Truthfully, when the last Black Dragon entrusted this egg to her, Christina had not known that both the Black Dragon and the egg would leave her hands forever.
Each time she came to see the dead egg, deep regret would wash over her.
After the Black Dragon left for the battlefield and died, she had tried to take good care of the egg at least, but even that egg had grown cold, and those had been days when even the faintest hope vanished.
But now, that was no longer the case.
The child's body heat in her embrace. The small sound of breathing.
Christina felt deep gratitude in her heart. *No matter what happens, I will help you become a strong and proper dragon.*
“I thought you wouldn’t be b■rn... Thank you for liv■ng, thank you for be■ng born. My baby.”
Her sincere words, spoken softly, were sporadically broken, but they stirred a strange surge of emotion and pity in the Imugi’s heart. *They’re thanking me just for being born?*
The Imugi squirmed, trying to slip away, then relaxed his strength.
*Well now... this is awkward.*
In all his life, he had never heard anyone say “thank you for being born.”
But it was not as unpleasant as he had thought.
If he had to say, it was ticklish and warm.
The Imugi, too, felt an endlessly deep and gentle heart from Christina.
*It’s hard to keep being suspicious after hearing words like that. She wouldn’t bother lying to a child who can’t even understand speech.*
In a sense, he felt a slight debt from the fact that he wasn’t the true owner of this body’s soul.
*The original owner of this body is most likely dead.*
After worrying, he eventually settled obediently into the soft embrace.
*Accumulating virtue is also a necessary quality for a divine beast.*
A soft snort escaped his tiny nostrils. Sighing, he raised his upper body, lightly looped his short arms around Christina’s neck, and patted the base of her neck.
“Kku. Kkuu gyuk.”
*Ahem. I don’t know what it is, but it’s not your fault, so cheer up.*
Seeing the child’s actions, Christina’s eyes widened slightly.
“Could it be, you’re ■ comforting me?”
“Gyuut.”
He answered expressionlessly to curb his embarrassment, but she burst out laughing, clear and bright.
“How■ can such a cute child■ have come ■?”
“Gyuu? Gyu!”
*I wasn’t trying to be cute. I just wanted to tell you not to suffer so much inside.*
It was a calculation that the one who would help him was better off in a good state; there was no need for her to be haggard or unwell.
But Christina smiled softly, holding the hatchling who was shaking his head.
“Thanks to you, I feel■ better■. I’ll be counting on you from now on. My baby.”
“Gyuu!”
*Yes, I’m counting on you, too.*
Whether she found the newborn hatchling’s spirited answer cute, Christina stroked his head.
The Imugi found the situation of someone petting his head as if he were admirable quite embarrassing.
*D-damn it. My face is burning up.*
Because embarrassment flooded him from within, a squeaking sound came from his nose each time he breathed.
He had lived a long time, but humans and even other divine beasts had avoided him, so he was weak at acts of sharing affinity with others.
The neighbor’s dog could probably do it better.
Though his body was small and young, he was a fully grown divine beast, yet here he was being patted and held while fully conscious—it pricked his conscience.
*Stay calm. I just helped her. She doesn’t seem like a bad person. She’s strong, too.*
It was an effort to rationalize.
Of course, most of it was also true.
In her embrace, he could definitely feel the strength hidden within her softness.
An oppressive pressure, well-honed and controlled.
He felt an inner power even greater than his original self from his previous world.
*If someone like this is on my side, it will be incredibly useful for survival.*
Moreover, she seemed indebted to the original owner, so there was no harm in showing kindness to such a person.
Suddenly looking in the direction where the epitaph was written, he made a promise with loyalty to the dead child.
*I am grateful to you for giving me this life. May you rest in peace.*
After offering a silent prayer for the child in his heart, he pondered practical matters.
He did not know how he had survived with his past life’s memories, but the memory of dying helplessly was as vivid as ever.
*I shouldn’t die from the same mistake.*
Kuk. Though his heart was no longer pierced by a spear, it ached.
The Imugi unknowingly clenched his two front paws tightly.
That pain of his soul being torn apart.
It was a shock he never wanted to experience again.
*In this life.*
Strength entered his clenched fist, gripping it tight.
*At least I won’t die as helplessly as I did then.*
Even thinking about it again, resentment surged from the tip of his tail to the crown of his head.
There had been only one year left until he completed a thousand.
When he, who could have ascended to become a Divine Dragon, was murdered.
The anger and resentment of losing everything when he had lived harboring his sole wish tingled and churned through his entire body.
Chapter 4: The Most Among Hatchlings I’ve Seen
A resolve unbefitting a child was etched in his eyes.
*I will become strong so that no one can hurt me.*
A gaze that flashed with coldness rather than pure, sparkling eyes was cast downward.
Vowing not to repeat the same mistake, he clenched his fist tightly.
*I must become strong enough that no one can touch me. I’ll use anything and everything if I can.*
Christina, who had not seen his cold expression, cast a teleportation spell.
Leaving the place where he had remained alone, it was the first step toward the world the child would face.
***
A month had passed since he started living in Christina’s lair.
During that time, the Imugi had adapted to the fact that he had become the infant stage of a Black Dragon—a hatchling.
At first, he would crawl around arduously, then collapse and fall asleep from overwhelming drowsiness, and when he woke, he would be inside the cradle.
Truthfully, this was an absurd event to him.
*I don’t even notice someone touching my body because I’m asleep?*
He shuddered at his own defenselessness.
For someone who had handled qi and trained in martial arts, it was a nonsensical matter.
For several days, he kicked at his blankets in frustration and regret, but he eventually came to accept that instinct to some degree.
*Thinking about how young this body is, it’s natural. It’s not that I’m like this. It’s this body that’s like this.*
...
To be exact, it was closer to denial of reality.
Still, believing that the mind governs the body, the Imugi focused every day on absorbing the pure energy around him and accumulating inner power.
In that process, he discovered something strange: in the past, energy had gathered in his dantian, but now, even just breathing caused mana to gather in his heart.
*At first, I thought something was wrong with my body.*
After watching Christina use magic a few times, he realized that it was natural.
He secretly practiced a few of them when Christina was not around.
Magic to clean his surroundings, moving objects, creating cool water, and so on.
They were trivial yet useful powers.
After that, the Imugi let mana gather in his heart while artificially gathering qi in his lower dantian.
*It’s a shame that the yeouiju I painstakingly made is gone, but this isn’t bad either.*
As he trained his middle dantian, the heart, and his lower dantian, power naturally accumulated.
He only needed time; he had begun to create a new yeouiju.
Moreover, this place contained the purest mana, incomparable to any place the Imugi had known.
Absorbing power through his cultivation method, he marveled once again.
*To think I can accumulate this energy in a body just born, without a single impurity.*
The corner of his mouth naturally rose.
Originally, the work of selecting and gathering the purest energy into the dantian would consume several days.
But here, there was no need for that.
Thanks to that, unlike a one-year-old hatchling, he had grown stronger by acquiring both magic and physical strength faster than other hatchlings.
While everything was satisfactory like this, there was one thing he was dissatisfied with lately.
*A strange watcher-like fellow has appeared.*
The Imugi lay pretending to sleep, then stealthily opened one eye and looked toward where a white light was floating.
On the outside, it was an ordinary sphere of light.
[ㅇㅅㅇ]
A creature that sometimes used light as a brush to display strange symbols—no, expressions—in the air.
*Does that thing not sleep?*
It was a being called a “spirit” that Christina had summoned and attached to him, saying she was worried about leaving him alone.
It looked harmless, but its gaze was unmistakable.
*This is annoying.*
He could not go outside yet, so it was a bit stifling, but that was fine. He had plenty of time, and if he thought of it as part of training, there were even advantages.
The limitation of language expression due to his underdeveloped oral structure?
It was a bit embarrassing, but he was gradually getting used to it.
The effect of that unwanted guest, created by Christina’s worry, was this:
*Because of that thing, I can’t do noticeable physical training.*
Even he could see that his body was that of a plump baby with soft scales and flesh that sank in deeply.
To develop muscles, he had to keep walking and waving his arms and legs, but that will-o’-the-wisp-like fellow would quickly fly over whenever he crawled on the floor, circling around him anxiously like an eager puppy, as if worried his skin might get scratched.
Regardless, when he was sweating buckets training his muscles, it would disappear and return with Christina.
Then Christina would say he might get hurt and pick him up to place him in the cradle.
*Tch. Getting scratched while training is no big deal.*
But if he showed himself doing voluntary training in front of Christina, she would find it strange.
*To think I have a body growing day by day, yet I’m forced to idle away for such a trivial reason.*
Since his spare time was increasing when he should be growing vigorously, he sighed in regret.
As proper training time decreased, complaints piled up steadily.
*I need to devise a countermeasure. I can’t live forever watching that will-o’-the-wisp-like fellow’s mood.*
To think a divine beast who had roamed the world under heaven was now sneakily pretending to sleep while watching the mood of a mere floating firefly.
He would much rather have an opponent he could fight cleanly. This was frustrating because there was no communicating with it.
*Dealing with an armed enemy would be easier than this.*
Sigh.
He lay in the spacious cradle and sighed.
*Still, my inner power is steadily increasing.*
Smiling with one corner of his mouth raised, he stroked his chubby belly with his stubby hand.
He said that, but he never neglected his training of steadily building internal energy and making mana his own.
*Just having properly made the seed of the inner core is already something.*
The seed of the dantian that creates the inner core.
Pure mana encompassing the heart.
It was like creating a control key to freely handle qi and the world’s mana.
*At this level, I think I can slowly start trying.*
For the past month, every time Christina cast teleportation magic with him, he had focused on grasping its operation.
Already seasoned as a divine beast at governing the phenomena of all things, he had an outstanding ability to perceive and sense the flow of mana.
*I must make this power, stronger and more abundant than in my original world, my own.*
The ambition to become a being surpassing the limits of an Imugi made his heart pound for the first time in a long while.
“Gyuuuk!”
*...... Damn it.*
Excited, he had unconsciously let out a kiai shout, and an immature vocalization popped out.
*I thought it was a problem with my oral structure... but wouldn’t it be resolved faster if I practice?*
Since he had nothing to do anyway, he tried pronunciation practice.
“Gyu! Kya! Ggiyuk-!”
Somehow he felt that lump of light was snickering at him, but he made sounds diligently.
“Gyuuk. Pyapya. Pyupyappyabwppu.”
He felt his face turning red, but he cried out with all his might.
“Gyuaaa-!”
Thud.
Not from exhaustion, but from mental collapse due to shame, he flopped down on the spot.
*Uwaah! Why do I have to do such a thing-!*