Under the shining sun, a thin mist drifted over the surface of the swamp.
Suddenly, ripples splashed across the water's surface.
A chubby black dragon head poked out.
“Is this the world of the strong?”
Irene sighed.
Her golden eyes, identical to Mother Dragon's, darted around as she took in the scenery of this alternate world.
This was a swamp within a forest, and its size was immense.
Most of the surrounding plants and trees were black or dark green.
One look was enough to tell they were highly toxic!
Black dragons were born with an aura of corrosion; any place they inhabited would gradually turn into a rotting, foul-smelling swamp that emitted poisonous gas.
Only these types of plants could survive nearby.
Irene searched through her Draconic Inheritance and found the name of this forest.
“The Great Gana Forest!”
This was a primeval forest spanning thousands of miles, home to countless magical beasts and intelligent creatures.
Taking a deep breath of the foul, acidic air, Irene looked out into the distance.
According to the Draconic Inheritance, to the east of the Great Gana Forest lay the Eastern Kingdoms established by humans.
“I wonder if the human civilizations of this other world have any unique, delicious food?”
Having just eaten her fill, Irene recalled the delicacies of her past life, and drool involuntarily began to drip from the corner of her mouth.
Isn't the whole point of a dragon's life to eat?
Once I'm strong enough, I'll build a kingdom and hire a ton of chefs to cook specifically for me.
If they cook something terrible, I'll eat the chef!
If they cook something delicious, I'll eat the chef along with the food!
I'm going to eat, eat, eat, eat, eat!
Jump right onto the table and eat!
...
Before she could fantasize any further, a heavy wave of sleepiness washed over her.
Irene knew this meant her first deep sleep as a dragon was about to begin.
As peak magical creatures, dragons only needed periodic deep sleeps to continuously grow stronger.
During a hatchling's first deep sleep, they would absorb and digest the nutrients from their eggshells,
developing certain draconic organs and strengthening their scales.
Reluctantly, she took one last look at the scenery of this alternate world, then turned around and swam back down to the dragon nest at the bottom of the swamp.
Finding a spot next to Daviel, she lay down and fell into a deep sleep.
A dragon's first deep sleep usually didn't last very long.
At the shortest, it would only be a few hours; at the longest, just two or three days.
Unlike other intelligent creatures, who had to study and memorize spell models to master magic,
and some extreme spellcasters who even chose to sacrifice their hairlines in exchange for powerful mana,
dragons could slowly learn and comprehend various innate magic spells from their Draconic Inheritance through repeated deep sleeps.
On the second day, Irene woke up from her deep sleep.
After this thoroughly satisfying sleep, she could clearly feel that something new had developed inside her throat.
It was a special gland, which the Draconic Inheritance referred to as the draconis fundamentum.
The development of this organ meant she now possessed the ability to use her breath weapon.
Irene tried opening her mouth, and a stream of acid sprayed out,
instantly bubbling up as it hit the ground, rapidly corroding the dirt on the cavern floor.
“Why does this feel so much like spitting?”
Irene shook her head, tossing the strange thought out of her mind.
She glanced to her side; Daviel was still asleep.
Bored, Irene simply walked over to her sleeping younger brother and sat right on top of him.
Compared to the damp, cold cave, her younger brother was clearly much drier and warmer.
He felt soft to sit on, making him the ultimate cushion!
A few more hours passed.
When Daviel finally woke up, he saw his dragon sister sitting on him, posing like 'The Thinker'.
She looked like she was contemplating the meaning of her dragon life.
“Hey! Foolish sister! I advise you to get off me right now, or I'll definitely kick your butt!”
Having just gone through a deep sleep, Daviel had clearly let it go to his head.
Now, he had learned the signature skill of black dragons: spitting acid.
He was going to reclaim his dignity as a male dragon and show his sister who was boss around here!
Irene had absolutely no intention of paying attention to her silly brother.
Obviously, she hadn't inherited the arrogant and combative nature typical of evil dragons.
This was a good thing.
After all, at least half of all chromatic dragon hatchlings died before reaching adulthood.
And the main reason for their premature deaths was their arrogant personalities, which far outstripped their actual strength.
It often led to their foolish deaths.
Compared to Daviel, whose mind was filled with fighting, killing, and the belief that black dragons were invincible,
Irene, a rather unusual black dragon, was currently pondering how to cure her boredom in this alternate world.
Yes, she missed the games, anime, and novels of her past life.
With absolutely no form of entertainment in the dragon nest, Irene was so bored she almost resorted to chasing her own tail.
If she hadn't thought it would look too stupid, she would have actually done it.
“Hey! Foolish...”
Daviel, pinned beneath her, was still shouting.
Irene turned her head and glanced at him with eyes devoid of any emotion, looking as if she had already seen through the futility of a dragon's life.
Then, she stood up from Daviel's back.
Before the liberated Daviel could even rejoice, he saw a backside rapidly expanding in his peripheral vision.
Splat.
Irene sat right back down, this time directly on his dragon head.
The weight of her dragon body instantly pushed Daviel's head into the damp, soft mud, rendering him completely unable to shout.
The cave fell silent for a few seconds.
A few seconds later...
Thud! Thud!
The pinned Daviel began to thrash wildly like a fish out of water.
But her absolute advantage in size meant that no matter how hard he struggled, it was useless.
This farce continued for over half an hour.
Until finally, Irene got hungry and only then did she get off Daviel.
Glancing at her younger brother, who had pulled his head out of the mud and was now lying on the ground with dead-fish eyes, looking utterly devoid of hope,
Irene flicked her tail and trotted off as if nothing had happened.
Crawling on all fours, she made her way to the pile of treasure.
Then, she reared up on her hind legs, standing upright like a human.
Reaching out with her claw, she poked Mother Dragon, who was fast asleep on the treasure pile.
Hatchlings grew hungry very quickly. After a full day of sleeping, she needed a massive amount of food to replenish her energy.
But no matter how much Irene poked, Mother Dragon remained completely motionless.
Although she was pitifully small compared to Mother Dragon's massive size,
Irene was absolutely certain that Mother Dragon was fully aware of her actions.
There was only one possibility...
Mother Dragon was pretending to sleep because she didn't want to go hunting!
As the saying goes, you can never wake a dragon who is pretending to sleep!
Behind her, Daviel burst out laughing at his sister's misfortune, snorting a “pfft.”
But after Irene glared at him, he quickly covered his mouth.
Looking at the motionless Mother Dragon, Irene knew she had to resort to her ultimate move.
Taking a deep breath, she opened her mouth and let out a childish cry:
“Awoo~~~ So hungry~~~ Need food~~”
The high-pitched, babyish voice echoed continuously through the enclosed underwater cave. Even Irene herself found it a bit hard to stomach.
It was her first time putting on a baby voice, and she had apparently overdone it.
Lying on the ground, her younger brother's eyes nearly popped out of his head upon hearing this 'vicious dragon roar'.
Once he recovered from the shock, he covered his ears tightly, feeling as if his hearing was about to be permanently damaged.
Was that a sound a normal dragon could even make?!
Seeing that Mother Dragon was still pretending to sleep, Irene pinched her throat with her claw, preparing to go for round two.
“Awoo~~...”
Just as she uttered the first note...
Wham! In an instant!
Mother Dragon bolted upright from the treasure pile.
How is anyone supposed to endure a skill with this much power and zero cooldown?
Mother Dragon thought to herself.
Giving her dragon daughter a deep look, she reluctantly crawled past Irene and headed toward the exit of the nest.
If Mother Dragon had to choose between listening to her daughter's ear-piercing demonic voice and going hunting,
she would choose to risk her life fighting her mortal enemies, the Titans, without a single moment of hesitation!
However, the Titans had already been driven out of this world by the united dragon clans fifty thousand years ago.
Thus, Mother Dragon had no choice but to reluctantly set off to hunt.
Watching Mother Dragon crawl out of the nest, Daviel was utterly dumbfounded.
According to the Draconic Inheritance, weren't hatchlings supposed to obediently wait until Mother Dragon was in a good mood to hunt for them?
In any case, according to the parenting rules set by Aunt Tiamat, the Dragon Goddess of Chromatic Dragons, Mother Dragon would definitely not let her hatchlings starve to death.
“Wait, you can actually do that??”
Daviel stared at his sister with burning eyes, feeling as though a gateway to a whole new world had just opened before him.
Rate on N.U.
