With a sharp, crisp crack, the entire upper half of the dragon egg was violently forced outward, creating a large hole.
A small fragment of the shell was tossed high into the air, clattering onto the distant ground, as a tiny, sharp claw reached out from within and hooked firmly onto the jagged edge of the breach.
The newborn poked half its head out of the hole, peering warily at the world outside, its eyes filled with curiosity—though, at the moment, its view was limited to the river of lava flowing through the nest and the glowing blue crystals scattered about. In the dim light of the subterranean lair, there wasn't much in the way of vibrant color to see.
"Roar." (See? I told you breeding with you was the right choice. Look how beautiful she is.)
Kulve Taroth affectionately lowered her massive head toward the shell. She extended her tongue, intending to lick the hatchling, but the little one wasn't in a cooperative mood. With a quick whoosh, it ducked back inside, leaving Kulve Taroth to withdraw slightly with a sense of helpless resignation.
"Roar." (Beautiful indeed.)
Though Kulve Taroth's original motives might have been a bit... questionable, Asterion had to agree with her assessment.
The hatchling had only shown half a head and a single foreclaw, but it was enough to see its general appearance. Its body looked damp, as if it had just emerged from water, and steam wafted from its claws to its head.
But the most striking feature was the scales on its head and limbs. Kulve Taroth's scheme had finally paid off; the little creature was covered in beautiful, mirror-smooth scales, devoid of any scratches or dullness.
Asterion could even see his own reflection in the hatchling's scales, as clear as looking into a mirror. This was exactly what Kulve Taroth had wanted. Years ago, she had sought out Asterion specifically so their offspring would have a coat of exquisite scales... Hmph. Only a child like this could satisfy Kulve Taroth's pride and give her something to flaunt in front of her own kin.
The female Elder Dragon was practically itching for the little one to grow up instantly, though in reality, the hatchling was still struggling just to break out of its shell.
In contrast to the ease with which it had shattered the top of the egg, the bottom proved much more difficult. Perhaps it was because the Dragon element energy crystals that had melted over the years had pooled at the base, making it far tougher. After managing to widen the hole enough to peek out, the hatchling seemed to hit a wall.
The little dragon went limp, draped exhausted over the edge of the broken shell, its tongue lolling out as it panted for breath. It didn't even bother to look at the two massive heads staring down at it with intense scrutiny.
From this angle, Asterion could get a better look at the little thing's features.
The structure of the head was roughly similar to Asterion's. On its forehead, three pairs of bumps were distributed on either side, likely destined to develop into three pairs of short, thick horns. At the very top of the head sat a pair of small, sharp horns—long and slightly curved.
Those horns definitely took after Kulve Taroth. Asterion's own horns, including the various protrusions, weren't particularly long, whereas Kulve Taroth boasted a pair of massive, spiraling golden horns.
To be honest, it made Asterion a little worried. He had already spotted the wings on the hatchling's back—their shape and structure were identical to his own eight-boned, "Xeno-style" wings. This was a trait Kulve Taroth didn't possess, meaning this little creature could fly just like him, and likely very high and very fast.
In that case, growing a pair of massive, spiraling gold horns would be a disaster. Horns of that shape and weight would significantly drag down its flight speed, and might even pull its head downward mid-air.
I hope the kid turns out okay, he thought.
Beyond that, there wasn't much else to see. He couldn't tell yet if the hatchling was male or female, nor did he know which abilities it had inherited from him or Kulve Taroth. That would have to wait.
Seeing that the egg was indeed a special case and the hatchling was clearly exhausted, Asterion leaned down and helped the little thing by crunching through the lower half of the shell, finally freeing it from its confinement.
The little creature wasn't shy at all. In fact, it seemed quite familiar with Asterion and Kulve Taroth. When Asterion's sharp teeth snapped through the thick shell right next to it, the hatchling didn't show a hint of panic. Instead, it had the audacity to swat at Asterion's teeth with its forepaws, forcing him to keep his jaws frozen open for fear of accidentally crushing the little one's bones.
Even a glutton like Asterion wouldn't eat his own child's eggshell... Well, okay, he actually tried a small piece, but it was tasteless and brittle. He let the hatchling finish the rest.
Unlike when Asterion was born, most dragon hatchlings eat their shells as their first meal. It's highly nutritious, filling their bellies and fueling their first growth spurt after hatching.
In the cruel wild, a hatchling isn't usually granted a five or ten-year safety period to grow. No adult monster could care for its young for that long... Hell, even one year was considered a long time.
Because of this, various monsters have developed their own survival strategies. For example, a Glavenus mother might stay with her young for a year, while a Deviljho just leaves them to fend for themselves immediately. Hatchlings must grow as fast as possible while they have protection to strengthen their bodies.
Looking at a dragon's entire life, the period from hatching to adolescence is actually the time of most rapid development, directly influencing how strong the dragon will be as an adult.
If a dragon lives with an abundance of food during its infancy, it will naturally possess a powerful physique and immense strength in adulthood. Conversely, if it lives a hand-to-mouth existence as a hatchling, it will remain scrawny even when grown, much smaller than its peers—provided it even survives to adulthood without being weeded out by nature.
The little one had a great appetite and ate quickly. It didn't take long for it to clear every shard of shell from the nest. However, Asterion noticed that, much like his first child, Mirrorblade, this hatchling didn't seem to have inherited his bottomless stomach.
The clearest evidence was that she seemed full. She hesitated over the last two pieces of shell, looking a bit choked up, but her greed won out in the end, and she forced them down. In terms of gluttony alone, she was very much Asterion's daughter.
After eating her fill, the little creature stumbled over to Asterion's side. She bumped her head firmly against his Blade-scales before curling up right there, contentedly patting her own chest with her claws as she drifted off to sleep.
Not only was she bold, she certainly knew how to enjoy life.
That's more like it, Asterion thought. A dragon's life shouldn't just be about eating and sleeping; a truly powerful dragon needs a lifestyle.
Asterion was quite satisfied, though Kulve Taroth looked a bit piqued.
"Roar?" (Why didn't she come to my side?)
Even among monsters, an Elder Dragon like Kulve Taroth seemed to have an unusually high level of maternal instinct. She was currently genuinely upset that the hatchling preferred Asterion.
"Roar roar." (Haha, maybe it's because she looks more like me? We both have wings.)
"Roar!" (Hmph. It's because you're both shiny!)
Kulve Taroth sounded even more bitter now.
"Roar, roar?" (What do you mean 'shiny'? Aren't you shiny too?)
The lava river flowing past the nest had been dug out by Kulve Taroth herself, and it made her golden coat shimmer brilliantly. She had been looking forward to the hatchling praising her beauty once it was born. She hadn't expected the little thing to barely give her a glance before hiding under Asterion's wing. It was truly aggravating.
"Roar, roar roar." (How is that the same? You're shiny by nature. I'm only shiny because of the gold I wear. If I take off this 'dress,' I'm as black as coal.)
As Kulve Taroth's resentment seemed to deepen, Asterion had to spend a good deal of time comforting the beauty-obsessed Elder Dragon before she finally calmed down. However, the commotion between the two massive dragons was apparently too much; the sleeping hatchling soon woke up and began to wreak havoc in the nest.
She chewed on this, bit on that, unable to stay still for a single second. At one point, while Asterion and Kulve Taroth weren't looking, she took a literal dive into the lava river. Asterion nearly jumped out of his skin, terrified he'd be fishing out a skeleton.
Fortunately, this energetic little thing was his offspring after all. Though small, she already had what she needed; the lava didn't burn her. She dove in clumsily and climbed back out just as awkwardly before Kulve Taroth could even let out a cry. Like a wet dog hitting the shore, she shook her body vigorously, flinging droplets of molten rock everywhere, and continued her frantic play in the nest.
Asterion felt as though he had just brought home a Husky.
Between his past life and this one, he was nearly a hundred years old, yet this was the first time he had raised a child—and his own, at that. Overall... the noise was giving him a headache.
"Roar?" (Should we take her to the surface?) Kulve Taroth asked suddenly, after the hatchling had been causing chaos for several days.
"Roar?" (She has wings like you. If she has wings, she can't live underground forever, right? She's not like me—besides, she needs to learn how to fly.)
Yes, she.
Over the past few days, after multiple "inspections" by Kulve Taroth, it had been firmly established that the hatchling was a female.
"Roar?" (The surface?)
Asterion fell into thought. Come to think of it, he hadn't returned to the surface world in a long time. The Grimalkynes had followed his orders and hadn't disturbed him. He had spent most of his time in a deep slumber, absorbing the energy of the Geothermal Veins to develop his internal heat organs. He actually missed the taste of some heavily seasoned roasted meat.
But could the little one handle the surface?
He used a foreclaw to nudge the hatchling toward him. She wasn't angry; she just thought her old man was playing. She flipped onto her back and hugged Asterion's claw, gnawing on it incessantly. For a moment, the nest was filled with the sound of creak, crunch, creak.
Over this period of development, the hatchling had grown rapidly, puffing up like a balloon. At birth, she had been nothing but skin and bone, her scales clinging tightly to a visible frame.
Now, that was gone. That skeletal, emaciated look had vanished, replaced by the feel of flesh and blood on her limbs and torso. She was round and healthy, no longer looking like a walking anatomy lesson.
It was worth noting that "little one" was a relative term compared to the mountain-sized frames of Asterion and Kulve Taroth. In reality, just lying horizontally, she was already as long as two adult hunters from head to tail-tip, and that length was increasing fast.
"Roar!" (Hungry!!)
While Asterion was lost in thought, the little creature roared again. She stopped playing with her father's claw and flipped over, squatting on the ground and staring at him expectantly.
An unintuitive fact: this hatchling was actually being fed by Asterion. Like Kulve Taroth and Asterion, she could eat ore directly, but compared to rocks, she much preferred Asterion's Dragon energy.
Initially, she had tentatively nibbled on the Dragon energy crystal clusters scattered around the nest. But after Asterion had fed her high-concentration energy directly from his own body once, she lost interest in the clusters. Whenever she was hungry, she would come over and frantically scratch at Asterion's belly, demanding her father give her more of that high-purity "good stuff."
It was because of this feeding method that she had been able to stay in the subterranean nest for so long and grow so strong and healthy without ever tasting meat or minerals.
But everything has its limit.
With Kulve Taroth's reminder, Asterion suddenly realized he couldn't keep the little thing by his side forever. The Glavenus instincts in his blood started ringing like an alarm clock. He felt that during this golden age of growth, the little one needed to learn how to hunt.
And most importantly, she had to learn to fly.
Well, there was one more thing: she needed to stop draining her father's precious energy. That was stuff he needed to develop his own thermal organs and evolve further. Learning to hunt and eat meat on her own was the proper way forward.
Any pampering now would only turn into a painful lesson for her in the future. From a dragon's perspective, she had indeed reached the age where she needed to learn to fight.
Looking at the content way she sprawled out to rest after her meal, Asterion decided it was time for her to see the world. She needed to know that the world wasn't just shades of orange and bright yellow, and that it wasn't a cave with a ceiling, but a blue sky wide enough for her to fly free.
"Roar?" (You should come up with me too,) Asterion said, turning to Kulve Taroth once his mind was made up.
"Roar roar." (It's been a long time. Those Wyverians and my cats should have come up with some new things by now. It'll be a nice change of pace for you.)
"Roar?" (I'm going too?)
Kulve Taroth seemed to hesitate. She didn't much care for leaving the Geothermal Corridors or her Caverns of El Dorado. She was quite the homebody.
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