"Triplets!" Even Muria's dragon mother was momentarily stunned by his suggestion before a look of approval spread across her face. "That's a great idea!"
"But the amount of source power required will be much higher!" Muria reminded, looking up at his three grandparents.
"Source power is not an issue!" Arista responded with a generous wave of her hand. She had accumulated more source power than she could use for the time being.
Arista had received 20 standard portions of source power from the Titan and Seraph clans, but her total harvest was far greater. After leaving the Titan Isles, she began offering the source power technique to the dragon kings she knew. After all, being a dragon herself, it made no sense to teach the technique to other races and not to her own.
However, since she had risked her life to bring back the technique, she couldn't just give it away for free. So, she sold it to each dragon king for the price of one standard portion of source power per technique.
As a result, Arista had nearly doubled her source power stock from what she received from the Titan and Seraph clans. Her strength had surged, and she was about to complete the first phase of her epic journey, preparing to enter the second phase: domain creation.
"I can easily offer one portion of source power," said Archimonde, the Lord of the Wilderness, casting a glance at Arista. Although not as wealthy as the recently enriched dragon king, he wasn't lacking.
"I have no shortage of source power either!" Arudiba, the Seraph, added with a cheerful smile. With the other two offering their help, he couldn't lag behind.
"Then it's settled!"
"The only issue now is whether Mikaela is willing," Muria scratched his head, suddenly remembering the most important factor: having triplets all at once could be quite overwhelming.
"To bear her offspring is an inescapable responsibility for every immortal. Mikaela won't refuse," Arudiba said confidently, showing no doubt about her willingness.
"Is that all? If so, I'd like to go see my son!" Muria said impatiently as the conversation neared its end.
"Go ahead!" The three epics, who had already secretly observed their great-grandson, gave their approval.
…
"Mikaela!" After being ejected from the temporary space, Muria quickly oriented himself and flew straight to Cloud City in the sky. Once there, he rushed past the bowing angels, heading directly for the inner courtyard.
"What took you so long?" Mikaela turned to face him in the breathtaking sky garden, her expression slightly displeased as she saw Muria hurry in.
"Ahem! The elders pulled me aside for a talk!" Muria explained, while also sensing Mikaela's aura. The familiar life force that had been growing within her for so long was now gone.
"Where's my son?" Muria asked eagerly.
Boom!
Before he even finished speaking, a golden bolt of lightning shot down from the clouds and struck him directly. A powerful force pressed down on him, causing him to stumble forward. A large creature, massive by human standards, had knocked him to the ground.
"He's right on your back!" Mikaela said, smiling at the sight of Muria pinned down.
"Good boy!" Muria didn't need to turn around to know what was holding him down. A young dragon, glowing faintly with golden light, was perched on his back. The hatchling had six small, immature horns on its head, and its form closely resembled Muria's own dragon form.
"Roar!" The newly hatched dragon, already five meters long from head to tail, let out a high-pitched roar as white flames danced on Muria's body, scorching him lightly.
"Who are you?" A soft, curious voice followed, as the hatchling, despite being just born, already possessed the intelligence to recognize others. He felt a strange sense of kinship with the creature he had pinned.
"I am…" Muria's face broke into a smile as his body beneath his son's paws began to expand. Golden scales emerged from his skin, majestic horns extended from his forehead, and massive wings unfurled behind him, casting a shadow over the ground.
"Your father!" Muria announced as he shifted into his full dragon form, standing 180 meters tall, not counting his tail. For even an elder dragon, such size was remarkable.
"Ahhh!" The hatchling, unable to see his father's head from his low vantage point, was scared stiff. He took a few steps back, his voice trembling.
To Muria's surprise, his son then transformed into a small, ten-winged Seraph child, golden flames swirling around his wings as he flew upward, reaching Muria's nostrils in an instant.
Muria watched silently as the naked, winged child flapped his wings, trying to fly away. After a moment of contemplation, the massive golden dragon stood up, crackling with lightning, and gradually shifted into his towering Titan form.
Muria, now in his 180-meter tall Titan form, reached out and effortlessly plucked his struggling son from the air, cradling him in his palm.
As Muria flipped his hand, revealing his son—a boy with flowing black hair, radiant golden eyes, and ten wings—sitting bewildered in his hand, the child looked up at his father's massive face, his own expression filled with confusion.
"Mom! Help me!" Muria's son cried out, startled by the imposing figure looming over him, his voice breaking into sobs as he called for Mikaela.
"Enough, Muria! Tone down your power. He's your son, not your enemy. Why are you showing off your full form like that? You're scaring him," Mikaela said, appearing beside Muria with a stern expression.
"How can this form scare him?" Muria asked in confusion, recalling how his own parents had loomed over him in their full forms when he was born, and he hadn't been frightened at all.
"What do you think?" Mikaela, now in her full form herself, glanced at her crying son before silently drawing a sword, her expression unreadable.
"Alright, alright. I'll dial it back," Muria conceded, abandoning his attempts to explain his own birth experience. Under Mikaela's watchful eye, the towering Titan slowly began to shrink.
Soon, Muria had reduced his size to that of a regular storm giant, about 12 meters tall. Even at this size, his hand was large enough to comfortably cradle his son.
Although his son's form leaned more toward that of a Seraph, the boy stood nearly three meters tall upon birth, surpassing Muria's own stature as a newborn.
As Muria's size continued to decrease, his son stopped crying and began eyeing him with curiosity.
Watching this, Muria couldn't help but feel slightly embarrassed. Apparently, his overly imposing form had indeed frightened his son into tears.
"Ahem!" Muria cleared his throat in an attempt to restore his dignity, only to startle his son into tears once again. Mikaela rolled her eyes at the scene.
"Stop acting all high and mighty in front of your own son," Mikaela said, giving Muria a firm pat on the shoulder. Although it was his first time being a father and he had no experience, this level of awkwardness was a bit too much.
"Alright, alright. Don't cry. I'm your father. I would never hurt you," Muria quickly assured, trying to smile reassuringly.
"Waah!" But his son, sensing no ill intent from Muria, seemed to decide it was a good time to let out all his frustration and started wailing loudly again, leaving Muria flustered and scrambling to calm him down.
"What's his true name?" Muria asked, giving up on trying to comfort his son and turning to Mikaela. He had missed the moment his son had spoken his true name while being dragged into the elders' talk.
"Aeolos Iapetos Mikael Elonsas," Mikaela answered, giving their son's true name.
"Aeolos? A fine name!" Muria said with a proud smile as he looked down at his son, now sitting quietly in his palm. The boy had stopped crying once his parents stopped fussing over him, his curiosity returning.
"My eldest son, your name will resound across the Synapse Continent. Every creature on this land will know and utter your name! You will become the ruler of Synapse!"
Muria spoke with a sudden burst of inspiration. Mikaela opened her mouth, as if to say something, but then closed it without speaking. She had no reason to object to their son becoming an emperor, despite the weight of the responsibilities it would bring.
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