"...No, that's not it."
"You just despise me, you want to divorce me, you're going to domestic-violence me."
Leon: "?"
'Pregnant women are terrifying.'
———
The next day, Leon also changed into sportswear and went to the training ground.
Since Noah had resumed training, he, his precious daughter's personal human punching bag, couldn't be idle.
When Leon arrived at the training ground, Noah had already started her warm-up.
The Grind King's morning warm-up routine is as follows: 100 shuttle runs, 200 high knees, 300 push-ups, 100 single-arm pull-ups.
If she was feeling good, she'd also run a few laps around the practice field as an "after-meal dessert."
During warm-ups Noah didn't need a sparring partner, so the old father sat quietly on the nearby grass watching.
He had the breakfast box they'd brought together beside him.
Not long after, Noah finished warming up and ran over from the other side of the practice field, waving her little arms.
"Morning, Daddy."
A thin film of sweat clung to her face, her cheeks were flushed, and she was breathing a little hard.
"Take a break, adjust your breathing, then eat breakfast."
Leon said as he handed her water and a towel.
"Okay."
Noah took them, wetted the towel with water, then wiped her face.
She immediately felt much fresher.
After a quick clean-up, Noah sat down beside Leon.
Father and daughter sat shoulder to shoulder, hands around their knees, their postures surprisingly identical.
They looked out over the large practice field, as if it had been a long time since they'd trained at home.
Over the past few months, Noah had been at the Academy preparing for the promotion exam, while Leon had been tracking the Shadow across the Empire.
So returning to the home practice field this time felt rather emotional.
"Daddy."
"Mm?"
"That lightning-wolf Break Formation move you taught me last time, I've pretty much gotten the hang of it."
"Oh? That's impressive. It hasn't been long and you've mastered it. When your old man practiced that move, it took a lot longer."
In front of his daughter, our champion also put aside his pride and didn't hold back his praise.
Besides, he'd figured out Noah's mindset by now.
Her years of hard training were all to gain her father's recognition and approval.
So Leon of course gave her a lot of compliments.
Noah smiled.
Being praised by Daddy first thing in the morning would make her happy all day.
But immediately, Noah frowned.
Leon keenly noticed the subtle change in his daughter's expression and asked, "What's wrong?"
"Ah... nothing, it's just... in real combat, I might not be able to use the lightning-wolf Break Formation."
"Why? Too long to prepare, fear the enemy will sneak an attack?"
Noah shook her head, "I can't really describe it, but I can demonstrate."
"All right. Oh wait, eat breakfast first."
"Yes, Daddy!"
After breakfast, the two of them went to the practice field.
They put some distance between them, and Noah began to gather lightning magic in her palms.
Once gathered, Noah swung her right hand and the lightning coalesced into a rapidly charging feral wolf.
Leon watched the entire casting process. Flowing, unhurried, a flawless lightning-wolf Break Formation.
But, after the lightning wolf blasted from Noah's hand, the powerful energy recoil directly knocked Noah back two steps; her upper body swayed and she barely steadied herself.
Noah lowered her stance and looked at her father.
"Basically like that. After using the lightning-wolf Break Formation I can't control the body sway and the backward push."
Leon nodded thoughtfully.
The cause of this problem was easy to understand.
"Because the lightning-wolf Break Formation is a long-range spell. When released it needs a certain amount of mana as explosive propulsion, and that explosive force will also recoil on your body."
Leon walked over and patted his daughter's little head, "You're still too young, your body strength isn't enough, of course that recoil affects you."
To borrow Rebecca's phrasing, 'Why is the recoil on this sniper rifle so huge?'
"Is there any solution, Daddy?"
Leon clicked his tongue and looked a little troubled.
"There really isn't a suitable fix. Blame your old man for not thinking it through and hurriedly teaching you this move."
Noah smiled and shook her head, "Not your fault, Daddy. I had to learn it sooner or later anyway. Teach me some other moves now."
"All right, come on, Daddy's got an endless supply of moves to teach you."
———
A few days later, the rescheduled promotion exam drew near, and the couple accompanied Noah back to St. Heath Academy.
But because Rossweise was pregnant and it was inconvenient to sustain long dragon-flight, the guard Shirley accompanied them.
After a few hours of flying, the family arrived at the Academy gate.
They happened to arrive during class dismissal time. Noah didn't rush back to her classroom to check in; she went to the Young Dragon division playground to look for something.
After a while, among the little young dragons she saw her younger sisters, waved and called their names, and ran over.
"Luna! Little Light!"
Two little dragon girls were catching dragonflies on the playground.
Luna said those things would be delicious if roasted, crispy crunchy;
Little Light said we are noble dragons; dragons can't eat dragonflies;
Luna thought for a moment, then seriously replied, 'But I'll roast them properly before eating.'
Little Light had no retort, so she ended up spending recess accompanying her second sister catching "after-meal snacks."
Hearing their sister's voice, Luna's stray-hair radar immediately perked up and locked onto her direction.
"It's sister! Sister~"
'What dragonfly can smell better than sister?'
Little Moon ran straight to Noah and then expertly leapt into her arms.
"Sister, have you been out for exams these days? Luna didn't see you, we missed you so much."
Luna hugged Noah's arm and rubbed against her soft face.
To avoid causing panic among the lower-year students, the Academy temporarily sealed off the Nightmare Moon Forest incident, so Luna didn't know where her sister had gone these past days.
Luckily Noah healed quickly; otherwise when the little ones returned home on the weekend and found sister actually at home, they'd pester her to the limit.
"Mm... I was busy these days, so I didn't have time to play."
Noah patted her little sister's head and then shifted the topic, "Oh right, Mommy and Daddy came to see us too, they're over there."
Luna's eyes sparkled, "Mommy and Daddy are here too? Awesome~"
Leon and Rossweise were over there playing along with their eldest daughter, waved at Luna, and the little dragon girl wagged her tail and trotted over.
But just as Noah thought she had calmed Luna down, a tuft of pink hair suddenly appeared in her view.
Noah froze.
'Damn! There's another one.'
And this one wasn't so easy to fool.
"Little Light... why aren't you—"
"Your wound's healed, big sister?"
Noah's heart skipped, but she decided to play dumb first, "What wound... I'm not injured."
She didn't want her younger sisters to know what she and Helena went through in the Nightmare Moon Forest.
Like how Daddy always only reported the good news and not the bad.
She was the eldest at home, the big kid, so she couldn't let the little ones worry about her.
A few days ago Helena had also said in a letter that the Academy sealed off the matter, which reassured Noah.
But Little Light's "Your wound's healed?" still surprised the Grind King a bit.
"Don't pretend, big sister. My information network covers every corner of the Academy, getting small gossip isn't hard~", Little Light leaned close to Noah and lowered her voice.
She also knew such painstakingly obtained news must not be broadcast, so she wouldn't shout it out loud.
"You can find out that kind of news?", Noah was surprised.
"Of course. I even know exactly which day the semester break is each term," Little Light was proud.
In school there are always some capable students whose ears are everywhere and who have the news.
Small stuff, finding out holidays; big stuff, spreading exam answers; campus gossip and scandals don't escape their networks.
Little Light was that kind of student.
But Little Light differed fundamentally from those other news-savvy students.
Others build campus information networks to get benefits for themselves and to show off in front of people, to satisfy their vanity.
But Little Light's info network, "I just purely do it to see different fun things in time, didn't expect to get extra gains."
"...That really fits my stereotype of you, little one."
Noah helplessly and fondly pinched her little sister's cheek, then warned, "Don't tell Luna, I'm afraid she'll worry."
"Got it, big sister~"
One important reason the little pink-haired fun dragon hadn't been disliked after all this time was that her EQ was high.
She said the right words and did the right things at the right time.
Like how she thought eating dragonflies was beneath dragon dignity, but she still came to accompany her second sister to catch dragonflies.
In this regard, Little Light had inherited Leon and Rossweise's trait of not saying much but considering others in action.
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