element fairy~? Feeny is a very powerful Water Element fairy, you know. Very capable!]

Just from the words, Chaos could tell that the fairy answering him this time had to be bursting with energy.

He raised his claw and lightly tapped the casting ring.

A pale blue ripple spread from the center of the ring.

A tiny head slowly emerged from it.

Chaos froze at the sight. Wait, I only meant to send a reply. Why did this fairy go all in?

Soon, an entire Water Element fairy teleported out of the casting ring. She was tiny, only a little larger than an adult's thumb, with long pale blue hair and an exquisitely sculpted little face. Two pairs of transparent blue wings grew from her back, one pointing upward and the other downward.

"Hehe~"

Standing on the casting ring with her hands on her hips, the fairy beamed at the dragon before her and raised a tiny fist in a forceful-and adorable-wave.

"You've got a good eye! Choosing Feeny means choosing success!"

But that adorable pose lasted less than three seconds.

Clutching her scalded little feet, the fairy began hopping from side to side on the casting ring.

"Aaaah~! What kind of water did you use? Why is it so hot?"

She complained as she hopped.

Chaos innocently raised a claw and pointed at the pot of water beneath the casting ring.

"Aaaah!"

"You big dummy! How could you use water from a cooking pot to summon Feeny?"

"So hot~ So hot!"

After hopping a few more times, her tiny feet already bright red, the fairy seemed to finally realize something. The little wings on her back began fluttering, and she flew off the casting ring.

Chaos: ...

Probably... maybe... I summoned an idiot?

The tiny fairy put her hands on her hips, puffed out her cheeks angrily, and widened her blue eyes, as pure as water.

Fairies really were beautiful creatures. Even when angry, they had zero destructive power and only became more adorable.

Looking at the angry fairy before him, Chaos held out a claw.

Faint emerald motes kept rising from it, gathering into a pool of emerald liquid in his palm.

Sensing the rich life mana, the tiny fairy Feeny fluttered her wings and landed in the center of his claw.

Her scalded little feet sank into the emerald liquid. The redness gradually faded, replaced by a translucent, jade-like sheen.

A look of pleasure appeared on her little face.

Seeing this, Chaos quickly seized his chance.

"Sorry. This was my first time, too."

"Hmph~ Then I'll forgive you."

Feeny looked at the dragon before her with an adorable smile, seemingly having completely forgotten her earlier unhappiness.

"What's your name, dragon?"

"Chaos. You can just call me Chaos from now on."

"What an impressive name."

"My name is Feeny. You can just call me Feeny from now on, Chaos."

"All right, Feeny."

"Mm-hmm~"

Feeny tilted her exquisite little face up toward Chaos.

"Then let's form a contract, Chaos."

Her azure eyes held a faint eagerness, along with sincerity and purity free of the slightest impurity.

Although fairies were favored by the elements from birth, advancing further required them to endure long, tedious stretches of time.

But there was a shortcut. By forming a contract with a sufficiently skilled spellcaster, they could share that caster's knowledge of their corresponding element. That knowledge would become nourishment, helping them take another step toward the elemental throne.

Still, as he had said, his ideal contract partner could only be an elemental king.

Of course, he couldn't say that outright. He looked at the fairy resting in his claw.

"There's no rush."

"Feeny, have you eaten?"

"Eaten?"

The question left Feeny bewildered, and she blinked her big eyes twice.

She had never eaten since her birth. Fairies didn't need food in the first place; they could survive simply by absorbing elements.

And elements were everywhere, no matter where one went.

"That's right. Eaten."

"I don't want to eat. Let's form a contract."

Her lovely eyes remained beautiful and pure, but a trace of unease appeared in them, and they began to glisten even more.

Seeing that she was about to cry, Chaos hurriedly leaned closer to Feeny.

His emerald slit pupils widened, and his gaze became "sincere."

"Feeny, I don't think we know each other well enough yet."

"You're a long-lived species, right?"

"Mm~"

Feeny nodded.

"So am I. See, we're both long-lived, so once we form this contract, it might last our entire lives."

"I don't think that would be fair to you. You haven't even gotten to know me yet."

"I think we should have a meal together, get to know each other, and start as friends."

Looking at Chaos before her, Feeny felt that he did seem to have a point.

She hadn't even gotten to know Chaos yet.

So Chaos was doing all this for me?

My heart... feels so warm. I've never felt anything like this before.

Chaos was so responsible!

"Then... then I'll listen to you."