Weird, Seriously Weird!

Hearing An's words, Loya hesitated.

Ever since Chaos had stolen her eggshell, she had hated standing upright.

But now she had to suffer the humiliation of standing upright because of Chaos again?

Seeing Loya spacing out, An decided to ignore her. She reached out a claw, sliced off a large chunk of tender white meat, and headed straight back.

Sometimes, standing upright really was convenient.

"Delicious! This is so delicious."

Chubby green claws kept fishing meat out of the Stone Pot.

Watching the Green Hatchling practically dive headfirst into the Stone Pot, looking ready to cook itself in its hunger, Chaos looked up and exchanged a glance with the big little girl. They tacitly stopped eating.

Let's leave some for the kid. Look at that poor thing.

Rustle, rustle~

Hearing the sound, Chaos raised his head.

What he saw startled him.

One, two, three... ten.

Ten hatchlings had gathered around at some point, all raising their big, round heads and gazing longingly at him and Agatha.

Faced with so many stares, Agatha simply looked away. She reached for the meat on the stone platform and began dropping meatballs into the Stone Pot, shaping one with each squeeze of her claw.

She was just freeloading a meal. What to do about this was up to Chaos.

Seeing that the big little girl had no intention of getting involved, Chaos felt a headache coming on.

With this many dragons, he couldn't feed them all even if he cooked until his lousy little pot broke.

"The seasonings all grow here, but there aren't any pots. If you want to eat, go make your own."

The hatchlings immediately headed toward the stone wall behind them as a group, clearly planning to dig out some pots together.

Rumble~

Without warning, the thunderous sound of a collapse came from the right side of the riverbank.

The instant Chaos heard it, he turned his head toward the sound.

Dust billowed above the riverbank.

Whoosh~

A chubby white young dragon burst out of the dust.

The moment her four claws touched the ground, she rushed toward Chaos.

White Chubby was fast.

When she was only a few meters away, she launched herself at him, plunged into his arms, and burrowed against him furiously.

What's wrong with White Chubby? Why is she acting so strangely?

And those white granules all over her are...

Crash!

Before Chaos could ask White Chubby what had happened, another violent impact rang out from the rock wall above the riverbank.

A massive creature over six meters long charged straight out of the lingering dust.

Most of its snakelike body was covered in thick, rough armor. It had a large triangular head, fangs jutting from an insectlike mouth, and a pair of mantislike scythe arms that constantly dripped purple slime.

Sizzle~

The slime hit the ground, revealing its highly corrosive nature.

[Sali: An intermediate magical beast that generally lives within rock strata. They possess exceptional endurance. After feeding, they usually sleep for several years before waking, hunting, and returning to sleep, repeating this cycle. In terms of combat strength, the purple slime on their scythes is highly corrosive. Aside from that, they have no particularly powerful abilities. Even at their strongest, their potential only reaches the third ring.]

The true dragon inheritance supplied the information.

Judging by its size, this Sali seemed to be only at the second ring.

The Sali that had charged out seemed stunned too.

All fourteen hatchlings on the beach were silently staring at it.

Is this thing going to run?

Just as Chaos thought that, it moved.

The Sali abruptly swung its body and slithered toward him like a snake.

No, to be precise, it was charging toward White Chubby.

Somewhat surprised, Chaos glanced at White Chubby.

What on earth did White Chubby do to make this Sali hate her so much?

Whatever White Chubby had done, dealing with the Sali first was definitely the right move.

His emerald slit pupils narrowed slightly.

Chaos was just about to mobilize the magic within him when a scarlet figure beat him to it.

The Red Hatchling, nearly four meters long, spread her wings and pounced straight onto the Sali's head.

With sheer ferocious strength, she slammed the Sali to the ground.

Before the Sali could fight back, the Red Hatchling opened her Dragon Jaws and unleashed a blast of dragon breath over its head. Then she bit down, drove her serrated teeth into its shell-like head, and wrenched hard.

Splat!

Dark green fluid sprayed everywhere as the thick triangular bone covering the Sali's head was ripped clean off.

With its skull gone, the Sali's struggling body slowly fell still.

She flicked her head, flinging the skull from her mouth.

Hera lowered her head and rummaged with both claws inside the Sali's exposed braincase.

Soon, her claws, coated in thick, clear fluid, clasped an emerald crystal core the size of a basketball.

It was a poison-element magic core, with dense emerald mist swirling inside like gas.

Holding the crystal core in her mouth, Hera walked straight toward Chaos.

Under Chaos's gaze, she stood upright and offered the magic core to him in both claws.

Chaos looked at the magic core, then at Hera gazing expectantly at him. Instead of immediately reaching out to take it, he drew a sharp breath inwardly.

Weird, seriously weird!

And why does this feel so familiar?

Oh, right. The big little girl was like this when she started feeding me too.

But that's what makes this so strange. Whether it's the big little girl or Hera here, what do they want by feeding me out of nowhere?

Are they trying to get on my good side?

"Chaos, this magic core is for you." Seeing that Chaos kept staring at her without taking it, Hera had no choice but to speak.

The moment she spoke, the strange feeling in Chaos's heart grew even stronger.

What is this? A group feeding effort?

No, I have to get to the bottom of this.

"Hera, can I ask you something before I take this magic core?"

"Mm-hmm, go ahead." Hera nodded.

Her scarlet slit pupils gave her an air of frankness. She looked like the sort who couldn't lie.

"Then here's my question. Why are you giving me this magic core?"

Chaos stared intently into Hera's scarlet slit pupils, waiting for her answer.

"Oh, that? Of course it's so I can ma..."

Before Hera could finish, another voice cut in.

"To make friends with you. I asked her to do it."

Chaos looked at the big little girl who had suddenly interrupted Hera. Her scarlet slit pupils remained as calm as ever.

He kept feeling that something was off, but he couldn't find an answer. It was baffling.

"I asked them to do all of this. We're all hatchlings. If we stick together through our vulnerable early years, we'll definitely be safer, and everyone's chances of survival will improve," Agatha continued. "Of course, the main reason is that you can use the power of time. But we can give you all the magic cores we obtain from hunting in the future."

Having finished, Agatha fell silent and gazed quietly at Chaos, waiting for his answer.