Book 4: Chapter 7 |
Noah had been feeling a bit troubled lately.
Because the old ancestor in her head was complaining that her five-year-old young dragon body was accumulating primal power far too slowly.
And she even declared: “If this keeps up, by the time I’ve gathered enough primal power to recover my strength, the Ultimate Terror will already be dancing wildly on the ashes of the world.”
So, in order to avoid witnessing the Ultimate Terror performing an awkward dance in front of everyone, the old ancestor had been urging Noah nonstop these past few days to hurry up and grow older.
“I think it’s necessary to give you a refresher on some basic modern biology.”
Within the dark-gold waterways, Noah began seriously educating the old ancestor.
“Young dragons are divided into two types: cocoon-born and womb-born.”
“Cocoon-born young dragons naturally inherit a portion of their mother’s power, so both their growth speed and physical development are extremely fast.”
“Unfortunately, your host—that is, me—is a womb-born dragon.”
The white colossal dragon lay quietly atop the water, her enormous pupils reflecting Noah’s small figure. After listening to the explanation, the old ancestor replied leisurely, “I don’t see any trace of ‘weaker than cocoon-born dragons’ in you. With your level, you could easily beat three cocoon-born dragons at once.”
After spending so long inside Noah’s consciousness, the old ancestor had gained a thorough understanding of her host.
A little girl blessed with both talent and diligence—rarely matched among her peers, and impressive even among young dragons.
“Strength doesn’t represent the degree of physical development.”
Noah shrugged. “It’s impossible for me to suddenly have a body like Dad’s or Mom’s overnight, the way you describe.”
The old ancestor naturally understood this point. She sighed softly and spoke slowly,
“Since you taught me biology, I’ll teach you some history in return.”
Noah nodded with a cool expression, then crossed her legs and sat on the water’s surface, listening attentively.
“In the beginning, dragonkind didn’t have the concept of cocoon-birth. All young dragons were born naturally from their mothers.”
“But later, when internal dragon wars broke out and conflicts intensified, the various clans lacked sufficient forces, so they had no choice but to send younger dragons to the battlefield.”
“Gradually, they realized that this still wasn’t enough. Most young dragons sent to war were nothing more than cannon fodder, having no impact on the battle at all.”
“And so… a method of gestation that directly inherited the mother’s power was developed. Young dragons born this way grew extremely fast and learned quickly.”
“And it didn’t require conventional reproduction—one dragon alone could accomplish it.”
“This method of birth is what modern dragonkind calls… cocoon-birth.”
Noah listened quietly.
Though her small face remained expressionless, a subtle ripple stirred in her heart.
So, in the distant past, all dragons were once born through both parents together.
But cocoon-birth was created to gain an advantage during civil war…
In truth, the conflict between womb-born and cocoon-born dragons had long manifested in Noah’s own life.
When she first enrolled at Saint Hiss Academy, she had nearly been bullied for being a womb-born dragon.
Fortunately, the mother dragons of the Melkweh family were quite skilled at fighting three opponents at once. Noah taught those three a lesson and became the anti-bullying ambassador of the young dragon division.
But Noah’s ability to protect herself didn’t mean other womb-born young dragons could do the same.
It no longer mattered when this conflict had begun. What mattered was that it had truly affected many generations of dragons.
An identity conflict established in childhood could follow a dragon for life—sometimes remaining unresolved even a hundred years later.
“Later, I ended the dragon civil war.”
The old ancestor continued.
“But the method of cocoon-birth remained.”
“Because dragonkind grew fond of this inheritance method—gaining powerful strength without enduring a long, complicated growth process.”
“Noah.”
The relentless overachiever raised her eyes toward the giant dragon. “What?”
“If you could choose your own method of birth, would you choose cocoon-birth or womb-birth?”
Noah blinked, thought for a moment, and replied,
“Womb-birth.”
The old ancestor’s eyes lit up, even showing excitement.
“Why? Cocoon-born young dragons have far more advantages from the moment they’re born. You work so hard to become stronger—isn’t that precisely in pursuit of power?”
Noah lowered her head, looking at her right hand, and spoke softly, “I like the process… of accumulating bit by bit. Because that lets me clearly feel myself growing stronger.”
“Rather than inheriting power directly from Mom. If it were that way, I’d feel like something very important was missing from my life.”
Listening to the child’s answer, the old ancestor felt that calling her a ‘grinder’ wasn’t quite accurate.
She strove to become stronger not only for power or her parents’ recognition, but also to make her own life fuller and more brilliant.
Such awareness in a five-year-old… truly rare, the old ancestor thought with quiet admiration.
“And you?” Noah suddenly asked.
“What?”
“If you could choose, would you choose womb-birth or cocoon-birth?”
This time, the old ancestor didn’t answer immediately. She simply stared at Noah in silence. After a moment, her gaze drifted downward to the calm water’s surface.
She seemed to be recalling the past, so Noah didn’t rush her.
After a long pause, the old ancestor finally spoke, “Cocoon-birth or womb-birth… I would choose neither.”
Noah raised an eyebrow. “Why?”
“Because… my very existence was a mistake.”
…
In the grand hall of the sanctuary, Rosvitha was handling the day’s work.
Suddenly, out of the corner of her eye, she spotted a small figure sneaking around behind one of the pillars, furtively peeking at her.
The queen glanced over, then smiled faintly, pretending she hadn’t seen anything as she continued working.
Behind the pillar, Noah quickly pulled her head back.
“Why did you make me come find Mom anyway?”
“I told you—your body is accumulating primal power too slowly right now, and your mother happens to be able to solve that problem for us.”
“What do you mean? Are you planning to come clean to my mom? My parents would tear you out of my head no matter the cost.”
“No, no, no. I mean, the pendant she’s wearing can help us.”
Hearing that, Noah cautiously peeked out again, looking toward her mother on the throne.
Because of her posture while working, the milky-white pendant on her chest was hanging freely in the air.
Noah remembered that Mom had said it was a belated wedding gift from Great-Grandmother Veronica.
Although the material was rare, as far as Noah knew, it shouldn’t have anything to do with primal power.
“No. That’s Great-Grandmother’s wedding gift to Mom. Don’t even think about it.”
Noah rejected the idea immediately. After a pause, she added, “And how can you be so sure that pendant can help you accumulate primal power?”
“I can sense it.”
The old ancestor said, “That pendant is made from primal crystal. I don’t know where your mother got it, but right now the most important thing is to use it to speed up our accumulation of primal power.”
“No. I said no. That’s my mom’s wedding gift—it’s very important to her.”
On this point, Noah would not yield.
Mom cherished her marriage with Dad, and naturally cherished her wedding gifts as well.
Taking Mom’s pendant just to speed up an old geezer—Noah absolutely wouldn’t agree.
“Ugh, you stubborn little mule. I really can’t do anything with you!”
Tch
Noah snorted softly, then peeked out again, wanting to see whether Mom had noticed anything—hoping to slip away while she could.
But when she looked toward the throne, Mom was no longer there.
Noah froze. “It’s not even lunchtime… where did Mom—”
“Noah.”
“Ah!—”
A cool yet gentle female voice suddenly sounded from behind, nearly scaring the old ancestor right out of Noah’s head.
Noah’s tail shot straight up in fright. Still shaken, she stammered, “M-Mom… when did you come over…”
“I heard some noise here, so I came to take a look.”
Rosvitha smiled, leaning slightly forward to get close to Noah’s face, gazing at her beloved daughter with affection.
“What are you doing here?”
Noah leaned back slightly, her eyes fixed on the pendant at her mother’s chest.
The pendant sparkled and swayed in the sunlight, clear and luminous.
“I’m… um… I’m—”
“She’s waiting for us!”
As the words fell, a tuft of pink hair burst into the mother-daughter duo’s view.
Next, Mu’en hooked Noah’s left arm, Little Light hooked her right arm, and then they both looked at Rosvitha.
“Mom, Big Sister was waiting for Second Sister, right, Big Sister and me?”
Noah blinked in confusion, but Little Light was frantically signaling her with her eyes. Noah immediately understood.
“Oh—oh, right. I was waiting for Little Light. We agreed to go play in the backyard together.”
Mu’en scratched her head. “Huh? Did we have that agreement—”
“Yes! Of course we did!”
Little Light hurriedly interrupted her clueless second sister, dragging both of them toward the back door.
“Mom, you keep working. We’re going to play.~”
Rosvitha hesitated for a moment, then simply waved her hand and reminded them,
“Be careful.”
“Got it, Mom!”
The daughters laughed and ran toward the backyard, their voices fading into the distance.
Rosvitha rubbed her forehead.
“Why does it feel like… Noah’s acting strange lately.”
…
Footnotes:
- Ultimate Terror dancing on the ashes of the worldPinyin: zhōng jí kǒng jù zài shì jiè huī jìn shàng kuáng wǔExplanation: A dramatic, humorous exaggeration implying total apocalypse followed by mockery.
- Cannon fodderPinyin: pào huīExplanation: A term for soldiers sent into battle with little chance of survival, used metaphorically.
- Grinder/overachieverPinyin: juǎn wángExplanation: Internet slang for someone who relentlessly pushes themselves to improve.
- Teaching someone a lessonPinyin: jiāo xùn yí dùnExplanation: A colloquial phrase meaning to defeat or discipline someone decisively.
- Mule-stubbornPinyin: jué lǘ píExplanation: Describes someone extremely stubborn and unwilling to yield.
- Sending eye signalsPinyin: shǐ yǎn sèExplanation: Nonverbal communication using exaggerated eye movements.