"Unfortunately, your host, which is me, is a viviparous dragon."
The white giant dragon lay quietly on the surface of the water. In her enormous dragon pupils was reflected the tiny figure of Noah. After listening to her science explanation, the ancestor replied leisurely,
"I didn't see any sign of 'weaker compared to cocoon-born' on you, this viviparous young dragon. At your level, you could totally beat three cocoon-born dragons," Having stayed in Noah's consciousness space for so long, the ancestor had gained a thorough understanding of her host.
A little girl blessed with both talent and hard work. Not only rare opponents among peers, but even among young dragons, she could be considered excellent.
"Skill level doesn't represent bodily development," Noah shrugged her shoulders, "It's impossible for me to suddenly have a body like daddy or mommy overnight, as you said."
The ancestor naturally understood this principle. She sighed gently and slowly began to speak, "Since you gave me a lesson in biology, let me give you a lesson in history."
Noah kept her little face cold, nodded, then sat cross-legged on the water surface, listening intently.
"Actually, in the very beginning, there was no concept of 'cocoon-born' in the dragon race. All young dragons were born through natural birth by the mother."
"But later, as civil war broke out among the dragon race, and conflicts intensified, each tribe lacked soldiers and had to send younger dragons to the battlefield."
"But gradually, they found even that wasn't enough. Most young adult dragons were just cannon fodder in war and had no impact on the outcome."
"Thus... a new method of gestation was developed. One that directly inherited the mother's power. Dragons born by this method grew incredibly fast and had strong learning ability."
"And it didn't need the conventional reproductive method. Even a single dragon could complete the process alone."
"This method of gestation is what your modern dragon race refers to as... 'cocoon-born'."
Noah listened quietly.
Although her small face still showed no expression, inside she felt a slight ripple.
So originally, long long ago, dragons were also born by both parents together.
But just to gain an advantage in civil war, they developed 'cocoon-born'...
In truth, the conflict between viviparous and cocoon-born dragons had already occurred within Noah herself.
When she had just entered St. Heath Academy, she was nearly bullied on campus because she was a viviparous dragon.
Fortunately, the female dragons of the Melkvei family were good at taking on three at once, and Noah taught those three a good lesson, becoming the anti-bullying ambassador of the young dragon division.
But just because Noah survived the bullying from cocoon-borns didn't mean other viviparous young dragons could.
When exactly this conflict started no longer mattered. What mattered was that it truly affected many generations of dragons.
The identity conflict formed from a young age would follow a dragon throughout life, and even a hundred years later, it would be hard to let go.
"Later, I ended the civil war of the dragon race, but the 'cocoon-born' method continued to spread."
The ancestor continued speaking, "Because dragons really like this method of obtaining power without going through too many complicated growth stages."
"Noah."
The king of bootstrappers raised her eyes to look at the enormous dragon in front of her, "What?"
"If you could choose your birth method, would you choose cocoon-born or viviparous?"
Noah blinked and thought for a moment, then replied, "Viviparous."
Hearing this, the ancestor's eyes lit up and she even seemed a little excited, "Why? A cocoon-born young dragon has more advantages than a viviparous one from birth. You work so hard to become stronger, isn't that to pursue power?"
Noah lowered her little head, looked at her right hand, and softly said, "I like that kind of... slowly accumulating process, because it allows me to directly feel myself becoming stronger little by little."
"And not inheriting power directly from my mother. If it were like that, I would just feel as if something very important was missing from my life."
Hearing this brat's answer, Noah felt it wasn't right to use the term 'bootstrapping' for her.
She worked hard for strength not only to pursue greater power and earn her parents' approval but also partially because she wanted her life to be more fulfilling and more exciting.
A five-year-old brat with such awareness... truly rare, the ancestor thought with slight admiration.
"What about you?", Noah suddenly asked.
"What?"
"If you could choose, would you choose viviparous or cocoon-born?"
This time, the ancestor didn't answer immediately. She just silently stared at Noah. After a while, her gaze gradually drifted down to the calm water surface.
She seemed to be recalling old memories, so Noah didn't rush her.
After a long time, the ancestor finally spoke, "Cocoon-born or viviparous... I would choose neither."
Noah raised her eyebrows, "Why?"
"Because... my birth itself was a mistake."
———
In the temple hall, Rossweise was handling today's work.
Suddenly, out of the corner of her eye, she caught a glimpse of a tiny figure sneakily peeking out from behind one of the pillars.
The queen glanced over, then softly smiled and pretended not to notice, continuing to work at her desk.
Behind the pillar, Noah quickly pulled her head back.
"Why did you ask me to come find mommy again?"
"I told you, your current body condenses primordial power too slowly, and your mother just happens to be able to help us solve that problem."
"What do you mean? You're planning to confront my mommy? My parents would tear you out of my head at all costs."
"No no no. I mean, the pendant she's wearing can help us."
Hearing this, Noah cautiously peeked her head out again and looked at the mommy sitting on the throne.
Because of her posture leaning over documents, the milky-white pendant on her chest happened to be suspended in mid-air.
Noah remembered that mommy said this pendant was a wedding gift given late by Great-Grandmother Veronica.
Although the material was rare, as far as Noah knew, that thing shouldn't be related to primordial power, right?
"No way! That's Great-Grandmother's wedding gift to mommy. Don't even think about it."
Noah refused immediately, then after pausing, asked again, "And how are you so sure that this pendant can help you accumulate primordial power?"
"I can sense it."
The ancestor said, "That pendant was made from primordial crystal. I don't know where your mother got it, but the most important thing right now is getting it to help us speed up the accumulation of primordial power."
"No, way! I told you already, it's mommy's wedding gift, and it's very important to her."
Noah wouldn't back down on this point.
Mommy valued her marriage with daddy very much, so naturally she valued her wedding gifts.
Taking mommy's pendant just to give the old guy a power-up? Noah certainly wouldn't agree.
"Ahh~ You mule-headed little brat, you're impossible to deal with!"
"Tch!"
Noah softly snorted and once again peeked her head out to see if mommy had noticed anything, and planned to take the chance to sneak away.
However, when she looked at the throne, mommy was no longer there.
Noah blinked in confusion, "It's not even break time yet, where did mommy go—"
"Noah."
"Ah!"
A cool and gentle female voice suddenly came from behind, almost scaring the ancestor out of Noah's mind.
Noah's tail jumped up in shock, and she was still shaking,
"M-mommy...since when were you here..."
"I heard some noise here so I came to take a look."
Rossweise smiled, slightly leaning forward, and moved closer to Noah's face, dotingly looking at her precious daughter, "What are you doing here?"
Noah leaned back slightly, eyes fixed on the pendant hanging on her mother's chest.
The pendant shimmered and sparkled under the sunlight, crystal clear.
"I was... um... I was—"
"Waiting for us!"
As soon as the words landed, a tuft of pink hair burst into the mother-daughter's line of sight.
Immediately after, Luna grabbed Noah's left hand, and Little Light grabbed Noah's right hand, then both looked up at Rossweise, "Mommy, big sister was waiting for me and second sister just now. Right, big sister?"
Noah blinked in confusion, but Little Light frantically winked at her. Noah immediately caught on, "Oh oh right, I was waiting for Little Light. We agreed to go play in the backyard together."
Luna scratched her head, "Eh? Did we make that plan—"
"Yes! Of course we did!"
Little Light quickly interrupted the dense second sister and dragged the two of them toward the back door,
"mommy you go ahead with your work. We're gonna go play~"
Rossweise wanted to speak but held back, finally just waving her hand and reminding them, "Be careful."
"Okay mommy!"
The daughters giggled and ran toward the backyard, their voices fading into the distance.
Rossweise scratched her forehead, "Why does it feel like... Noah's acting weird?"
———
On the grassy field of the training grounds, the young dragon girls sat on the ground.
Noah and Little Light silently stared at each other, as if the air was filled with an unusually serious atmosphere not typical between children.
Luna looked at her elder sister, then at her little sister, blinked, and shook the ahoge on her head, seriously asking, "Is the game we're playing today called 'open your eyes, but don't speak'?"
Little Light raised her hand to stop her second sister's question, her eyes still locked on eldest sister.
"I just saved you," The pink-haired girl said word by word.
"What do you mean, Little Light?"
"I'm not talking to my big sister. I'm talking to the ghost hiding inside my big sister's body."
"Ah~ ghost again~ Little Light, you've been dreaming about catching ghosts lately," Luna flopped onto the grass in surrender, her little tail spreading out behind her.
She now had mild PTSD from the word 'ghost'. Little Light always dragged her to catch ghosts excitedly, but without exception, they'd return empty-handed every single time.
Over time, Luna seriously suspected her little sister had gone crazy out of boredom from being at home during the summer vacation.
Noah also helplessly facepalmed, "There are no ghosts, Little Light. You've been ghost hunting for an entire month. At this rate, the summer vacation will be over. Why not use the remaining time to play some fun games or practice the magic we'll be learning next semester, wouldn't that be better?"
A fun-loving little sister wasn't scary;
What was scary was when that fun-lover was smart and stubborn.
The pink-haired girl only believed what she saw, heard, and analyzed. No matter what others said, unless you brought solid proof, don't expect Little Light to change her mind.
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