Chapter 7: The Dragon Sleep

xx : xx x/x/xxxx (present) : Local Forest

- Zachari Ragnarok ~

"Why now.." My mind was in a wreck. "He hatched yesterday, how in the world is he already having his dragon sleep"

Trying to think of a reason, I approached a large opening in the forest where there was almost always a Field Bison or two. -Huh.. where is everything..-

At last, I finally noticed things were too quiet, I thought back and realized that I hadn't even seen a rodent since I left the cave.

"Roaaarr!!" Off in the distance, I heard a roar I was all to familiar with.

"Tch, a wyvern.." A monster race with the same intelligence as a small bird.

To dragon folk, wyverns were considered an invasive species since they would wreak havoc to the ecosystems they were exposed to. Over time, dragon folk have come to kill them on sight. -I didnt think they were in this forest..-

Quickly flying towards the source of the roar, I spotted a gray colored wyvern eating a field Bison it had killed.

"My child is going to starve because of you bastards!" Letting out some pent up frustration, I slammed my feet into the head of the wyvern.

*CRUNCH*

Its head got completely pulverized and the bison it was eating turned into a pool of blood and meat.

-Tch.. no time..- Running out of time and unable to find any high nutrient species since the wyvern pushed them out, I hurriedly picked up the 8 meter wyvern with my mouth and flew as fast as possible back to the cave. "Bleh.." The taste of the wyvern was awful but I didn't have a choice. -I'm sorry Vasilias.. I cant let you starve..-

On my way back, I thought back to Vasilias saying he was hungry. -I guess I wasn't imagining it when I thought he could understand what I was saying earlier.. he really did have 'intent' already..-

Believing he might be an unprecedented genius, I felt truly proud. -But now isn't the time for that..-

Shaking the thought out of my head I finally landed in front of the cave, the door was still open but there was something odd.

There was an incredibly strong suction of mana into the cave as a freezing cold air was flowing out forming a thin layer of frost on the door. -What the..-

Without the time to ask questions, I sprinted through the doors and threw down the wyvern.

As I looked towards the center of the room, I saw Vasilias standing on a pile of small crumb-like pieces of bone where the bison used to be as he naturally absorbed a massive sum of mana from the air.

It was like all the heat in the room was sucked into him, the usual purple glow from between his scales and eyes had turned to a sky blue, but that wasn't what caught my attention.

On the ground by his mouth were the crumbs of something brightly colored -That bison had a core..-

As Vasilias had the ferocious hunger of the dragon sleep cloud his mind, he ate everything left of the bison including the bones, skull, and brain.

But this particular bison seemed to have had a 'core'.

They had a chance to form when a creature had a huge excess of mana in its body. The excess mana would accumulate in its brain and form a colorful sphere that worked as a storage for the surplus mana in the creature. [1]

-He ate the core..- Worry immediately filled me.

I quickly looked over at Vasilias in horror as the massive accumulation of mana for the core was being absorbed into the body of a dragon that was barely a day old.

The amount of mana, even the smallest of mana cores contained, was far too much for such a young dragon to handle. That amount of mana would act like a poison.

Worried he was going to get mana poisoning, I rushed over, but Vasilias began moving again and dashed past me to the wyvern body.

-What is that speed?!- He arrived at the body nearly instantly.

Once he bit into the wyvern, the nearly freezing temperatures in the room started to finally stabilize, the glow between his scales returning to its original purple.

-Oh right, Krystallo!- I quickly whipped around in a panic to see Krystallo still sleeping soundly with a thin layer of ice around her.

-Oh thank the heavens..- After nearly having 3 heart attacks, I finally took a moment to sit down and breath.

A few minutes later Vasilias finished the wyvern completely, the only exception being the bones and the head. "What a ridiculous appetite.."

Turning around, Vasilias had his eyes half closed, looking incredibly sleepy.

-Looks like his appetite is finally satisfied..- Before he fell asleep, I walked up and brought him back over to the pile of treasure.

As I set him down, he muttered. "Thank you.. Mother.."

"Just enjoy your rest sweetie" With my reassurance, Vasilias finally closed his eyes and went to sleep.

With a moment to myself, I started to think about the cube artifact that caused so many issues. What was that cube.. it would give me a headache whenever I looked at it closely... It felt as if I was looking into something I shouldn't..-

After pondering about the various possibilities, I decided there wasn't anything else I could do besides help Vasilias grow even if I knew everything the artifact did.

I slowly looked over at Vasilias in a peaceful sleep next to the mound of treasure. -No matter what changed.. Ill make sure he grows up strong..-

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[1] - Magic cores are very rare in this world (~1%)